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Nutria

airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited April 2002 in General Discussion
Florida is declaring war on Nutria as they are destroying crops, and the state wants 400,000 killed per year. With the state paying $4.00 per tail there's $1,600.000.00 to be made shooting these swimming rodents. Watching them swim around on TV it looks like a .22 would take care of the job.What round do you Floridians and experts recommend?
B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze[This message has been edited by airborne (edited 04-01-2002).]
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  • MercuryMercury Member Posts: 7,830 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Personally, it'd be more profitable to trap them, and then let them breed. Start your own Nutria farm! Put them in big cages you can move around the yard!Hehe.......
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mercury,Noticed you are from Tucson, I'm from the Phoenix area. Why don't we just load up and go to Florida and bag us 100,000 of these swimming rodents.
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In the eaely sixties they coverd the marsh's around here.We would shoot and skin anywere from a 100 to150 a night.We used .22 solid at the base of the shull.Never and I do mean never pick up a rat that is not dead.Tust me you dont wont to see what they can do.
    A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.
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  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    they are pretty much part of daily life around here in our salt marshes. A 22lr will do a fine job, all day long. FUN FUN FUN.
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    varmit hunter,If the tail is worth $4.00, whats a good pelt worth? I'm beginning to think about retirement, might just move to Florida, and hunt Nutria. A night or two a week getting 100 a night would definitely cover cost of food and ammo.
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • rg666rg666 Member Posts: 395 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Airborne, Along with ammo & food you forgot to mention FUN!! We have Nutria in Maryland too. They have invaded the Chesapeake Bay and are a big problem here. I'm sure its not as bad as Florida though. Maybe it would be a good test for the new .17 cal? What do you think guys? RG
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  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dont know about Florida.Being so far south,I dont think pelts would get very prime.I would go with the tail route.They only bring about $2-$2.50 around here.Not a lot of fun to skin.I am in zone 4 of the furr market.Florida is in 4a.That would put them about $1.50 to $2 for XL's.
    A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Okay, the decision has been made. As soon as I retire I'm going to cover the country and become a professional Nutria hunter. Is there a season on these Nutria?Might even trap a few and bring them back to Arizona so I can do some Nurtia hunting in my own back yard. They should be able to survive in our drainage ditches.Wonder how Nutria would co-habitate with jack rabbits, coyote and javelina?
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • thesupermonkeythesupermonkey Member Posts: 3,905 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I live right in the middle of town and the little buggers live in small creek! Guess I'll have to stick to the air rifle...
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    OK I give up,, what the hell is a nutria???
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    7mm nut...you know those Southerners...they always have to confuse us Yankees by calling a rat by a different name. I believe they used to call a lot of Yankees who came to help them after the Civil War nutria...no no that was carpet baggers!! Actually I was wondering how spectacular a head shot from a .22-250 would be on one of those varmints. Can you tell us Varmint Hunter? The hell with going to California to kill ground hogs I might just go to Florida with airborne and blast away at Nutria!!! Beach
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  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    a nutria is a larger version, although i don't beleive related to, the muskrat. It typicaly lives in or around a marsh or waterbound area and lives in dens under ground level. It burrows under the surface in tunnels and eats the roots of marsh grasses etc. This is the reason that the DNR has just about opened up the season on them with no rules whatsoever. About 40 yrs ago, they bought them into the area and now, they are destroying the salt marshes which are an extremely vital part of the ecosystem. the salt marsh is a giant filter and breeding ground for many of the small life forms which eventually end up food for larger and larger animals/fish. In our area, there is no limit, open season.Beachmaster, they are a lot closer than Fla.[This message has been edited by JustC (edited 04-01-2002).]
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  • COONASSCOONASS Member Posts: 2,068 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    a 22 is fine......beware of skipping bulletson the water........i fine solid points work the best.......small one's are great eating.......especially bar-b-qued......... *
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just C.....but the bounty on them is in Florida. I'm trying to work out how many I'd have to "harvest"(don't you just love some of those PC words?) to pay for the kids' visit to Disney World....the kids get to dance and sing with a litle rat and I get to shoot a big rat! There is some justice left in the world! Beach
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Beach, I'm loading all of my 30 rounders now, finally found a use for that .223!!
