Feral Cats are a legitimate predator!

Song Dog Assasin

Song Dog Assasin

New member
I like some of the cat shooting posts I've been reading lately. There is probably no other single predator that can lay claim to the sheer destruction of wildlife as the feral "house" cat. I was bowhunting whitetail deer last fall and had a cute little bunny hop past my stand. It crawled up in a bush about 10 yards away and sat there contently for approx. 20 minutes. Then along came a big tom cat from the neighbors farm. That rabbit busted out of the cover, and that cat was on top of him in under two seconds flat. He bit him in the neck and paralyzed him, then he left him twitching on the ground below my stand, he didn't even eat him. I would have shot him immediately but it was really getting toward the time of night that I normally see deer. Anyway I had a conibear with his name on it, along with three other cats that I trapped. I shot a cat last week with my .22, good riddance. Cats are just as wild and deadly a predator as any other once they get out the front door. A big tom-cat can get as big as some average size bobcats. Hey, my philosophy is that a cat's a cat. They are a trophy either way. Do yourself a deed to society, go kill a few cats today.
 
I agree 100%.

I whacked one about a month ago with my 25-06 shooting 75g V-Max's at 3600fps. Shot was at 200y and I'll tell ya what, that cat literally exploded. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I saw 'nother one around my house a few weeks ago but haven't seen it since. If I do though, it will be joining that other one!!

btw-This is my first post here. I have been reading around on here for a while but decided to finally register and join the great knowledge of this site. Being a member at GrayBeardOutdoors and RimfireCentral I'm not a newbie to these forums but still learning I guess on PredatorMasters. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Hildy,
Welcome to Predator Masters! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There was an article in an Ohio DNR magazine, about 2 years ago, (that I wished I would've kept) stating that the DNR recognized that there is a such thing as a Feral Cat in Ohio.

I don't agree with the fact that there are licenses, collars and leashes for dogs, but the damn cats are free to roam, defecate, breed and kill as they please. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

The best way to view a cat, is through a rifle scope. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Good hunting, Bowhunter57
 
I have a couple of cats in my house, but they are declawed and tamed. They have never been outside.

Now I see some feral cats from time to time out hunting, and I try and kill everyone I see.

Now if I'm hunting around some subdivisions, I might let one slide( key word is might).
 
I, too, have a siamese cat (The Tigger) who I dearly love. He is neutered, declawed on all four and NEVER leaves the house.

In about 30 years of hunting, I have only seen a couple of cats in the wild. I have seen any number of un-collared dogs. Once, I saw a couple of dogs chasing down a buck. (All on public land.)

I have never seen any parameters in writing for shooting stray dogs or feral cats..... I have never shot for fear of killing some child's pet..... I sure have wanted to. I don't think any "domestic" animal should be allowed to just run.

What parameters do you all use in making your shoot/don't shoot decisions?

me!
 
Funny this post came up when it did.

Just the other day I was driving down the road and a huge cat ran across the road, obviously hot on the trail. I though that was a little different.

Within the next 5-6 miles I saw 2 or 3 other cats out hunting in the fields or ditches along the highway These were quite a ways from any houses, so I wondered at that time if these were wild cats?

If the first one I saw was, it was an accomplished hunter, or catching high-carb meals. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I hate cats


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Well, ok let's begin. What is your caliber of choice for taking feral cats? Shooters, those of you with HMR's can join in, too.
 
I prefer a 223 with a fast moving V-Max or BT. Just thought the 25-06 would give me a nice show on impact for that one feline.

Very rarely do I see a feral cat around my property. Maybe once or twice a year if I am lucky so arsenal isn't really 'planned' out like my groundhoggin' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Speaking of....the ol' hogs are poppin' thier heads out. One was spotted at my favorite hoggin spot and another close to my house on another one of my spots. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
My weapon of choice is my Kemmer Stock Mountain Curs! I just love dogs chasing cats! Someday hopefully I'll get a cougar that way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
When I was a kid a Daisy Powerline .177 pellet between the eyes.
Way out in the country where feral cats roam they look like a sub-species.Kind of mottled, choclate,the males are big.
A feral cat will kill more quail and rabbits than a hunter will.
Sometimes I will go out on a Sunday afternoon to scout, etc.and shoot ferals with my 10/22.I like to see em' jump. :eek:
 
I heard that in some state, the wildlife dept defines a ferel cat as any cat more than 50 yards from a residence. Good regulation.

I have seen on our deer lease cats which are more than 4 miles from any house and those people did not own one. That makes this cat at least 6 miles from "home?"
 
Feral cats are very destructive on game birds, both young and old.

The sad thing is that “city folks” who’ve seen to many movies drop off cats (and dogs) around local ranches thinking they are “freeing” them, how they justify that is beyond me but whatever and some are just plain abandonment’s.

I have permission to hunt a local cattle ranch and I have been given explicit instructions on what I can and can not shoot, feral cats are the second highest on the list second only to coyote’s.

In a nutshell: if it has a collar and is clean, it belongs to the rancher’s wife. If not it’s a target.

Steve
 
I love shooting feral cats.
A fellow over here, Dr John Wamsley has started a series of reserves for our small native marsupials that are totally fenced and patrolled to ensure there are no cats or foxes within the reserve. He is controversial character and loves to upset those cat lovers who just can’t get it into their heads that their cat is a superbly efficient predator.

He was on the radio a couple of years ago (on the ABC, our national broadcaster) and it was a great interview to listen to while driving around the city. Some guy rang in and was trying to trip the Dr up on definitions and asked the doctor if he could tell a feral cat from a domestic cat. The doctor’s reply was that it is ridiculously easy, “The feral cat is easy to identify, it is the one outside its owners backyard”. I had to pull over to the verge I was laughing so hard.

Some areas of Australia are just overrun with the bloody things and our best night out with the spotlight and the 22.250 saw a tally of 18 cats.

My dad with a beauty that fell to my 22.250

dcat2.jpg


And sometimes we shoot them out of trees with the shotgun…
dcat3.jpg
 
Well..... I gotta admit..... That is a beautiful pattern in that cat's coat!

I e-mailed the Missouri Department of Conservation last night with my question about "regulations" for eliminating feral cats and wild dogs on MDC lands. I'll post the reply when I get one.

me!
 
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