Well, I've figured out if I wanna insure that I see critters while "hunting" I'm better off just setting up my shooting bench in the backyard and starting a practice session.
Yesteday afternoon I had a couple of hours to kill and decided to chrony, and target shoot, a couple of my rifles. I Set up the shooting bench, chrony, target, layed out all my shootin stuff and got ready to go. No sooner had I fired off 2 or 3 shots when the critters started arriving in the backyard. I've made several posts before about "game" I've bagged this way, so it's not a new occurrence, but it just amazes me !!
First, a whole flock of mourning doves, I mean an actual flock, like 25 of em, landed in the top of the trees and perched there watching me. Mourning Doves in New York are legally considered song birds so they had nothing to worry about from me until the state legislature ,who apparently don't know that how good they taste and that most of the rest of the country hunts them, changes their status :) which I hope happens someday. But for now all I could do was look at them and drool. I've hunted them in other states and even though it's been a long time I can still remember how good they tasted. New York is considering giving them game bird status, but they've been debating about it for so long I don't know if I'll see it happen in my lifetime. OH well, I'm starting to ramble so I'll move on.
A few minutes later a couple of squirrels start running around the yard, visiting the feeders, then quietly sit up in the trees watching me. I was tempted, and did put the scope on a couple of em, but I've already "thinned out the herd" of nutters in my yard and the damage to the feeders has stopped, so the squirrels and I are enjoying a mutually agreed upon cease-fire. If the feeder damage starts up again then the war is back on, but for now my furry tailed observers were perfectly safe.
Next came 2 large crows. Crows do visit my yard on a frequent basis whenever I have a deer carcass or perhaps some ducks or geese hanging out in the cold to "age", but there's no critters hanging now so why they showed up I have no idea. Try as I might I just couldn't get a clear shot. They were in the very top of the trees and there were just to many little branches in the way. They finally flew off cawing their arrogance as they flew.
I got back to the task at hand, shootin and chronying, when all of a sudden it happened,,,, a couple of pigeons, from the large flock that lives under the highway bridge 1 mile north of my house, were headed back to the bridge and decided to take a rest in one of my trees. They landed and were perched there scoping out the bird feeders below. I had just finished shooting the Black Shadow .22 so I popped in a superdome and took aim at the closest bird. Crosshairs on the chest, squeeze, BAM...... 1/2 my dinner was lying dead on the lawn. The other bird took off so I figured I'd start putting all my shooting stuff away.
I had just finished putting the last of my stuff into the basement when I looked up and,,,, yup, you guessed it, another pigeon in the tree. I grabbed the closest gun, which happend to be my old Sheridan Blue Streak .20 topped with the Golden Antler scope. Popped in a Sheridan domed pellet, pumped 8 times and snuck to the corner of the house. He was still there. Put the crosshairs on his chest, squeezed, POP, my dinner was now complete :) !!
I don't know what it is about my shooting bench but everytime I set it up the critters come out to play. If it was a little lighter I'd strap it to my back and take it into the woods with me for good luck :)
Good shootin all....................................
Jeff
