# Muskrat Hunting



## NDduckslayer

i plan on :sniper: some muskrat this spring any tips?


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## xdeano

what really? You're going to hunt them. I hope you have a permit to be shooting them, better contact ND Game and Fish about shooting muskrats. You won't get much money out of a rat once you put a bullet hole in them. I believe you have to use a 22 cal or smaller. So invest in some 22LR or 17HMR shells and go have fun.

Now if you're talking about trapping them, go find some water with rat huts, feeder huts and get your traps ready to go. You won't have much time to pick up decent muskrats once the water breaks.

xdeano


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## matta812

if your gonna shoot them get a gun that shoots .22 shorts....make sure you shoot them in the head and you will be able to sell them.....last year we shot and sold 1700 rats last spring....shooting them closes may 8


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## NDduckslayer

How many $ are you getting per rat?


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## matta812

last year was average $3.79 on the round cant go to late because they start bitting while mating and you will see the bite marks


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## zzyzx

Does North Dakota have problems with shooting them with high powered pellet rifles in .177 or .22 calibre?
Mine are pre-charged pneumatic and accuracy is the advantage. Head shots up to 50 yards with eye shots up to 25 yards the norm. No body shots, especially with .177 as it just doesn't hit hard enough. A head shot drops them immediately with the .22 being the longer range shooter.

Started on some after the county commissioners alerted us to the burrow problems and washouts on the roads with water ponds next to them. That is the only place I have been shooting them and mainly after seeing the washouts from the burrows - some washing big time all the way across the roads and up to 8 feet across. (won't mention the badger holes which are even worse when the washouts happen)

Anyhow, what are the NoDak rules on this one?


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## zzyzx

Add to the muskrat post here. In our County we have a plague of them ruining the roads. So the County has a list of shooters allowed to off the varmints. Am only shooting them in waters and sloughs alongside the roads, not back in the fields. Last week I nailed 64 of the rats without going out and specifically hunting them. Just driving into and from town and neighbors places. These pests have dug into an under our farm to market and dirt roads and washouts are the result. Some roads closed as a result of their holes expanding with more water and the wave action in the wind.

Add in a couple our dogs took out in the yard and it has been a busy week.


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## kc81c

We were trying to clear them out this spring as they have destroyed our roads. If your not worried about pelts .17hmr works wonders. Even got my fair share with a .22LR pistol in the early evening they are just sitting by their holes under the road you can walk along the road edge and get them. Some evenings I was easily getting 20 in just a few spots along roads we use for the farm that are just riddled with soft spots from there dugouts. The 22LR works but you have to make a good head shot to stop them the .17hmr works from a longer distance and stops them instantly.


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