A couple porcupines from last night

[carpsniperg2]

Hadn't got out in awhile and wanted to go out for a little trip last night. I gave one of the newer members a call "twosixfourwins". Erick and his girlfriend Megan joined me on my little trip. They have not been in washington long enough to get there stuff yet so I got to be the shooter. Very rare in my case I was showing him some of our land and such and I got to one of my favorite spots and I just said "this is one of my best spots" when I spotted one. Little bugger took off running as soon as I saw him. He got out to about 80 yards or so before I could get him with the 22. Mid sized quill pig. I call his type a high back. The quills get really long as they go up the back. There seems to be about 4 different types of them around. Got to the next spot and I said this is my 2nd favorite spot and what do you know there is another one. He was out grazing in a field. Longer shot then I like for the 22 at about 150 yards but I was able to get the job done. The second one is one of the nicest ones I have seen in a long time. Big quill pig with a lot of long guard hair! The one was avg with about 6" long hair on the average and the normal 1/2 ounce range. The nice one was right at 3/4 of a ounce and around 7" on the average. Not a bad night for about a hour trip out. Guard hair is pretty decent price right now at about 30.00 a ounce. I will wait tell it gets a little better and get around 35-40 for a ounce. So about a 50.00 night not a bad night at all. I was more after the porcupines then anything. Looked in a couple small spots for yotes and heard several talking but they were scared to show there faces

[buglebuster]

So is there only a little bit of the hair you use?

[carpsniperg2]

Yes the hair is the only thing worth any money on them. Most buyers want 5" minimum, some will take down to 4". Use to be a bounty on them and you could get money for each one from the timber companies. They kill thousands of tree's each year and have put quills in about 40+ of our beef cattle over the years. Nothing like spending a day chasing cows and pulling quills. Plus my dogs have got into them more then a few times. I hate the little buggers!

[Ripper]

Sounds like a fun night Carp. I've never shot one before, hell, I've only seen one ever. I'll shoot the next one I see.

[FALFire]

I have one in the freezer right now, I'll kill every one of them I find, they are real hard on trees.

[seth30]

I have tons of dead ones on the roads, and seen signs of them about 12 feet up a tree where there is a section of no bark and a pile of scat at the base of the tree.  Are they a aware animal and scare easily?

[pjb3]

Next time someone gets one, can I get it? I love mounting them. Well only did one and sold it but want another one

[TwoSixFourWins]

Good times right there. Pulled a broken off quill out of my finger the next morning. We should go again! Once I get all squared away with licenses I'll bring some of my toys out to play with.

[carpsniperg2]

  The big one was a bit of pack Maybe I should have gave you my gloves

Next time someone gets one, can I get it? I love mounting them. Well only did one and sold it but want another one

I don't have a lot of freezer space right now, but I will keep it in mind the next time I kill a good one like the better one in this case.

I have tons of dead ones on the roads, and seen signs of them about 12 feet up a tree where there is a section of no bark and a pile of scat at the base of the tree.  Are they a aware animal and scare easily?

You really should stop and grab the guard hair out of them there is around 10-15.00's worth on each of them and it takes about 10 mins to do. A little longer if you are new to it. Just keep the hair that is over 5" long. I lay mine out flat for the night and let them stiffen up a little. Then pluck them the next day, the hair still pulls very well and they don't roll around as much.

[pjb3]

Next time someone gets one, can I get it? I love mounting them. Well only did one and sold it but want another one

I don't have a lot of freezer space right now, but I will keep it in mind the next time I kill a good one like the better one in this case.



U could skin it for me?

Thanks and if you get one, let me know and I'll figure a way to meet you or something

[seth30]

How does the law apply to them then?  the ones I always see dead are road kill, and one of the reasons I dotn pick them up is its illegal to pick up road kill, or do porcupines fall into a special law themselves

[jackmaster]

gotta be honest here, i have never met anyone who actually goes out and targets porcupine, didnt know there were a call for them, i think i have seen 2 porks in my life, come to think of it i have seen 3, now my hounds seem to find them quite often back in the day, so how do you hunt porks if you dont mind me askn

[seth30]

Sorry to thread jack earlier   Looks like a great night out, and congrats on getting two of those  pigs! 

