Shooting into a body of water

[plowhog]

A river otter found my fish-stocked pond. It's living in the pond now, and is decimating the fishery. All my big catfish have been caught and eaten. It's working on the bass now.

I am checking with a trapper tomorrow, but if that doesn't work I need to take care of business. I've never seen it on land, so that means shooting it at the surface of the pond. If I can even do that since it surfaces only briefly.

I'm leery of using a rifle, even rimfire, for obvious reasons. All I have is a 12 ga shotgun, but I could probably get a 20ga or 410 if needed.

What caliber and round would you use? And if a shotgun, more of birdshot with more pellets or smaller, or buckshot?

 

[AWSubie]

#6 shot

 

[Professor Marvel]

1 buck
00 if you are pretty close
i assume you are not just trying to scare him and piss him off

if you don't have a good backdrop you should not shoot at body of water at all

 

[Thomas]

Do you need permission from game warden etc. before shooting?

 

[Professor Marvel]

Do you need permission from game warden etc. before shooting?

HA HA
That's a good one :laughing:

 

[4570Man]

Do you need permission from game warden etc. before shooting?

Are you kidding? SSS

 

[rangerfredbob]

How far away is the nearest anything that a few pellets would hurt? If you get a reasonable shot placement with nothing within about 150 yards there is no way anything coming out of a shotgun is going to hit anything with enough energy to do anything if it even would get that far (aside from a slug).

 

[EddieWalker]

Why can't you use a rifle? I shoot beavers with my 30-06 all the time, and my wife uses a 7mm-08 to shoot them. We shoot snakes too!!! Best shot that I saw her make was about 200 yards at a beaver swimming across our pond. All you can see is the top side of it's head, and that's where she hit him!!!!

 

[Molalla1]

Why can't you use a rifle? I shoot beavers with my 30-06 all the time, and my wife uses a 7mm-08 to shoot them. We shoot snakes too!!! Best shot that I saw her make was about 200 yards at a beaver swimming across our pond. All you can see is the top side of it's head, and that's where she hit him!!!!

Eat the beavers Eddie . . . .?

 

[Motorboatin]

Why can't you use a rifle? I shoot beavers with my 30-06 all the time, and my wife uses a 7mm-08 to shoot them. We shoot snakes too!!! Best shot that I saw her make was about 200 yards at a beaver swimming across our pond. All you can see is the top side of it's head, and that's where she hit him!!!!

The bullet can skip off the surface. How far? :confused3: