GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : Furseeker February 07, 2010, 03:48:59 PM
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The wifey had a hair appointment today at our house. So being the good husband I am I grabbed some guns and left the house to the ladies. Today I learned the meaning behind the old adage “to much of good thingâ€. There were liberally thousands of starlings down at the dairy and when the flocks get that big they get extremely spooky. I could get close enough for a shot the first few minutes I was there but after a few shots I couldn’t get closer then about 75 yards. So that’s when the waiting game begins. I would just sit in the truck and wait for them to return, and they did, problem was they would come in a couple a hundred at a time. Then I would load the gun and slowly get out a take a shot, and watch them all fly off again.
That worked for while, but then they started to avoid the area near my truck. So I parked it and took up a position near some big hay stacks. When they returned they were always on high alert and the slightest movement would send them off again. I’m thinking I’m going to have to come up with a new game plan. I did talk to the operator of the farm and he mentioned that the state has been down there poisoning the birds. That was evident because I noticed some non target species dead around the farm. Red Wing Black birds mostly but there were also some other species.
I had more fly off today then I’ve had in a long time, but I guess I can chalk that off to longer shots. But I’m still surprised at how tough these birds can be. I hit a few at a little better then 40 yards, heard the pellet strike, watched the feathers fly and still they were able to take flight. I hit one big pigeon form about 60 yards and he was able to take flight but could get the speed or altitude that the rest of the flock had. I watched him fly 4 feet off the ground until he disappeared from few four fields away. Sorry for the long rambling post, below is the picture of a few I was able to anchor.
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Hey Dave,
Take a look at this article and see if it might be feasible for your situation. If there are hay bails available, maybe you can fashion a blind and take a good many more than you have been. I like the way he used wire to make decoys out of the dead birds as well.
Sure hope this helps, Larry
http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/pigeonhunt_SA.html
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Furseeker how does that rangefinder work for you? I just purchased the same one at Wal Mart on closeout. Good shooting with the springer.
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Nice shooting!
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Nice shooting indeed and a great pic......
Jeff
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Good shooting at those avian varmints. Is that a RWS Diana 34 Pro Compact you were using? Yeah, built yourself a blind with hay....like those two guys Wade and Doug whohad killed hundreds if not thousands at the garbage/food dump.
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Wingman, how much was that closeout range finder at Wally World?
Thanks, Larry
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Price was around $155
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It's my new RWS 350 Feuekraft Pro Compact, not sure about the compact part, as the gun weighs in at a little over 9 pounds. I guess I'll get in shape just packing that thing around. It shoots like a dream and I think it easy on the eyes too. I do need to built some sort of blind down there, the birds get wise really fast. I need to get a second gunner down there and put him in the trees. The birds seem to go back and forth between about 3 spots. All of them are within 100 yards of each other. But I think 2 guns would keep them moving a little more. When I was down there this weekend I noticed the owner of the adjacent farm was using a shotgun to thin the flocks on his place. Probably a little more efficient that a .22 AR but not nearly as fun.
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Wingman115 that's where I picked up mine. I've been asking the wife for two weeks now what she wanted for Valentines day and I realized she hadn't asked me what I wanted. So in an effort to remove some stress from her life I took matters in my own hands and bought myself the range finder on her behalf. That way if and when she does ask I can look at her and say " honey don't worry about me, you give me too much already". If she insists on gettimg me something I'll ask for a tin of pellets. I paid the same you did and I've been happy with it. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles some of the others out there do, but it works great for what I need it to do.
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Nice shooting with your new 350 Dave!
Too bad about the pigeon. Keep after them! Concealment is the key with these birds. A blind would be very helpfull if you can get one.