Hunting Quietly Without Attracting the Attention of Your Neighbors

hunting quietly

I have been giving some thought lately on hunting quietly.  By that, I mean to hunt without attracting the attention from your neighbors that a normal gunshot would make.   Unless you live way out in the country, a gunshot will attract unwanted attention.  So I have several suggestions on hunting quietly.

The first method I am going to suggest is to use snares.  This may be the best method, these work all the time, whether or not you are present.  If a neighbor were to find a snare, they may not know who placed it.  Snares can be made to take just about any size game.

Here are some links to making and using snares,

Now snares take practice so if you live in an area where the law permits you to hunt with snares I suggest you get out and experiment.  One thing that may make snaring easier in an emergency is that there may be many household pets that have been turned lose.  Not having a fear of man they may be very easy to catch by baiting.  Personally, I have no qualms about eating a dog or cat in a starvation situation.

Bows and crossbows are viable if you have some training and experience in their use.  They are silent and can kill very effectively.  They do require a certain amount of strength and are not for everybody.  I am going to get an expert on bow hunting to do a post in the future.

hunting quietly A good choice for many of us may be the air rifle.  I know two people who live in a semi-rural area with neighbors less than a hundred yards from their home.  Both have killed deer that were raiding their garden with single shots to the head.  In neither case were they detected.  Neither individual had particularly high quality air rifles.

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If you choose to buy an air gun, avoid ones that use co2 or other cylinders that have to be purchased.  Tomorrow I will post an article to help you determine what type of an air rifle to buy.

Be warned that most of what I have suggested here on hunting quietly is illegal in almost every state and is not something you should try without determining if it is legal where you live.  Don’t do anything dumb and get into trouble.

Howard

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6 thoughts on “Hunting Quietly Without Attracting the Attention of Your Neighbors”

  1. The more powerful air rifles are every bit as loud as a .22.
    I’ve taken small game with sub sonic .22lr ammo and it works just fine, but won’t have the range or penetration if faster loads.

    A silencer is another easy option, it doesn’t actually make the shot silent of course but it does make it much less noticeable or identifiable.
    Of course hunting with a silencer is illegal but so is hunting within city limits or near occupied structures.

    1. Actually in this state ( upper midwest ) where I live it is legal to use a silencer, but only after you have jumped though all the hoops for uncle Sam.

  2. A long-barrelled rifle, chambered for a low velocity pistol cartridge, such as the .45 Colt or .38 Special, have good accuracy and killing power with lower noise levels than standard hunting rifles. You want a barrel length of 24 inches or more, firing a flat-nosed, soft lead bullet, which is heavy for its caliber, at subsonic velocity.

    The old 158-grain lead service loads commonly used in the .38 Special before the introduction of +P ammunition, in 1974, when fired in a long-barrelled, lever-action “cowboy” rifle, have a mild report little louder than a .22 firing standard velocity ammunition.

    If you handload your own ammunition, with a bit of experimentation, you can determine the lightest charge which reliably exits the barrel and gives reasonable accuracy to 50 yards or so, with noise levels little more than a large bore air rifle.

    A neighbor has a .45 Cal. air rifle which he charges from a scuba tank, which he uses to kill deer. For all the money he spent, you could buy a very effective suppressor and simply download your deer rifle, whichwould be just as quiet, and more accurate. Supressors are legal for hunting in many states. Check local laws.

  3. The need for a quiet kill of small game isn’t limited to city/urban areas …. the bad guys will be everywhere – especially during those hectic and desperate initial SHTF days … banging away at bunnies and birds – even in the country – won’t be wise

    You should also look at snaring & snaring as “time multipliers” …. going to be all kinds of daily chores and extra labor required for SHTF times … working smart with your food gathering will be essential …

    Not mentioned as a quiet hunting tool – slingshots – super cheap – eazy to master – great tool for the kids ….

  4. You can harvest large game quietly and effectively with the Chief AJ HFX Slingbow/Slingshot. With a 44# draw weight and arrow speed of 193 fps the HFX can and has taken Moose, Deer, Hog and fish by the hundreds. Folds up small enough to fit in a fanny pack but shoots like a recurve bow.

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