2025 SilencerCo Nutria Eradication Tournament
William Lawson
The SilencerCo gang recently headed to Southwest Louisiana, where they met up with Dirty Kid and Cory from Superior Defense to hunt some nutria and a few feral hogs. Judging by the haul and the hardware, everyone had a damn good time—and the hunt didn’t disappoint.
Nutria, in case you don’t know, are an invasive species of the spiny rat family that look similar to beavers, with long rat-like tails and orange, beaver-like front teeth. Sometimes called “coypu,” they were imported from South America in the 1930s in hopes of generating a market for their fur. That died out after the 1970s, and the nutria have grown out of control, destroying valuable wetlands in the process.
Left unchecked, nutria can transform marshlands into open water by eating the vegetation, often digging up the roots. They are more destructive than hogs in that part of the country.
Local authorities have encouraged residents to eat nutria meat, which is said to be healthier than beef, though that effort hasn’t really caught on either. I have to admit that I’d rather have beef, despite the supposed health benefits.
Anyway, the crew did their part over two days to shrink the nutria population, while also getting a few porcine targets of opportunity after dark. It looks like a great time for everyone but the nutria and the hogs.
Top Notch Gear
The team was outfitted with such firearms as AR-15s from Zev Technologies and Squid Armament, a full-auto H&K MP5 subgun, a Q Honey Badger and bolt action Mini Fix, both in .300 Blackout, and a Marlin 1894 that was all tacticooled out. They were running lots of subsonic ammo, with Hornady’s .338 ARC making an appearance alongside the .300 BLK.
They all visited Unity tactical since they were in the area, where they picked up Unity’s very nice mounts, risers, and switches, including the cool-looking flip-to-center magnifier mount. Night vision and thermal gear was on full display for the adventure’s nocturnal phase.
Of course, everyone sported SilencerCo suppressors, and I spotted several different models, including the Scythe Ti, the Scythe STM in full and short configurations, the Velos LBP 556K, the Osprey 9 2.0, and the Spectre 9. Everything got plenty of work.
Nautical Nutria Slayers
The crew hit the bayous in multiple watercraft, both outboard motor and air-driven. The airboats have a clear advantage in the reed-choked areas, but an outboard boat jumped at least one dike. Looks like serious fun.
The nutria were abundant, with everyone harvesting giant 20-lb rats both in the water and on land. The video treats us to lots of great shots, occasional foot pursuits through the water and mud, and piles of nutria. The shooters even scored a few pistol kills, no mean feat from a moving boat. We also get the occasional look at a gator and some water birds.
Wild pigs were out and about too, much to the maritime sharpshooters’ delight. The full-auto MP5 dropped at least one of those. There was also a crab to one of the shooters’ ears, but you’ll have to watch the video for that bit of comic relief.
Nighttime Pig Hunts
The nights were for hunting hogs, though some nutria were also to be had. Hunting pigs with night vision and thermal gear is a real adventure, and yielded some nice results, with several large porkers falling to the hunters’ rifles. I don’t know what they did with all the meat, but I suspect that several people, at least, ate well thanks to that hunt.
Environmentally Positive
Killing nutria is a public service. They are a huge problem in Louisiana. My research yielded numerous articles on their destructiveness.
The Invasive Species Specialist Group classifies them as the world’s 60th worst invasive species. They breed up to three times per year and can have litters of up to 13 pups. They can consume as much as 20 percent of their body weight each day, destroying root systems which, in turn, causes major erosion. Their burrows can undermine or destroy infrastructure like dikes, levees, and even roads and bridges. They also cause extensive crop damage.
I do wonder what they did with the nutria, considering they brought them back and cut their tails off. The State of Louisiana offers a $5.00 bounty on nutria tails, but there’s still a market for nutria meat and fur. Some Louisiana restaurants serve it, and some hunters supposedly prefer it to steak.
Nutria is also considered “ethical fur,” since they aren’t being killed specifically to make garments. It’s more of a by-product of pest control these days. One of the SilencerCo shooters had a nutria skin rifle sling from last year’s hunt. Complete with the fur. Pretty cool.
A Good Time
The best part about these videos is how much fun everyone has. The good-natured ribbing and wisecracks, and competitive trash-talking between boats is really fun to watch.
No one provides a final count, but it looks like they killed at least 70 or 75 nutria over two days, and some 15 or 20 wild pigs. Much of that is caught on camera.
Group hunts are hard to top for just plain fun. I’ve rarely equaled the camaraderie experienced in a good deer camp. I got that kind of vibe from watching these videos. Enjoying nature with your friends while also performing a public and environmental service? It doesn’t get much better than that.
I’m already scheming to go on a nutria hunt of my own. I just need someone who knows how to go about it, considering I’m a mountain hunter with no experience in wetlands. But I know some people…
If you like outdoor adventure and barbed, but good-natured banter, check out these two short videos. I bet you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.
William Lawson
