Hey,

Some kind of critter has been digging up our lawn at night for a few weeks. Applying red pepper flakes to the latest area it hit just sends it to a new area of the lawn. We have a lot of lawn.

I think he's digging to get at grubs and/or earthworms.

Anyway, I sat up last night and around 2am, he made an appearance. It was a mid-size possum. I've given it enough chances to go somewhere else. But he won't. And last night, he was digging just outside our front door.

Therefore, he must die.

Rather than spend $40 - $50 for a catch and release trap or using poison which will result in a prolonged and painful death for the animal, I've decided to spend a few cents on some ammo.

I'm in the city, so I have to be quiet. The plan is to put out some cat food, and take a roughly 10yd shot at it using a Ruger 10/22 and a Remington Cbeee .22 round.

This ammo is a 33gr hollow point that will hit it at a around 740 fps at that distance. Ideally, I'll put the shot just behind and a little below a front leg (heart, lungs) or a little below an ear (brain).

The heart/lung shot is my preference. Possums have tiny brains. If they didn't, this one would have left by now.

From what I read, these are the best one shot kill locations for a possum (or a rat, squirrel, raccoon, etc).

I know I can make the shot. I just took a shot at the same distance and it was on the money.

My only concern is, will the Remington CBeee have the juice to get the job done? Again, it's a 33gr, hollow point and will be traveling about 740 fps.

And, even if it's not a quick kill, I'm going to have a shovel handy and will decapitate it with point of the shovel blade.

I've been thinking about this all day, and it's the best plan I can come up with.

So, what do you say? Will this work?

And if you have a better idea, please tell me.

Thanks.

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Plenty! great plan.

Probably or try the segmented quiet.Out of a rifle they sound like a pellet gun.Have a good backstop

Excellent plan........Execute!

BTW. I keep a scoped Ruger 10/22 with light for terminating nocturnal yard pest.

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S&W Accumulator

It’s a roll of the dice with any caliber. I shot a groundhog center mass with a 9mm HST from 20 feet away, and that darn booger lived for 15 minutes. I figure it didn’t expand and probably passed through but I was shocked.

Try and put the shot behind the ear they have a pretty thick skull in the forward portion. I have the same problem regularly with possums and racoons and use a Duke DP style trap so I don't have to sit there and wait for the critter.

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professional possum elimination advice.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

if you use the segmented Quiet .22 ammo..........
it does not always blow up and can put a hole in your fence !!

Drill the hp area for a bigger hole, if possible.

Best to sight in your rifle with several shots at the distance you will be shooting
to make sure the rifle will shoot where you want it.

.22 bullets don't always group well and you need to know where
they will generally end up.

The Quiet loads are just that but one louder 40 gr hp sub-sonic CCI
has more energy for a sure kill on squirrels or larger animals.

Good luck.

I was going to buy some CCI Quiet segmented today. It's a little heavier than the Remington CBeee (40gr vs 33gr) but also a little slower (710 fps vs 740 fps).

I figure it's a wash. I just have to put the shot in the right place.

So long as you have room away from neighbors....if you are close just ask yourself what could wrong.......

Here is a recovered segmented..........

how to delete

I've killed squirrels, possums and groundhogs with my .177 cal Gammo Silent Cat pellet gun.
Sometimes it takes a few shots, but it's great moving target practice.
No pity for those destructive @#@#!.

You could be taking a risk if discovered. Discharging a firearm within city limits is a likely no no. Poison may be an alternative IF you have no pets & put it out & take it back in pretty quick. Some animal controls may lend you a trap. Whatever you choose, the SSS rule applies (shoot/shovel/shut up), you already told us. CB caps can be iffy, I've had them bounce off squirrels & penetrate a "more than ample backstop" THEN my garage door. If you go the CB cap route, don't fire more than once.

I had a 'possum in my yard once. When I saw him I hollered for "Buster", pointed and said "GITTEM!!!!!!" There's nothing quite like a 20lb Jack Russell nailing a 25lb 'possum!!!

Oh yeah,, the 'possum survived but did NOT come back!!

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Be prepared to shoot many, many times. I have seen possums soak up six or eight good shots of .22 LR and keep right on truckin' for quite a while.

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Pisgah

I got nicknamed The Great Opossum Slayer when I was a young cop. Working midnights I got flagged down by a group of people who had witnessed the thing hit by a car, and it was slowly dying in the middle of the street. I tried to call for animal rescue but at that hour they were two hours away so I dispatched it w/the 12 gauge and shoveled the remains into a sewer. My lieutenant was not happy b/c fo all the paperwork I generated for him and roll call was tough for the next few nights.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Put a plastic soda bottle over the end of your rifle,it will make it sound like a pellet gun

"Put a plastic soda bottle over the end of your rifle,it will make it sound like a pellet gun". And an unregistered suppressor might get you a free vacation at Leavenworth. Have you considered making it a family pet? I had one as a kid; they are like stray dog or cat. Feed it twice and it's yours for life.

