Grackle control

[kellyj]

Hi everyone! This is my first post. So, thanks for the opportunity to share my recent air-gun experience..

As a boy, I used to do a lot of airgunning in the fields and woods outside our small Ontario town. Those were great days of sunshine, plinking, friendly competition and grackle and starling harvesting..

Two years ago, now in my 50's  I bought a home just outside the city with a nice mature back yard. There are many varieties of shrubs such as eldeberry, currants and black berry that the previous owner had planted in hopes of attracting song birds. Sure enough, cardinals, warblers, nut hatches, chicadees and doves are here in abundance and the wife and I have put out feeders with Safflower, Black Oil Sunflower and Nijer to attract the gorgeous and beautiful birds with their delightful plummage and calls.

Enter the GRACKLE with it's racous and annoying call, and its S--- all over my newly installed patio. I began to dream of bygone days of grackle airgunning and began to realize why I loved to harvest them when I was 14. Maybe I would get a few at 52 just to help my real feathered friends live more comfortably on my property.

The trip to the local gun shop yielded a nice Diana Panther 21 in black composite stock and coupled with a Crosman 4 X 30 "Centre Point" scope and Ruiko .177 pointed pellets, I felt I had the tools to dispatch some unwanted guests! I spent a day just plinking and sighting in the gun and becoming comfortable with how it handled and shot. I felt ready last week (wednesday) and from my sun porch with grackles screaching from the trees, tossed out scraps of bread about 10 yards from my "blind" behind the door. It wasn't 30 seconds until 3 of the black devils landed nearby the bread. I took one out, then another. I since discovered they have a nest in my hedge. There are so many of them though that adults keep coming back to the nest. I have bagged six since las Wednesday and buried them in the back garden. Of the two in the photos, one was breast shot, the other a head shot.

As a side note airguns in Canada have a velocity limit of 495 fps, which the Diana 21 is rated at.

Check out the picss.  :p

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1180/4604244222_5c1f54da43_b.jpg

kellyj

[djmyers]

Welcome to the forum and great first post. That's pretty good takin down grackles wig that low of power. I've hit 2 males dead center of the chest and they manage to make it across the canal behind my house. Those are some tough birds. Great job

[kellyj]

Thanks djmyers!

495 fps is low power and the Canadian regs state that the velocity must be under 500 fps in order for the "firearm" to not require an aquisition permit.

Is there any way to "tune" this Diana and make her do what she is capable of, that is about 600-700 fps?

Cheers!

kellyj

[djmyers]

http://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/page/page/251488.htm

http://www.vortekproducts.com/

As far as tuning that one, Im not sure but Id be willing to bet someone has. I attached the links to the places to get the parts you would need. If you search around here or ask there are alot of good peeps here that tune these things. Ive done 2 of mine and its not difficult. Lots of links here to help with diy tunes also. This is a great place for info. Good luck and good shooting.

[shadow]

First off Welcome to the GTA family Kelly happy to have aboard. Now welcome to the Hunting Gate and great shooting and pic there, some hunting nuts around here too hehe. Ed

[only1harry]

Welcome to the GTA!  

Nice shooting at those Grackles.  Most of us here feel the same as you and "remove" Grackles from our property when the opportunity presents itself.

That is a nice little Diana rilfe.  It has plenty of power to take out those pesty Grackles farther than 10yds.  I bet they will drop just as easy at 20 and even 25yds.  You are using the right pellet for a low-powered gun too.  When I was 14-15 I used mostly pointed pellets on my Crosman 760 Pumper which had a velocity of around 550fps.  Pointed pellets provided the penetration I needed especially on Gray squirrels at 15yds.

Grackles can seriously harm the song birds that frequent your back yard.  They are bullies and can hurt or kill the smaller birds such as house (Carolina) wrens, finches and others such as fledglings (Robins in the nest, and other song birds) or destroy their eggs before they hatch.  I watched a female Grackle one day teach her young how to attack and kill a house wren fledgeling that had attempted its 1st flight and landed on my fence in the backyard.  It all happened too fast for me to help and realize what was going on until it was too late.  Out of nowhere came a Grackle and knocked the young wren off the fence onto the ground.  The Grackle then started hurting it with its beak mercelessly for a few secs.  The mother house wren flew in and tried to fight the Grackle but was unable to chase it away or do anything to discourage it or hurt it.  It was just doing fly-by's and would try to peck or hurt the Grackle but it was no good and then she gave up but landed very close by.  The Grackle then called its offspring and I saw a very young Grackle (it was July) fly in with brown feathers still on it.  She then proceeded to teach it how to kill the small wren which was still alive and screaming but unable to fly.  The dang yearling or fledgeling Grackle started immitating its mother immediately and stabbed the hek out of the wren until I chased them away.  The young Carolina wren was dying by the time I got there.  The 2 wrens have lived under my porch for many years and I always tried to keep an eye on their nests and eggs and would listen to the fledglings for a few weeks after they would hatch before they took their first flight.  

Anyway the Grackles' actions that day infuriated me and I started shooting them more than ever after that.  I have also watched them do battle with the Robins which can and have chased them away when they attack their nest.  I have also seen the Grackles attack the Mourning Dove's nest 2yrs in a row, but the Doves don't fight as aggressively and valiantly as the Robins.  There is a huge flock of several hundred Grackles that visit a few times per year so Itry to get as many as I can and any loners that visit and start making that horrible screetch of a noise.

[gamo2hammerli]

Hi Kelly, a BIG WELCOME to the GTA forum and family.  Great shots and photo of your Diana 21`s first kills.  Keep on whacking those vermin birds.

[kellyj]

Thanks for all the encouragement!
Things have quieted down in my backyard, although the Grackles nest is still in the hedge with babies screaching. My better half says to take out the young ones too??
What do you think?

It's nice to see a lot of song birds coming back now.
Please go to the FLickR link to see some of my back yard friends now feeling more at ease at the feeders! Took these photos this morning with camera attached to my telescope..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50144458@N03/

Cheers!

kellyj

[TheKnot]

You whacked the parents and the fledgling screech for food i say make those grackle chicks a meal for the crows . Or bait for that matter just be ready when the feast starts .  Nice  shooting i would just keep the diana as is and start saving for a nitro trail gas ram is where the future is at .

[kellyj]

thanks The Knot!

Yes, I am going to make it quieter around her. Strange, it's quieter now. Grackles have really chilled out here...since a few frineds have gone into the wild blue :|)

-kellyj

[USNCop]

That's good shooting no matter what Kelly.  You sir are a perfect example of accuracy over FPS.
Keep those pics coming.

[jake]

good shooting!