[TheHunt]

Interesting...  I did a google search and the only market for that is Native American's.  Is that correct?  I was initially thinking it might be fly fishermen

[carpsniperg2]

There is a few uses them, the main one is for paint brushes. There is a also a lot of stuff that native Americans use the hair for. Like wrist bands and adding beads to head dresses and clothes. I would imagine that you could use them for fly tying as well

gotta be honest here, i have never met anyone who actually goes out and targets porcupine, didnt know there were a call for them, i think i have seen 2 porks in my life, come to think of it i have seen 3, now my hounds seem to find them quite often back in the day, so how do you hunt porks if you dont mind me askn

There use to be a good bounty on them. You could get 10-15.00 for each nose broght in. Then you got a out half a oz from the avg pig. Which is about 10-15 depending on the market for them. So that use to make them worth 20-30 each and sometimes even more.

The porcupines are unclassified wildlife.

To hunt them you really have 2 methods. During the day you have to get into some areas with good timber stands. You can spot the tree's that have had them living in them. They eat the bark from the tree and kill the tree. This is mainly in the winter months. Also the droppings at the base of a tree are a tell tale sign of them in the tree or in the area.

Next is night hunting. They come down and move around a lot at night. Not so much in the winter, they move just from one tree to the next. They come out into area's to graze just like deer. Both these to were in spots that tend to always have them in the area. Both were out feeding in a field. They like areas with a lot of tall grass and ditches with good pasture next to big tree's.

[MuleySniper]

nice! figured id open this thread and see one with 509rs boot prints in the side of it.

[grundy53]

I shoot every porcupine I see. I hate them. I've killed a lot of them.

[Kain]

Cool I got one (case skinned with feet) in the freezer from last year.  Was thinking it would make a cool rug.  LOL

I tried eating it but I didnt like it that much.  Might try a different recipe next time.

[TeacherMan]

I've always left them alone because I figured they would be good and easy survival food.

[lokidog]

I've eaten a couple, they taste a lot like rabbit, yummy!

[pjb3]

I've eaten a couple, they taste a lot like rabbit, yummy!

Didn't know that, now I gotta go out and target them somewhere

WHERE?

[carpsniperg2]

I know a few guys that have tried them and said they were only good to eat in the spring. In the winter when they are living on bark, they say they taste like crap. In the spring  when they eat a lot of grass they said they are o.k. Not for me!!!

[lokidog]

I ate one I hit (undercarriage, not tire) during turkey season... thought it was a possum, until too late to miss.  The other I shot during early archery elk.  Both tasted good to me, of course I like racoon stew too.   

[carpsniperg2]

  Both the people I know that have ate them smoke. I told them there taste buds were dead anyways

[TwoSixFourWins]

I always thought a porcupine rug would make a nice welcome mat

[jackmaster]

carpsniper, so do porks only eat bark from up in the tree or do the ring them on the grouind as well, where i hunt i see ots of trees that have been rung around the base but i always thought it was bear, i would like to learn enough to hunt them sounds like it could be a blast, i know alot of differant spots, so what makes a spot good for porks?

[carpsniperg2]

They will eat the base of a tree to. Most times you can see the difference between a bear and a quill pig. Just look at the marks on the bark. They eat a lot more small saplings during the spring and summer months. They don't like the mature bark on big trees as well. They mainly eat that in the winter when they can not feed on the ground. They will go out into a alfalfa fields and graze like cattle. I also tend to find them a lot in areas that do not have many trees. Like a big open area that may only have a couple of trees. They will want to get off the ground after feeding at night.

[jackmaster]

hey thanks carpsniper am gonna give it a go, i am always lookn for differant critters to whack, can a guy live trap them and if so what would be good bait

[Brownie28]

got this porky 2 yeaars ago during the last day of deer season out by washtuckna. hes a big ole boy (dont mind the dumb look on my ugly face i aint very photogenic)

[Buckslaya]

I will never understand why people kill things they aren't going to eat. I guess it makes them tough? 

[madmack76]

it don't make a guy tough, but it will save you a fortune if you have them on your property with dogs and trees.

[christopheri]

I killed one a few years ago during deer season and tryed eating it. It tased really bad. Nothing like rabbit.

[carpsniperg2]

I will never understand why people kill things they aren't going to eat. I guess it makes them tough? 

You should really learn how to read and see the reasons why I shoot them. I listed them and they are all legit reasons. Since you seemed to miss it the first time let me start again. They kill thousands of trees every single year. Have cost me hundreds of dollars in time and stress when they stick our cattle. They have filled my dogs full of quills more then a few times. There is a reason they are unclassified wildlife. They do zero good and are very destructive. I always love your type. The guy that says stuff without knowing facts. I am sure you would never shoot a ground squirrel or coyote or skunk or something else without eating it right

[grundy53]

it don't make a guy tough, but it will save you a fortune if you have them on your property with dogs and trees.

if you have a tree farm they are your worst enemy.

