Every spring my friends and I shoot lots of turtles. This year we are seeing more than ever on the lakes and rivers. I got 7 on friday with a 223, and 5 saturday with a 22LR. Shots range from 25 to 400 yards and the turtles are from golf ball size to 18 inch diameter shells. Most of them are about 5-6 inches diameters shells. They explode and fly off the logs often raining parts on the water. this is lots of fun, Are there any other turtle shooters on AR?

I shot at some rodent heads this week that were poking out of the burrows like a turtle head poking out of the shell

I shoot turtles a lot also. They are about the only small critters we have around my house to shoot at long distances. I have a pond in front of my house that I get shots from 100-175 yards. I usually use a .22 hornet at my house. I can get some shots out to around 400 yards at the in-laws pond. I shoot them with my .223.

It’s amazing what a v-max will do to a turtle. I have seen it rip the hull off their backs. I have also seen a small turtle blown in halve. The hornet is no slouch at close distances (0-150 yards).

Buck,

i shoot them a lot. did a drive by yesterday--got two 5 inchers.

You are supposed to shoot turtles in the water so the only thing you have to hit is the head.
I stopped by here to see if any one has tried the .17 HRM on turtles Seems that is would be just right for those small targets.

I try headshots with the 22Lr but mostly under 100 yards. When they are on the logs around the banks longer shell shots are, often required and explosive . I am glad to hear there are others enjoying this great passage of spring. I find it good training for larger critters as well.I have not tried the hornet or 17 hrm but ,they both seem like great choices.

And we shoot turtles because---------?? roger

Bartsche , Turtle parts make good Catfish Food, also turtles eat Bass, and other minnows . In this part of the world they are pest and can legally be taken with any weapon, year round with no bag limits. However I shoot them for sport.

Love blasting those turtles off floating logs. I have not been out yet. My son and I go out each spring and summer. Last year we shot over 300 turtles in 5 outings. I use a custom Ruger 10/22. Shooting turtles allows us to practise trigger control, staying on target and breathing control when shooting at long distances.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
And we shoot turtles because---------?? roger

When Clinton was asked why men have affairs, he answered, "Because they can."

Why do men climb mountains? Because they are there. - Reinhold Messner

In the limit, as Roger approaches turtles, we could accept some trite justification for our behavior.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
And we shoot turtles because---------?? roger

Looks like turtles and prairie dogs we have similar beliefs.

Strange stuff!

I'll be the first to add cats to the list of turtles and gophers.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
And we shoot turtles because---------?? roger

Because they want to give the anti-hunters more ammo... I guess Next will be butterfies .

Hey Rug,

I can't wait to get down there and shoot my fair share of those pesky turtles, so save a few for me. They make great practice since we are going to Africa in July.

I'm with Roger. Why?
Sad statement about the "just kill something" viewpoint!
Maybe they cause some sort of serious problem I'm unaware of in which case my opinion could be swayed but just to shoot em? Can't be too challenging.
I must admit to being biased however cause I love reptiles and amphibians, fascinating creatures.
I'd rather shoot chicken eggs at 3 or 4 hundred yards, that's a challenge.

David do not worry as I am seeing more than ever this year, Stock up on ammo before you come. Hopefully the Butterflies will hatch soon and we can shoot them as well. Turtles ruin lakes .

I imposed a daily bag limit on butterflys* for my son when he was 5 years old; one of each species per day.

He became distracted by video games at age 6, and many species of butterflies were saved.


*no bag limit on grasshoppers

Anyone remember that old Chuck Berry concert tune he did about "MY Ding-a-ling?"

"I remember swimming cross Turtle Creek
Man them snappers all around my feet
Do you ever know how hard it is to swim
With both hands holding YOUR Ding-a-Ling-a-ling"

we shoot chicken eggs also. we make the chicken watch.

quote:

Originally posted by montdoug:
I'm with Roger. Why?
Sad statement about the "just kill something" viewpoint!
Maybe they cause some sort of serious problem I'm unaware of in which case my opinion could be swayed but just to shoot em? Can't be too challenging.
I must admit to being biased however cause I love reptiles and amphibians, fascinating creatures.
I'd rather shoot chicken eggs at 3 or 4 hundred yards, that's a challenge.

Yes, There's probably nothing alive that's less harmful than turtles, but some can find a justification to kill anything. It sheds a poor light on gun owners, but it's part of (some) human nature I guess. I think it's a power or control thing. I Just can't bring myself to get mad enough at a turtle to shoot it, just to watch it fly apart.
I recall, as a kid, hunting ducks with my dad. I asked him if I could shoot a blackbird perched on a nearby cattail with my 410. He said "sure". Later I asked what was for lunch. He said "well, I'm having a ham sandwich" When I asked what I was having... you guessed it... "blackbird" . Since then, I only shoot what I'm going to eat, unless it's causing harm, like coyotes in my turkey/deer lease.

Greg,

I understand your view, but I would also say that in this day and time probably 99.9% of hunting is done for the fun of it. If you add up the cost of food plots, clothes, guns, ammo, bait, and the time we spend hunting, it would be much cheaper to go to the grocery store and buy the meat. For some people it’s the time spent with friends or love ones that counts, but its still at the expense of an animal’s life.