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Mike Maher #283

Possums being possums, don’t think he is dead and then go fetch your shovel. Seriously.

They are easy to sneak up on. I use a broom handle. A good solid whack to the head works.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

YumYum Possum Roast!

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I don't think that a CB is enough,especially in a one shot scenario.(Once dealt with some very persistent squirrels who thought that my attic was their new home)
I agree with the thoughts of others.Though a CB may be little different than a pellet gun, it's still coming out of something that's considered a firearm in the eyes of the law.

Red Pepper Flakes? Really?
I'm half Mexican. Pepper flakes or spray just makes me hungry.

Yes a .22 short will kill a opossum. I shoot them with my .17 HMR and I get a complete pass through. Be carful you must know what's beyond the target you will probably get a complete pass through. I wouldn't want to explain to the local law enforcement if you hit the Nabors house or car.

I have killed a few of them with a .177 pump BB rifle. Yeah it will act like you killed it but you didn't. Best to put a couple head shots them a few body shots. I have yet had one get away.
Beside firing a gun in the city limits is usually asking for a big fine if not jail time.
If you have a good crossbow then you could have some fun.

Possums look like a really big overgrown rat. In the steel mills in Cleveland it was not uncommon to actually see rats as big as possums.

or Grandma,,or one of the kids...

My .17 HMR is a high velocity round, would not use that. I have used CCI Quiet rounds with mixed results, one trapped raccoon took five shots with a 22/45 to quit snarling at me. My .17 RWS Diana 34 pellet gun (over 1,000 fps) is not a firearm and does well with good (read "excellent") shot placement. Does good on the chipmunks and red squirrels, not as good on grey squirrel , even worse on a groundhog, and i wouldn't try it on a raccoon, most of which are rabid around here this year.

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Ed

CCI Quiets are hearing safe from a rifle and sound like a pellet gun. If you have a pellet gun, now you have plausible deniability if someone tattles on you. If you don't, well, there you go.

As for the terminal effects, anything we've described will work with a head shot.

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Psalm 27:2

This is a good place to come for a laugh... 26 posts on how to kill a possum. Ranges from just do it to you’re going to prison for shooting through a plastic bottle... (but we can’t get Hillary locked up...)

There will be less noise in the neighborhood if the shot is taken from inside the house. Might allow you a bit more muscle, maybe a subsonic LR round. Just sayin.........

Actually a bit jealous of your problem. Sounds like a fun time for my Ruger 22 magnum compact. Bet I could smoke em with one round!

Check your city ordinances. Sometimes, using a pellet or BB gun is illegal too.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Well, it's almost time to put out the cat food.

And, as the refs say, "Upon further review ...," should I not get the one shot kill I'm hoping for, I'm leaving the shovel in the garage and will have a machete with me when I go to inspect the possum after I shoot it.

One way or another, that diggin' up my lawn pain in the butt will be dead in a few hours.

I don't particularly want to do this, but there are patches all over my lawn that look like the attached picture.

And every morning when I go out to look, there's a new patch dug up.

Oh well.

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Man v. marsupial—a battle for the ages!

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No school like the old school.

I have not shot any possums in my back yard, but have shot and killed 3 full grown ground hogs at 10 to 12 yards with a .22 Cal. pcp pellet rifle. Pellets were 16 gr. lead.
Just one shot to the head. One dropped and never moved. The other 2 rolled over and quivered about 5 seconds. I am not inside the city limits but am in a sub division so a .22 rifle is not an option.

Go buy some sweet taters!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Having fired at least 30,000 rounds ( no exaggeration ) of CCI CB Shorts and CB Longs at farm pests since they came out in the early 1970's, at targets, starlings, sparrows, crows, rabbits, pigeons, groundhogs, rats, mice, moles, hawks, turtles, snakes, etc, I have a pretty good idea what they and the relatively newcomers on the scene ( the Remingtons you refer to ) will do.
They kill about like a rather powerful .22 pellet gun would do, usually better.
Animals below squirrel-size, no problem out to 20-25 yards or so even though I have made kills at twice that range and farther.
Squirrels/rabbits, keep it under 15-20 yards for clean kills with brain and forward chest cavity shots.
Groundhogs and possums are pretty tough to do humane kills on with this ammo even with head shots at 10 yards and under. 5 yards is better.
A well-placed chest shot will kill a possum, but it may take several minutes to die, and will almost certainly run off. Head shots on possum, best kept under 5-8 yards.
Remember, these loads are a lot weaker than .the 22 Shorts you hear stories about your great grandfathers and great uncles poaching deer with in the 1930's, and killing domestic hogs with during butchering time.
The full-40 grain subsonic .22 LR loads are much better killers. The hollow point versions may or may not be better performers.
Since you live in town, be VERY sure of your backstop as the 40 grainers eill go all the way through and riccochet off to parts unknown. The CB's will not riccochet off if you get a solid hit because they don't have the power to shoot all the way through the animal, except possibly on a head shot.

