MW II (Muskrat War) has now begun!

[Crow Hunter]

After having a hiatus of 3 or 4 years without the little vermin, my wife thought she saw scouts a month or so ago. I could not ever confirm the beginning of a new invasion but I have confirmation as of last night.

Opening shots were fired for a loss of 1 muskrat confirmed and one possible at a range of ~85yds downhill.

I hope I have blunted their first sortie and they will retreat to a neighbors lake as I am down to my last box of CCI 40 gr HP .22 Magnum ammo and have not been able to find more.

However, MW 1 resulted in 13 muskrat casualties as well as several abandoned entrenchments/fortresses that I had to fill back in after discovery by my mower collapsing them and getting stuck and almost dumping me in the lake. :mad:

It was nearly dark when I fended off the first assault so I was unable to get pictures of the floating corpse. Plus it was supper time and my wife had made crock pot dressing right before spotting the initial thrust in the lake.;)

If this continues I may need to upgrade from my Marlin 25M & $8 Simmons closeout scope. Not really the best optic for very low light shooting (like wearing sunglasses at night) and the Marlin trigger is kind of a large diameter wet stick as opposed to a glass rod break.

Death to the lake invaders!

[Airhasz]

Try stuffing a couple of those rats in said crock/pot for a snack.

[Hmac]

Been there, done that. Many muskrat kills from my home office window. Destructive little buggers. Burrow into the banks, climb up into boat motor wells and chew the wiring.... many reasons to put 'em down. Best time is in the spring as the ice begins to pull away from the shore. They love to climb up on the edge of the ice to sun. Meat on the table. I had been using a Henry lever action in .17. Less chance of ricochet, but last year I opted for the substanitally enhanced accuracy of my good old 10-22 with match barrel and 14x scope.

[Crow Hunter]

Been there, done that. Many muskrat kills from my home office window. Destructive little buggers. Burrow into the banks, climb up into boat motor wells and chew the wiring.... many reasons to put 'em down. Best time is in the spring as the ice begins to pull away from the shore. They love to climb up on the edge of the ice to sun. Meat on the table. I had been using a Henry lever action in .17. Less chance of ricochet, but last year I opted for the substanitally enhanced accuracy of my good old 10-22 with match barrel and 14x scope.

I wouldn't have a problem with them if they would stop burrowing into the banks. Having the ground give way under you and causing you to lurch precariously to the side while right next a lake on top of a machine with 3 spinning blades on it is not a pleasant experience.

I have thought about getting a nice .17HMR and mounting a real scope (instead of a metal tube with 2 pieces of coke bottle bottoms in it). I just haven't broken down and done it yet.

I have made shots at a ranged 125+ yards with my current setup on the little buggers but it takes some effort and usually a sighter shot. Luckily they are dumb enough and I am far enough away that they don't realize they are being shot at and will swim on top of the water letting me correct my aim. I would rather make one shot kills though.

How did the .17 perform for you?

[Hmac]

I wouldn't have a problem with them if they would stop burrowing into the banks. Having the ground give way under you and causing you to lurch precariously to the side while right next a lake on top of a machine with 3 spinning blades on it is not a pleasant experience.

I have thought about getting a nice .17HMR and mounting a real scope (instead of a metal tube with 2 pieces of coke bottle bottoms in it). I just haven't broken down and done it yet.

I have made shots at a ranged 125+ yards with my current setup on the little buggers but it takes some effort and usually a sighter shot. Luckily they are dumb enough and I am far enough away that they don't realize they are being shot at and will swim on top of the water letting me correct my aim. I would rather make one shot kills though.

How did the .17 perform for you?

The .17 is a fantastic round for varmints of around that size, IMHO, especially shooting in an open area like a lake. Very high velocity, flat shooting, good range. Takes the little bastards out right now...if you hit them. Reportedly, the velocity and frangibility decreases the risk of richochet, which is an attractive concept to me given the proximity of neighbors in our bay. I went back to my 10-22 mainly because the Henry Golden Boy, while a very pretty rifle, just isn't well-suited to a scope and just doesn't fulfill the accuracy promise that you'd normally expect from a .17 HMR. I'd consider converting the 10-22 to .17, but I prefer the .22 for porcupine in the woods, almost as big a pest as the muskrats. Likewise, beavers. Another major nuisance varmint.

Around here, the other big problem with the muskrats is their tendency to climb into the outdrive wells of boats and chew up the cabling. My boat's an inboard and is on a lift well out of the water, but in the past I've shelled out a lot of money to repair muskrat damage, both to boats and shoreline. Four years ago, my neighbor shot 80 muskrats in one summer. Quite the crusade. While still around, their population has never really recovered and I usually end up nailing only about 6 or 8 per year, usually at ice-out in the spring.

[mark5pt56]

I trapped these guys growing up in NY, are the hides worth anything now? I wasn't big time, maybe 6-8 rats a day alongside barnwork. In 1979-80 dollars, 4-8 per hide was good money for a teenager. Get some traps and have fun, advise on body traps or if using leg traps, use water sets so they drown. Of course, I always left "seeds" so I had more to trap, but you need them gone.

[Crow Hunter]

I trapped these guys growing up in NY, are the hides worth anything now? I wasn't big time, maybe 6-8 rats a day alongside barnwork. In 1979-80 dollars, 4-8 per hide was good money for a teenager. Get some traps and have fun, advise on body traps or if using leg traps, use water sets so they drown. Of course, I always left "seeds" so I had more to trap, but you need them gone.

Shooting them is more fun. :)

Plus, knowing my luck, I would trap someone's pet.

I have heard they are still worth some. However, I don't want to go to the trouble, I just want them to stop digging holes.

I saw another one on Saturday but it was in a location that I didn't have a good shooting angle on. There is an arc I won't shoot because of the chance of ricochets. I hope they haven't figured that out, otherwise I will have to actually "hunt them" and get a better angle on them instead of shooting them off the deck.:p

[Fly'nBuff]

Try stuffing a couple of those rats in said crock/pot for a snack.

Just in time for Lent! Maybe it's a sign?