Michael Bane noted the iguana hunt post here on Gun Pundit, then veered off into crazyland:

I’ve been contemplating the very first SHOOTING GALLERY hunting episode…a Tactical Solutions/Ruger .22 pistol expedition for feral python in the Everglades.

Is a .22 pistol going to get it done against snakes 5′ long and bigger?

He also mentions 7-foot Nile monitor lizards. What’s he going to use against those? Spitwads?

Florida is overrun by invasives.

UPDATE: Here’s a shot of an Everglades python:

Burmese Python in the Florida Everglades

Found at Captain Saint Lucifer.

Cat Attack on a turkey hunter.

Scratch one lizard!

Invasion of the Iguana: Mankind Strikes Back by Terry Gibson on Outdoor Life.

Hunting the overpopulation of invasive iguana in Florida with air guns:

So far, these invaders are mostly sticking to urban areas, especially along canal systems. Feral iguanas crap all over seawalls and docks, destroy tens of thousands of dollars in landscaping, and eat native species. The City of Boca Grande, for example, has spent more than $100,000 per year for four years trying to eradicate the problem. They even had to create an “iguana tax” to pay the trappers…

Obviously, it is unsafe and illegal to shoot iguanas with any kind of gun in urban areas. Trapping and snaring works best. You’re not allowed to transport these reptiles or any other invasive species off your property. “Iguana huggers” want you to call animal rescue so these things can be “euthanized humanely.” While no one promotes animal cruelty, “cruelty” is not well defined in Florida statute. Hopefully, kill-and-grill does not constitute a crime, or I don’t think there’s much hope for us as a species.

Seriously, a $10 “iguana tag” good for a month of air gun hunting would not only help keep these critters in check, it would probably get more young folks into the shooting sports. I mean, who wouldn’t want to shoot a lizard?

Oh, yeah. It would also raise money rather than costing it. Though the majority of these things are apparently in urban areas where shooting is restricted, Murdoc would guess that there are a lot more in the wild than suspected.

Go check out the photo gallery on OL.

via Outdoor Wire:

Archery and muzzleloader deer hunters in West Virginia will be able to enjoy additional antlerless deer hunting opportunities this fall, according to Frank Jezioro, Director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The Natural Resources Commission recently approved a special antlerless deer archery season and a special antlerless deer muzzleloader season that will take place on private lands only in selected counties where the harvest of additional antlerless deer is necessary for management purposes.

Archery September 14-19 and muzzleloaders September 21-26. See The Outdoor Wire for more details.

Note: I’ve been asked a number of times why GunPundit doesn’t cover a little more hunting, and it’s a fair question. Murdoc’s not the biggest hunter in the world (to say the least) but I know that many gun owners and outdoor enthusiasts are. So I’ll be making an effort to ramp up hunting coverage a tad here.

Check out the mulies at Outdoor Life.

The Huntress Club: Duck Hunting Sorority in the Swamp

They call themselves the Swamp Witches, a half-dozen women pledged to return twice a year to the Ward Lake Hunting Club, a privately owned 6,500-acre conservation parcel here in the floodplain of the Mississippi Delta.

Not a bad story for the NYT.

Sent by a friend:

Not sure about time or place, but my friend adds

The only problem I see is getting a good heart shot on them.