porcupine hunting

i shot one two years ago while bow hunting...it was really dry out so i heard him coming for a good 20 mins...gettin all excited thinking it was the the noiseiest deer in the woods walking strait at me..he showed himself about 15 yds out..i knocked an old bent arrow just hoping to hit him but instead put it within a half inch of his nose and he just stopped looked at it a bit and walked over it...so i climed out of my ladder stand he took off and there i went after him...couldnt find him for a while till i looked up in a tree and that was it..he had no place to go and i had 6 more arrows...1st shot right through him...he weighed in at 29lbs..only one ive ever shot and probably the last
 
I've seen a couple while hunting out in Wyoming. You could literally walk right up to them. I got a couple of pictures I'll try to dig out. When I approached them they would just keep turning thier backs to me. I don't think I'd have the heart to just kill one unless I was stranded somewhere. I'm glad people made it into North America when they did, because without them to keep things in check the porcupines would have killed all the trees! Seriously though, I've always heard to leave them for survival food as others have stated.
 
porkyinatree.jpg
 
Many years ago, I wound up roping, and snubbing up short, to a cedar tree, an old cow with a nose full of porcupine quills. I then had the pleasure of pulling all those quills out of the fighting ol' biddy's nose with a pair of fence pliers. Next was giving her a shot of penicillin. I was lucky, I survived, and was only knocked tail-over-teakettle 3 or 4 times before I got to release her (me)!!
I'll kill every porky I see, from then on !!!
Mark
 
Maybe you just need to breed smarter cows?We have porkys on our place and our cattle have never showed up with a face full of quills,i had a stupid dog that did it on a regular basis.
 
I have seen over 25 porcupines this year but I have only killed 13 of em.They do some damage to trees but I shoot em cause they do more damage to huntin dogs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gifI started seeing them so regularly that I only shot them if they were really huge or if I didnt have to walk very far to shoot em.They are really tough though one took six shots to the head with a 22 before it died. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gifThe way I hunt them is to get up on a hill overlooking a bunch of trees.Its easier to see them in the fall and winter since their arent any leaves on the trees.I spotted six in one group of trees and five in the same place the next day.Just look for big black clumps up in the trees.I also seen two run into a colvert under the road one day.I didnt shoot them because I didnt want to shoot into the metal but they both got stuck in the colvert cause they were so big and both tryed to fit in there at the same time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gifThey eventually got unstuck and ran further into the colvert so I just let them live.There was even one trying to get into the gym at school but they just chased that one off.But since I shoot them and I dont do anything with them does anyone know if the quills or any other parts or them are worth anything? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
They look just like certain bushes and aren't always easy to spot. Also check in trees.

Maybe in some areas they're not a problem, but nobody around here likes them. They'll park themselves in one type of pine tree and eat the bark. When the tree's been ringed, it dies from there up. They'll do this to tree after tree. Landowners hate them because they're so destructive. Ranchers don't like them because cattle get quilled. And vets around here pull thousands of quills every year from dogs, so dog owners hate them too. Whenever I see a porcupine, it dies.

Hard to imagine eating one of those things the flesh stinks so bad. I've shot them out of trees and had little chunks land on me....they smelled kind of like dung. One friend's wife used to make Indian-style jewelry from quills, and every so often he'd headshoot one and skin it. Finally he said "no more", the smell was just too awful.
 
Lots of porcupines here in Ontario. Not uncommon to see them dead on sideroads from spring-fall. I shoot them on site. They have been eating at my tree stand and my dog got a mouth full of quills in the fall after one climbed on our deck.
 
I see this post got resurected. Greg223 would you still be willing to give your story. If you dont mind I would like to have the chance to read it. Thanks Chris
 
I only shoot them if they are close to the farm/hunting shack, they really dont bother me though some of the dogs around the area have really gotten nailed good.

But if I start seeing them close to any of the 3 trees that ND has left Im getting the guns out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Dave
 
oya, Don't stand right under the tree they are in if your going to shoot one with a .308. You may get rained on by guts. One was eatting the wires out of my brothers truck and he got all pissed off, grabbed the .308 and walked out to the poplar tree the porcupine was in (50 feet in the tree). Standing right below it he shot and he got rained on by GUTS hahahaha. I laughed so hard until he came in, he was still very pissed, I would of lost some teeth that day if I laughed to his face haha
 
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