Sort of OT: best way to get rid of a Skunk?

gr8gun · September 1, 2005, 10:37 PM

My brother has an issue with a skunk. He wants to borrow one of my rifles to shoot it.

First question: Is that the best way to get rid of a skunk? I would assume you need a one-shot-kill, or the injured animal will spray.

Second question: Assuming you were going to shoot one -- and my brother says it lives near his house and he'd be 10-25 yards from it -- what would you use?

I have an odd assortment of rifles, I'm not a hunter. I have an AK, a PC4, a Mini-14, and a Mossy 12ga. I suggested the 12ga with a light load and the short barrel.

Any thoughts?

mete · September 1, 2005, 10:46 PM

A 22 lr with a careful shot to the head.If it isn't killed instantly it will spray .

Young_Buck · September 2, 2005, 12:36 AM

i would say the 12ga with a slug if you don't mind vaporising it

Dave Haven · September 2, 2005, 12:57 AM

12 gauge with #7-1/2 bird shot at 11 feet. Took out an inch of cervical spine and part of his rib cage. The wad stuck in the OSB decking under him.

He still sprayed.

A good pellet gun with a head shot works as well.
Having used both, I'd use the pellet gun or a .22 rifle.

gr8gun · September 2, 2005, 01:33 AM

Thanks for the feedback. I have to admit, I think the whole thing is a bad idea. He's sick of not being able to go outside at night without close calls, and he has five cats, some of them stupid enough to challenge anything.

He asked one of his neighbors, and the guy said he shoots them, and digs a hole where ever it happens and burries them right there on the spot. My brother has lived most of his life in cities... I think this little "Green Acres" adventure is not realistic, but I'm not sure what else he can do. If it was any other animal I wouldn't worry about it, but skunk stink is hard to get rid of.

Pointer · September 2, 2005, 01:45 AM

If he lives where a stray bullet won't hurt the neighbor's cow's...

You can use your .223

A .22lr would be best

either one should be a head shot

If you can't shoot safely... place plastic bottles all around with a strong solution of bleach in them and vent holes in the top portion of the jug.
If you have enough of them around, it will run him off. It will also keep other animals away.

Ammonia cleaning fluid works well also... BUT DO NOT let the bleach and the ammonia cleaner get together. The chemical reaction is more than you would care to deal with.

Now, I know you are going to experiment... so use one drop each from the end of a rod at least as long as a new pencil.

I would shoot with the 22lr

zeisloft · September 2, 2005, 09:13 AM

STOP! There is one, ONE (1) way to do this without spray. Head shots are iffy, they may still spray as a nerve response. Dispatch with 2 shots. The first shot through the spray bladder (hip area) this will prevent them from being able to expand the bladder to spray. Next the head shot. Look around on the web for skunk anatomy to get a clear idea of their layout. Once you are familiar with the skunks blue print you can make the shot from about any angle. I have put many of em down with this method and they WILL NOT SPRAY. Good luck.
~z

Twycross · September 2, 2005, 06:32 PM

zeisloft - Have you had any cases in which the skunk 'leaked'? I have shot about half a dozen skunks with my .22 pellet rifle, all head shots, and they never sprayed, but would always start leaking their spray after death. It seems like a spray-bladder shot would intensify this, but I've never done it.

22-rimfire · September 2, 2005, 08:08 PM

Frankly I don't know what the big deal is. If there is a skunk problem, shoot the turkey in the head with a 22lr and don't worry about it. If it "leaks", who cares again... it will go away in a few days. Just be careful when you handle the animal. I lean toward just burying it where it is shot or move with a shovel and bury there. Maybe you need a 460 Weatherby Magnum for the critter?

Yankee Doodle · September 3, 2005, 08:33 AM

This works. Use a Havahart type trap, baited with catfood. When critter is trapped, slowly approach and cover entire trap with a tarp and let it be for about an hour. Then, return to trap, SLOWLY lift it up, still covered, and place it in a garbage can filled with water. No noise, no stink, no skunk. Learned this many years ago, and works like a charm.
Y.D.

