A landowner has offered me the chance to work on the nutria population in his pond. He has a ladder stand setup against a tree that's about 30 yards from the bank of the pond.

I was thinking 80 grain bullets with my .243 would be a good round to go after them.

Anyone have suggestions, including safety concerns when shooting into water?

Thanks.

Any duck load oughtta do good. Or buckshot.

In LA they use clubs and 10/22s

Thanks for the reply.

The size of the pond and the distance from the stand to the edge of it call for something where the average shot is going to be at least 50 yards, out to maybe 200.

The tree is the closest to the pond and on a bit of hill.

Sounds like you're suggesting just sitting on the bank with a shotgun. Never hunted nutria so I'm not sure how shy they are. I know beavers don't show their heads very long if they know you're around.

Oh snap. I thought it was just a tree on the bank with nutria swimming by. lol

For pelts I'd think that 80gr 243 might be a lil over gun. But it'll kill em. 22s work under 50yd and id think 223, 22-250 or something likes hat would be just about right.

22 is all you need. they are really stupid. make a make-shift blind and sit next to the pond.

17 hmr with vmax rounds.

22 will work fine. I would bait the edge of the pond with corn. Nutria used to come up to my grain bins(full of corn and protein) in the Hill Country at night and eat the grain/pellets that spilled on the ground.

Thanks again for all the replies.

.22 shells are definitely cheaper on the wallet.

.22 with CCI stingers or mini mags

Walk along the tank damn and shoot them while they are swiming

I am from Louisiana and a 22 works fine here if you are not seeing them in the daylight with the landowners permission get a small boat and troll around the pond at night with a good light and you can work on them pretty good them will float for a bit after you shoot them.

In the eye with whatever you got and I hear they taste like chicken!

Like others said I would shoot them with one of the rimfire calibers. I would be nervous shooting .243 and missing and hitting water causing the bullet to skip

Are they more active during the early morning or late evening, or can they pop up just about any time of the day or night?

I have one of those chair blinds that has seen almost no use that might work well.

It sounds like my Remington Model 597 (with scope) and a box of .22 LR hollow points would be perfect to declare war on them.

They usually have a place on the bank where they congregate. Find out where that is and sit where you can watch it and pick them off.

.243 is way more than you need. A shotgun with bird shot works, or a .22. With the shotgun you might get 2 or 3 when they are grouped up.

Yes, there's a jettie of sorts that the landowner added to this pond during the drought when the water level dropped way down. It appears they've made a colony on the end of it. I'll just setup on the opposite bank behind a blind and pick off as many as I can.

If you shot one in the water would that contaminate the water? I've always wondered about what happens to the water with an animal decomposing in it. Guess I need to google it???

We used to have a bad nutria problem in a couple of our tanks. Sitting in the truck on a hill overlooking the tanks with a 223 or 22-250, I was able to greatly reduce the population in a week or two. They seem to pick certain trees to work on and keep returning to them. I would stake out the area and ambush them.

You don't need a blind to kill nutria. You can walk right up to them and they might take to the water, but they will just swim away on the surface offering you a shot. I'd go out there with a 22 and just keep walking the perimeter of the pond.

A spotlight at night would work great. If you see one 200 yards away just walk up to it and shoot it.

Morning and late afternoon are best. On warm sunny afternoons after a few days of cold weather they will be out in larger numbers just enjoying the sunshine starting earlier in the afternoon. Nighttime spotlighting can be a good fun time as well. I generally carry a 22 for the short range shots and a 22-250 or 243 for the longer shots. If you sit up close in a blind a shotgun with 4 or 6 shot in express loads works very well. As for eating them.

They are dumb, I've walked up to them while night fishing and clubbed them. So, I bet with a .22 and some effort you can put a hurtin on em Dan.

Sorta taste like duck that's been eating shiners.

If you cook them right, they taste exactly like guinea pig.

Naw, I've eaten them. To me, it tasted a lot like rabbit. I would eat them again.

Any chance you need a buddy to help out??? I'm in Spring too and I have a bull bbl .17HMR glassed with an 8X32X50, XLR 250 Scope-mounted light and enough burlap to camo a Mack truck! Regardless.... Give'em hell and have fun doing it!

Again, all the comments and suggestions are very much appreciated. With a little luck, the landowner might let me bring a fishing pole as well.

Now wouldn't that be a sight, a guy fishing with a .22 rifle hanging over his shoulder. Works for me.

They are mostly nocturnal around Plano. Come out right at dusk.

If you are sitting on the bank pretty much even with the water, make sure you know the background in the direction of where you are ahooting because bullets do have a tendency to skip off of the water if you happen to miss.

.22 Mag

Done that lots of times, both with .22 and 12 ga. Used to be how we hunted doves around tanks growing up.

Agreed with above, .243 is way overkill. Many have died from a .22LR. If you want to extend your range bump up to a .22 Mag or .17 HMR. No need for a centerfire.

I trapped them heavily on commercial crawfish ponds that they dumped the crawfish traps over. Caught them exclusively in 220 Conibears set on their runs and caught several double and triple catches with them following a trail. Didn't loose any sleep staying up shooting at them plus with the degree of ricochette.

no different than any other rat..if you bait them, they will come. Had a blast shooting them in my younger days when the Neches would flood, they'd have no choice but to fight the current and they were easy pickins.

Fishing pole and 22 rifle ?? How else do you keep the turtles in check? My wife prefers sitting in a lawnchair with a glass of wine while fishing and shooting. I can still remember that fateful day back in 1977 when a turtle got into a string of her fish at the stock tank, been war ever since.

Just shoot alot of them!

Grew up hunting nutria in Chambers Co. .22 will suffice.

Wow, you dug this one out of the archives.

I’m happy to report that since this initial posting I have killed many more nutrias

'Haven't seen one in years. I believe the last one I shot was around midnight New Years Eve, probably 20 years ago, in South Gillespie County. Other activities made for a memorable night.

11 year old thread, Hope the OP got rid of those swamp rats

2nd this. If ya have a 17hmr.
edit : 11 yyear old thread ?
that's farther back than i can remember.
Must be slow time of year, or bored.