What caliber for Opossum? And night shooting is hard.

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Here is my HD hand gun Glock 21 45ACP with Trijicon night sights and M-6 laser flashlight combo. If you do get night sites get the front one a different color then the back. It makes it easier to rapid fire you can tell what is the front and what is the back
 
# 50

What, take PCP and go hand to hand with a possum?

You'd feel no pain but you wouldn't remember what happened when you woke up. "Why am I covered in blood and fur? And where's the cat?"

I'd prefer CO2 over PCP for sure.
 
1lostinspace,
dad shot a possem with a glock (9mm). the possem was a step down and right in front of him. dad shot it in the back of the skull and the possum, leaped into the air like a cannon. dad said he was on eye leavel with it. so if you shoot a possum watch out for aireal acrobatics!
 
Crossbow with an attached light. Nice and quiet with all the power and killing power you need. On a more realistic note, a cheap laser might not be a bad idea. IIRC Daisy makes one for around $15 that fits on some co2 pistols.
 
Get an $8 crosman/daisy/marksman slingshot, some ball bearings and aim for the head. That's probably the cheapest solution. I've used my Benjamin 392 to take out a couple raccoons that were making a mess out of our garbage(I lost count of the rabbits I've caught messing with the rose bushes), one well placed shot to the head and they were done. If you want a repeater, look at the RWS Hammerli 850 AirMagnum in .22.
 
"You're Jed Clampett, aren't you?"

dude, i was quoting someone else. if i go to dinner at someones house, i ask what kind of meat BEFORE i eat it!
 
In the early 1970's Portland. OR was overun by a possum population explosion. They were everywhere and in great numbers too. I lived in a big old house with 5 other roomates. all of us were in our early 20's. There was a 50 ft long retaining wall at the back of the lot. And there was a yard light that would light up the wall at night. And guess what, the possums would line up on top of the wall at night. We had a bunch of old baseball bats on the back porch. When we would get bored one of us would yell "possum hunt' we would grab the bats, turn on the lights and proceed to attack and kill the possums with the bats. In the 4 years I lived there I could see no decline in the possum population. It may not seem too PC but we were trying to protect our 4 cats we had from the possums. 35 years later I have gone 3 or 4 years without seeing one. I see a lot more 35lb raccoons than anything else nowadays.
 
I also live in city where firearms discharge is illegal. The last possum I took out was with a 1970's era wood 34" Louisville Slugger (Johnny Bench signature). Two strikes. And the neighbors never knew why their dogs quit barking. :cool:
 
I usually use a pitchfork.
They also don't play dead when your playing for keeps.
Watch your self they are very quick when they want to be.
They are also capable of snapping a broom handle clean in half, with just one chomp of their jaws. Like vicegrips, and their bodies built like tanks.
Be careful.
 
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Opossums are very hard to kill. I would suggest a Barret .50 cal or one of those old English double guns in .450 or greater caliber. If the opossum charges you hold your ground until it's very close then shoot it in its eyes. God help you if you miss. It will chew your toe off and scratch the c##p out of your ankles. The hide makes a fine winter throw rug for your bathroom (in front of toilet) floor.;)
 
I mostly wanted a carcas so I could have that tested for rabies
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They can't carry rabies, coons are a different story though...
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This is incorrect... it is very rare, but possums can get and transmit rabies.

I'd get one of the RWS Magnum 460 air rifles (just because I've been wanting one)... .177@1350fps or .22@950fps.

Of course, they're as much as a good "real" gun... about $500.
 
I've lived in a rual area for several years now and there is aways a problem with opossums and skunks. My home seems to attract them in droves. Just be sure of whats behind the country rat when you shoot. It was problably the sixth or seventh varmint I heard crawling underneath my home when I lept into action. Immediately dawning my body armor, slinging an extra bandolier of mags around my neck, making sure my AR was topped off I raced out to see a skunk trying to make its way between the underpinning and the central aircon unit. After blinding the neighbor hood with my surefire and lining up my aimpoint..blamo. The 62gn SS109 penatrator went through Pepe', the coil and lodged into the compressor. Cost me $980 to replace the aircon unit and a mild chewing out by Grandpa. Oh yeah, the skunk got under the house, curled up in the only place a human can't reach and died. The smell lasted about eight months.(after the first three months you don't seem to notice)
 
dude, i was quoting someone else. if i go to dinner at someones house, i ask what kind of meat BEFORE i eat it!
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OK bluestarlizzard I re-read the story and I stand corrected. You still made the top post in this thread, though.
 
But suppose it's a ZOMBIE possum?
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Didn't read my previous post, did ya?

7.62 x 54R works just as well on zombie 'possum... or zombie anything else, for that matter.

Though I admit that something like zombie rhinoceros could be a bit more difficult to handle.... Shot placement would become much more critical ya know. :D



J.C.
 
Hmmm.I really like the crossbow suggestion....
I got a small one off Ebay a while back for $20 shipped, and think it would easily handle the job quietly and effectively and a resonable range....its actually surprisingly accurate and powerful once yo get the hang of it.
 
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I fought the opossum wars a few years back. Because it was mostly late at night I didn't want to disturb neighbors so I used the quiet Aguila .22 Colibres. There's not much "umphh" to them but opossums are reluctant to leave the cat food bowl and you can lay a single shot .22 rifle right up against their noggin and dispatch them. Because the Colibres are weak it is best to double tap them after they have fallen over. I have shot some only once, left them for morning clean up and they'd walked off.
 
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