Greybeard · September 3, 2005, 08:54 AM

Yep, what Doodle said about trap if ya want the place to remain mostly stinkless. Traps can be found at most feed stores for $50 to $60. Altho cat food ya already have is likely cheaper, canned sardines are excellent bait.

Last skunk I had in the coon trap became test material for new .45 Colt handload. With placement just behind the ear, the other end remained closed. (Cast bullet was kinda hard on the wire trap.)

I subsequently carried the trap back in the woods and gave Mr. Skunk a proper burial. A day or four later, I noticed he'd been dug up and carried off. Some critters have absolutly no respect.

butch50 · September 3, 2005, 10:03 AM

Caution

Many skunks carry rabies.

Quote:

Cases of Rabies Reported in Skunks
In 2003, the 2,112 reported cases of rabies in skunks represented 29.4% of all animals reported as rabid to the CDC (13.2% decrease from the number of rabid skunks reported in 2002). Most rabid skunks in states enzootic for raccoon rabies are presumed to be infected with the raccoon variant of the rabies virus (on the basis of those that have been tested to determine rabies variant type). Studies have been unable to demonstrate evidence of adaptation, circulation, and maintenance of the raccoon variant of the rabies virus in skunks. In other states it is likely that the rabid skunks reported were infected with the rabies virus variants maintained by skunk reservoirs.

Krebs JW, Mandel EJ, Swerdlow DL, Rupprecht CE. Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2003. JAVMA 2004; 225(12):1837-1849.

I have killed a few skunks - We simply shot them from as far away as reasonably possible, and as far away from the house as we could. Before we shot them we dug a deep hole. After we shot them we carried them on a shovel to the hole and dropped them in, poured gasoline on top of them to deter coyotes from digging them back up, and buried them, and poured more gasoline on top of the hole. Of course gas wasn't $3 a gallon then either. The smell goes away pretty fast in the outdoors.

gr8gun · September 3, 2005, 12:26 PM

I'll pass these suggestions along to my brother, thanks again for all the good info.

Dave Haven · September 3, 2005, 10:43 PM

As for disposal, I toss the dead skunks over my back fence. (National Forest back there, not neighbors).
The buzzards take care of it within a few days.

Mike P. · September 4, 2005, 09:08 PM

The cage trap and drowning is the best way. But if you shoot them. Shoot them through the lungs instead of head. There less likely to spray.

butch50 · September 4, 2005, 10:34 PM

Back in the old days there was a system of trapping muskrats that would likely work here as well.

You set up a 55 gallon barrel half filled with water. You put a piece of stiff canvas over the top, and tied the canvas off around the rim. You laid a 1 x 6 board from the ground to the top of the barrel. You placed bait on the canvas. You let the muskrats (skunks) get used to walking up the board and out onto the canvas to get to the bait.

Then, after they were used to it, you cut an X in the center of the canvas, and propped the bait on a stick over the center. The muskrats (skunk) being used to walking out on the canvas would walk out on it and fall through the cut canvas into the barrel and shortly drown.

Simple, effective and should eliminate the spraying?

Dave Haven · September 5, 2005, 10:36 PM

Quote:

The cage trap and drowning is the best way. But if you shoot them. Shoot them through the lungs instead of head. There less likely to spray.

I was just thinking that a "boiler room" shot may be better than a head shot.
That said, I just ordered a cage trap today for the ones I can't get a shot at. I know I'll only catch my cat ONCE, if at all.

