Weasel/Ermine

[sixshot]

Saturday I took 2 of the grandson's on another Rock Chuck Safari & got real lucky again, got another Weasel. This is the summer time version of the 2 Ermine we got last winter when they are pure white. This time of year they are brown with a dull, yellow belly. If you know anything about these little guys you understand they are faster than a speeding bullet & extremely hard to get with a sixgun. I've only taken 2 in my life & both were in the last 6 months. You may have seen the white one I shot while hunting Cottontails this winter (Ermine) using my scoped Ruger 30 Carbine using 32/20 ammo. It took the top of his head off, just barely.
Saturday I was sitting on my 4 wheeler glassing for Rock Chucks & I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye, looking to my right I thought it was a young Rock Chuck that ducked down in some lava beside me so I eased out my 32 Maggie loaded with a 100 gr. cast slug backed with 3 grs. of WST & eared back the hammer. Pretty quick he popped up for a full scale peek & I'm looking at 6 ounces of pure killer, these little guys can kill Ground Squirrels & Cotton Tails like greased lightning, I've watched them do it. Anyway, I center punched him with the powder coated cast slug & he said "good night" & now I've got him in the freezer.
Same as last winter with the 2 Ermine, if someone wants a very unique pelt or mount, this is it, I'm going to give it to a forum member. He's frozen & I can wrap him so that he will still be cold to you or your taxidermist for a full mount or a tanned hide. There's no hide damage from the bullet.
The boys got 21 more Rock Chucks, that makes 111 so far on this one piece of property & there are still a lot of Chucks left!
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/6shot_01/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-06/A88B23B4-0B61-4235-BCEC-EAEF102A96BC_zps5fzjf3cr.jpg (http://s84.photobucket.com/user/6shot_01/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-06/A88B23B4-0B61-4235-BCEC-EAEF102A96BC_zps5fzjf3cr.jpg.html)


Here's grandson Ridge with a real Hippo, taken with my AR.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/6shot_01/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-06/BBDFC9CC-85C3-4457-80EB-4E130B3D0576_zpsptvvsxtr.jpg (http://s84.photobucket.com/user/6shot_01/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-06/BBDFC9CC-85C3-4457-80EB-4E130B3D0576_zpsptvvsxtr.jpg.html)

[runfiverun]

ahh the AR, now were getting somewhere..

I like to whack those little weasels with the shotgun using 7-1/2 shot, it doesn't hurt the pelt a bit and usually rolls them off the log.
those little guy's are amazing, watching them stalk something twice their size and then realizing they actually mean it is pretty neat to see.

[jaysouth]

Parenthetically noted with an apology to thread drift. Yes, Eagles soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet intakes, or fly into turbine blades.

[Beerd]

I don't care who you are, that just looks like fun!



The boys got 21 more Rock Chucks, that makes 111 so far on this one piece of property & there are still a lot of Chucks left!


as a point of reference for those who hunt a 20 acre woodlot, about how big is the place you are shooting on?
..

[rodwha]

I had to go to YouTube to see a video of one getting a rabbit. Damn! I had no idea. I figured a weasel was bigger than a ferret.

[sixshot]

Beerd, this guys farm ground is probably 3/4 mile wide by 1 mile long with scattered lava reefs all through it. The first year I hunted his farm I killed 199 Rock Chucks, 41 in one day, all with handguns. You could never get all the Chucks on this property.

Dick

[runfiverun]

kinda hard to judge but I'd bet where Dick is it's probably well over 1-K acres.
but usually once you get into a place like where he is, you can walk out the rock piles on state land that borders other farmers fence lines until you get tired of walking.
I go to one spot that borders a field and I can walk 20 miles easily in one direction, and about 6 in another then I come to some state property [where they do some gravel work] and have to skirt the back of their fence line if I want to keep on going.
but eventually I end up back to town that direction and have to walk back to the truck either way.
I try to keep my loops to 3-4 miles.

[trapper9260]

That is alot of rock chucks.If you like, check with a fur buyer around there. If they would buy the skins on them. because around here there is a market on wood chuck skins.They use them for fly tying for fly fishing. I do put up the skins on them. to sell . You would get enough for a skin to pay for the round you use on them.As for say you can not clean them out. you can if you trap them. I just about clean out some wood chucks on a apple farm I have work on .till a trap came up miss and took out 45 in a short time.When the Ermine is white there is a market on there skins also.Need to check the fur buyer in your area.The way i look at it . that if you can get something back for your ammo you use, then help to go out and get more.

