GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : longislandhunter November 09, 2008, 12:39:18 PM
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I spent almost all day hanging the new curtains the wife has been bugging me to put up and doing some other things she wanted done. I finally finished a little after 4pm and even though there was only about an hour of daylight remaining I grabbed a gun and sped down the road to my favorite squirrel woods. Last night I finally got around to filling the hollow synthetic stock of my .177 Powerline and that combined with the pictures Ed (Shadow) posted of his beautifully camo'd powerline made me decide to take the powerline out for a hunt. I haven't hunted with her for quite some time but she's a real powerhouse and deadly accurate. The rifle is sighted dead on with tomahawk pellets so I was confident I could hit a critter if I could find one.
I pulled quickly into the parking spot, loaded up a tomahawk and quickly entered the woods. I knew I didn't have much daylight left so I just quickly headed for a section of pine trees in the middle of the woods that I know is a favorite haunt for the grey squirrels. As I snuck into the pines I saw some movement on the ground up ahead of me. It was a large grey haulin butt to the base of a large pine tree. I could see and hear him scrambling up the tree all the way to the top where he disappeared into the thick branches. I backed off from the tree to a location that gave me a good vantage point, sat down at the base of another pine tree and decided to wait him out. Sure enough after about 10 minutes of sitting perfectly still I saw some movement. The grey came out of hiding and was quickly running from branch to branch. He worked his way from one tree to another, always on the move. I followed him visually hoping he would just pause long enough for a shot. He finally stopped, partially in the open, 3 trees away from the first one he climbed. Due to the branches between us all I could see clearly was his back half and his head but that was good enough. I cranked the scope to 9 power, placed the crosshairs on his eye and gently squeezed the trigger. The powerline fired and a second later I heard the "POP" and the tomahawk hit home. Upon impact the grey immediately rolled off the branch and hung there by his rear leg. He hung there for about 10 seconds and then fell to the forest floor with a thump. I got up and walked to retrieve my kill, pacing off the distance as I went,,,,, 40 yards. Found him laying at the base of the tree as dead as a stone,,, the tomahawk had hit him square in the head. Picked him up, put him in the game bag and returned to the trails to work my way out of the woods.
I slowly made my way down the trails, working my way back towards my truck, scanning the trees and underbrush as I went. I had gotten about 1/2 way back to the truck when I suddenly saw some movement in the briars about 10 yards ahead of me on the side of the trail. I stopped, knelt down and peered into the tangle of briars. It took me a second but I finally saw what I was searching for,,,, a brown patch of fur and a dark eye looking back at me,,,, it was a nice cottontail. I slowly moved to my left inch by inch until I found a small shooting lane through the briars that gave me a head shot. Distance was only 10 yards so I put the crosshairs on his eye and raised up just a bit. Pulled the trigger, the powerline fired and the bunny rolled over on his side, kicked his legs a few time then laid still. The briars were so thick it actually took me a couple of minutes to work my way into them and snake my arm in far enough to grab him. I got some nasty scratches from the thorns but it was worth it. :)
The daylight was almost gone so I put the bunny in the game pouch and quickly made my way back to the truck. When I got home I had my daughter take a couple of pics of me, the powerline and the critters. Then I took a couple of just the powerline with her kills. BTW,,,, filling the stock with the memory foam really had a huge impact on the firing characteristics of the powerline, tamed down the vibration quite a bit.... After that rifle made that 40 kill so cleanly I think I'm gonna take the powerline out on my next few hunts....
Hope ya like the pics.....
Jeff
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nice hunt, and love the pics! it sure is a nice rifle, huh? i can't wait to get mine all done...it sure wants to finally get some blood...
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I hate to keep repeating myself but Jeff them some big squirrels you got up there....My stepson walked buy and even said"Thats a squirrel?"
Oh...and from the last picture I saw of you till now it seems a raccoon may have clung to your chin and died...lol...Retirement or winterbeard?
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Thanks Dave,,, thanks Brent.... Yeah,, the tree rats this year definitely are on steroids or something :) Seems like almost all of em are bulkier than usual. As for the chin,,, that would be my retirement beard growing in :) (the wifes not to crazy about it but I told her she'll just have to get used to it),,,, wish I had that kind of "courage" with her when it comes to buyin new BB guns :)
Jeff
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haha, what if you said, honey, i either get the beard, or a new gun?lol!