Thanks.

zeisloft · September 6, 2005, 10:17 AM

Twycross, no leaks to report. After a hip and head shot, I have not even smelled skunk in the area. But yes, with just a head shot, in my experience, you get a bit of a leak about 75% of the time.
~z

Dave Haven · September 25, 2005, 12:38 AM

Update...
In the past 8 days, I've eliminated two "black&white striped minks" with my .22 cal. RWS Mod. 48 air rifle. Shot both of them in the "boiler room". The first one (last Friday night) sprayed once and went about 20 feet before expiring. The second one (about 20 minutes ago) went about 5 feet and never sprayed.
Thanks for the advice about lung shots, Mike P.

The first skunk I ever shot, I shot in the head with an air rifle. He went down and "did the chicken" for about 15 seconds before he died. And he sprayed 5 times. 11 feet from my kitchen window.

I'll stick with the "boiler room" shots.

Garand Guy · September 25, 2005, 01:39 AM

Try feeding it! A nice mixture of d-con & pepsi. The thing shouldn't get more than 10-15 feet from the dish before it keels over. (It will also get rid of the dumber of the cats)

Note: the d-con is just for flavoring; pepsi will kill anything!

sm · September 25, 2005, 05:14 AM

First off-
Welcome Back Art! I thought that tall fellow smelling of Desert looked familar.

Rabid Skunks - mostly what I have to contend with. Depends on where one is and safe backstops. Have used various handguns, slugs from shotguns,'30-30, '06's and .22 rifles.

Ruark said Use Enough Gun, not my fault the rabid smelly critter picked a day I was toting a 30-30 or '06...

One fellow used a caged trap to catch a few, had a problem figuring out how to get the rabid critter our of his trap. I just happened to be testing .480 and .454 handguns next door, and a model 70 in '06. Yep...yep...these will get a critter to "behave" so you can remove a rabid critter and save a trap.

All in the name of load testing you understand.

Then again with a safe backstop and all, good handgun practice with a CCW. Kinda like a black striped Tueller Drill if you will. Have used my 1928 Detective Special, J frames, 1911s,BHPs K frames, and Keltec P-11. Taken skunks, racoons, groundhogs. One gray squirrel with the Keltec P-11, he "almost" made it to base of tree...

kirbymagnum · November 20, 2005, 11:04 PM

how would a 17 hmr work on a skunk?

Twycross · November 21, 2005, 12:25 AM

It should be an excellent cartridge, given correct shot placement.

jeff_troop · November 21, 2005, 12:55 AM

you do not have to make a head shot on a skunk. what garbage. if you kill a skunk in any fashion there is a chance it will leak some odor. that is nothing compared to spray, believe me. shoot it with anything more powerful than a pellet gun in the front half of the body and it will kill it. a skunk is not going to spray at something it doesn't even see. they know their range. i have trapped about 15 or so and and i shoot them in the trap from about 20 yards. shoot till it stops moving. then haul it away quickly. it is going to stink most likely, but that ain't spraying. just suck it up and ignore the taint in the air, and bury it or whatever. i just throw mine in the woods and the coyotes eat it overnight.

22-rimfire · November 21, 2005, 09:29 AM

Any 22 rimfire will be more than adequate for around the house. Use subsonic rounds which are a little less noisey. Subsonics are less powerful, but should still do the trick. Shoot it until it stops moving. Shunks may release their scent (spray). But, it goes away in a few days. Don't see a big problem. In a box trap, they will spray when you start messing with them. If you go that route, just put a tarp over the trap and dunk the whole thing in a big tub that will fit the trap and drown it. Shooting is the best approach. Sound issues, but over very quick and he can explain to the neighbors later if necessary. They probably have the same shunk lurking around. They aren't friendly little creatures, be very careful if you handle it in any way alive. Watch you backstop.

