lots of turtles in our one acre pond. i need to know if they hurt the fish population and about shot placement.

as always, thanks for your input. jaybo, out.

Trap them, And put them in your neighbors pond.

Chris from LI NY

My name is Chris, and I'm an airgun-oholic

the fish population will not be as healthy overall.

What kind of turtles are they? As for predators making a pond healthier, Humans should be the primary predator for managing fish ponds.

I had green sliders, which do not hurt fish populations. However, I eventually
had a softshell turtle problem. They are exceptionally predatory and ate many of my
young brim and other species of pond fish and a few ducklings.

I used a dulled large hook and bacon to remove several and move them to nearby canals,
but I had two very stubborn, or smarter, softshells that would not get near the hooks.
They were the two largest softshells, likely being the oldest. They were a complete
nuisance when I tried feeding my fish and nothing would come pond-side when they were
aggressively hogging all of the food. The only fish they wouldn't attack were my several
gar.

As much as I didn't want to, I used my Eun Jin 500cc Sumatra .22 with a lawfully owned
suppressor to dispatch them with head shots as they got close to take bread I feed my fish
and non-predatory turtles.

If you have soft-shell turtles or alligator snapping turtles, remember that their skulls are
fairly thick in spots and they have relatively small brain cavities, so do your research to
ensure a "humane" and instantaneous kill. I used Eun Jin 28 grain pellets and they never even
twitched, shooting them behind and just above their eyes, where their skulls are thinner.

At 8 - 12 feet I practiced on targets layed on sand to verify my hold-off to assure that my
pellets hit the targets where I wanted them to. That helped, allowing me to wait for the right
angle to get into the brain cavity. I fed the turtles to a pair of nearby nesting cara caras
and they cleaned them of everything except the harder shell parts.

Good luck and enjoy your oversized, stress-relieving aquarium.

Jim in West Palm

I am from Michigan so if this is a dumb question tell me.
What is a cara cara? Other question, how big do those soft shell turtles get?

" Badges? We don't need no stinking badges"

Member of "North American Airgun Shooters and Collectors Association" NAAGSCA

The Caracara, Caracara cheriway, is also known as the Mexican Eagle and is the
bird depicted on the Mexican flag. It is actually a huge hawk with awesome
flight characteristics.

Resources will indicate that they are fairly widespread here in Florida. They absolutely
are not. They tend to reside on the north side of Lake Okeechobee, at least in numbers.

They are elegant birds that actually spend most of their time flying with vultures. As the
vultures find carrion and start to descend toward it, the Caracara will beat them to it and
claim the meal. If they are late to the show, they are like the Mike Tyson of birds and
fight-off anything in their way.

We are lucky to have them here. Here's a quick link for more info:
http://www.greglasley.net/caracara.html

Your quote: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Humphrey Bogart, 1948, when they are surrounded by Mexican
federales and they are told to put their guns down, handsp, and come out. Great flick.

Cheers and HAPPY EASTER ! ! !

Jim

Python hunting in the Everglades. Seems just after a meal of deer or small gator they ought to be slow moving

David Enoch

..was listed as still being legal in Louisiana (one a day limit).
Will have to download the 2012 information and check.

Either way, made up my mind years ago that they reproduce and grow to maturity too slowly, are rare to see today, and give them a free pass even when i do see one.

EDIT:
Still legal here...are other turtles that are not (mostly sea turtles) and it has to be for personal use (no resale).

I generally like turtles, I think they're pretty cool. However I've been to a couple places where the land owner asked me to remove turtles since they were depleting the stock in their pond. I've taken them out with as small as a IZH46m just right through the back into the vitals area and they were dead under 30 seconds. I've also shot them with 30 fpe pcps with head and heart/lung shots. Either one is quiet effective. Turtles make a pretty nice pop when hit solid. If you have catfish in the pond just let them sink to the bottom and that'll feed them well. However I've heard turtle soup is pretty tasty, that could be a nice unwasteful way to dispose of them. If it were me, I would observe the fish population and see if they were and actual problem, it might be a good idea to fish a few turtles out of the water to see what species your dealing with like another poster said. If it's a non predatory animal then I'd let them be. But good job on doing your homework, it bodes well to show air gunners we don't just have to kill everything. Good post.

