Holland Cokeley said he kept the turtle for a few days, then released it.<<
From another source: >>The year 1965 was also when a 13-year-old boy in Pennsylvania found a box turtle, carved his initials and the year into its rock-hard shell, and then let the creature go.<<
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-turtle-returns-20120504,0,3018267.story
FWIW DB, from my experience, box turtles do not spend time in the water like sliders and painters. So if the turts you are *plinking* are like those in your image, I think they are snapping turtles, and again, from my experience, a .22 [a .22L, maybe, but doubt it will kill them] will not penetrate their thick, tough shell.
My shooting ethic embraces the notion..if you shoot it...you cook it/if you hook it, you cook it. Even if the snapper is a pest, I would never, never just shoot it and leave it...figure out a way to relocate it, with a live catch 'n release. We've done that with snappers who inhabited our lake...but they were formidable in size...big as bath mats....I didn't like them lounging/basking around the floating dock while the kids were swimming nearby. I don't particularly like snappers, but respect them because they can be ancient of days.
One of the great pleasures of lake living, is to paddle up to a log that is crowded with basking painters and when they spot you at the last second, all dive in the water simultaneously.
And yes, painted turtles will bite your fishing bait...but that is rare.
