Huge feral cat

Vince · Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 2:33 am Post subject: Huge feral cat

Huge feral cats wreaking havoc in Arnhem Land

Rangers at the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area in the NT have taken pictures of enormous feral cats, which researchers say are responsible for a decline in native mammals along northern Australia.

Read more: Huge Feral Cats in Northern Territory

I love hunting these wily cats. They are extremely hard to hunt, and when they run, they are incredibly fast and pretty much impossible to shoot. Best way to hunt them is with traps or a spotlight at night.

Elvis · Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:03 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

only one good feral cat.....
a dead one, unless Im on hot deer sign or approaching a hot area, any cat I see while out armed get a one way trip to the big dirt box in the sky. and yes I have used and no the .270 is not over kill for one of these destructive killing machines.

Pumpkinslinger · Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:51 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Wow! Very big cat! Do you use calls for that? I want to try calling in feral cats and see what my .22 Hornet will do.

Elvis · Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:52 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

a rabbit squeal MAY work???? here kitty kitty kitty Very Happy

sometimes good on freshly dumped animals, so does a saucer of milk down the driveway and the .12ga. Very Happy

seriously I dont know of any way to call them in or bait them without having time to get them in the habit of coming to one place to feed.
we have shot quite a few while out rabbiting with dogs the cats being flushed out of the scrub along with rabbits. I have seen a feral cat climb out from under a pack of 16 rabbiting dogs 3 times Shocked

before they nailed it. they are one tough customer when cornered.

Aloysius · Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:09 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Pumpkin, try to call like a smoked fish...

I've never tried to call them, but when you use some (remainings of) smoked fish as bait, I'm sure of succes.

Also some chicken bones and left-over are great in a trap, so they should also perform well as bait.

And I've heart something can be done with valerian, but I don't know if they mean the plant, the roots or the oil (or the chemical like valeric acid etc.)

Be carefull when you want to use valeric acid because its smell is about the same as butyric acid and you can be sure your wife/girlfriend is not going to like it (and 3 showers don't help!)

PaulS · Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Most any small animal distress call should work-at least to get them close.

Vince · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:04 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Like Elvis says...here kitty kitty kitty...may work, but I seriously doubt it. Feral cats are a whole new ball game...they don't respond to anything...they just run like the wind. At night when spot lighting them, if you move the light away from their eyes for even half a heartbeat they won't be there when you move the light back. They are incredibly smart and wily critters.

I have heard of guys using various baits, usually the same baits they use to attract foxes. It sometimes works, but you have to watch the bait like a hawk because the cats are very smart.

radar · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:28 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

I used to tip them over with the 12G when out hunting rabbits with my old dog, he'd flush them but wouldnt chase after one latched onto his face and tried to rearrange it. He learnt a painful lesson that day. Even with a close up barrel of full choke #5s cats were notoriously hard to kill.
Never tried anything bigger, the .22 wasn't all that great because as Vince says they move like greased lightening.

But man those moggies are huge.

gelandangan · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

I shot one 7 times back when SA rifles are still allowed..
I am pretty sure I hit it many times on the chest and head/neck area.. to the last one, a texas heart shot
somehow the 22lr bullets does not find vital spot on it and it kept on running..
Damn them cat is hard to kill

Vince · Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

I've seen guys shoot them with .22 rimfire, .22 magmun, .223 Rem, .243 Rem, .32 pistol and 12g and none of them guaranteed a clean kill unless it was a head shot...which is nigh on impossible unless the cats sit long enough to take a bead. Biggest problem is the buggers seem to have a 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th sense and they seem to know when the are targeted. They hunker down and do that million mile an hour crouching run and unless you are close enough to have a shot with a 12g, you will only get them with a very lucky shot.

A feral cat is an extremely wily adversary which why they are so challenging and so much fun to hunt.

Elvis · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:41 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

3 shots .22 magnum =3 dead feral cats. the 12ga even better.

MacD · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:06 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

We don't have a feral cat problem here although a few exist near cabin areas. Not legal to shoot them. My Baikal in 22 mag/20 gauge would make a nice pest gun.

Vince · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:12 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Not legal to shoot them Mac...that really surprises me mate. Maybe your climate helps keep them in check, but I do know that given the opportunity they will breed like wildfire.

There are an estimated 18 million feral cats in Australia, but I think this figure is very conservative.

MacD · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:17 am Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

Wow that is a lot of killing power. When I used to feed the birds in my backysrd, before SWMBO saw a rat below the feeders, I used to pop cats that hung around with a paintball gun. I figured I saved a few birds and taught the irresponsible owners a bit of a lesson. Cats are insatiable bird killers. 18 million have to be doing a lot of damage.

Vince · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:02 pm Post subject: Re: Huge feral cat

They are doing a massive amount of damage mate. There are many birds and ground dwelling animals on the brink of extinction in Australia because of feral cats and foxes.

Australia has never really had any predators and our native animals have evolved appropriately...same with hard hoofed animals (cattle, buffalo, horses etc)...none native to Australia and they have caused quite a bit of environmental damage, in the form of erosion, as well.