Porcupine down

My dumb *** dog has been quilled twice. One of those times in the inside of his mouth and throat so I just take 'em out now instead of paying 4k in vet bills 😂
My Karelian Bear Dog was also a victim of the quill of shame. I plucked the quills myself. I got everything out except for one inside his mouth. I have to monitor him for infection overnight. He was GTG in the morning; the quill inside his mouth was gone. I got lucky; I did not incur any vet bill$. Three days later, we were hiking and went to the same spot where he encountered the porcupine, but he did not run into one. 😇
 
Anyone else shoot these critters? I have killed 5 so far this year and some of these suckers have been big….over 30 pounds.
I was in Wyoming for a spring bear hunt one night on the way back from the bait barrel the friends I was with decided it would be fun to shoot some porcupines we where driving the logging roads one of the guys says he sees one we stop jump out my buddies being the nice guys they are they let me shoot first. So I grab my AR start shooting quills and wood where flying then I hear my good ol buddies laughing their butts off so I am wondering what's so funny well they had shot that porcupine the day before and it was stiff as a board. Yea I had to laugh it was funny.
 
I used to shoot them in my younger years. Nowadays they usually live unless we find them near the house. They are a neat creature, but like most have said they are tough on the dogs! We ran into this guy last year while doing some sharptail hunting. Luckily, we were out looking for birds after a successful mule deer hunt, so the dog was back at home. He didn't like it when I poked him with my 12 gauge muzzle, but I just took a couple of pictures and left him alone.

Has anyone eaten them? Are they worth cleaning and getting cooking up? I have always imagined that they taste like a mix of meat and a gin and tonic…😂
 

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If you have kill one to protect property I understand but not to just because you see one. A partner of mine in my youth went to Colorado packing hunters into the mountians by horse and mule trains . He shot one and said clean it. I was Young and with my heavy leather boots i went to turn it over that heavy guage leather turned into butter as the quils went right through and I was in tears while getting my boot off. removed Quils and turned to a stick to turn it over it had a soft like mink under belly. what looked like a 25 pounder after skining it was no bigger than a big squril.I recomend boiling it first to remove greese as i learned the hard way. then cook in frying pan.taste is not bad. but you will be scraping greese off the roof of your mouth if you dont boil it first.
 
I know I almost stepped on one taking a leak one night. Climbed out of the shelter with my headlamp, started ****ing and looked down there he was just kind of moving like a snail. I thought he was a badger at first.

Had no idea they were good to eat!
 
I had a 6 month old dog on a backpacking trip in CO. My wife and I went on a moonlight walk, but the dog hung back and started barking. I went back to get her, and as soon as she had reinforcements, she lunged at the porky. She had quills in her mouth, nose, and tongue. I sat by the fire for hours grabbing one quill at a time with pliers while she would jerk away and pull out the quill. I got enough out of her mouth and nose so she could drink water. At that point she was taking my hand in her mouth and lightly chewing to let me know she'd had enough. The next morning, I worked on the rest. The ones in her mouth softened up overnight. She had one in her snout that broke off and got infected. I was thinking about ending our trip, and one night she scrathed it until it came out.

I've learned since that you can put pine pitch on your fingers to grip them. I've also heard that cutting off the back of the quill deflates the barb and makes them easier to pull. I haven't had to try either method.

In the old days, the Forest Service would issue .22 bullets to foresters to shoot porcupines. Back then we cut trees and sold them and added money to the Treasury. Now they spend 20 times what they make, and spend billions putting out the resultant forest fires.
 
I used to shoot them in my younger years. Nowadays they usually live unless we find them near the house. They are a neat creature, but like most have said they are tough on the dogs! We ran into this guy last year while doing some sharptail hunting. Luckily, we were out looking for birds after a successful mule deer hunt, so the dog was back at home. He didn't like it when I poked him with my 12 gauge muzzle, but I just took a couple of pictures and left him alone.

Has anyone eaten them? Are they worth cleaning and getting cooking up? I have always imagined that they taste like a mix of meat and a gin and tonic…😂
They are pretty tasty. Kinda fatty but good flavor. We usually try to get one every year and roast over fire at camp
 
Years ago they were illegal to kill. They were considered a "Survival Food" if your were lost in the woods. I think that was in Canada.
I know what they can do if they get into a hunting cabin. Total destruction!
Yes up here in Canada we mostly wander the woods searching for the " Survival Food" from mid April until Mid December. In December we can start living in communities again and rebuild our homes that we lost in Spring. The IGLOOS are snug and warm, but a real mess come warm weather!
 
Your quite the man just shooting to kill. I cant believe LRH IS letting this be posted last time something like that was on here it got taken off cause of all flack it got. I hunt too but this **** makes no sense. So sad so so sad. Suppose you threw it back in the woods. One day you'll understand.
 
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