Killing a possum with a pellet gun?

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MicroTecniqs wrote:



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I don't see where he said anything about setting it on fire. Ether is an anesthetic. It used to be used for surgery. Enough of it in an enclosed space like a trash can, and the animal just goes to sleep and dies peacefully.

As noted...he made no inference to setting the Possum on fire.

Possibly a little parapraxis or a Freudian Slip on Weedys part?
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Ok ok my apologies to offroaddiver if he meant for the starting fluid to be used as an anesthetic. You are right, he didn't say to light it on fire...in that case though I may have to waffle and say that the use of anesthesia on a possum before killing it may be uh...I don't know. I guess when someone talks about spraying a can of starting fluid on a pesky varmint, I would assume the next step would be to light 'er up. I guess I should remember what happens when we assume...:D
 
+1 for the shovel

They ain't that fast

One whack, then use the said weapon dig a hole. Insert vandalous varmint and refill hole.

I raise Pheasants and have a non stop parade of possums and coons marching on my birds and eggs. I've dispatched hundreds of them just that way.
 
I can GayRonTeeYa if you shoot a garbage can full of starter fluid and light it?

Killing the possum will be the very least of your worries!

It would leave a Mushroom Cloud over your neighborhood when it went off!

rc
 
My dog gave me one as a gift. Very chewed up by a large dog- Still alive. Shot it three times with a 800 FPS pelet gun- Still alive. Then a few head wacks with the shovel- Still alive. Cut its head off with the shovel- Still alive. I dont get it!!!
 
I shot one with my AK last winter, he didn't go anywhere? I think I shot it 5 times though before it stoped moving
 
I had one in my yard a few days ago. I also have chickens and didn't want the two getting together. I set out the trap and then a little while later I shined my light over to that area and saw the possum walking around it. I shined my light again a little while later and saw the two eyes in the trap shining back at me. I call the kids to go do a little homeschool lesson and we all go out to the trap and on the way I saw another possum walking around. Then we got to the trap and found a cat instead. As I don't have any cat recipes on hand, I let it go.

I set the trap again and got the possum. A 22lr to the back of the neck/head area did the trick although I apparently missed the small brain and it took a minute or so for him to bleed out. I live in a neighborhood and didn't really want multiple rifle shots even though it was only from a .22. I am outside of the city though.

On another note, are these things good eating? Not much in the way of recipes online. Yes, I am serious.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about a possum. My remington summit sure doesn't feel inadequate!
 
I got one (in my pajamas aswell)with my Gamo pellet rifle a few years ago. I think it shoots the .177 pellts at 1100 or 1000 fps. Whichever it is, it did the trick. Also thanks to my Jack Russel Terrier for going crazy and pinning it so i could get a good shot ;) But I didn't have problems with it playin dead on me.. 1 and done
 
This is one of the very few times I'm gonna (sorta) disagree with rcmodel...99.99999% of the time he is right.

But as a kid I trapped and hunted coons, possums, minks, muskrats, foxes, and just about anything else that has fur that you can sell. I paid for my first car (a Jeep) with fur money...

In the 80's a big possum hide would sell for $5...and I musta skinned at least 1,000 of them over the years. I usually killed those critters with a 22 short to the brain (I do know where it is and how to hit it)....but I did use .177 caliber pellets quite often too, especially on the smaller stuff like possums, minks, muskrats, etc.

Put a pellet in the brain and it will be dead...and that was with an old 80's model Crosman air gun...these days they have pellet rifles that are as powerful as a regular 22.

As is always the case I guess...shot placement is king.
 
My grandfather would grab a possum by its tail and swing the criitter's head against a tree trunk. The result was a ruined possum.
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Yep...my Grandad knew that trick too...it also works on coons but you gotta be quick.

LMAO...thinking about that reminded me of the time I was shaking a coon out of a persimmon tree, the dogs (young hounds in training) had it treed, it was the first coon they had ever treed and I wanted to let them get a hold of it so up the tree I went (I didn't have a gun with me) to shake it out...I shook it out alright...darn thing landed right square on my shoulders. Thats no place to be, 50 feet up in a tree with a mad coon on your back...

I grabbed its tail and threw it down to the dogs...I only got one good scratch out of the deal, on my neck...still have the scar.

Grandad was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes...strange as I'm sure that sounds to some folks...that is a treasured memory, Thanks THR for reminding me of it.
 
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While on the subject - does anyone know the laws (or where I can find the laws, written in laymen's terms) on protecting your livestock/pets/property from pests like these? Wife and I have thought about moving to more rural area (we live out a ways as it is, but we'd don't have much land) and having some chickens, horses, etc.

Would it be lawful for me to drop a coyote that was going after my chickens? Raccoon's or anything else eating up our garden?
 
My grandma told me a story her last days about a opossum that would get into the chicken coop and steal the eggs. So she placed a poisoned egg therein. The possum ate it and was found dead. She told me as if it were her only regret in life - killing that possum. She was on her last days when she told me..

Don't know why I share this, just brought back the memory. :) thanks.
 
Some time back, my Pop had some trouble with coons getting into, and tearing up his bird feeder. One night he heard a racket, looked out the bedroom window, and 3 coons sitting on the bird feeder. Pop got up, in his pajamas also, when he left the house, he had his Louisville Slugger with him. All 3 coons went to the showers quickly, one on a homerun, one took 2 strikes, and one took one foulball and left the game, Pop, in his PJ's saved the game! :cuss:
 
Back in the WW II era, my grandmother would buy strychnine as an anti-pest item. It came in a tube like toothpaste. She'd squeeze a little dab on a piece of bread and set it by the hen house in the evening. Possum, coon, fox, whatever. Pick up the bread in the morning when the chickens were let out for the day.
 
I've caught 3 this year (so far) in leghold traps set for other furbearers. I released them all unharmed. A trapped 'possum is very easy to release. Just grip it around the neck and the hips(not the tail), open the trap and give him a toss. They are not very aggressive but can bite though they usually don't try.
 
A Co2 pistol in .177 at 500 fps is too light and slow on possums IMHO.I would get a good air rifle.A RWS 48/52/54 in either .177 or .22 would take care of possums.The Benjamin Marauder with its compressed air power plant would also be a good option but more expensive to set up with the air tanks and valves.
 
I plinked one that was bothering my parents dog out on the farm. One shot with the .54 Renegade and 600 grain Buffalo bullet. Wasn't a whole lot left of it. Only downside was waking up all the neighbors at 3am.
 
Shot the last one with a CB long. Neighbors never heard a thing. Walking away from me,I hit it in the back just below the ribcage. He rolled right, hissed and was still in the same spot when i picked him up in the morning. Looked like he was very well fed, and I scared him really bad ! I previously tried to take one out with a bayonet. It only made him mad that he was "pinned", hissing, and clawing up dirt. A .22 to the back of the head stopped him immediately.
 
Get one of those Quackenbush Air Rifles that shoot the 405grain bullets! Saw a guy on Youtube shoot a boar hog with one, went clear thru him, dropped him on the spot! Might be a tad heavier than your Benjamin air rifle will shoot, but sure knocked the snot outta that hog!
 
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