September 1, 2005, 10:37 PM	#1
gr8gun Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2005 Posts: 174	Sort of OT: best way to get rid of a Skunk? My brother has an issue with a skunk. He wants to borrow one of my rifles to shoot it. First question: Is that the best way to get rid of a skunk? I would assume you need a one-shot-kill, or the injured animal will spray. Second question: Assuming you were going to shoot one -- and my brother says it lives near his house and he'd be 10-25 yards from it -- what would you use? I have an odd assortment of rifles, I'm not a hunter. I have an AK, a PC4, a Mini-14, and a Mossy 12ga. I suggested the 12ga with a light load and the short barrel. Any thoughts? __________________ "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." (AE)

September 2, 2005, 01:33 AM	#5
gr8gun Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2005 Posts: 174	Thanks for the feedback. I have to admit, I think the whole thing is a bad idea. He's sick of not being able to go outside at night without close calls, and he has five cats, some of them stupid enough to challenge anything. He asked one of his neighbors, and the guy said he shoots them, and digs a hole where ever it happens and burries them right there on the spot. My brother has lived most of his life in cities... I think this little "Green Acres" adventure is not realistic, but I'm not sure what else he can do. If it was any other animal I wouldn't worry about it, but skunk stink is hard to get rid of. __________________ "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." (AE)

September 2, 2005, 06:32 PM	#8
Twycross Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2005 Location: Montana Posts: 1,187	zeisloft - Have you had any cases in which the skunk 'leaked'? I have shot about half a dozen skunks with my .22 pellet rifle, all head shots, and they never sprayed, but would always start leaking their spray after death. It seems like a spray-bladder shot would intensify this, but I've never done it. __________________ The test of character is not 'hanging in' when you expect light at the end of the tunnel, but performance of duty, and persistence of example when you know no light is coming. - Vice Admiral James Stockdale, USN (ret.)

September 3, 2005, 08:54 AM	#11
Greybeard Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2002 Location: Denton County Texas Posts: 686	Yep, what Doodle said about trap if ya want the place to remain mostly stinkless. Traps can be found at most feed stores for $50 to $60. Altho cat food ya already have is likely cheaper, canned sardines are excellent bait. Last skunk I had in the coon trap became test material for new .45 Colt handload. With placement just behind the ear, the other end remained closed. (Cast bullet was kinda hard on the wire trap.) I subsequently carried the trap back in the woods and gave Mr. Skunk a proper burial. A day or four later, I noticed he'd been dug up and carried off. Some critters have absolutly no respect. __________________ www.dentoncountysports.com A Private Palace for Pistol Proficiency

September 3, 2005, 12:26 PM	#13
gr8gun Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2005 Posts: 174	I'll pass these suggestions along to my brother, thanks again for all the good info. __________________ "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." (AE)

September 1, 2005, 10:46 PM	#2
mete Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2004 Location: NY State Posts: 6,575	A 22 lr with a careful shot to the head.If it isn't killed instantly it will spray .

September 2, 2005, 12:36 AM	#3
Young_Buck Member Join Date: January 27, 2005 Location: Nanaimo B.C. Canada Posts: 53	i would say the 12ga with a slug if you don't mind vaporising it

September 2, 2005, 12:57 AM	#4
Dave Haven Senior Member Join Date: February 1, 2000 Location: near Flagstaff, AZ Posts: 790	12 gauge with #7-1/2 bird shot at 11 feet. Took out an inch of cervical spine and part of his rib cage. The wad stuck in the OSB decking under him. He still sprayed. A good pellet gun with a head shot works as well. Having used both, I'd use the pellet gun or a .22 rifle.

