I was raised to never shoot what I couldn't eat. With that in mind what do varmint hunters do with the carcases of prairie dogs, wood chucks, and coyotes? Just let them lay there and rot? Collect the fur? Im not judging, just wondering?

With coyotes, sometimes folks will take the pelts.

Since we don't have wood chucks in Texas, I am not sure what anyone does with those.

Usually not enough of a sod poodle left after the hit to do anything with.

Lora(campcook) and I along with some other folks eat bobcat.

Some folks will hang dead coyotes and bobcats on fences for various reasons.

Most folks just take pictures and then throw the animal in the brush.

Some folks will have a bobcat mounted or take the head for a european mount.

You really eat bobcat ch?

Bobcat fur prices are supposed be really good this year. I heard that a nice one that's not got a big hole blowed in it will bring $100 out in west Texas. My nephew got $95 for the pelt off this one last year and won big cat at the Rankin contest as well so that one paid off purty good. He was proud as you can see - especially since I had snapped on an empty chamber and he nailed it as it was starting to move off. He reminded me about that part again when was out varmint hunting last week. LOL




Our Hunting Rig




This all came out of that one truck - think we carried enough stuff?

Be Prepared!

sometimes things have to be killed to control diesise and populations....

Yep, we sure do. Go over to our web site - www.shoestringsafaris.com and to the Cucinero's corner, you will find a couple of ways to cook them. Anyone who has hunted on our javelina hunts, and a few folks who were at last year's get to gether, ate some.

You would not think so, but unlike other carnivores, cat meat is very tasty. Mountain Lion was a delicacy on sheep hunts around the turn of the 20th century.

And, STILL ON THE BOOKS IN THE UK - if whole rabbit carcasses are sold in meat markets, one hind foot must be attached, fur on. Because too many people were trapping 'roof rabbit' (aka domestic cat) and selling to butchers as rabbit rabbit.

When we bring in bobcat carcasses to finish butchering them, all my pet cats get VERY concerned!...

Lora/Mrs Ch

Lora, there is an old expression in Mexico that basically translates to "think's he was getting rabbit and he got cat".
Same as your butchers law in the UK. LOL

If bob cat is so good how about feral housecats? Lot more of them around than bob cats?

House cats are eaten, along with dogs and horses in many countries around the world.

Dang, I didn't think a Buzzard would in a cat. You da man CH

i leave them in the brush somewhere.

one thing i dont like is people (poachers) shooting them off a road and letting them lie there and rott.....you cant help but look at the damn things everytime you drive past them.

if your in west texas you know what i'm talking about....feral hogs take FOREVER to decompose.

One thing I have noticed over the past few years, and this is not meant as an indictiment toward anyone or any event, but in areas where some of the Predator Contests have been held, I have seen piles of critters stacked up next to the fence next to a paved road 2 or 3 times in the past 5 years.

If a contest is gonna be held, the organizers need to make sure the carcasses are at least hauled off into a pasture somewhere, not left in a pile that can be seen and smelled from the highway. JMO.

I sell my furs or get them tanned...I don't eat the meat from the fox, coon, bobcat or yote...but i do belive that they need to be harvested for population control. i wll use some of the meat for bait for my traps or leave them out for the yotes to eat. Its the circle of life...even if i don't eat it something will

CH: not to hijack the thread. But I have also heard of folks hanging coyotes from a fence. Do you know when or why that practice began? Just curious.

Back when more folks raised sheep and angora goats around the state, people would hire themselves out to ranchers and farmers in an area to try to control the coyotes and bobcats and at one time wolves and evn mountain lion to a lesser extent.

There were also goverment trappers back before every body got PC, and decided that such critters had a place in the scheme of things.

The private individuals had to have some way of proving that they were doing the job they were hired to do, and even county goverments got into this, along with the various cattle/sheep/goat raisers associations, but bounties were set up on these critters and to collect the bounty it started out with showing the carcasses, and then went to just bringing in the scalp with the ears attached.

Many farmers and ranchers wanted the trappers to hang the carcasses on the fence, one to supposedly keep the critters from traveling thru that area, but to also show that they were doing their part to help solve the problem, and to also show that the folks working their place were good at their job.

I still know a few places where you can see coyotes and bobcats hung up that way on a regular basis.

I don't really like seeing the bocats hung up, waste of good meat.

As far as the coyotes go, it really would not bother me that much to have to go to the museum and see the last coyote sitting next to the last passenger pigeon.

To me and Lora both, there is no sight prettier than a dead coyote.

CH: thanks for the history lesson....figured it was something like that!

people do that quite a bit around here.

Any place to sell yote pelts around central tx?

if I dont want the pelt I find someone who does.

RONNIE LEWING FUR COMPANY
987 W B LEWING RD
MANY, LA 71449
318-256-9595

JANUARY 5 & 19 , FEBRUARY 2 & 16 MARCH 1 WE WILL BE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

SAN SABA 8:00 RIGGS FEED

LLANO 9:15 LLANO FEED & SUPPLY

FREDERICKSBURG 10:15 BEHIND FARMERS GRAIN

MASON 11:45 DONOP FEED STORE

MENARD 1:00 KOTHMANN'S FEED

BALLINGER 3:00 BALLINGER FEED & SEED


JANUARY 12 & 26, FEBRUARY 9 & 23 MARCH 8 ARE THE DATES

WE WILL BE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS.


COLEMAN 8:00 COLEMAN FEED (down town)

COMANCHE 9:30 GORE BROS. FEED

BRECKENRIDGE 12:00 CRITTER FEED

GRAHAM 1:30 FARMERS MILLING CO

JACKSBORO 3:00 JACKSBORO FEED

BOWIE 4:30 MINE & YOUR FEED (Hwy 59 S)


(If we're late, please wait. We will be there, unless there is any ice storm.)

I don't have to worry about the coons I catch...I have a standing order for 75-100 right now at $10/ea. regardless of size. Looks like gas and feed money to me!

Thanks for the info, hard to believe there are no Texas companies buying fur, or at least none that i've found.

Crazyhorse
"As far as the coyotes go, it really would not bother me that much to have to go to the museum and see the last coyote sitting next to the last passenger pigeon."
Although I hunt coyotes I do have a respect for the animal and see them as definitely serving there purpose in nature. hearing a pack howl is a beautiful thing, as well as their beauty into the scheme of things falling into nature. Sorry that statement just rubbed me wrong,maybe I misread it but wheres the respect for nature? P.S I am definitely no tree hugger JMO

You can always tie them up under one of your buds pickup truck bed and let him wonder what that smell is in a couple of days.