# Thoughts on shooting rats



## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

I have bird feeders in the garden and recently have at least one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. A big rat! Maybe my slingshots will have a useful purpose after all. However I believe it is technically illegal to shoot a rat with a slingshot or bow where I'm from. This combined with my relatively poor shooting skills means I will probably use other methods. I may just stop feeding the birds.

But anyway i have been practicing on rat sized objects from long range. Quite different to the sort of shooting I'm used to. I am using a large starship with Black Thera tubing and 0.75 inch lead balls. At a range of 30 yards, there is significant drop which makes the shot hard to judge. But even at this distance, the big lead balls go through 1/4 inch plywood like it's not even there.


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

ARB said:


> I have bird feeders in the garden and recently have at least one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. A big rat! Maybe my slingshots will have a useful purpose after all. However I believe it is technically illegal to shoot a rat with a slingshot or bow where I'm from. This combined with my relatively poor shooting skills means I will probably use other methods. I may just stop feeding the birds.
> 
> But anyway i have been practicing on rat sized objects from long range. Quite different to the sort of shooting I'm used to. I am using a large starship with Black Thera tubing and 0.75 inch lead balls. At a range of 30 yards, there is significant drop which makes the shot hard to judge. But even at this distance, the big lead balls go through 1/4 inch plywood like it's not even there.


Use a trap a live trap then call and have it picked up by the authorities. Hate to injure something even a rat without a clean kill. Oh I know how bout a 22 pellet rifle with a nipple silincer.


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

ARB said:


> I have bird feeders in the garden and recently have at least one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. A big rat! Maybe my slingshots will have a useful purpose after all. However I believe it is technically illegal to shoot a rat with a slingshot or bow where I'm from. This combined with my relatively poor shooting skills means I will probably use other methods. I may just stop feeding the birds.
> 
> But anyway i have been practicing on rat sized objects from long range. Quite different to the sort of shooting I'm used to. I am using a large starship with Black Thera tubing and 0.75 inch lead balls. At a range of 30 yards, there is significant drop which makes the shot hard to judge. But even at this distance, the big lead balls go through 1/4 inch plywood like it's not even there.


I live in england and i shoot rats with my slingshots, rats cause a lot of desease, when they walk they dribble pee, if you have dogs dont leave your feed bowls down cos i know of people that have lost there dogs through rats drinking and feeding out of there bowls, 
if you cant hit them trap them, jeff


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## stelug (Feb 6, 2010)

trap with glue and ad then kill with the slingshot. then dont touch, burn. rats parassites may be dangeros for human.


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

I agree. If your shooting isn't up to par yet, trap the rascal. You can live trap him and finish him off up close or use a kill trap (though this might pose a danger to the birds). In any case, use gloves when handling the body.


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

I know this is a slingshot forum, but a blowgun with a broadhead dart will take a rat and with just a little practice they are extremely accurate. I hate rats! If you find one, there are ten more you haven't seen! I shoot them with slingshots too, but at close range a blowgun with a broadhead dart is deadly!


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## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

Unfortunately, blowguns are banned where I live. Also, all crossbows and any air gun >1 joule require a permit, they are basically treated like firearms. Bows cannot be used for hunting, not even for vermin. Airguns can be used but I doubt a rat would notice if he was shot with a 1 joule airgun!

Oh and anything which discharges a noxious substance is banned - so no pepper spray either


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## njenkins (Feb 3, 2010)

Practice your bushcraft and snare/trap em. If nothing else it's good practice to keep your skills up.


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## Sarge (Dec 18, 2009)

ARB said:


> any air gun >1 joule require a permit,


Surely you jest! 1 joule wouldn't be much more than a BB gun.


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## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

Sarge said:


> Surely you jest! 1 joule wouldn't be much more than a BB gun.


Nope, it's true. In Ireland, any airgun above 1 joule needs a permit from the police. In the UK there is also a threshold beyond which you need a permit. But at least there the threshold is a fairly useful 12 ft/lbs for an air rifle or 6 ft/lbs for an air pistol


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## Deimos (Dec 24, 2009)

you'd need a special pouch to hold the rats, I don't think they'll sit still


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Deimos said:


> you'd need a special pouch to hold the rats, I don't think they'll sit still


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## statikpunk (Dec 24, 2009)

here is an idea!....move someplace with less rules!







ha just kiddn' i wanna see Ireland so bad you wouldnt believe it. i live far enough out in the country that if i wanna dump a clip of 7.62x39 out of my ak-47 at a rat i can (and have







) but I say shoot at it with your slingshot, even if your not the best of shots,  it sounds like your shooting hard enough to kill, no matter where you hit it. I have killed tons of rabbits with my slingshot with "not so great" of shots. the fact is, if you pack enough punch even a bad shot will stop its little heart. and if you miss, well then you just get to try again tomorrow







practice makes perfect after all







Im all for making a clean kill but when it comes to rats and pidgeons ...lead in the air! is what I say. good luck with your rat problem

oh and follow pelleteers advice and use gloves! those l;ittle buggers can have some nasty diseases.


