Did I really kill that Rat?

Being a fisherman (after Rat season I will be posting fishing reports here ) and a rat shooter, I am included in the two groups that qualify as the 'worlds biggest liars" but I have to say that when it comes to streaching the truth, fishermen have to take a back seat to Rat Shooters. If you are sitting around with a group of rat shooters discussing the days shooting and how many rats each shooter killed, the term " the first liar doesn't have a chance" really comes into play. Lets talk about what constitutes a "kill". I am a real stickler about this. I even have a counter attached to my pivoting shooter rest. To claim a kill, the subject rat has (1) to be crawling along the ground with guts trailing, or (2) flopping around ( we call it doing the chicken dance ) or (3) laying still, stone dead, ( if you are unsure, put another round in him ) or, (4) some times, thru your scope you can see a tail quivering in the air as the rat is hidden in a furrow. That is when a high power scope is handy. I have a 6X20 Simmons on my .17 HMR. Another claim to a kill would be when you hear the unmistakable sound of a hit, kind of a thud. But even that is sometimes questionable if one or more of these results are not there, you do not have a confirmed kill. The most common claim is when a shooter fires one off at a standing Rat. The rat goes down, mostly sideways, and disappears. If you don't have evidence as mentioned above, the rat probably just dove into his hole. No Kill. I always try to make it a competition. That makes everyone a better shot. After all, the ranchers don't let us onto their property to just burn up a lot of ammo. They want those rats killed and we have an obligation to do just that. No one cares if you shot up 1000 rounds today, maybe you are just a poor shot. Make your shots count and KILL RATS.