Anyone with Harbour Seal experience ?

frankthedog

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Very excited about this...getting two extra days work...and expected to do nothing but cull harbour seals...anyone have any helpful experience with these guys ? So far going with a .22LR and some high/hyper velocity rounds...any thoughts and advice appreciated
 
Head shots is the name of the game for sealing. If you're in open water, especially, as they sink.

I don't know if the Marine Mammal Regulations will apply to your culling effort, but here we are required to use firearms with a muzzle velocity of at least 1,800 fps and muzzle energy of at least 1,100 ft-lbs. So no .22LR.
 
Is this allowed or is it strickly firearms these days?

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Here in northern Labrador (and probably parts of Newfoundland, as well) the older Harbour Seals are known as "Doaters" and the younger ones are known as "Rangers." The Doaters have a distinctive way of diving, as they arch their backs in a way that's almost reminiscent of a dolphin or a porpoise.

IMHO, Rangers are by far the best seal meat you can get! As Billythreefeathers suggested, liver fried in onions is awesome...also, frying out any of the meat and making a gravy with dumplings (i.e. doughboys) is also a good bet. BTW, seal meat is VERY rich in iron, so you may find that your...ahem..."porcelain deposits" are quite dark (almost black) as a result. But, it's damned good eating...I'm talking about the Harbour Seal and not the deposits, of course. :D

I have killed them with various types of rifles, as well as 12 gauge shotgun...check your local regulations, of course. Many people around here (I'm from an Inuit community) dart them with the traditional seal harpoon/dart called the unak (pronounced oon-knock) in the summer from their open boats.

At any rate...good luck, good hunting, and good eating! ;)
 
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