Porcupine Hunting Tips?

[8mm Enthusiast]

I've gone out a few times trying to harvest a porcupine as they are one of the handful of species legal to harvest this time of the year and I have read that they have good meat quality. Have not managed to find one yet. The area I go to is mature pine, birch, and maple forest with plenty of signs such as bark stripped off trees and there is also plenty of vegetation and food for porcupines in the area. I try to scan the tops and middle of trees looking for what looks like a dark "blob" on the tree. Despite following all my usual procedures—staying quiet, moving slowly, etc.—I'm still having no luck finding one. The earliest I have gone out has been around 7:30 AM which I believe may be the biggest issue. I have read that porcupines are nocturnal and most active during dusk and dawn.

I think my odds might improve if I start searching in the dark and continue into the early morning.

It feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack (literally).

Experienced hunters please provide some insight and tips for this beginner. Thank you.

 

[Blkram]

Where we live, porcupines are protected so there is no season here. (They are considered a survival food as they can be killed with a heavy rock or stick, and apparently one can eat their meat raw. Haven't tried this myself.)

I have seen porcupines of all ages/sizes throughout the daytime, yet have never seen one along any backroad at night. Just an observation. The small, young ones are fast! Mostly I have come across them in the mountainous areas in my travels, but have never patterned them so have no advice for you there. While I have spotted a few up in the trees on hillsides that are more open, most I have come across have been seen traveling along back roads or crossing them, and typically in the fall. Have only come across a few while travelling back roads in the summer when fishing mountain streams. Mostly in areas with higher concentrations of alder, willows, birch, and aspen/poplar.
And if I recall correctly, all have been seen on fair weather days. Don't recall seeing one out and about in the rain.
Hope this little bit of info helps you in some manner!

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

Where we live, porcupines are protected so there is no season here. (They are considered a survival food as they can be killed with a heavy rock or stick, and apparently one can eat their meat raw. Haven't tried this myself.)

I have seen porcupines of all ages/sizes throughout the daytime, yet have never seen one along any backroad at night. Just an observation. The small, young ones are fast! Mostly I have come across them in the mountainous areas in my travels, but have never patterned them so have no advice for you there. While I have spotted a few up in the trees on hillsides that are more open, most I have come across have been seen traveling along back roads or crossing them, and typically in the fall. Have only come across a few while travelling back roads in the summer when fishing mountain streams. Mostly in areas with higher concentrations of alder, willows, birch, and aspen/poplar.
And if I recall correctly, all have been seen on fair weather days. Don't recall seeing one out and about in the rain.
Hope this little bit of info helps you in some manner!

Thanks for the insight.

I keep scanning the ground and edges of trails/dirt roads while I am out searching and plan to keep doing that. Never ruling out the possibility of finding one out in the open in the middle of the day.

However, I have read that porcupines in the rocky mountains (assuming you are from that area) behave slightly differently to the ones we have here in the northern forests. While its the same species, the northern forest porcupines are said to be less active, more sedentary and nocturnal, and generally have a smaller territory due to the density of available food. All these factors make them difficult, or at least are making them difficult for me to find.

I am thinking of revisiting porcupines in the fall when the foliage is less dense and the leaves are starting to fall. That should make scanning the thick forests a lot easier (less bug attacks hopefully) and the cool weather combined with the shorter days might compel them to come out more when its daylight. I am also thinking of attaching a trail cam near some of the hollow logs and dead trees to possibly find a den sight.

 

[RememberBaker]

It’s not hard to find den trees, just look for big old trees with a hollow and look for a lot of porcupine poop under or inside. If you are there at dusk you will probably see them come out. Away from their den finding them is just happenstance. Make sure you cook them thoroughly because I believe you can get trichinosis from porcupine.
I see them pretty regularly but have never killed one, I know people that have eaten them and they said they were good.

 

[Blkram]

Yes, I am located along the eastern edge of the northern Rockies.
Sounds like you have a good plan to trying to find them!
Best of luck in your quest!

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

It’s not hard to find den trees, just look for big old trees with a hollow and look for a lot of porcupine poop under or inside. If you are there at dusk you will probably see them come out. Away from their den finding them is just happenstance. Make sure you cook them thoroughly because I believe you can get trichinosis from porcupine.
I see them pretty regularly but have never killed one, I know people that have eaten them and they said they were good.

Sounds good! The dens are easy to spot like you said. I have crossed numerous buried or hollow logs with entrances to them. Some of those definitely have to be porcupine dens so I'll scan the vicinity of those either early morning/dawn or wait until dusk.

Planning on using a pressure cooker to thoroughly cook it if I harvested one.

 

[RememberBaker]

Most of the porcupine dens I find are in standing trees with a hollow.

 

[RememberBaker]

They generally look about like this.

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

They generally look about like this.

View attachment 27145

Are the pellets on the ground around the hole pieces of porcupine poop?

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

Are the pellets on the ground around the hole pieces of porcupine poop?

Looked at some pictures online and that is porcupine scat. This is perfect. Now I know exactly what to look for.

 

[Firebird24]

Are there alfalfa fields near timber where you live? While bowhunting in August in several states I have seen them in the fields during big game hunting hours.

Never tried it but I believe you could bait them or at Minimum use a trail camera on a salt block. . . ?

 

[salmonchaser]

We gave them no quarter around our place in Alaska. We only had three dogs tangled with Porcupines in twenty years but when you’re 300 miles by float plane from the nearest vet, well that is a battle you don’t want. We would have a couple walk into camp every year. Interesting, as I write this, we opened the lodge end of May and bears were around but sightings rare until about week three. From mid to late June through Sept. we saw grizzlies every day immediately around the lodge. Same 20 year period we had to kill one grizz.

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

Are there alfalfa fields near timber where you live? While bowhunting in August in several states I have seen them in the fields during big game hunting hours.

Never tried it but I believe you could bait them or at Minimum use a trail camera on a salt block. . . ?

Alfalfa fields are few and far between.

Den sights are abundant and I could setup a trail cam with a salt block.