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## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks for the responses! Statikpunk, I agree with your thoughts on power and shot placement. I reckon my current setup is shooting at at least 45 ft/lbs. A solid impact on any part of a rat body is probably going to be gory. Thinking more about this though, I am reluctant to shoot at anything living, even a rat. Have never hunted or killed anything. Maybe the live trap method is best.

Funny how some of the most powerful slingshots on this forum belong to those with no little or no interest in hunting


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## stelug (Feb 6, 2010)

ARB said:


> Funny how some of the most powerful slingshots on this forum belong to those with no little or no interest in hunting


Interesting thought, I think most of us in youtness (for me hal century ago) started as little poachers and cover killers. But ageing you look at any kind of lives (rats excepts for me







) as rearlly precious. So you become reluctant to shut it. But this has nothing to do with slinghshot passion. There is (as in bow) an art of the perfect shoots thats is what rearly fascinate me. But I do not blame intesinves hunters too, I joined the lust of stalking and hitting, and if random a met e good prey..... here is again is more a matter of the art of shotting than the kill itself, and probability are way more for the hunted. Sorry, b d english hope you all undestrad.


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## njenkins (Feb 3, 2010)

Your not gonna eat it (at least I hope not







) So lead for ammo is a great option here, in my opinion. It packs so much more force and causes much more trauma than steel shot. I'd definitely be testing out lead with those buggers. You can't use it much for anything (not if you wanna eat it) so I'd use lead when eating is not an option.

Then again, rat is a delicacy in many countries.


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## statikpunk (Dec 24, 2009)

WOW! arb 45 ft/ibs that is a ton! how did you calculate that? you would incinerate a rat. anyway if you are morally against killing, well thats fine, nothing wrong with that. but if your not shooting it just because it would be your first ...well I say no time like the present. like many of the others said, rats are nasty little critters and when it comes to protecting your family and pets the only good rat is a dead rat. if your not gonna shoot it, dont hesitate to get a trap out for it









and njenkins you dont have to worry about hunting with lead, as long as you dont eat the lead you will be fine. lead does not transfer anything harmfull to your meat unless, you leave it in there for a long time, (longer than the meat would stay good for) as a matter of fact lead is optimum for hunting its heavy weight transfers more energy and makes for cleaner kills.


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## njenkins (Feb 3, 2010)

Good to know. Thanks static.


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## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

statikpunk said:


> WOW! arb 45 ft/ibs that is a ton!


See pic for explanation







I love shooting this brute and am quite accurate with it.

PS Joerg has gotten at least 60 ft/lbs from his creations and that's without a fork extension or wrist brace!


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## NightKnight (Dec 16, 2009)

ARB said:


> WOW! arb 45 ft/ibs that is a ton!


See pic for explanation







I love shooting this brute and am quite accurate with it.

PS Joerg has gotten at least 60 ft/lbs from his creations and that's without a fork extension or wrist brace!








[/quote]

Nice rig!!


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

If eating meat that had been shot with lead would kill you I would have been dead a long time ago. I have eaten meat shot with a shotgun and a 22 all my life (yep it was lead shot). I was carful not to eat any of the shot though. By the way the last time I checked the meat packers were using a lead 22 short to stun hogs before killing them, but that has been awhile back though. Tex


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Rats dont just spread disease they do a lot of damage, this one cost me £60 for new wires what they chewed through, plus i was without a car for 3 days, jeff

SORRY IF THIS PHOTO AFENDS ANYONe, THE RAT DIED OUTRIGHT<


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## jmplsnt (Jan 1, 2010)

I think I would prefer it suffered, seeing how you are minus 60 quid and your ride was down for three days. Not as good as a catty kill but still very fine!


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

jmplsnt said:


> I think I would prefer it suffered, seeing how you are minus 60 quid and your ride was down for three days. Not as good as a catty kill but still very fine!


I couldnt get a shot at it, it took some getting, had tried all sorts on the trap, so i put on what it was eating, chocolate spread with a bit of wire in it ha ha, that done it, i shoot rats up the farm nearly every day, i use a pocket shooter with green thera band on it and a 8mm steel ball, like this. jeff


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

ARB, unfortunately 'technically illegal' is just illegal. You'll have to find some other way. The good thing about birds vs rats is you just put out a feeding table and only birds will be able to get on. When there is no food for the rats, they'll stop coming.


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Rats aren't loners. They live in groups. Killing just one won't help.

