Anyone have porcupine problems ?

[HemlockKing]

They are killing all kinds of my oaks and pine crowns !!!!! I can't seem t stop them there is so many, considering putting sheet metal at the bottom of best trees. I really hate taking them little guys out and they are hard es ever to get a kill shot on took 6 .22 rounds to take him out of the tree.

[HemlockKing]

 

 

[gspren]

We had problems with them at our hunting cabin chewing on the T-11 siding on the outhouse and storage shed. We shot about a dozen or more and finally put steel siding on the buildings. There are things you can get that's supposed to repel them but for us it didn't work. You can see where they chewed on the steel siding but just scratched the paint.

[HemlockKing]

We had problems with them at our hunting cabin chewing on the T-11 siding on the outhouse and storage shed. We shot about a dozen or more and finally put steel siding on the buildings. There are things you can get that's supposed to repel them but for us it didn't work. You can see where they chewed on the steel siding but just scratched the paint.

They have been eating everything around here. Left a can of soda out on the ground and came back a day or 2 later and it was half chewed up... like how does that not shred it's inner guts up?

[gspren]

Our cabin is in a State Forest and when we talked to the forester before we shot any he encouraged us to shoot as many as we could.

[HemlockKing]

Our cabin is in a State Forest and when we talked to the forester before we shot any he encouraged us to shoot as many as we could.

This makes me feel more justified. I understand they are a part of our forests but they have no predators right? Nothing can control their population. To be honest they aren’t too smart I’m surprised they even figure out how to “get it on”  to repopulate :D

[sprucebunny]

I used to not want to kill them but I'm over it. We shot 4 one weekend and 8 that season. 
I have sheet metal on several trees. It works.

What works best is having a fisher in the neighborhood. They are the only thing that regularly kills porkys but when they run low on porkys, they go for cats.

[mudfarmer]

Do not shoot them with a .22LR if you already feel bad shooting them. Been there, done that, never did it again. 12ga buckshot yessir! After a season like sprucebunny mentioned and the number that get hit in the road their population seems to have stabilized at an "I can deal with that" amount for past 5years. Yes they only seem to like good trees

[thecfarm]

I have killed them things in just about every way, except for my bare hands. Pitch fork, knife, grub hoe, shovel, rocks, guns, clubs, even stomped on the nose of one. I will chase them things down!!!!
Funny story, I worked with a bunch of just about 20 years old when I was about 55. They would carry twice as much and move twice as fast. I would always say, I will catch up with ya.  ;D  One day we was cutting pumpkins off the vines with some sort of long bladed knife. One of the young ones said, hey Ray look and pointed at a porky pine. I was off running. Porky climbed the tree, I climbed the tree. Did not have to climb far, porky was on the ground dead. The young ones could not wait to get back and tell the The Boss, I saw Ray run!!! Boss said good job Ray. Those things will kill and eat just about anything that don't move.

[HemlockKing]

 :D :D :D :D :D That was a funny read. I admit the worst way I have killed one was by cutting down a tree one was in, He was making his was to my oak and I came after him, he ran into some bush quick then started climbing a dead spruce tree to escape, I tried to stop it from escaping up the tree by putting a shovel against the top of its head but it kept climbing! Those things are strong I’d say I was outing 50-70 lbs of force on the top of its head but I couldn’t knock it :D. So I say let em climb it then , let him get to the very top then felled the tree and had it slams the ground as hard as I could. Porky was dazzled. I ran up and ended him with a hunting knife bee em though he was pretty much dead from the fall. I hadn’t no rifle so that was it.

[HemlockKing]

Do not shoot them with a .22LR if you already feel bad shooting them. Been there, done that, never did it again. 12ga buckshot yessir! After a season like sprucebunny mentioned and the number that get hit in the road their population seems to have stabilized at an "I can deal with that" amount for past 5years. Yes they only seem to like good trees

I wonder if they things are any edible, this one was CHUNKY. After I seen it eat aluminum though I'm pass on that one  :D ;D

[Sedgehammer]

Funny story, I worked with a bunch of just about 20 years old when I was about 55. They would carry twice as much and move twice as fast. I would always say, I will catch up with ya.  ;D  

you must have different 20 year olds where you live.  here i carry twice as much and move twice as fast...... 