Almost forgot a very important point. The shorter rifle barrels tend to give higher velocities.
18 to 20 inchers are best. 24 inch and longer actually slow the bullets down because there is not enough powder in the Remingtons and CCi's to overcome the friction of those last few inches of a longer barrel as well as in the shorter barrels.
Also, the CCI CB shorts seem to have slightly higher velocities than the CB Long version.

This is a lot of info for such an obscure, weak load, but the information I have given is not anywhere close to common knowledge, and I know of no one personally who has fired as many of them as I have, outside of factory testing people, or who has killed as many animals as I have with this type of load, although two of my cousins I grew up with are a close second and third place.
Do with this information as you will.
Smoothshooter.

I had one raiding my garbage with neighbors too close for a gun. This was early on in my yard/garden control with a compound bow. 2 Tips, don't try to hold the flashlight between your knees, & use broadheads. The first possum ran off with my field tipped arrow.

I owned a 125lb Irish Setter that did not like possums. They did not survive.

Another case of over think, a CB in possums head will kill him
sure nuff. If you only shot once it won't draw much attention.
Most problem with people shooting pests at close range with a
22 is sighting. Most of these pest killing shots are made on a
steep angle down. Aiming at animals eye you will shoot over
him or just graze his noggin. Put a target on the ground to
simulate the shot you will take and you will see what I mean.
Shooting extreme angle up or down you have to hold low. The
old Carneys had a washer on a shaft with about 1/2" hole in it.
If you shot through the hole and rang bell you won a prize. I
saw guys shoot & shoot without figuring that out. You only had
to shoot 6'. Most of the stories about 22s not killing Varmits
are results of a miss or a hit in non vital area.

I emptied a K22 on a possum running across the porch. Hit it
6 times with LRs. It was still going strong until old gent that
owned the place beat it to death with his cane. It is no longer
his cane, it was the Possum Stick after that. Point was I didn't
hit it any where vital. It would probably have died but what would
it crawl up under first. A animal that size can put off an awful
stink under a porch or such.

They don't move very fast. Stomp it.

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Carry.."hope" isn't a strategy

I can't wait to see how this turns out in the morning

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

The cat food's been out for about an hour. No sign of the possum.

I was up real late last night. He didn't show until a little after 2am. I hope I don't nod off.

Coffee time.

Anyone know how to do a possum call?

Sounds like the excuse you need to tell your wife to justify a suppresser and the tax.

Do be careful to conform to all laws shooting in town.

Many towns animal control folks will bring out a live trap for you to use and come haul away the trap and trapped critter. You might want to try that.

Finally remember the "3 Ss" of a situation of this type:
1. Shoot
2 Shovel
3 Shut up!

I have an old Winchester mod 67 single shot .22 rifle that was cut down
to 19" barrel length by a previous owner. A .22 Short 29 gr solid will kill
a possum pretty quickly with a chest cavity shot. A 40 gr subsonic LR
will kill a good size coon or skunk easily with a chest cavity shot. Shoot
from inside your house with the muzzle inside and no one will notice a
single shot. Back when I lived in the city limits I took quite a few
rabbits late at night with .22 Short CBs. Seems like there are more
rabbits in town these days than there are in the country.

Four shots of Cuban espresso got me thinking.

I moved the POI of a wireless, infrared camera from our front door to our lawn where the cat food is.

Look at the photo. Right in the middle of the pic you'll see an elongated white spot. That's a white trash bag with cat food on it.

At least now I don't have to keep staring out the window like an idiot.

I mean I am an idiot to go to all this bother, but this makes it easier.

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I see a lot of possums in my yard, but they have never dug it up like in the pic you posted.

Armadillos do leave my yard looking exactly like the pic you posted. I take them out with a suppressed 10/22 and CCI subs or SV.

Shot a possum one night by mistake...all I had was a silhouette view of it, and it looked like an armadillo. One shot took it out instantly.

The last thing you want when killing in town is for a wounded animal to run off. That's how BIG problems happen.
The wrong person finds a wounded animal with a bullet or arrow in it and all hell can break loose - Think pictures in the paper, animal cruelty charges, etc.
If I'm going to shoot something in town it's going to be one careful shot with a standard velocity lead hollow point 22 from a scoped tack-driver rifle. I've heard its difficult for someone to determine location if there is only one shot.

I watched it digging last night. It was eating grubs or some other insects, I guess. Or maybe earthworms.

Or maybe it just enjoys tearing up my lawn and pissing me off.

Uh oh! If I do get nailed the PETA people will probably be pushing for a lethal injection for punishment.

I think I'll go out, eat the cat food myself and just go to bed.