dcmdon
NES Member
Anything will work. I'd use a .22 or 9mm pistol caliber carbine. The key thing is to keep shooting until it is down. Don't stop after one shot. The faster it dies the more humane the kill.
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Nothing yet.... Critter hasn't been seen for a few days.OP - what did you end up doing, if anything?
Beat me to it. Porcupine are the rats of the woods, but it would be a last resort for me.Funny thing though, Navy SERE training describes porcupines as the easiest meal in the woods. They teach you to walk up and rap them on the nose with a stout stick; dead pig
This is going to start a which caliber is better war.8 months later: Neighbor calls... Its back. Go up there. There it is. Shot it. It takes off for the brush. Shot at it 3 more times, hit it twice more. It made it to the thicket where I couldn't follow. I'm not a hunter (yet.) First living thing I've ever shot.... It made it back into the woods with 3 rounds of 9mm hollow point to the body.... Is that unusual? (Some will say I missed... I didn't... Quills went flying when it got hit.)
8 months later: Neighbor calls... Its back. Go up there. There it is. Shot it. It takes off for the brush. Shot at it 3 more times, hit it twice more. It made it to the thicket where I couldn't follow. I'm not a hunter (yet.) First living thing I've ever shot.... It made it back into the woods with 3 rounds of 9mm hollow point to the body.... Is that unusual? (Some will say I missed... I didn't... Quills went flying when it got hit.)
This is going to start a which caliber is better war.
Everyone knows that 9 is only good for bears.No, it's going to end the "Which caliber is better?" war.
Hint: 9mm lost.
8 months later: Neighbor calls... Its back. Go up there. There it is. Shot it. It takes off for the brush. Shot at it 3 more times, hit it twice more. It made it to the thicket where I couldn't follow. I'm not a hunter (yet.) First living thing I've ever shot.... It made it back into the woods with 3 rounds of 9mm hollow point to the body.... Is that unusual? (Some will say I missed... I didn't... Quills went flying when it got hit.)
This.It's possible that you hit mostly quills (some of which are long and extend far out from the body), but no vital organs were damaged enough to stop it right away. If you got rounds into its actual body, it may be out there dying a slow death.
Was there any blood left behind?
It's all about location. I've seen trapped ground hogs take multiple 22LR to kill at close range and also seen one dropped instantly in a field with a single .22 air rifle pellet to the head from distance.8 months later: Neighbor calls... Its back. Go up there. There it is. Shot it. It takes off for the brush. Shot at it 3 more times, hit it twice more. It made it to the thicket where I couldn't follow. I'm not a hunter (yet.) First living thing I've ever shot.... It made it back into the woods with 3 rounds of 9mm hollow point to the body.... Is that unusual? (Some will say I missed... I didn't... Quills went flying when it got hit.)
Back in the day, American Indians would never kill a porcupine, because they did not wander far, and when nothing else was around to eat, you could go back then and dispatch it, and save your family from starving. It was like meat in a fridge, but back before fridges existed.Funny thing though, Navy SERE training describes porcupines as the easiest meal in the woods. They teach you to walk up and rap them on the nose with a stout stick; dead pig.
i agree, a ground hog is 2X harder to kill than a porkerIt's all about location. I've seen trapped ground hogs take multiple 22LR to kill at close range and also seen one dropped instantly in a field with a single .22 air rifle pellet to the head from distance.
Wondered how long it would take for this thread to go off the rails!And which marriage are you on?