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OUTSTANDING BUDDY, hadn't seen a hunt from you lately and thought you went to the woods for good hehehe, that's my goal lol. The Powerlines are just amazing shooter's for the price and yours is proof of it's hunting capabilities. Great shootin on both harvest Jeff and great pic's.:) My Powerline has got a nutter under her belt but I'm ready to take her back out with her new coat of color, the rain subsided at last tonight and sun the rest of the week, wonder where I'll be lol. Thanks for sharing buddy and I'm still crawling through the brush looking for a bunny, I know their out there. Ed
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Wow Jeff,, simply OUTSTANDING!! Man I gotta agree with Brent,,, that SQ. is HUGE!! Enjoyed the story,,, LOVED the pics. Buddy!! And oh yeah,,,, the beard is "workin" for Ya!!LOL!! Really enjoyed your post,, the pics. with you in em just add so much!! Yer down south huntin Bud,,, Tim.
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Thanks guys,,,,
Dave,,,, don't think that approach would convince the wife to get me a new gun but I wish it would :)
Ed,,, I agree with ya,,, those powerlines are amazing shooters for the price, this rifle and my wooden stocked Winchester 1000 version are my 2 hardest hitting .177 guns by far, and both of em are deadly accurate....
Timmy,,,, thanks bud,,,, I like the beard too :) I had one before I got on the force and I been waitin 22 years to grow it back :)
Jeff
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jeff, how many guns do you own? i didn't know you have a winchester 1000. does the wood help the vibration?
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Well,,, if you were to ask my wife how many guns I have she'd tell you I have 6 :)
As for the Winchester 1000 wood stocked version,,,,, yes, the wood stock (which is pretty nice) has a big impact on the vibration factor. I originally bought the synthetic stocked powerline first and was so impressed with its accuracy and power that I went ahead right away and ordered the Winchester 1000. I haven't shot them much lately but I'm going to be taking them out on more hunts from now on.
Matter of fact I made a promise to myself to start taking my "little used" guns out of the gun safe more and giving them all time in the woods.....
Jeff
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Nice shooting..When I first looked I thought you had a rabbit and possum thats a big sucker
and its another one of those long leged bunny's "Hares over here" Do you eat those rabbits/hares
I just leave Hare's in the padock for the hawks to feast on.
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Great harvest. Should be able to get alot of good meat from those 2. Thinking about the memory foam for my springers.
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Peter,,, yes I do eat them, they're great. They're just your standard cottontail, they do quite well here although without using a dog they can be tough to find at times.
We do have "snow Shoe Hares" in NY but they are not found on Long Island. They have a hunting season for those hares up north in the rest of the state but I've never really spent any time hunting them. I've seen a couple of em during my travels in the woods and they're much larger than our standard rabbits, but never had the opportunity to shoot one. I'd like to someday though, they look like a meal fit for a king :)
Jeff
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Great hunting story and shooting. That first photo makes the nutter seem as large as the bunny.
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Peter,, you can BET Jeff eats em,,, he is like "Mikey",, he eats EVERYTHING!! Tim.
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Jeff I would say that you are a sporty looking man with the beard.. Great shootin with the powerline..
I really like seeing pics of who I have become friends with.. Hey I think I know ya bro... Well mabey since I have never been to NY.
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I would put up some pic's of myself but just (shadow's) show up lol. Ed
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LOL ED....
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Errrr I mean shadow!! Kinda funny,,, my Bro in law still calls me "Shadow Man",,, when I was runnin my framing crew I would watch everyone like a hawk,,, "Monk" would look up & there I was!! (Always takin advantage of Ma Natures shadows to hide in!! Then when I was "On the job" I would ALWAYS pull him over when I saw that Dodge truck of his,, Blue lights dont hide in shadows too well!!He He!! (Kept him on his toes!!) You did make one slip Ed,,, I did see a pic. of Ya here before,,,, remember?? Bet I could still pick you out of a "Line Up"!! He He!! Not to totally hijack Jeffs thread,,,, with,, or,, without the beard,,,, I got Yer "Mug" down pat Jeff!!LOL!! Tim. P.S.,,, The beard is workin for Ya Buddy!!
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Good shooting Jeff and very nice pics! Your squirrels are definitely fat up there. Mine were all skinny this year, not like last year's. I think that's because I don't give them a chance to eat. The usually get shot shortly after coming out from their hiding places :)
Like the new beard look. Let it grow and you 'll start looking like a bush. The critters will never know it's you! :)