Contributors to this thread:
The mouse count is now up to three. The first was free-range, the last two, I admit, I shot over bait. I have also set to deadfalls, one adhesion and one pit trap. My question is, is it ethical to count mice taken over bait in the season limit? So far, all my mice have multi-sex but I am now concentrating on male mice, assuming the ones I catch in the deadfall will be female since I am using nuts for bait. Well, actually, peanut butter-same thing.
I am somewhat upset since my ace varmint dog, The Libby, refuses to work with me. She will however, alert me when the deadfall trap goes off since I cannot hear it. I am also confused on exactly how a mouse is scored. Is it length plus circumference or just skull plus weight?
So far, I have limited my hunting and trapping to the upstairs office and equipment room terrain but am thinking of expanding and running a trap line through the garage. Do mice trapped out there have to be listed as extra terrestrials or are they considered field mice that have become illegal aliens? If that is the case, do I have to notify I.C.E. or can I just add them to the rodentia gumbo?
I'm rather new to this game. However, years ago, in an elk camp, we started shooting them in the cook tent with .22 ratshot. We put them on a stringer and an ermine ate them. Only ermine I ever killed.
I am also afraid the may eat the humingbirds I have on one of my fish mounts. (That is another story.)
For got to mention. I may start booking a few select hunters for the 2019, spring season. It will be a trophy hunt only and will not include meals or lodging. If interested, send a $5 deposit and that money will be applied to your non-resident tag. Depending on dates, I may be able to include, squirrels, moles and selected neighbors in the hunt. And yes, Bou, I got your deposit but you are not allowed to use red or pink strings in TN for rodentia jagger.
Look close, (they are small), note the humingbirds on the ground toward the front of the fish. Smallest things I have ever mounted. I'm afraid the mice might eat them.
Are you a Bowsite sponsor? If not, I’d recommend the moderators remove this thread.......along with several others! ;-)
That is a VERY COOL mount, and nice work too. I love Bass, I wish we had them up here more. Can I come fish with you?
This invasion cannot be tolerated any longer ! BUILD THE FRICKIN WALL !
KILL THEM ALL!!! There is absolutely no place here in the lower 48 where mice belong, and I'm sick and tired of anti's and politicians delisting them, reintroducing them where they don't belong, and not having sound management practices to control their numbers. Everyone knows they are responsible for the spread of CWD, EHD, and they will reduce a set of 180" shed antlers to splinters within days. Enough is enough already, and I want to thank you personally Bowriter, for taking the lead on this infestation!! You should get an award for your efforts!
I am starting to think it may time for nurse Ratched to visit !
I had a bad year and only bagged two mice this year in my basement trap line. Peanut butter for bait. I prefer the bigger rodents, chipmunks are my favorite game. I sit on my back porch with my pellet rifle enjoying a nice Rocky Patel cigar waiting for them to show themselves. I do take some shots with my longbow but haven't made any kills. I prefer a two blade razor sharp broadhead for maximum penetration and wouldn't use any bow under 40 pounds.
I find the little buggers in my basement every fall. They come in as the days get shorter. I get a certain happy feeling when the traps come straight down on their heads and the eyes pop out. Looks like Glen from the Walking Dead. ;)
I don't believe in baiting, so I take my chances with the scent-impregnated pads on the traps themselves. Seems to work well and after one mouse's scent is on it, others come to the set.
John, I think it's time you made a little crossbow that shoots toothpick-sized bolts and wait them out. That would be far more sporting...
Back when I was a Park Ranger in the CO mountains I opened a wood box in an old cabin we were renovating and there was a monster Norway rat hunkered in the corner. Definitely B&C-class, and the first one I'd ever seen in CO (before or since). I looked around and spotted a baseball bat in the corner - I know, a baseball bat in a cabin on a mountain?? WTH? Anyway, I beat that rat to death.
Next day I opened the wood box and there was another in his place. Just like a fish taking up a prime lie after the dominant fish is removed. I bashed him too. The next day my assistant ranger wanted to open it, and he beat the new rat to death. This went on for a week, then it became every couple days, and finally no more rats.
Since then I have lived with the guilt over whether a baseball bat is ethical for Norway rats, or should I have used something more sporting, like a slingshot or even a longbow. This question has haunted me for decades....
years ago when I worked in a gun/archery shop, we had a mouse problem year round. on slow days after lunch, we would lay a chicken bone on one of the shelves and shoot at them with blowguns.
I'm a master mouse trapper, coyotes, not so much. I keep 3 traps set in the garage and 3 sets of 2 outside. On the outside traps, I've glued them to a 2 foot piece of 1x2 that I place against the house exterior, then put a short piece of beam to funnel them through.
