Feuerkrafts go fishing.

[Furseeker]

It’s been awhile since I posted anything. With the weather warming up some of my other hobbies are cutting into my air rifle hunting time. But I’ve still been collecting plenty of feathered vermin and a few squirrels now and then. But today me and another forum member went out to do a little air gunning. When we arrived at our shooting grounds I was pleased to see the carp have started the spawn and have moved into the canal that runs through the field we hunt. Now for you guys that have caught carp you know just how tuff these things can be. But let me tell you this, a well placed pellet to the fuse box shuts them down instantly. I mean they just roll over dead as can be.

I shot one with me 350 Feuerkraft and my buddy shot the other one with his. I went back a few hours later with my brother and this time we were shooting bows. They weren’t nearly as active this evening, but if it’s anything like last year we have a few good weeks of carp shooting ahead of us. I’m planning on bringing a few of them home and using them for fertilizer.

[jay morgan]

I use to love shooting carp with a bow & center fire gun's never tried a pellet rifle,Thank's furseeker I think it's time to go to the river again!!!good shot's. I know they are hard to track.

[Wade.S]

That's awesome. I have also shot them with bow but have never thought of taking them with an air rifle. Thanks for sharing.

[only1harry]

Great job!  They should make for good fertilizer but make sure you bury them well because they can stink up your backyard.  I never thought of shooting with an air rifle.

I used to fish for Carp all the time and throw them back.  The 1st one I caught I didn't know you couldn't eat them at the time, so I ended up shooting it in the head with my Shiloh 1861 air pistol because 1.5hrs later the dang thing was still alive.  One pellet to the head did the job.  Carp can breathe air and can stay alive for hours out of the water, or require very little oxygen..  

I always caught them in merky or muddy waters, where the water was completely brown.  I could never see them until I had them hooked and on my line.  I am surprised you were able to see them and shoot them.  Was the water clear?  I have never been able to see one swim around.  Visibility in the water was like zero where I used to catch them.  Most of them I caught in mud holes.  They were small inlets from the lake that went inland and the water was brown or muddy and not too deep.  That 's where we always found them and in swamp-like areas.  I remember they were dead weight when I hooked them and didn't fight much.  Very slippery fish too..  I bet that would make good bait for raccoon and possum

[dk1677]

Nice shooting!

[Furseeker]

Thanks for the comments guys. I posted a picture of one my boy shot last year and I really thought his was just a fluke.  But after this weekend I've determined that if you can get a clear shot of their head with only about an inch of water covering it you can readily take them with a well placed shot. It still amazes me how leathal of a shot that is. I mean when hit there they just coast to a stop and then roll over dead as can be. Must take out the centeral nervous system or something like that. And yes Harry the water was extremely clear. It's the perfect set up for carp hunting. It's a shallow slough with not alot of vegitation on the sides and in most places it's only about 10 to 12 inches deep. We shoot alot of them with our bows and the bottom is really sandy and firm so I don't even use a bow fishing reel. When I miss I just walk out and get the arrow. While we were down there last weekend I saw Moby Carp, I mean this sucker was pushing 4 feet long. That big fish has really got my attention and I will spend some serious time to try and harvest him with either my bow or air rifle. I've heard of some guys eating these things but it's something I've never tried.

[longislandhunter]

Great shooting and a great pic.  Nice looking carp.  I know most people don't but you can actually eat them.  We have a large carp population where I live and like the ones by you they can get very large indeed.  I read an article once about smoking carp so I gave it a try.  I smoked them just like I smoke all my other fish and I have to tell you they were absolutely delicious, matter of fact they were one of the best smoked fish I ever ate.  If I catch anymore of em they'll be headed for my new smoker  

Jeff

[1377x]

now thats fishing :emoticon:

[Wade.S]

Jeff, I have also smoked some carp that I caught as a kid. It tasted exactly like smoked MUD. It was Nasty! Maybe it depends on where they have been living.

[shadow]

Great shooting and a fishy harvest is a good as any other. Ed

[longislandhunter]

Wade,,, like you said  it does actually depend a great deal on what kind of water the carp are living in.  The carp that I smoked were taken from a small river near my home that has very clear, constantly running water.  I do a lot of trout fishing there but during the carp spawn these huge breeders come upstream and are fairly easy to arrow.  They are so large they look like torpedoes    The 2 fish that I smoked were about 20 pounds apiece.  I scaled them,  filleted them  leaving the skin on and smoked them as usual.  I still remember the appearance of the meat after cleaning them, it was very firm and had a very dark red color to it.  It smoked up beautifully.  But like you said,,, I guess the ones that come from that mirky, dirty water environment taste different, which makes sense...

Jeff

[djmyers]

Nice shooting. We used to sneak up on them with the biggest rocks we could find and throw accurately. They make good catfish bait. Thats what we used them for. Gives you something to do on those long hot oklahoma summer days growing up. Then we would fish all night.

[Mebits]

Kill as many as you can! Nice shooting.

I once shot them with a 9mm S&W semi-auto. It's not easy to hit them, even when trapped in a backwater.

[Mebits]

Harry, I target carp with the fly rod. When the water is a clear and low, I sight-cast to them in streams. They put up a nice fight, too. The reason the ones you were catching didn't is likely due to low O2 levels. In nice clean moving water, they can be a lot of fish.

Alas, they are an invasive and really should be killed in quantity.

M

[Mebits]

Don't they require special cleaning?