I would also say that it takes just a much skill to sneak up on a turtle sitting on a log as it does to sit in a dear stand and shoot a deer over a baited field.

I feed several hundred dollars in fish food a year, and before I started thinning out the turtles a good bit of the food was being eaten by turtles.

The state of GA. faced with an outbreat of Turtlerama is indefinately extending the season on a no size no limit bases on the Georgia Red Necked Rubber Shell, The Okeenoobee Beaver Snapper, and the Green Peach Eating Humped Back Tortoise. The established bounties will be announced on 11:00 PM news channel 14.

More information will be announced as it becomes available or call the Georgia Fish and Game directly. The Dixie Bass and Minnow protectors are setting up shelter and food centers for the large influx of exspected brave Varminteers. Y'all come now. Ya hear?

Peereauxs, swamp buggies,spoting head lamps and guides are available at a modest cost on a first come bases. OK. I've had my say for today. roger

stopped a turtle charge today,turtle came at me at speed----afraid i turned and ran-returned fire. turtle growl very bad. got away.

When I was a kid, we practiced shotguning by shooting at dragonflies on the wing with 22 rat shot.

Since nobody has asked it yet, I'll be the dummy and ask what breed of turtle is this that is so destructive? I can see the anger if its the snapping turtle family, as they are a menace to the lesser fish population. But if we are talking your average painted or box turtle, what are they really harming? Aren't they insect eaters?

A bit more detail might help us that still don't see the point or harm of a few turtles.

"they eat minnows"...

quote:

Originally posted by brayhaven:
I recall, as a kid, hunting ducks with my dad. I asked him if I could shoot a blackbird perched on a nearby cattail with my 410. He said "sure". Later I asked what was for lunch. He said "well, I'm having a ham sandwich" When I asked what I was having... you guessed it... "blackbird" .

Great story, and good on your old man.

BTW, I'm with you on the killing for target practice only aspect.

Cute story brayhaven, does dear old dad eat dead flys under the swatter, or dead rats out of the trap? He sounds as stupid as you. How are the coyote steaks? This is a varmit shooting forum so for the non varmit shooters no need to post here.

My .02...

Red-eared sliders are very prolific, and other than alligators and maybe water birds, they have no natural predators. I have been told, but have not seen it, that the bigger ones will bite the legs off ducks, and will readily eat ducklings. IF that is the case, I see no harm in controlling the populations.

Box turtles are another matter. They are terrapins, not turtles. They live on dry land, not around water, and are incredibly docile. They are also protected in several states.

I watched a big red-eared slider female laying eggs yesterday morning. She safely buried the eggs about 50 yards down from my townhouse, and across the street. I reckon those baby turtles will hatch and crawl straight to the bayou mama came out of. I hope they make it...

quote:

This is a varmit shooting forum so for the non varmit shooters no need to post here.

By what athority? roger

quote:

Originally posted by Rug:
Cute story brayhaven, does dear old dad eat dead flys under the swatter, or dead rats out of the trap? He sounds as stupid as you. How are the coyote steaks? This is a varmit shooting forum so for the non varmit shooters no need to post here.

Gee Rug, you sound like an interesting open minded guy.
As long as your obviously ok with insulting a mans father which is about as rude as one can possibly be just because the fella voiced his view point I thought I'd ask, do you have any idea at all who your father is? Gosh, I sure hope he's not related more than once.
By the way "varmit" has an "n" in it. 4th grade must of been a rough three years huh?

Doesn't feel to good to be personally attacked or have your family personally attacked does it?

I think we were discussing shooting turtles.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doubless:
My .02...

Red-eared sliders are very prolific, and other than alligators and maybe water birds, they have no natural predators. I have been told, but have not seen it, that the bigger ones will bite the legs off ducks, and will readily eat ducklings. IF that is the case, I see no harm in controlling the populations.

That's a sensible explanation Doubtless thanks. You didn't even have to insult someones family to make your point known. That makes sense to me even though I like reptiles and amphibians.
I wouldn't be interested in shooting them myself but I can see where they probably need to be controlled if that's the case ya sure couldn't argue with someone that did.
To me that would answer the original question which was "why?"

Your dad sounds like a neat guy brayhaven.

We have Richardsons ground squirrels out here that we call gophers, I probably shoot 2 or 3 thousand of em a year. I have a whole gun safe full of small caliber wildcats to do it with. They eat the ranchers out of house and home and it's either shoot em or poison em and poison effects the whole eco-system. A lot of people don't understand shooting gophers either I guess.

Montdoug Perhaps you have not read the whole thread, or have not understood what you have read. I have found that you get back usually what you put into it. I started this thread to find out who on the forum shoots turtles, then the insults and trash started . Brayhaven brought his daddy to the thread. So besides your insults , do you have anything to add? And by the way I am not offended by your dribble about me .

