Long shot scares tree rat!

[troypla]

Have  been ridding the area around my barn of nutters. Got a momma squirrel at 25ft the other day which allowed me to clear a nest out of the eaves and screen it up.
Today, while target shooting from inside the barn to my target at 10 and 25 yds, I saw i big red one 40 yds out at the base of a big water oak. Lined up the sucker, let one fly and he turned and burned long before the pellet went thwap into the trunk right where he was sitting barking and flipping his tail (at me?).
Anyway, my question to you more experienced exterminators is this:
I'm shooting a G1 springer and I have the impression the noise from the action/piston was amplified from shooting in the shade of my barn out to the tree and this guy jumped from that sound. I'm guessing this since I've heard my gun from ten feet away, outside the barn and it isn't that loud but inside it has a pretty loud smack/pop to it. The other possibility is the distance was long enough for this  to happen without the amplification of the barn.
Anyone notice nutters jumping out of the way of those long distance shots?

[shadow]

Troy I've never had a critter that I was locked onto and took down jump or move from the sound of the report or Airgun mechanical sound. I have seen the other's not under the gun so to speak run for their lives after a shot was taken. The further the distance, the more time it will take the pellet to reach it's mark though, it takes less then a blink of a eye for a animal to move out of the crosshair's. When I lived in South Dakota I would take down P-dog's 40+ yard's out and the report never scared em, it was the P-dog dropping from a Predator.:) Sound's a funny thing when hunting, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy but I wouldn't give up on your location yet. If you get the chance try it again to look for a sound pattern from the barn and running varment's. I took many a rabbit from a barn hide and they were grazing out in the field's, they did leave the field right into the icebox.:) Keep us posted on what you find and we look forward to a hunt story and or pic from you, good luck. Ed

[longislandhunter]

Hey Troy,,,,  

I agree with Ed,,, I've never had a critter "jump" the gun due to noise.  By the time they hear it they should be dead if I shot straight  :)

Jeff

[troypla]

I guess you seasoned hunter's figured I was hoping for the "it wasn't me" excuse to get verified...but I was suspicious.  Just seemed to me I heard the piston slam home, then the critter jumped then the pellet hit wood. It was the longest shot I have ever attempted. Better keep to the targets for a while. I'll keep moving them further out as accuracy improves. Thanks for the reality check!

[only1harry]

I have seen it, just last month.  
When I first got the Condor sometime in August I was doing a lot of target shooting.  I was experimenting with different pressure fills and power wheel settings.  So I come up to the window to start my shooting session after a fresh fill and focus on my paper target 30yds out.  I notice a gray squirrel walking and standing on my fence about 15-16yds out checking me out.  Hunting season had not started yet so I gave him a pass, knowing in a few days he would be on my sights again.  The squirrel had advanced walking on the fence and now had closed the angle to my line of fire to about only 20-25 degrees, but I just ignored him.  I take my first shot at the fresh paper and BOOM!  The squirrel immediately falls off my 5.5ft tall fence and then stands up there on the ground and was looking around and then at me, and his face read:  what the hell was that?  I was laughing my a*s off :)  The gun's report even scared me a little..  

I had the power setting a little too high (at 6) to see what a difference it made in POI, but I had no idea the Kodiaks would go Supersonic.  That was a louder "bang" than what I was used to earlier practicing at the lowest setting (1) which keeps them sub-sonic and the shroud muffles most of the report.  I used to it making the sound of a stock 2240 or less.  When the Condor shoots supersonic, the shroud is still doing its job but up to a point.. resulting in a louder "pop" that sounds like a strong CO2 (slightly louder than my 850 .22) or like my Diana 350 magnum springer which is on the loud side.  Anyway I ran back in and chronied the gun and the Kodiaks were shooting 1,130fp!  Luckily the pellet stopped at the back of the 2nd 2x4" that I was using as a backstop.  It was much louder indoors.  So at that moment I decided to just keep it at the lowest pw setting until I get out to the range and test the various power settings and record the POI changes.  No need for all that power in my back yard..  

Yep, knocked that squirrel right off his feet and wasn't even pointing the gun at him.  I thought it was pretty hillarious.  I almost posted it here btw, but then got busy and forgot about it.

BTW, I 'm pretty sure this was the 2nd time I had this happen but wasn't sure until it happened with the squirrel last August.  I shot at a squirrel 30+yds out with my 350 last year while unbeknownst to me the RWS C-Mount the scope was mounted on was loose & moving around with broken gimballs.  As soon as I took the shot the squirrel he fell right off the tree 50-60ft to the ground.  I thought he was dead for sure but when I looked at him through the scope again he was on all 4's looking healthy, maybe just dazed a little, but was like keeping low to the ground.  I prepared for another shot but by the time I reloaded and raised the rifle, he ran to the nearest tree and all the way up full-speed again, and then proceeded to hop from tree to tree until he was out of sight!  I then looked at the branch he was sitting on with binoculars and could see the pellet hole in the branch right below where his feet were, so it was a clear miss.  Go figure. Maybe the noise of the pellet impact on the branch scared him and made him lose his balance?

[shadow]

Don't give up buddy, sometimes the Airgun God's are snoozing and that was a long shot, I think he just moved to continue his never ending nut finding mission and had no idea that lead death was heading for him hehehe. There's more out there just waiting for you and the pellet hit where he was at so you were on the mark, keep after em. Ed

[gamo2hammerli]

That nutter had the nutter god looking over him that day.  Longest shot I took was on a Grackle at 65 meters.....knocked it over (Head-shot....actually aiming for body) and the rest of his buddies took off.  The one I was aiming at didn't twitch/walk or was startled abit right after I pulled the trigger. Never knew what hit him.  Used a Gamo Viper.....the barrel was 4 to 8" away from the window (inside).