Trad Gang

Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Blackhawk on September 06, 2011, 08:37:00 PM

Title: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Blackhawk on September 06, 2011, 08:37:00 PM
In the area I pitch my tent, it's apparently free of predators that like mice.  These little imps are everywhere and a nuisance. Yeah, I've used traps and poison, but I am in their backyard, so can I use something a bit more humane that will repel them?

Moth balls and fabric softener sheets work sometimes, but have you found something almost foolproof that keeps these critters out of the tent? ...and yes, I keep my food OUT OF THE TENT.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: lpcjon2 on September 06, 2011, 08:41:00 PM
Cat urine...LOL Go to a Feed supply store or a pet store and see what they have.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: lpcjon2 on September 06, 2011, 08:43:00 PM
Now that I think of it maybe fox urine around the perimiter of the camp site.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Terry Green on September 06, 2011, 09:09:00 PM
This works around the house....


(http://tradgang.com/tg/images5/mouse.jpg)

And, you should have seen the Pope and Young mouse I killed at Ray's Hog Heaven....regret not taking a pic of that fat brute!!!
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: sticksnstones on September 06, 2011, 09:12:00 PM
That's WAY behind the shield    :smileystooges:
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Terry Green on September 06, 2011, 09:15:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by sticksnstones:
That's WAY behind the shield
Trust me, he didn't know the difference...he didn't even TWITCH.       :goldtooth:
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Blackhawk on September 06, 2011, 09:36:00 PM
Nice shot Terry...but passthru's can put a nasty hole in an expensive tent   :(  .

Last year, I was 5 for 5 with traps one night, but I was hoping for some non-lethal techniques this year.

I do have some fox pee laying around, so I think I will try that idea.  :thumbsup:  

Anyone tried little solar lights at the corners?  :dunno:
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Michigan Mark on September 06, 2011, 09:38:00 PM
http://www.earth-kind.com/  give "Cab Fresh" a look and try, the farmers use it in equipment to keep them out also good for storage of RV/Campers, messes with their sense of smell so they do not hang around unless you have food for them laying around. Up in the U.P. had a truck camper taken over by the mutant mice, once they put there scent urine/feces out they keep coming back no matter how much bleach, febreze, dryer sheets you use. The only problem with traps are you draw them in, which will draw in other critters.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Terry Green on September 06, 2011, 09:39:00 PM
Just funning....

Regular o'l mouse traps....loaded with 3 day old french fries in half inch segments.

Gotta age them fries....to make them a little hard on the outside so the mice have to tug on them....works every time.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: The Vanilla Gorilla on September 06, 2011, 10:02:00 PM
Maybe some of them sticky traps?   Cheap, and reusable after you peel the mouse off it.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Spectre on September 06, 2011, 10:15:00 PM
http://www.critter-repellent.com/

Works like a charm.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: TRADNSC on September 06, 2011, 10:30:00 PM
Snap traps work the best and are more humane and are easier to reuse then sticky traps.

Small pieces of bacon work very well, along with most food items as mice are extremely curious unlike rats.

As mentioned by Mark, Cab-Fresh works fairly well as a repellant.

David
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Don Stokes on September 06, 2011, 10:33:00 PM
Do you have a cat? A ferret would be even better.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Killdeer on September 06, 2011, 10:51:00 PM
I am NOT bringing a cat or ferret on a hunting trip. A tent that lets mice in will let a ferret out, anyway, which would be a good thing.   :readit:

I killed twenty-some-odd mice on one trip, all with snaptraps. I now stay in a tent that zips shut. I hear mice rattle over the tent, but so far they have not chewed their way in. The cookshack is far easier for them.

Killdeer
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: freeman on September 07, 2011, 01:19:00 AM
Glue boards and a boot heel...
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: centaur on September 07, 2011, 09:06:00 AM
(http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac67/peastes/b0ffc6e3.jpg)
The little suckers make for some great mid day sport, although a 70 pound longbow was a bit of overkill for this one.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: landman on September 07, 2011, 09:16:00 AM
Buy 2 or 3 cats and when all of the mice are gone you'll have some serious targets.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: StanM on September 07, 2011, 09:45:00 AM
Stick a wire through an aluminum can and attach it to either side of a five gallon bucket, stretching the can over the top of the bucket.  Daub some peanut butter at various places on the can.  Put a yardstick up against the bucket to make a ramp going up to the can that doesn't quite get it all the way there.  When the mice reach out to get the peanut butter they'll lean on the can, which will rotate, dropping them in the bucket.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: killinstuff on September 07, 2011, 09:49:00 AM
Forget the cat and take a little Jack Russell Terrier with you hunting.  Train it to blood trail for hunting. It will already know what to do about the mice.

CJ
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: njloco on September 07, 2011, 10:01:00 AM
Spectre,

Ever try the anti squirrel, which is supposed to smell like fox at the base of your tree while hunting for deer ?
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Don Stokes on September 07, 2011, 10:03:00 AM
A friend of mine actually does take a ferret hunting. It cleans up all the rodents in short order, but then he has to cage it or it will go hunting on its own. He also uses a pair to hunt rabbits. One stays in the cage and he turns the other one loose in rabbit thickets and hunts the clearings with his longbow. When the rabbits realize a ferret is in the area, they move to the open where he can shoot them. The loose ferret will come back to the caged one. Sorry, wandered off the subject...
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Spectre on September 07, 2011, 12:23:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by njloco:
Spectre,

Ever try the anti squirrel, which is supposed to smell like fox at the base of your tree while hunting for deer ?
I haven't. I have used the stuff around the farm extensively though, it seems to work pretty good on keeping the mice and rabbits out of the horse feed. It worked pretty good for keeping mice out of the camper over the winter, too.
The mice around here scoff at the Fresh-Cab stuff.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: buckster on September 07, 2011, 03:45:00 PM
This dude was running around our Orchard in MO last year, 175 grain field point did the job quick.

(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd63/HuntPyramid/BarrysbiggameBowKill505092-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: Bjorn on September 07, 2011, 03:59:00 PM
Simply put out a bucket with a step so they can jump in but not out and they can be relocated in the AM. We had mice jump in every night.
Title: Re: Bowhunting and Mice
Post by: creekwood on September 07, 2011, 04:04:00 PM
I will never use the words "mouse" and "humane" in the same sentence.  I am sorry though, if that comment offends someone.  To make this trad related, I will say that I am always amazed at how many mice run up and down a tree while I am sitting in my treestand.