Rug I have indeed read the entire thread and feel I fully understand what's been posted. I have my share of problems but reading comprehension is fortunately not one of them.
I felt "why shoot turtles"? was a valid question. It was obvious also there were many diverging opinions of it, perhaps that is what your calling insults and trash. Perhaps you felt attacked, I don't know.
When brayhaven told a hunting story about he and his father and you stated they were both stupid and implied his father ate dead flys and rats, whether he found that personally offensive or not I know I did. That kind of rudeness and insult is in my opinion inappropriate and boorish.
My attempt to make a point was also inappropriate and boorish and I'm glad your not offended. I dislike that kind of interaction and that was a one time deal for me, like I said I was trying to make a point.
Doubless answered my question about "why", in fact I Googled red eared sliders and got even more information and do see how they can be a problem. As I admitted I'm biased. I've been catching frogs, snakes, turtles etc since I was knee high to a duck, we don't have too many of them out here and I don't see them as targets. After Doubless's post and a bit of reading it makes more sense even though as I also mentioned it wouldn't interest me shooting them as I'm sure a lot of the things I do might well not interest you.
I do shoot a lot of varmints out here as they do cause a ton of damage in the fields, gophers, p-dogs, badgers, coyotes etc.a lot of people don't understand that. Making a living off the land is tough on ranchers and any competing critter is a liability. Some ranchers just poison everything, some try to control problems by shooting them. That's where I come in. People that don't understand my varminting have that right, I'm not gonna insult their families cause they disagree with me. I am not the social avenger, neither in my opinion are you.
If you don't like people disagreeing with your choice to shoot turtles I'd suggest you find a more worthy quarry or don't start threads about it on the web, just a suggestion. I can't see ya getting a lot of support in shooting little turtles off logs at 100 yards. Just my 2 cents.

Montdoug, I do not see Rug's comments to brayhaven as a attack against his family but more of a response to his father's philosphy of if you kill it you have to eat it. By refering to killing a fly does he eat it, no it is a pest. The same goes with most other varmints, they are shot because of the damage they can do not for eating. In fact if you want brayhaven's little story can just as well apply to you shooting p-dogs.

What the real issue is people condemning ones actions without any knowledge, the why of it was answered a few times by a few different posters. I give you some credit for at least doing a little research on why we shoot the turtles in our area as they can destroy lakes and have no natural predators, we are not far enough south to have any gators. People just sometimes do not get that since the animals cause no problems where they live, no one justify shooting them. I could argue that you shooting p-dogs is no good since we do not have them here, but I am more educated then that. In our area it just happens that there is a turtle over population, in your area it is p-dogs in other areas it could be something else.

By the way it just happens that a good side benefit is some good target practice, the same as shooting p-dogs. And most of the turtles are out over 200 yards, the few at 100 yards are the easy shots.

Not to beat a dead horse David but "He sounds as stupid as you are" is pretty tough to explain as anything but an attack. I don't know about where you live David but in Montana you make that statement about someones dad be he alive or deceased and someones gonna activate your dental plan!
As to your turtles I found it interesting reading that these are another of the many "trade animals" that are frequently sold as pets and then when the owners are tired of em they just get pitched out in the nearest lake and "walla" another non-indigenous species messing things up. I hear they are getting Pythons in Florida for crap sake, ask Australians about the cane toad or camels or for that matter rabbits and feral pigs. That part makes sense, I admitted my bias in that I shoulda been a herpetologist and while I really like turtles etc I do have to disagree with some of the above postings in that if they are introduced to an area and aren't indigenous they are harmless, they aren't. I didn't know that, like I said "why"? was to me a valid question. Now that I know "why" and being uninterested in shooting them myself I guess the only answer is to leave the job to you guys .
Thanks for your thoughtful response.

When you guys are fresh out of turtles, I've got some baby chicks I'll sell you so you'll have something to stomp on to make you feel better...I hear those little baby chicks are hell on floors, and eat lots of bugs too...real pains in the ass.


Lowbrow entertainment at its finest,
MG

quote:

Originally posted by brayhaven:
I recall, as a kid, hunting ducks with my dad. I asked him if I could shoot a blackbird perched on a nearby cattail with my 410. He said "sure". Later I asked what was for lunch. He said "well, I'm having a ham sandwich" When I asked what I was having... you guessed it... "blackbird" . Since then, I only shoot what I'm going to eat, unless it's causing harm, like coyotes in my turkey/deer lease.

What? No coyotes? Coyote makes some of the best "beef jerkey" I ever shared with my friends.

Sometimes there is not a thing wrong with shooting turtles. I also shoot them every chance I get. We have 3 large ponds in our cow pastures for the cattle to drink from and more turtles than you can imagine. I have already had cattle bit on the legs while drinking, and a few get infected. Even had to put one down a few years ago! As mentioned before forget putting any small fish in the ponds for the kids to try and catch. I see the other side of the argument, but don't forget there are definitely 2 sides. I prefer to use a 300RUM and see if I can blow them out of the water. For those of you who need to shoot them like me, if you drop a half stick taped to a rock in the water it will make them float and you can get a few before they go back under.

These turtles are sure getting a lot of smilage. roger