Semper Fi,
Derek

Use to be a good sized population of Alligator Snappers down here..still have them, but in more out of the way places...and I doubt many 150 pounders are still out there (250 pounds has been recorded, with tales of larger).

Back when I'd hunt them, it was more fishing than hunting (they tend to sink...stay real active as they don't seem to know they're dead.. and hauling +100 pounds out of 8 foot of water isn't easy).

Big ones are too primitive to die fast. Even with the head cut off with an ax and a 30min. long ride in the trunk of a car, if you set the headless body down and thump them on the back, will take a step or two.

We'd sell them to a local outlet...cleaning and butchering one is not the easiest job. Still a market for them, although most of the turtle meat here is from farm raised...and sell from anything from $18 to $30 a pound.

I used to eat it weekly in college when I lived back east. I started when I was a little kid. My dad and I would relish it. I don't even know if it is made back east anymore, and surely not here in the west.

I sure could use a bowl of that. Yuuuuummmmmmyyyyyyy!!!!

Hey SSssssssssnake, hope this isn't hitting to close to kin for you.

Joe Brancato 714-612-5956

For AirTanks, Custom Hoses, Fittings, Gauges, etc.
please click here http://www.AirTanksForSale.com

Can often find the meat in Asian markets (here, I can find it in the local grocery store).

May not be the version you remember, but it's on the Menu in several places here. Kind of follow this, but will leave out the Allspice and add a cup of sherry (as well as serve it with a small shot of Sherry on the side):

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/10/20/creole-turtle-soup-recipe/

EDIT:
this is even simpler, and I can recommend this one as well...but you need a lot of Turtle meat, so do to cost, its not somthing I've cooked lately.
http://generalhorticulture.tamu.edu/prof/recipes/turtle/turtle.html

Whacked plenty O turtles in my yoot and made my share O sssssssssssssoup.

Used to sssssssssssset "trot" lines for em.

Good ol dayssssssssssssss



ssssSnake

Turtle populations have taken a real hit in the last decade or so w/ a lot of illegal or unregulated harvesting for the Asian market. Most states are just catching up with protecting them.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/06/usa-turtles-alabama-idUSL2E8F646D20120406

LOL!! Seriously there is no need to worry, most fish will get away and the dumb ones will get eaten always the fittest will survive.Cant say that for man anymore though.

You mean the Airgun turtle man? That would be Tim Johnston with his psychedelic .20 77 C.

40 grain v-max at about 3800 fps, hold on shell and watch explode.

No Text!

The 'should' part of what you asked seems to have raised issues of legality, effectiveness depending on species, and ethics (to name the main ones I can think of). I don't think that's what you were asking about. To be fair to you, I suggest you forget about 'should'.

I got the impression that you were really trying to ask, "Will shooting the turtles in my pond benefit the fish population there?"

I have good reason to say that the answer is probably 'yes', but it apparently depends on which species you shoot. I suggest you do a little research to identify which one or more species you actually have in the pond, and how to positively identify the ones that can deplete the fish. It also seems wise to check about the legality of shooting the ones you want to shoot to avoid breaking the law and any associated problems.

After that it's totally your decision and your choice to make. In fact, that was true even before you asked your question. But, there seem to be some other factors to weigh before you start shooting. You did get some valuable feedback about those things.

There are a lot of people on the forum who've posted about shooting their local 'pest birds' to or 'pest rodents' to increase the population of song birds, protect their property, etc. As I see it your question is just another version of the same scenario with few different words inserted in a the text. Culling the local population of anything is a long-recognized method of conservation, and species control and selection.


Happy Shooting!

Ed, The Airgun Tune-Meister


"We can rebuild the squirrel. Make him stronger, faster...We have the technology"---Skyler M.