Teach me about Varminting!!!

[CJGarza]

I have seen the youtube videos and seen the pics online! I have decided that the way to get into hunting for me will be varminting. Seeing as it is apparently year round and you can use whatever I have.

Or am I wrong?

A few questions:
1) Where can I go to get me some critters? I'm not really particular, after all I want to learn (last time I was on a hunt I was 10 in Mexico chasing Coyotes).
2) Is it true I can use any firearm?
3) Do I need a license?
4) What animals are considered Varmints other than Pigs and Coyotes?
5) What recommendations do the Texas-hunting-Gurus here have for the hunting noob (i.e. me)?

Any and all wisdom and experience will be appreciated!!

 

[Texas1911]

As far as I know there are no restrictions beyond local ordinances (ie. shooting on private land requiring set acreage).

Pigs and coyotes are the usual game. I'd flick through the Texas Parks and Wildlife site to check up what is endangered in your area as well.

 

[Hoji]

You will also need a hunting license.

 

[carneyman]

A little bit of an old thread, but head to west Texas and shoot ya some prairie dogs...they are a nuisance. Of course, check with the land owner first, but from my experience they are always happy to get rid of them, so long as the shooter is responsible and doesn't do any damage.

 

[CJGarza]

Thanks for the tips guys! I really have an "itch" for Coyote hunting right now. I still want to find some decent glass for my AR but my brother has graciously offered to use my Mosin Nagant 91/30 "ex-Dragoon" to assist! Imagine us: one guy with an AR15 and another with this gigantic Soviet WWII looking for yotes.

Has anyone done Varminting in Seguin? My employer has a lease there and says there are lots of Hogs for shooting. Not as cool as Coyotes, but what the hell, I gotta learn on somthing , right?

 

[Texas1911]

Bring a sidearm if you are hunting with the Mosin, especially with hogs.

 

[Hoji]

Thanks for the tips guys! I really have an "itch" for Coyote hunting right now. I still want to find some decent glass for my AR but my brother has graciously offered to use my Mosin Nagant 91/30 "ex-Dragoon" to assist! Imagine us: one guy with an AR15 and another with this gigantic Soviet WWII looking for yotes.

Has anyone done Varminting in Seguin? My employer has a lease there and says there are lots of Hogs for shooting. Not as cool as Coyotes, but what the hell, I gotta learn on somthing , right?

Go for the hogs. The coyotes are harmless{99% of the time} and contribute to the balance of the ecosystem. The hogs do nothing but disrupt. {and they are quite tasty}

 

[JoeinTX]

Prairie dog hunting is some of the absolute best shooting and positive hunting one can do.

Learning to lob-off a prairie dog poking his head up at 100 yards is great for marksmanship. Prairie dogs are very destructive creatures that can strip a piece of given property of vegetation and litter it with holes and berms in little or no time if left to be. An unchecked prairie dog town can strip a pasture of notable vegetation, leave it pock-marked with holes, and populate to repeat the same at an increasing rate. Various methods have been tried in Texas to reign in the prairie dog populations........poisoning, etc....but none have proven more effective than hunting pressure.

In the past, not sure about today, but many west Texas landowners have been receptive to varmint hunters willing to spend time and money just for the experience.

Coyotes are slightly different. In years past one would expend the firepower of whatever weapon at hand on them as they were the number one enemy of game species you would try to cultivate. Recently, as the hog population has expanded, many are trying to use the coyote as a weapon against the hog and backing-off of them hoping they'll make runs at the young hog population.

 

[carneyman]

Prairie dog hunting is some of the absolute best shooting and positive hunting one can do.

Learning to lob-off a prairie dog poking his head up at 100 yards is great for marksmanship. Prairie dogs are very destructive creatures that can strip a piece of given property of vegetation and litter it with holes and berms in little or no time if left to be. An unchecked prairie dog town can strip a pasture of notable vegetation, leave it pock-marked with holes, and populate to repeat the same at an increasing rate. Various methods have been tried in Texas to reign in the prairie dog populations........poisoning, etc....but none have proven more effective than hunting pressure.

In the past, not sure about today, but many west Texas landowners have been receptive to varmint hunters willing to spend time and money just for the experience.

Agreed. Our neighbor had a huge town right next to us. They would come over and completely destroy several acres of corn. We tried everything...shooting, diesel (back when it was cheap), propane guns (very fun, but probably not too effective), and poison...then the plague came and took care of them. Out of the many, many thousands that were there, there are maybe a few hundred left.

 

[CJGarza]

Prarie dogs, now that sounds fun!!

How exactly does one look for a place to go and exterminate these pests? are there ads in the paper? Or the net?

 

[carneyman]

Best way is to drive around, and when ya see a dog town, find out who owns the land. 95% of the time they will be willing to let ya shoot (unless they have livestock on it, then they are a little more wary).

Not really sure about around San Antonio though...but up in the panhandle there are a few "grassland" areas that are open to the public, and some have prairie dogs.

 

[JoeinTX]

For those interested in varminting, Varmint Hunter Magazine is one of the better published items about the topic.

http://www.varminthunter.org/



I know it includes some scheduled events, maybe even some ads for hunting opportunity, though I haven't looked at one in a while. It might be a good place to start.

 

[Briley9]

Will a scoped 17HMR rifle do justice to prairie dogs say at 100 yards? and at what distance before they can detect you?

Thx...

 

[carneyman]

I've shot them from 5 feet to 100+ yards. I don't have much experience with a 17HMR, but if you hit them right, they will stay down from that distance with a .22, so I assume it would be fine. I would say most of your shots would be within 100 yards though.

 

[JoeinTX]

Will a scoped 17HMR rifle do justice to prairie dogs say at 100 yards? and at what distance before they can detect you?


The .17 is perfectly fine for prairie dogs at 100 yds. We've killed many of them that way and and with a variety of calibers up to .223 at several hundred yards. Great sport.


The best way of hunting them is from the vehicle as you slowly proceed through the dog town.....park a bit, wait for them to appear, shoot until the local mounds are spooked, and then move on a ways. Prairie dogs are odd animals-you can shoot an area for an hour and then one will wander out of a mound right in front of you totally oblivious. Strange.