GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : longislandhunter September 11, 2007, 12:19:31 PM
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It rained all day here today and by 1 pm I got tired of sitting in the house doing nothing, so I decided to head to the duck farm and see what kind of starling shooting I could get in this kind of weather. I grabbed my tuned Flying Dragon .177 QB78-D, a container of CPL's and headed out into the rain.
When I got to the farm it was still raining but as I drove up to the barn I planned on hiding in I was amazed to see huge flocks of starlings perched on the barn roof. There had to be a couple thousand birds, it was amazing. I set up a sniping position inside the barn, right next to a large window. I hung some camo netting over the window to conceal me, set up my backpack seat, loaded a CPL and got ready. Didn't have to wait long.
Within 5 minutes about 50 starlings landed on the old telephone pole 18 yards away, perching on the top of the pole and on the steel support wires. I picked out a bird, put the crosshairs right on his feathered chest and pulled the trigger. The QB78-D barked, I saw a puff of feathers in the scope and the starling fell backwards off the wire and fell to the ground stone dead.
During the next hour I had great shooting. It took the birds a little while to relax and come back and land on the pole after each shot, but they kept coming back. Long story short,,,,, I got 21 shots at starlings and nailed 20 of em. It was really great, every time I hit one I'd see this puff of feathers and see the bird shudder from the impact. The shooting would've continued at that pace except for the fact that all of a sudden some really severe, and I mean severe, thunderstorms rolled into the area and the birds disappeared. I also decided to make my exit and packed up and headed back to the truck.
I gotta tell ya,,, the power and accuracy of Mikes tuned QB78-D continues to impress me. I didn't get to take any pics of my kills, it was just raining to hard to set up a "photo op", but I can tell you they were handsome looking starlings :)
Jeff
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Great account of your afternoon Jeff. I wish I could have been there with my Lightning. Geeze I loathe those black avian varmints.
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20 out of 21? That is fair shooting. LOL. Jeff, that is great shooting. Darn rain - always enjoy your pictures.
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You and your Lightening would be in black avian varmint heaven there Stephanie. The owners are having such a problem with the starlings stealing grain from the feeders that while I was there today the farm workers were installing fine mesh bird netting across every window and door on all the barns. They have to keep the barn doors open for ventilation and so the ducks can enter and exit the barns, so they're installing the mesh netting almost all the way down to the ground but leaving it short enough so the ducks can walk underneath it.
It should work for awhile, but I don't think it's gonna take the starlings very long to figure out all they have to do is fly under it to get in. The only thing that really keeps the birds out of the barns and away from the feeders is when a person is in the area. That's why the owners love it when I spend several hours there popping birds.
Your lightening would have a field day there......
Jeff
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Really Great Shootin Jeff !
20 starlings without your decoy rig, just think what you could have done with it there..:)
And, or, if that baby didn't cry so loudly..
Have you ever thought of selling tickets to the Farm ? Guided Hunts by LongIslandHunter !!!
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Jeff, if you can sneak me on the farm I'll bring my Lightning and my HW30. Set me in a blind somewhere in or near the barn and I'll work ya up a pile of starling carcasses. I won't even think about a shot at your whistlepigs, squirrels or any other of your prey, I'll be a happy gal whackin' them nasty black vermin! :)
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Oh man...that sounds like so much fun!!! Good shootin!!!
Hmmm...you know, I was thinking...when the Starlings figure out how to get in, that will be a good thing for you because they will be trapped in the building and you can just pick em off royally. I used to work at this place that had a big warehouse, and the birds would come in through the rollup doors, but they couldnt figure out how to get back out. No Starlings though...we had to wait until they were weak and on the floor, and then we would take them outside and release them. We put water dishes out for them just in case, and some drank it. UhOh....is there water in the duck building?
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Fine day at the Duck Farm buddy and it sound's like your took your share of those flying pest's. The QB's are one fine shooter but winter is coming here soon and mine will be stuck in the GTA shooting loft, gotta keep her warm.:) Ed
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Yeah I know Ed, I was thinking the same thing. I'm lookin forward to the winter weather, but I'm gonna miss shootin my QB78's :(
Jeff
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I was gonna b missin that to,but I`m gonna go HPA with mine at least for winter.........Indiana is already in the 40`s at night
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If only you had a punt gun.... lol 8)