That way I catch them even if the shrews have eaten all the peanut butter. Since I started the outside trapline I've only caught one in the garage and that was after we left the door open overnight.
Caught a 1.5" long shrew with a tail as long as the body. Unable to identify the species, but Montana has a bunch of species.
Since the taming, here, the shrew population has decreased. Apparently, they are not getting enough shrewing to propagate well. I have yet to hear one say anything about getting shrewed.
Now moles, that's a different deal. Mowing my yard is like running over a furrowed field. I am thinking, I may quit mowing and create better mouse habitat.
"We put them on a stringer and an ermine ate them. Only ermine I ever killed. "
Is baiting ermine even legal?????
Bowriter, I've been at war with the moles in my alfalfa fields for years. Over 170 last year and that didn't include the holes I put poison in.
They are easy to trap, but take a lot of work. Not sure which species you have. I have what are actually pocket gophers. Bodies about 7" max.
I smoked this monster buck at three yards from my recliner with .22 birdshot from a pistol. The bird shot pattern is about 18" at 3 yards and kills 'em dead. No damage to the carpet.
Just as long as you practice QMM it's all good Bowriter.
Lou, please post video of the rat beatings, or at least pics of the aftermath...
Surfbow, that was so long ago they were still doing petroglyphs to document hunts!
The count is now up to four. This was a magnificent walking shot at three yards. No, I did not try farting to stop him but have been told that is very effective. I have a stomach condition today, that precludes that expelation of excess vapor. No second shot was required. I will have him scored after the 24-hour drying period.
In my experiences, they seem to run in groups of at least 3's.... So if you catch one in a 'scout' trap, keep re-baiting for any stragglers.... I really wish they'd lower the required book score - I've missed by just a few mm's several times....
Luckychucky, is that trophy wearing a GPS collar? Picture is kinda fuzzy.
You'll get a reward for turning it in.
Arrg I hate varmit kong. We trapped 10 of them in the dishwasher this winter. Would leave little presents for you in between washings.
They have a nasty habit of chewing through the steam drain hole screen, base drain, whatever. Didn't matter I changed out the screens with metal mesh, chewed through it again.
After 10th one really didn't see any more signs of them for 1 1/2 months. Now they are back since the new snow fall two days ago..
Had same issue with the little buggers getting into my boat a few years back. One went for a swim once he came out and I was 1 1/2 miles from the shore.
Lol reminds me of my safari one night after a Blackhawks game. Had a few beers and was feeling good and got home and down in the basement for a smoke. All of a sudden this little bugger comes running out stands up and takes off back from where he came. Well the old Benjamin pump 22 cal pellet gun was loaded and the hunt began. Flashlight out looking behind this and that and all of a sudden I see this mouse up on the chair rail and I was stunned how fast he got up there. Took careful aim and bang dead critter. Went to retrieve and saw another run across the floor. A 20 foot shot and two in the bag. Nice little hunt and didn't cost a cent, just a few pellets.
Don't kill the weasels! They're welcome in the wall tents. They take care of the mouse problem!
One way to get the wrath of my dad when I was a kid was to kill a weasel anywhere near our hunting shack.
I've got a lot on my land here in MT. Probably because cats are not welcome. They will eliminate most of your weasels.
Okay, at the risk of being called an ogre, and exposing my unethical methods, I now post my mouse killing machine. Flame away !
Dry creek....no need to flame away. There is one in my home, almost identical, to yours. It’s my daughters. Carry on.....
Drycreek....that cat looks almost identical to the one my wife had when we got married. (package deal). I hated that b#*%ch (the cat). I think I would of rather had mice!
Bowriter: This thread has inspired me to once again run my trapline in my basement. We rarely get any mice in the house, but we do get them in the basement. As a former fur trapper for many years I do the ethical thing and will not use poisons or glue boards. I TRAP them.
I whipped up some of my peanut butter and bacon grease bait (the bacon grease keeps the peanut butter from drying out....and it gives me a reason, as if I need one, to cook some bacon) and set out 4 traps. A few hours later one trap was MISSING! I have a feeling it's the trophy mouse that I've seen a time or two and scared my wife when she was down there painting some furniture as she thought a coon was in the basement. I guess I should have staked it or put a grapple on it. I'll find it tomorrow when I move some boxes. I then caught another by the basement door.
So on day one, my count is 2. If I did get that big guy in that first set I take a pic of it next to a tape measure so we can have a, "Who's Is Bigger" contest.
I ran my trapline this morning and my count is now up to 5. That one I though was mighty mouse wasn't......just a "cull". Just as well though since I'm practicing QMM.
Maybe I'll cook some more bacon. I don't need the grease for bait right now.....I just like to eat bacon.
Woods Walker, try glueing the traps to a 2' x 1" x 2" board.