[carpsniperg2]

We have planted close to 15k trees over the last 5 years for the wildlife. They are saplings and small started trees. I am happy to take anyone out and show them what happen when one quill pig gets into a couple thousand 1/2-1" tree saplings and starters. You know how much each one of those little trees costs me? Like I said I have lost thousands to the damage they have done to live stock and trees over the years.

[Kain]

  Gawd sometimes our fellow hunters are our own worst enemies.  The "kill-what-you-eat-eat-what-you-kill" guys are why we loose so much hunting.  Short cougar season, no hound hunting, bear baiting, coyotes with hounds, trapping and so on.  Must not have a clue about real wildlife management.  Population control, property damage control, pet and livestock losses, human safety and predation control are all vital benefits of hunting and trapping.  Marketable products are also used from those harvests.  If we were not paying to do it then we would be paying a government employee to do it.   They bitch about low numbers of deer and elk and then sit on there butts and let REAL conservationists manage the biggest killers of game out there....predators.

Coyotes:  Population 100,000.  50% are females and have an average litter of 4 pups every year.  That means that the population can TRIPLE in one year.  How many turkeys, rabbits, fawns and other wildlife do you think they eat?

Cougars:  Population 2500.  Make a deer/elk kill every ten days.  91,250 deer/elk no longer huntable.

Bears, porcupines, beavers all kill trees.  Thousands and thousands of them.  Beavers can flood entire valley of tree and wildlife habitat.

Crows are one of the biggest destroyers of waterfowl nest out there.

Raccoons, fox and skunks=some of the most common carriers of rabies.  Kill tons of livestock.  Raccoons carry Raccoon Roundworm...nasty parasite transferable to humans and pets.


OK rant over.  Sorry for the thread jack.

[seth30]

come on Kain we all know the real hunters on here get all there knowledge and facts from the outdoor network, and video games 

[Heredoggydoggy]

I caught a baby porcupine years ago, and started making a pet out of him.  Gave up and let him go.  Kept forgetting which direction to stroke when I petted him!    

[sirfunkeybut]

in an orchard i hunt squirells in, the porks destroy EVERY small tree that grows. It doesn't take long for a few to ruin a bunch of trees. good .22 practice.  and the farmers all thank me for shooting them

[carpsniperg2]

That is 100% correct Kain

People just don't understand. Even I explained why I target them common sense is not so common anymore.

[jackmaster]

That is 100% correct Kain

People just don't understand. Even I explained why I target them common sense is not so common anymore.

YA GOT THAT RIGHT, IT AINT COMMON AT ALL.... just come to my work.... holy chit man......if someone was shootn deer or elk and not eatn them thats one thing.... but porks, coyotes, cougars, bobcats and beaver. well beaver meat is actually pretty damn fine  but seriously i cant wait to find my first pork and kill it.... 

[lokidog]

That is 100% correct Kain

People just don't understand. Even I explained why I target them common sense is not so common anymore.

YA GOT THAT RIGHT, IT AINT COMMON AT ALL.... just come to my work.... holy chit man......if someone was shootn deer or elk and not eatn them thats one thing.... but porks, coyotes, cougars, bobcats and beaver. well beaver meat is actually pretty damn fine  but seriously i cant wait to find my first pork and kill it.... 

I'll take any cougar meat off your hands....     I used to think somewhat poorely of people shooting cougars just to shoot them, then I tried some kitty backstrap, YUM! 

[TwoSixFourWins]

As with any animal they must be managed to exist in today's ecosystem without putting undo stress on it. The introduction of tasty new tree species (orchards and tree farms) compared to what is native may actually be increasing populations. More trees=more quill pigs. If they like apple bark better that is what they will eat. This does not jive with the livelihood of the people paying for the trees. Management is necessary.

[DUCKDUDE]

I dint now it was legal to shoot them here?

[TheHunt]

I was ready for this entire thread to go sideways with the beaver comment and no one took it.  I guess we are all growing up...  Congrats to all... 

[NRA4LIFE]

God, I hate those things.  We used to kill every one we saw back in WI.  The little *censored*s had a sweet tooth for plywood and would literally eat our deer stands.  They would also gnaw on the T1-11 on our cabin.  Not to mention swatting our beagles at every chance.  Never knew they had some monetary value until I saw it on this site some time ago.  Some Indian guy back east was soliciting on this site for the hair.

[Huntbear]

I was ready for this entire thread to go sideways with the beaver comment and no one took it.  I guess we are all growing up...  Congrats to all... 

Not grown up.. just tired of people getting thier nose out of joint ...  so we do it on FB now... you have to be invited into the group.. so if you complain,,, we can boot your ass...