September 2, 2005, 01:45 AM	#6
Pointer Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2005 Location: Utah Posts: 2,559	If he lives where a stray bullet won't hurt the neighbor's cow's... You can use your .223 A .22lr would be best either one should be a head shot If you can't shoot safely... place plastic bottles all around with a strong solution of bleach in them and vent holes in the top portion of the jug. If you have enough of them around, it will run him off. It will also keep other animals away. Ammonia cleaning fluid works well also... BUT DO NOT let the bleach and the ammonia cleaner get together. The chemical reaction is more than you would care to deal with. Now, I know you are going to experiment... so use one drop each from the end of a rod at least as long as a new pencil. I would shoot with the 22lr

September 2, 2005, 09:13 AM	#7
zeisloft Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2005 Location: Amarillo TX Posts: 419	STOP! There is one, ONE (1) way to do this without spray. Head shots are iffy, they may still spray as a nerve response. Dispatch with 2 shots. The first shot through the spray bladder (hip area) this will prevent them from being able to expand the bladder to spray. Next the head shot. Look around on the web for skunk anatomy to get a clear idea of their layout. Once you are familiar with the skunks blue print you can make the shot from about any angle. I have put many of em down with this method and they WILL NOT SPRAY. Good luck. ~z __________________ A scalpel can be just as effective as a broadsword Obviously, Occam was not a reloader

September 2, 2005, 08:08 PM	#9
22-rimfire Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2005 Location: Tennessee Posts: 5,323	Frankly I don't know what the big deal is. If there is a skunk problem, shoot the turkey in the head with a 22lr and don't worry about it. If it "leaks", who cares again... it will go away in a few days. Just be careful when you handle the animal. I lean toward just burying it where it is shot or move with a shovel and bury there. Maybe you need a 460 Weatherby Magnum for the critter?

September 3, 2005, 08:33 AM	#10
Yankee Doodle Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2004 Posts: 619	This works. Use a Havahart type trap, baited with catfood. When critter is trapped, slowly approach and cover entire trap with a tarp and let it be for about an hour. Then, return to trap, SLOWLY lift it up, still covered, and place it in a garbage can filled with water. No noise, no stink, no skunk. Learned this many years ago, and works like a charm. Y.D.

September 3, 2005, 10:43 PM	#14
Dave Haven Senior Member Join Date: February 1, 2000 Location: near Flagstaff, AZ Posts: 790	As for disposal, I toss the dead skunks over my back fence. (National Forest back there, not neighbors). The buzzards take care of it within a few days.

September 4, 2005, 09:08 PM	#15
Mike P. Junior member Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Under Western Skies Posts: 100	The cage trap and drowning is the best way. But if you shoot them. Shoot them through the lungs instead of head. There less likely to spray.

September 4, 2005, 10:34 PM	#16
butch50 Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2005 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 1,403	Back in the old days there was a system of trapping muskrats that would likely work here as well. You set up a 55 gallon barrel half filled with water. You put a piece of stiff canvas over the top, and tied the canvas off around the rim. You laid a 1 x 6 board from the ground to the top of the barrel. You placed bait on the canvas. You let the muskrats (skunks) get used to walking up the board and out onto the canvas to get to the bait. Then, after they were used to it, you cut an X in the center of the canvas, and propped the bait on a stick over the center. The muskrats (skunk) being used to walking out on the canvas would walk out on it and fall through the cut canvas into the barrel and shortly drown. Simple, effective and should eliminate the spraying? __________________ ‘‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.’’ ~ Mahatma Ghandi, "Gandhi, An Autobiography", page 446 ‘‘The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.’’ ~ Patrick Henry

September 6, 2005, 10:17 AM	#18
zeisloft Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2005 Location: Amarillo TX Posts: 419	Twycross, no leaks to report. After a hip and head shot, I have not even smelled skunk in the area. But yes, with just a head shot, in my experience, you get a bit of a leak about 75% of the time. ~z __________________ A scalpel can be just as effective as a broadsword Obviously, Occam was not a reloader

September 25, 2005, 12:38 AM	#19
Dave Haven Senior Member Join Date: February 1, 2000 Location: near Flagstaff, AZ Posts: 790	Update... In the past 8 days, I've eliminated two "black&white striped minks" with my .22 cal. RWS Mod. 48 air rifle. Shot both of them in the "boiler room". The first one (last Friday night) sprayed once and went about 20 feet before expiring. The second one (about 20 minutes ago) went about 5 feet and never sprayed. Thanks for the advice about lung shots, Mike P. The first skunk I ever shot, I shot in the head with an air rifle. He went down and "did the chicken" for about 15 seconds before he died. And he sprayed 5 times. 11 feet from my kitchen window. I'll stick with the "boiler room" shots.

