Porcupine Hunting

I think hunters get a bunch of flack for a lot things. We help control the animal population. It doesn't matter what the reasoning is for hunting or shooting something. we will always hear how cruel it is. So what if you shoot a few porupines if it saves a few trees why not. I once heard a saying and it went somthing like this. Save a tree shoot an elk. Thats my opinion on it.
 
I made the point that in my area...these porcupines have ZERO natural predators and without the occasional hunt, who knows how many their would be.

I had a specific individual toss out critters such as these being natural predators of the Porcupine. (clearly all she did was a google search)
Fisher, Martens, wolverines, eagles, great horned owls, lynx, bobcats and wolves. AND PYTHONS.

Owls, Eagles, and Bobcats being the ONLY ones found in the south western part of South Dakota...bobcats being 10x more rare than porcupines, and the only raptors in our area that try and eat porcupines, typically dont live very long. We've seen one in 15 years pic at a carcass and die from quill ingestion.

OH...yes...she used PYTHONS as a natural predator of Porcupines in western south dakota.
 
I use porkies for bait. Bobcats, coyotes, fox all love porkie meat. I also pick the quills and guard hairs off and try to salvage the skulls.
 
Originally Posted By: TA17remCoyotes will kill and eat porky's. They just have to get it flipped over on its back and then they can kill and eat it.

As for the quills if a coyote or any other animal gets some under the skin the quills will soften up over time and then decay. The only time a dog or any other animal would be in danger is if the quills get into the eye or throat..

i had a dog get into a prickley, i got most of the quills out but some must of broken off in her nose, a month or so later she was actin up wouldn't eat so i took her to the vet and he told me the quills that broke off in the top of her snout had worked their way through, and were now comming out inside the roof of her mouth, thankfully he got them removed, i have had guys tell me that a quill will eventually work its way all the way inside the dogs brain or throat if not taken out properly, which may be far fetched, but not sure. I have killed many porcupines in my trees and left em lay, with in a few days there were some yote trackes by the carcass but nothing would eat on em even if they were belly up.
 
I've killed quite a few porcupines but I dont shoot every one of them that I see.I used to but most of the time I see them when I'm tryin to call in a bobcat or a coyote so I dont shoot because I dont wanna spook the other critters.I saw at least 35 or 40 of them a few years ago.I saw all of those in about 3 months.
I've had to pull quills out of quite a few dogs and thats never fun.For not havin very many trees where I live there are some areas that are full of those critters.I've even started seeing some out on the prairie where there are'nt very many trees at all so I have no clue where they live.I seen 2 get stuck in a culvert one time because they tryed to get in at the same time.So I guess the ones that I see that are'nt around any trees live in holes and stuff like that but I dont know for sure.
Dust-I think that would work just fine but I usually flip them over to where there are'nt any quills just in case a coyote or bobcat decides to eat the porcupine.I've done that several times and came back to the same spot the next day and all that was there was a pile of quills.
 
as promised... here was a nice sweet video i made using a bunch of "quoted comments" from all the nice people that put animal rights above human rights. silly kids.

Enjoy.

 
I have shot quite a few of them and the ranchers I talked to graciously thanked me. I too roll them on their back to make them easier to be grazed on. Someone also told me that a Mt. lion will make quick work of a porker. Thought I would also add that some places will pay for quills to make native american artwork if you were willing to go through that.
 
Porcupines eat antler sheds. I've heard the only natural predator they have is the Pine Martin. Not many of them in the lower 48. A wildlife biologist from Pennsylvania told us this at the "Grand National Grouse Championship" back in '84-'85? He'd catch them by hand and pick them up by their tails. He'd smoothen out the quills with a stick run down their backs and then use his hand and stroke it like you'd pet a dog and grab a hold of a hand full of tail quills and hoist them up. Many animals well eat dead Porcupines, but only the Martins will hunt them and kill them. I had a bird dog once that never learned her lesson. I think she thought that she'd get revenge "this" time.

+1 on the good shot!
 
yesm the Martin is the only one I have heard about that will hunt and kill and eat the porcupine...and even if they are RARE in the lower 48, they are NONEXISTENT in western south dakota.

sure, occasionally some critter ('yote, bobcat) will get hungry and take its chances, or some critter will figure out how to eat a porky, but to say that because a couple can...doesnt qualify an entire species as a natural porky predator

It's funny how many comments i've gotten on the video about me being a bad shot because i shot it 3 times. Sure, next time when I do it with the .416 barrett only one shot will be necessary...it will be flying out of the tree. but when you shoot it with the good ole .22lr it takes a couple before it lets go.
 
That is awesome! I bet the comments would stop if every hunter killed a varmint in the name of each person that made a stupid comment! That way they'd be responsible for the bloodshed! Ah! I freakin love it!
 
Porcupines may be good for something, but I don't know what. Riding a ski chairlift up 20 or 30' off the ground you can really see how much damage they do to a grove of trees. Ring the tree and it dies from there up. Just one porky in an area can be very destructive. A rancher friend doesn't want them around his cattle. I know several dog owners who've spent small fortunes on vet bills. And porcupine flesh is so stinky it's hard to imagine anything wanting to eat them. A friend's wife used to make Indian jewelry with quills, so every now and then he'd shoot one in the head and skin it. Finally he said no more, they just smell too foul. I kill them whenever I see them. One night I emptied two magazines from a Ruger .22 pistol into a porcupine. They can absorb a lot.
 
The 8 or so porkys Ive shot over the years were easy as heck to skin...(after the 1st one)
The neighbors cats dont bother my back yard much any longer since I tacked the hides to the fence where they always climbed to get into my yard to take a dump.
I have a skull in my collection.
I didnt find them smelly or stinky, slippery to skin when they are fattened up in winter though. All were taken in January all those times.
 
The I'm still alive video is brilliant. Are you still on you tube? I'm looking at it on my iPhone and it doesn't give me the option to add it to my favorites. I'd like to subscribe to your channel. Very creative.
 
Originally Posted By: 5spdThe 8 or so porkys Ive shot over the years were easy as heck to skin...(after the 1st one)
The neighbors cats dont bother my back yard much any longer since I tacked the hides to the fence where they always climbed to get into my yard to take a dump.
I have a skull in my collection.
I didnt find them smelly or stinky, slippery to skin when they are fattened up in winter though. All were taken in January all those times.

I shot one in a tree and a small chunk of flesh landed on my shoulder. That spot on the polarfleece jacket smelled like dung. I'd killed lots of them but never smelled one. When I told my friend about it, he related that final time skinning one for his wife.
 


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