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  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    JustC,Knows nutria rats.Beach I shot one last month with my 22/250.He was dead before God got the news.Got him right behind the shoulder with a Hornady 55gr-V Max.He was the biggest I have shot in a long time 31lbs,And 43" from nose to tip of tail.I live in rice growing country.The water is carred to the fields by large man made cannals.The nutra burrow into the banks.Making large dens.This can cause the banks to blow out.This causes thousands of dollors in lost water and runed crops.To put it mildly WE HATE THEM.
    A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.[This message has been edited by varmit hunter (edited 04-01-2002).]
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Appears I got an interesting discussion going here. Since there is an open season on these Nutria, all we have to do is agree on a time to meet in Florida and help them out with this Nutria problem. After helping Florida out we can go to Texas and offer assistance there, and then migrate to Yankee coutry and clean up the problem in the Chesapeake Bay area.Where else do they have this Nutria over population? Sounds like we could make this an annual sojourn for a few years.Wonder if any live in Tennessee? Am sure Gore and his one friend would really get excited if we shot a few in his back yard.Thanks to all for you helpful input on this subject.
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I am feeling the need to visit Florida this year! I may not shoot as many with my Ruger #1V in .22-250 as some of you with 30 round mags but I'll bet it will be just as much fun! OK who is up for a summertime nutria hunt? Course it might be nice to find out if out-of-staters get to participate for pay. It might be nice just to shoot and see people who appreciate a shooter's efforts. I take it there are only two legged nutria in Palm Beach County? Are all of the real nutria in the north of Florida? Beach
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Varmint hunter...a 31 pound rodent!!!! In Michigan we call that Wolverine!! Beach
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Okay, beachmaster73. what's a good time of the year for you to go Nutria hunting?
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    beach, you can place a bid at the office of the Blackwater wildlife refuge, with the DNR for a certain piece of the refuge. If your bid is the highest for that piece, you can hunt it all year for Nutria. They give you, last I heard (5-6 yrs ago) something like a $3.65 credit per tail towards your bid. If you shoot enough, it would seem to me, you could shoot the land for free and maybe even pay for ammo. I have never investigated all of the rules for the bidding as I often have trouble finding someone to pay just to go shooting with me in a situation like that.I'm in for Florida if we can get a group together and a fair enough price. If we can get a farmer or landowner to let us help out for free,and collect the credit, then I'm all about that!!!! I can get 5 of us in the suburban comfortably.
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  • RugerNinerRugerNiner Member Posts: 12,636 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here is a Bio on the Rodent: http://www.nationaltrappers.com/nutria.html There is a Golf Course one mile from my house that has them on the course. There's about six of them that stay at one small lake(pond). An Invalid in a motorized wheelchair feeds them just about everyday.
    Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
    Keep your Powder dry and your Musket well oiled.
    NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Justc, you get it set up and we'll load up the trucks and have some fun! But what will the bunnie huggers think of this? Can we shoot them too? Just kidding!
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  • rg666rg666 Member Posts: 395 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    *******************************************Quote: After helping Florida out we can go to Texas and offer assistance there, and thenMigrate to Yankee country and clean up the problem in the Chesapeake Bay area.********************************************Airborne the (majority of) Chesapeake Bay is South of the Mason Dixon line. We in MD are "NOT" yankees (or NY Yankees baseball fans either). Since we are south of that demarcation we are part of the south. Only slight offense taken but if y'all come here and kill all the Nutria I'll forget it & call it even!!! RG
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  • travelortravelor Member Posts: 442 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How about if we meet in Georga, kill a thousand there, where there is less competition, then drive the tails down to Florida, where we can cashum in?And how about those two legged ones in Washington D.C.?
    keep lots of extra uppers for your ar..you can change often enough to keep the thing from over heating...what ever caliber fits the moment..~Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
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  • instrumentofwarinstrumentofwar Member Posts: 1,545 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Anybody up for a lil' snipe huntin'?
    When in doubt...."FRAG OUT!"
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  • the loveable rat...the loveable rat... Member Posts: 969 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    if anybody finds my little lost nutria(he answers to "lucky") please feed him some carmel corn and send him back to me on amtrak. reward $2.00. many thanks...
