Feral cats in Australia

[CBH Australia]

i thought of this topic after reading the thread on Best rifles for Feline menace . The title start had me think of our cats.
Do we consider spotlighting as hunting? I’m a shooter hunter. If I walk the creek looking for pigs I guess it’s hunting but my mate is a Keen deer hunter and hunts on foot in the more common snes of hunting I guess.
But he still spotlights getting. Feed of rabbits, we have spotlighted together to shoot foxes And got some pigs opportunistically.
I’ve shot a handful of cats maybe a couple of handfuls over 30 years. I get a sense of satisfaction taking a cat from the bush. Many shooters I’ve shot with or discussed shooting with hate cats with a passion (In the bush)
Many get great satisfaction shooting a cat in the bush. Actually I’ve seen grown men get excited after shooting a feral cat, not just their first one.
Anyone care to come in on shooting cats? I’ve shot them with a .22, ,223 and .308 and probably with .222 my first centrefire.
I’m looking forward to taking one with my .22-250 as it is now used a little for spotlighting.
I reckon my mate has taken a few with his beloved .220 swift being a rifle he has had a long time and was varminting a bit a bit in his younger days before getting a start deer hunting at 48 I think he said.

 

[CAustin]

I just watched a YouTube video on this very subject today! I guess it is a major problem down under!

 

[CBH Australia]

They are widespread and probably a problem in some ares impacting on wildlife.
Hoping it makes for good conversation

 

[BenKK]

Mostly .22-250, but also .22LR, .177 air rifle, .243 and .300H&H.

 

[BenKK]

I hate them, they’re devastating.

 

[CBH Australia]

Mostly .22-250, but also .22LR, .177 air rifle, .243 and .300H&H.

.300H&H, they beeed em big in the Territory .
But seriously dont let an opportunity go by.
Cats have no place in the Australian bush and we dont have approved pesticides for various reasons but researchers are testing various options to put forward as either a delivery method or poison.
Bear in mind there are rigourous requirements for approvals but they have long disregarded baiting based on the belief that cats wont take a bait or eat carrion. Perhaps many wont but various observations show many will.

 

[BRICKBURN]

One more reason for us to celebrate those bloody cold winters up here. The little vermin can't survive.
Minimal snakes and no feral cats.

I'd be happy to test out every last caliber on your problem and let you know the results.

 

[Newboomer]

I second that. I hate damn things and would just love the chance to ventilate as many as possible. My late wife always had to have one of them around and I had great fun chasing the bastard around the house. The last one would go outside in the morning. There were coyotes around and it made my day when I saw one running across the field with a black thing hanging out of it's mouth. Cat didn't come home that day.

 

[Badboymelvin]

From talking to most people the perfect cat rifle is the one you have in your hands at the time!
Everything from .22's to .458Lotts!

And again, talking to most hunters they are despised...

I have only shot 1 feral cat (so far...) and I hit it with a .308.
It was a poor shot and I hit it too far back but the 180gn soft point nearly blew him in half.
And hand on heart this is the truth, the cat managed to crawl away about 50m or more, then jumped in a dam and started trying to swim in circles! I then managed to deliver the coup de grace - but I was astounded on how tough it was.
If I didn't see it with my own 2 eyes I wouldn't have believed it...

Cheers,

Russ

 

[nztimb]

Have taken a few when out after rabbits so they have succumbed (rapidly) to the 20 VT. There is no argueing with a 35gn 2o at 3700fps

 

[sambarhunter]

Did my wild dog trapline one morning and there were no dogs trapped but this weirdo marked cat in one trap and one fox in another.
The cat was dead and the drag on the trap chain was dragged far too far for any cat. Wild dogs had killed the trapped cat and dragged/played with it.
Very unusual markings....anyway I have shot frigging HEAPS of feral cats...there is no quarter here.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Shot almost three hundred one summer while working as night watchmen at a fish meal plant. Ignorant people would drive up nightly and throw bags out kittens/old cats they no longer wanted. The said truth was I didn't make much of a difference on the population.

The real trophy ones were the second generation wild ones, they were way less likely to give you a shot.

Used a .22 gallery gun and shorts for my adventures. Sometimes long rifles when I really had to reach out to touch em.

 

[Dr Ray]

I just watched a YouTube video on this very subject today! I guess it is a major problem down under!

Certainly are. They kill thousands of native animals every night.
Where I have shot a few cats with a 222 the army had exercises there.
The soldiers shot literally hundreds of feral cats there At Quilpie - a 1000 miles from the
East coast and an opal mining place.
That was over a weekend I think.

 

[tunatoy76]

Central QLD is over run with them, they can survive nearly anywhere with barely any water but plenty of native wildlife. Growing up I shot them, live trapped them, had pig dogs kill them, ran over them, baited them etc. I've seen them kill and eat wallabies and young kangaroos, they kill and eat every available food source from tiny insects through to carrion. Most memorable one ran up a hollow log, I chased it out with an skk starting at one end of the log and moving along and as it came out two browning a5's with sg's rubbed it into the dirt. Hate them with a passion

 

[DieJager]

Becoming a huge problem in the Netherlands, but as usual we cannot do anything about them...

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

a length of six inch stove pipe with a can of sardines in the middle and a 110 conabear in each end works wonders also...

 

[Opposite Pole]

I've shot feral cats as big as foxes in NSW. I've shot them with 17HMR, 22-250 and 375H&H once. Basically any rifle I had in hand. We see feral cats in Poland too, but are not allowed to shoot them. Same thing with stray dogs. Animal lovers campaign too strongly against it. I guess they love some animals more than others...

 

[WAB]

We get them on our farm. They typically don’t last long!

 

[putter97127]

I have a question... Is it bad luck to shoot a black cat? We have one roaming around our place. I want to shoot it, but my wife says karma will get me.....

 

[Opposite Pole]

I have a question... Is it bad luck to shoot a black cat? We have one roaming around our place. I want to shoot it, but my wife says karma will get me.....

Nah, you’ll be fine, just make sure the cat doesn’t see ya