The pros are using rat poison, the type that kills them after a few days. Rats are clever, if they find new food they let the youngsters eat it first and it may take 48 hours before the oldest rat will try it, too.

You have to take care with that poison, it kills humans as well. But IMHO this is the only way to get rid of the problem.

Even traps only work for one rat or two, then the other beasts will avoid the trap altogether.

What about some cats? This works as long as you don't overfeed them.

Jörg


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## ARB (Dec 31, 2009)

Fortunately, Rattie hasn't appeared for around 10 days. Hopefully he's not holed up somewhere raising a family







Anyway I now have a live trap for him if he reappears.


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Rattie's probably lurking on this forum.


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

shot in the foot said:


> I have bird feeders in the garden and recently have at least one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. A big rat! Maybe my slingshots will have a useful purpose after all. However I believe it is technically illegal to shoot a rat with a slingshot or bow where I'm from. This combined with my relatively poor shooting skills means I will probably use other methods. I may just stop feeding the birds.
> 
> But anyway i have been practicing on rat sized objects from long range. Quite different to the sort of shooting I'm used to. I am using a large starship with Black Thera tubing and 0.75 inch lead balls. At a range of 30 yards, there is significant drop which makes the shot hard to judge. But even at this distance, the big lead balls go through 1/4 inch plywood like it's not even there.


I live in england and i shoot rats with my slingshots, rats cause a lot of desease, when they walk they dribble pee, if you have dogs dont leave your feed bowls down cos i know of people that have lost there dogs through rats drinking and feeding out of there bowls, 
if you cant hit them trap them, jeff
[/quote]

Got the point now. Have a big dog and she makes a sport of killing rats and she keeps them to show us her kills in the morning. She will kill anthing that happans to come into our front or back yard that she occupies. I keep her feed bucket in her house and worries about her bucket till its eaten. Am aware that rats cannot controltheir bladders and they piddle on every thing. On send thought bang um all you can to protect the doggies.


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Shot in the Foot-1 / Rat-0!







Did you actually trap him inside the engine compartment or just lay him there for the pic to show where he'd been doing damage?

As far as rats being smart, I can verify this after 20 years of pet rat ownership. The little rascals find all sorts of creative ways to get into and out of virtually anything (including their cages). They can also gnaw through virtually anything, especially if the promise of food is involved. I can imagine wild rats are even more cunning, being that they have to be sharp enough to survive outdoors, rather than being well-fed and fat like my pets.







I don't think cats would be the solution, as ARB wants to keep the birds around and just get rid of the rats. Cats will kill off both, unfortunately.


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

pelleteer said:


> Shot in the Foot-1 / Rat-0!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes i got that rat on my engine, i always put rope on the trap incase the rat is not killed outright and run off with a trap on it, even though i hate rats they done deserve to suffer for too long, rats are a very clever animal, on the farm i have seen rats pushing eggs along the floor and into things to smash them, 
i have seen rats tapping rat traps to set them off with there feet, jeff


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

shot in the foot said:


> Yes i got that rat on my engine, i always put rope on the trap incase the rat is not killed outright and run off with a trap on it, even though i hate rats they done deserve to suffer for too long, rats are a very clever animal, on the am i have seen rats pushing eggs along the floor and into things to smash them,
> i have seen rats tapping rat traps to set them off with there feet, jeff


No wonder rats are so successful and prolific in the wild.







I'd love to see one rolling an egg. That's hilarious.


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## Jmbr6394 (Sep 16, 2021)

ARB said:


> I have bird feeders in the garden and recently have at least one unwelcome visitor to the feeders. A big rat! Maybe my slingshots will have a useful purpose after all. However I believe it is technically illegal to shoot a rat with a slingshot or bow where I'm from. This combined with my relatively poor shooting skills means I will probably use other methods. I may just stop feeding the birds.
> 
> But anyway i have been practicing on rat sized objects from long range. Quite different to the sort of shooting I'm used to. I am using a large starship with Black Thera tubing and 0.75 inch lead balls. At a range of 30 yards, there is significant drop which makes the shot hard to judge. But even at this distance, the big lead balls go through 1/4 inch plywood like it's not even there.


0.75in lead balls? Isn't that a bit much, 50 Cal/11.5mm ought to be enough, the reason why it is hard to judge is because the size of lead ball you are using, there will be a massive drop over distance, all projectiles have a drop over great distance, what you need to do is establish your ideal stalking range which you can hit the target consistently, it's not so much the size of lead balls, just more what you are used to


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## raulvillalobosjr (Sep 15, 2021)

I would do it for learning purposes.


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## Cass (Nov 16, 2020)

Be very careful with poison, my father's dog was killed after eating poisoned mice, she bled to death, terrible


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