[UKShootist]

I'd love to spend time shooting pests on such a place. I have to say, though, I'm saddened a little to hear of weasels being shot. As with all of the mustelid family they are admirable creatures, utterly fearless, fun to watch, charming, and surprisingly intelligent. Ask anyone that has ever kept ferrets, either as pets or to hunt with. They are great pets, although they only have two throttle settings, max, and sleep. But, as long as there are plenty around, then so be it.

[trapper9260]

Weasels dose do a job on chickens and turkeys if they have a chance to get in there pen. UKShootist you are right about how they are.You forgot about the mink also for how they are too.

[UKShootist]

Weasels dose do a job on chickens and turkeys if they have a chance to get in there pen. UKShootist you are right about how they are.You forgot about the mink also for how they are too.

Not so much forgot about the mink as they are a particular problem in the UK since several mink farms were raided by 'animal rights' cretins who released them into the wild where they promptly went on a killing and breeding frenzy. They have been well controlled now for a while, but can still be a PITA. A pity we couldn't hunt the 'animal rights' cretins. Would have been a better solution.

Notwithstanding the above, mink can be tamed. I saw a Youtube video where people were using mink to hunt some sort of riverside rodent in the USA (muskrat?), and the mink was making a real fine job of it. I would own a few ferrets if I felt I could devote the time to them that they deserve. They are a delight to share time with.

[trapper9260]

Not so much forgot about the mink as they are a particular problem in the UK since several mink farms were raided by 'animal rights' cretins who released them into the wild where they promptly went on a killing and breeding frenzy. They have been well controlled now for a while, but can still be a PITA. A pity we couldn't hunt the 'animal rights' cretins. Would have been a better solution.

Notwithstanding the above, mink can be tamed. I saw a Youtube video where people were using mink to hunt some sort of riverside rodent in the USA (muskrat?), and the mink was making a real fine job of it. I would own a few ferrets if I felt I could devote the time to them that they deserve. They are a delight to share time with.I know of the person you are talking about with the pet mink. He is on a trappers forum I am on.Yes we have muskrats here and they use there fur at time to replace mink at times.I trap them beside mink and ermine. I know the so call people that raid the mink farm .We had them do the same out here also and the one that was most of them did not made it in the wild.

[BrentD]

I don't know the point in shooting a weasle. They are fur bearers and they may well be protected and out of season at this time of year.

There are three common species in much of Northern USA that change colors with the season.

[runfiverun]

they are also 20 bucks a pelt.
I ain't skinning no rock chuck., tried it once.
I dunno what they have for skin but it's worse than cutting an elk hide.

[BrentD]

A brown weasel isn't worth a nickle on the fur market so far as I've ever heard and they are not legal to trap here at this time of year.

There is a reason why chucks make great shoe laces... :)

[trapper9260]

Brown ones are best to see if a taxidermist would buy it. Like BrentD stated about they are not worth anything. and there is a season here for them also.But I do not know where the one that is shot if there is a season.

[runfiverun]

did Ridge notice the chuck's head poking up behind him in the picture?

there's not really a season for them here, you can take them in the winter or whenever.
yote's, ground squirrels, chuck's, jack rabbits, etc. are pretty much open all year no license needed.
if it was a wolverine then the F&G would probably care a little.
if it was a wolf you just call them and let them know you got one, then wait for licenses to go on sale for the fall hunt. [wolf is closed for like a month, tags are like 12 bucks]

[sixshot]

Lamar is correct, no closed season here & I have someone who wants it. Talking with a friend yesterday & he said when he was in high school him & a friend were moving some old sprinkler pipe & a weasel, popped out one end & into another. When they picked up that piece of pipe the Weasel ran up the pipe & jumped his buddy & bit him on the neck! They are fearless little buggers, just like any of the Weasel family.

Dick

[Geezer in NH]

Closed here except for protecting domestic stock. There is a season for trapping and hunting but not a typical OK to shoot varmint.

I do like the white pelts for tanning