September 25, 2005, 01:39 AM	#20
Garand Guy Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Michigan: The nation's leading exporter of jobs Posts: 277	Try feeding it! A nice mixture of d-con & pepsi. The thing shouldn't get more than 10-15 feet from the dish before it keels over. (It will also get rid of the dumber of the cats) Note: the d-con is just for flavoring; pepsi will kill anything!

September 25, 2005, 05:14 AM	#21
sm Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2002 Posts: 1,819	First off- Welcome Back Art! I thought that tall fellow smelling of Desert looked familar. Rabid Skunks - mostly what I have to contend with. Depends on where one is and safe backstops. Have used various handguns, slugs from shotguns,'30-30, '06's and .22 rifles. Ruark said Use Enough Gun, not my fault the rabid smelly critter picked a day I was toting a 30-30 or '06... One fellow used a caged trap to catch a few, had a problem figuring out how to get the rabid critter our of his trap. I just happened to be testing .480 and .454 handguns next door, and a model 70 in '06. Yep...yep...these will get a critter to "behave" so you can remove a rabid critter and save a trap. All in the name of load testing you understand. Then again with a safe backstop and all, good handgun practice with a CCW. Kinda like a black striped Tueller Drill if you will. Have used my 1928 Detective Special, J frames, 1911s,BHPs K frames, and Keltec P-11. Taken skunks, racoons, groundhogs. One gray squirrel with the Keltec P-11, he "almost" made it to base of tree... __________________ Use Enough Gun TFL Alumni

November 20, 2005, 11:04 PM	#22
kirbymagnum Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2005 Location: Alberta Posts: 410	how would a 17 hmr work on a skunk?

November 21, 2005, 12:25 AM	#23
Twycross Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2005 Location: Montana Posts: 1,187	It should be an excellent cartridge, given correct shot placement. __________________ The test of character is not 'hanging in' when you expect light at the end of the tunnel, but performance of duty, and persistence of example when you know no light is coming. - Vice Admiral James Stockdale, USN (ret.)

November 21, 2005, 12:55 AM	#24
jeff_troop Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2005 Location: NRA Patron member from MS Posts: 459	you do not have to make a head shot on a skunk. what garbage. if you kill a skunk in any fashion there is a chance it will leak some odor. that is nothing compared to spray, believe me. shoot it with anything more powerful than a pellet gun in the front half of the body and it will kill it. a skunk is not going to spray at something it doesn't even see. they know their range. i have trapped about 15 or so and and i shoot them in the trap from about 20 yards. shoot till it stops moving. then haul it away quickly. it is going to stink most likely, but that ain't spraying. just suck it up and ignore the taint in the air, and bury it or whatever. i just throw mine in the woods and the coyotes eat it overnight. Last edited by jeff_troop; November 21, 2005 at 04:05 PM.

November 21, 2005, 09:29 AM	#25
22-rimfire Senior Member Join Date: February 19, 2005 Location: Tennessee Posts: 5,323	Any 22 rimfire will be more than adequate for around the house. Use subsonic rounds which are a little less noisey. Subsonics are less powerful, but should still do the trick. Shoot it until it stops moving. Shunks may release their scent (spray). But, it goes away in a few days. Don't see a big problem. In a box trap, they will spray when you start messing with them. If you go that route, just put a tarp over the trap and dunk the whole thing in a big tub that will fit the trap and drown it. Shooting is the best approach. Sound issues, but over very quick and he can explain to the neighbors later if necessary. They probably have the same shunk lurking around. They aren't friendly little creatures, be very careful if you handle it in any way alive. Watch you backstop.