I've always had a dream of being an outfitter so I'm going to run a special on Rat Slam Hunts. This is a limited draw tag good for four Philadelphia rats. 1. The Delaware River Wharf Rat 2. The South Philly Cheesesteak Rat 3. Roxborough Italian Bread Bakery Rat and finally, 4. The Wayne Junction Railroad Pink Hairless Sewer Rat (rarest of them all) All rats must meet the RAID Rat Record Book minimums. Cost: $18,000 and you are on your own for meals and accommodations. Unlimited take of Stadium Rats.
Was working on a tractor last week. Started it up after several days and Indian corn came blowing out the exhaust manifold . I sped up the engine and popped corn came out. I've trapped 4 of the little pests. About a cup of corn all together
You guys getting any color phase varmints?
I will post pictures when I can, and I'm sure you all will accuse me of long arming them.
LB, while that kind of hunt sounds like a real good time, I think it's one of those situations I won't wish for at this time ;)
Jaquomo,
I think baseball bats are legal. From the size of the rats you said you were killing, sounds more like you were Seal hunting for the furs. :') I imagine if you would have known you were going to get that many, you would have kept the hides to make a coat out of and they wouldn't have any hole to sew up. DANNY
I'm shocked that this did not turn into a crossbow thread...
What sort of broadhead do you guys use on these mice? I'm thinking of going to a mechanical, you know for a better blood trail. I'm a little worried that I won't get a pass through though. Last time, I hit one in the void and never found it, was a real trophy too.
Ok, no crossbow, but I have a rat tale to tell ! When my wife and I first got married, we bought 11 acres in the woods. I cleaned enough of it up to put a nice single-wide mobile home in there and that's about all. Now mobile homes and travel trailers are notorious for big holes to fit small pipes, so rats and mice can easily get in. My daughter told me one night that she saw a rat in the kitchen. I said set a mouse trap. She said this is a rat Daddy, it's as big as a squirrel ! So......... I staged a backdrop on the kitchen cabinet with a throw rug, put out some bacon on the rug in front of the kitchen sink, turned the lights off and the tv down low. I advised my hunting partners, (wife, son, and daughter) to not talk and to be really still. I loaded my .44 Mag with a shotshell and proceeded to wait. After a while the varmint slipped out from under the sink cabinet and headed to the bacon. I lifted my revolver and he scurried back under the cabinet. Aha ! This varmint is gonna require more stealth ! So....I got some pillows to prop my .44 on, cocked the hammer with the gun pointed straight to the bacon. Another longish wait and I caught movement in my peripheral vision. I let him start eating and squeezed the trigger. BAM ! All ears were ringing and the rat (which wasn't quite as big as a squirrel, but close) was doing the funky chicken on the rug. There was no.12 shot EVERYWHERE ! It's a damn good thing I have an understanding wife !
Footnote: I stuffed steel wool around all the piping after that so the wood rats could no longer invade !
I’ve always wanted to do a trap line trip. I might be able to fit this into my budget. Do you charge a harvest fee?
No harvest fee. No kill fee, either. We usually harvest as soon as whatever we are growing is ripe, usually tomatoes. Stuff with blood in it, we kill. But for trapping, you must bring your own. We suggest Victor with bait keeper plate. Kill cannot be scored unless caught by head. If hunting, no weapon that goes bang. Poof is okay and zip is okay. Prefer not to allow any that go piffle. Small pop-type equipment may be considered but no pazzow. Camo is your choice, we suggest urban grunge or ear day recliner lounge chair.
Do we get bacon? It's for the bait you know.
I no longer book kosher hunts so bacon is included. I am also currently training a new rodent recovery dog. I got a ...wait for it...Rat Terrier. He is mouse colored and bad to cut the cheese. (Does anyone still use that term?) I am currently pricing the hunts-in house, garage, field, driveway, basement of very old half-way house. The basement hunt includes beaters and semi-boma hides.
Adak, out in the Aleutians, was and is infested with rats. I kept traps set in the back porch and my 53lb lab, Bou, would hunt them down and kill them.
One night my teenage son was taking a bath. After a long while I heard splashing as I walked by and told him to get out. Imagine my surprise when I heard his voice from his bedroom.
A large rat was doing laps around the still filled tub.
Told my wife that it came up through the toilet. I don't think she ever went to the bathroom without turning on the light again.
To be officially entered Mice skulls must be boiled, clean and free of all tissue and meat for 3 days before measuring. Length of skull plus width of skull using calipers, measured in 32nd of an inch. All Time booner is 1” 10/32’s or larger. World Record or top 5 all-time must be panel measured before officially recognized. Fair chase affidavit must be signed and a copy of permit/tag submitted along with field photo and a .50 cent processing fee to assure prompt mailing of official certificate.
