Porcipine season is comming, how much $$$

[Coyboy]

The season for long range porcipine is upon us. I'm up to 9 this year. Who else hunts'm.

My biggest question is does anyone sell them? I heard they use the hair in Europe for shaveing brushes. Pay up to $20 per ounce (two ounces of hair per ave. porcipine) Heard the Native Americans use the Quills for art.

Does anybody know anything about these two markets?
Last year I killed a boatload and wondered if there is a strong demand.

 

[Bob S.]

I don't normally hunt them. To few and far between for me. I did hunt one down and kill it this last fall after my horse got a nose full of quills tho. I think that one cost me about 80 bucks for the vet visit. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[4ked Horn]

Here is a dumb question. How exactly do you find a prickle pig? I don't know that I have ever seen one in the woods even though I know they are out there.

 

[Bob S.]

I don't know. The one and only time I tried to find one he was in the first tree I looked in.( I hunted him down and killed him). I knew he was close cause he had just stuck my horse. I have seen quite a few in the woods but was all by accident. Didn't kill them cause I had no reason but it sounds like maybe there is a market.

 

[Coyboy]

4ked and Cowboy, sorry I didn't get back sooner, I kinda lost track of things.

Central Wis is over run with porkys, last year my german wirehair got into one and I had to pull 30 quills out of her mouth and muzzle. That lead me to seek revenge. So in 04' I shot 107 of the little devils. I heard stories of there being a market for them, but have no contacts yet.

I hunt them by driving forest roads. As I go I watch up in the tree tops. From now until leaf-out is the best time for spotting them. I use a 22 mag for close work but also carry any number of center fires for the long stuff. I like to hunt were there are clear cuts and marshes to look across. This gives you your best long range shots.(my longest last year was 550 yards with 22-250. Porkys Kill many trees a year here. They prefer red oak this time of year, and can strip all the limbs the size of your wrist and smaller of bark. In about 2 weeks they can destroy a 60 year old oak.

Later in the spring the like poplar trees. They chew the limbs the size of your thumb off, and then eat those limbs on the ground. The most I shot in one day was 22, this was during there breeding season, Late April- early May.

The best part is they are all guts and make some great detonations /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

save a tree shot a porky /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jim

 

[Buffalobob]

I just can't resist asking.

How do you skin a porcupine?

 

[4ked Horn]

I was wondering the same thing. I have heard they are filthy animals full of fleas and ticks. Is that true?

 

[Coyboy]

Guys, I have never tried to skin one. I was told, to harvest the hair and quills, there is two ways to do it. One is to pull out all hair and quills while wearing heavy leather gloves. The other was to let the porky rot in the sun for a few days, and then wipe the hair and quills off. Once this is done then you can seperate the two.

I shot one porky last year that was on an old logging road. I inspected the carcass after impact from a 55gr B-tip from 250yrd at 3700fps awsome explosive effect. Anyway the trail around him was strewn with pieces of tape worms. I didn't touch but examined the remaining intestinal rupture with a stick and was amazed at the quantity of worms. As far as fleas and ticks, I have never seen them but never looked that close, I would be certain of them having ticks though. Wis. woods are full of ticks.