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  • wipalawipala Member Posts: 11,067
    edited November -1
    Guys you have't seen anything until you walk around the corner of a trail and seen what looks like a rat the size of a collie. Was visiting my brother in Texas and was walking in a city park looking at the scenery (female) and walked up on one. It was about 4 foot away and I don't know who was scared the most me the Nutria or everyone within earshot who heard me yell I
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  • wipalawipala Member Posts: 11,067
    edited November -1
    Check this out http://lionfish.ims.usm.edu/~musweb/nis/Myocastor_coypus.html
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  • stanmanstanman Member Posts: 3,052
    edited November -1
    Lots of the ROUSs(rodents of unusual size) here in the lowlands of the Pacific NW. But I can't say that I've noticed a huge increase in numbers over the last 35-40 years. Not a big increase in possum numbers either, however, the coyote population has increased dramatically! Maybe the song-dogs are keeping the ROUSs in check. Our once plentiful pheasant and grouse are now decimated.P.S. .22lr works well up to about 25-30 pounders at reasonable ranges. Is there a connection??Beats me, I'm an accomplished revisionist historian, not a zoologist.[This message has been edited by stanman (edited 04-02-2002).]
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  • Matt45Matt45 Member Posts: 3,185
    edited November -1
    Revisionist historian?????Izzat like a re-writer of history?? Yer NOT one of them fellers who says the Holocost didn't happen, are ya??
    Reserving my Right to Arm Bears!!!!
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I may have to fashion a bayonet stud on the end of my Ruger....if those critters are that big and I miss we may have to go to hand-to-paw combat! I don't know what the weather is like in Florida during August but I might be capable of getting off for a week of nutria "harvesting" then. God I really love those PC words! Beach
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  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Beach,We are not PC in Texas.If you come down here you can blow the He*l out of them.Since I am not to good at walking any more.I have a bench rest set up on the back of my Honda.I park on top of a rice cannal.Set up the calaber of the day.Break out the range finder.First thing is to break out the calls,And go for the coyotes.Then wate for the rats to come out and feed on the grass on the top of the cannal banks.Forgot to mention the crows landing in the fields.This being handicaped is not as bad as it is cracked up to be.O if we get bored there are Rosette Spoonbills every were you look.They turn a neat color when hit with a 22/250.For this you will need a little more vacation,Say five to ten years,And more travlers checks.$15000 to $20000 will cover it .Yes there is some things even the old varmit is PC about.
    A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.[This message has been edited by varmit hunter (edited 04-02-2002).]
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Varmint hunter....I can push your wheel chair or carry you to a good hide. I hear the beginnings of the great "2002 Gunbroker Nutria Hunt" beginning to sound. I'd even put up with all of you Southerners teasing this Yankee for the opportunity to blow a way a 31 pound rat!!!!! God You guys have big rats in Texas! Does sound like the Florida permit might be hard for an out of stater to obtain. Course now if any of you Floridians have a site and need some Yankee ammo to assist in the harvest festival..... I would do my best to be there. Beach
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  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I can make Fla. state line from chesapeake region in 12 hrs. We can meet at the homestead (near Salisbury Md) and ya'll can leave your vehicles in my driveway. I take it Beachmaster and 7mm nut are in, who else?
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You got enough room for all of my 30 round rat gun mags?!lol
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  • Miss. CreantMiss. Creant Member Posts: 300 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    They are danged good to eat.
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  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    rg666, forgot about that Mason Dixon line, accept my apology for that Yankee reference.Agree we all could make a big contribution in helping to control this Nutria problem. Not only could we collect the bounty, we would have alot of fun, and share alot of quality time together.Set up right we can research where the largest population of Nutria currently exist, and then schedule the best time to meet for our hunts. That way some could join us while we are in their neighborhood and then migrate to the next location where others could join in and share in the fun.Do you think we can get a Federal Government Grant to help support our effort?
    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't know about a federal grant...but I think the United States Navy might think of them as a "Hazard to Navigation" on the inland canals of the country and supply some .223 "hazard to navigation" ammo "to keep our inland water ways safe for the free flow of commerce"....or words to that effect. I don't know about any .22-250 ammo for that use but who knows....might even see if they would justify some .338 Lapua ammo as anti-nutria cruise missile ammo. Might work. Beach
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  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Beach,These rats could be part of a terrorist plot.Now that ought to rate a .223 contribution.Also grant money to compare this years impact with next years.Now yall(Texan for, you guys) know we have to have a impact study.I am thinking over a five year period.When the government hears impact study.Money will start flowing.Maybe new Lazzeroni War Eagles for all of us.Wait half of us will need lapulas,For comparison studies.Now we have to think about shirts.Gun Broker National Nutria Rat Eradication Team.Now we need a web site gbnnret.something........Time for my meds.
    A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.
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