[stumpy]

we had them at our cabin and they would chew on everything.  They would wake us up at nite chewing on the logs.  We were told the DNR back in the '90's imported some fishers and in a few years the porkies were at an acceptable level. Turns out fishers are their only predator. I have a rule, only shoot things that I am willing to eat....except PORKIES. The other thing I did was mix cayan pepper with the log stain and painted it on the lower logs of the cabin.  Then I sprinkled it around the cabin.  That and the shooting seems to have done the trick

[Logger RK]

We like to call them Tree Pig's. If I happen to see one in a tree while out shearing  with My hydro ax I'll give them a little ride to see how good they can hang on. I call it PorkyWhacking. One time I happen to video it,I thought I seen a flash right past my front window & almost in my open side door. After looking at the video & freeze framing it,i seen Porky couldn't last  The 8 Second Ride. 

[Gere Flewelling]

At the ski area that I work, we have lots of trouble with them chewing up the pressure treated stair treads on the zip line towers.  They seem to prefer the freshest treated wood.  They also like the t-11 siding on the lift buildings and the base lodge.  They are a constant battle.  There population must be extreme in this area as they seem to be everywhere.  I don't think there is a day goes by that I don't encounter one or two road fresh kills on my 17 mile trip to work.  The crows and turkey vultures eat pretty well around here though.
The only critter that gives us more trouble is the beavers smiley_furious3that are determine to flood out our maintenance yard and cut down all the trees around our pond.  They are relentless.  Hard to take them out as there are public hiking trails populated with animal lovers everywhere.  Especially when you are about to pull the trigger.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Fishers do take porkys.
.44 mag gets them out of trees in a hurry.
But I must admit sometimes it takes me more than one shot.

[Corley5]

Cut down their den trees.  If they don't have a place to live...

[HemlockKing]

Cut down their den trees.  If they don't have a place to live...

I'm creating brush piles to rot so I suspect they will try to live in them, I already had one try to take up home, does putting rat poisoning around the brush pile work
You figure?

[Tin Horse]

Fishers do take porkys.
.44 mag gets them out of trees in a hurry.
But I must admit sometimes it takes me more than one shot.

Back when I  was a young lad I found the 22 didn't knock them out of a tree very well. However the .44 mag did. Usually in pieces. Dad wasn't happy. Wanted me to pick up all the quills.  :(

[HemlockKing]

Fishers do take porkys.
.44 mag gets them out of trees in a hurry.
But I must admit sometimes it takes me more than one shot.

Back when I  was a young lad I found the 22 didn't knock them out of a tree very well. However the .44 mag did. Usually in pieces. Dad wasn't happy. Wanted me to pick up all the quills.  :(

Heck why not a .500 magnum? I wonder if it's been done :D :D :D

[Tacotodd]

Well, if you're going to be making them more or less explode, I like my 25-06 loads for a varmint. THAT does the trick on lots of things, including peeling back certain animals skulls, but I won't get into that 😱

[barbender]

Ray, my late neighbor was obsessed with beavers. We'd be out hunting and come across a beaver dam, forget hunting he'd spend the whole day destroying the dam by hand. If it was really big he'd pack a lunch and go back to it the next day. He'd have a rifle and shoot any beavers that came out to check on things. I think I know where the porcupine counterpart to my neighbor is now😂

[HemlockKing]

I’ve never run into any beavers on my land, I know they are around though. Need a “nuisance wildlife permit” to take out their damms here, I only have a tiny brook of flowing water so  

[Chuck White]

A good stout stick across the head will take out a porcupine quicker than a bullet in some cases!

They can move right along, but a person in fair shape can outrun one!

If they're up a tree or in a hole, that's different!

[HemlockKing]

A good stout stick across the head will take out a porcupine quicker than a bullet in some cases!

They can move right along, but a person in fair shape can outrun one!

If they're up a tree or in a hole, that's different!

I find it's not so much that they're too fast but that they immediately find some brush or bushes to jump in they're good at finding crevices, getaway up trees etc. If you can spot one and quietly walk up on it though should be okay since they aren't too aware of their surroundings it seems  :D