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Opinions, please: Will this be enough to dispatch a possum? (Yes, it did the job).
- Thread starter mikem
- Start date
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.
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.
max503
Member
Red Pepper Flakes? Really?
I'm half Mexican. Pepper flakes or spray just makes me hungry.
I'm half Mexican. Pepper flakes or spray just makes me hungry.
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double-dipper
Member
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.
gman51
Member
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.
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.
hkcavalier
US Veteran
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.
As for the terminal effects, anything we've described will work with a head shot.
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...)
IAhunter
Member
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.........
Check your city ordinances. Sometimes, using a pellet or BB gun is illegal too.
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.
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.
Attachments
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Man v. marsupial—a battle for the ages!
Electraclyde
Member
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.
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!
smoothshooter
Member
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.
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.
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smoothshooter
Member
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.
nachogrande
Member
ONCE UPON A TIME.
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 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.
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MichiganScott
Member
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!!
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.
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.
