I shot a big one at close range in the water with a .300 Weatherby Magnum. He literally vaporized in a cloud of pink mist.

Bacon will catch it.

what is the range on a stray/ricocheted .22 bullet?

Too far.... heck get you a .177 Cal. pellet gun and have same fun and not so reckless. I did it when I was a kid at on my grandparents farm pond all the time. Simplest way to deal with them, and yeah make sure it's NOT a Lagerhead. If you don't see Red behind the eyes it's not a common red ear slider or "Snapping Turtle" as most folks call them.


Rob

Aunt Sandie would give me a box of 20 guage shells and the single shot shotgun when I was 6 years old. She would send me to the pond to shoot turtles. Those memories will remain in my skull for life. What a fun few summers. I was taught gun safety very early, if I remember corectly it was at 4 years old. I grew up on a ranch west of Ft Worth. I was skinning rabbits at 5

Red Eared Slider:




Common Snapping Turtle:



Very different critters.

As stated above, Alligator (not the common as shown above) Snapping Turtles are protected in All Texas waters, but there is almost no mistaking one.

Also worth noting, the Spiny Softshell Turtles can get very big as well.

Wow, i didn't know they were protected. How can something so freakin MEAN be protected...

Your sig line should explain it.

Interestingly enough, the Alligator Snapping Turtle is rather docile compared to the Common Snapping Turtle, Those buggers are the ones that hiss snap and are generally onry.

They are listed as "threatened" in Texas (loss of habitat, over collection, pet trade (!), and ignorance all have a part), and are listed as "vulnerable (threatened)" worldwide as well (of course worldwide only includes the South US).

check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIeL0g8GpXM

Mo

.45-70 is my turtle weapon of choice. You just gotta hit close to it in the water and they die.
I had an aligator snappin turtle bite the rubber part of my boot once and cut it. Those things will hiss and bite and chase ya a little bit. I was just tryin to get my hook back!!!
To tell the truth, I doubt that he is doing much damage, but what do I know?
Good luck

that alligator snapping turtle eats live fish... its got that built in lure in his mouth. i seen one at rayburn in may. it was huge. came up by the boat. guessing it was well over 150 years old. made that guess from comparing the size of turtle in the youtube post above by mo.

99.% of the fish ever spawned will be eaten by bigger fish or other predators. That's the way nature works. That turtle won't have an effect on the pond.

It is called a loggerhead in south louisiana
Geaux Tigers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhGGvcotHCk&NR=1&feature=fvwp
this is not fish related, but when i went to the link i had to watch a couple more and that this was pretty funny

i have a pet turtle
we put fish in its tank
Fireball kills them quickly