Starlings everywhere! Ultimate screw-up (again)

[airiscool]

Nice job Harry. Think I'll give the cat food a try.

New term for what can sometimes happen when old guys are shooting birds ...Deja-flew !    

Paul.

[only1harry]

Thanks guys.

I like that Paul  
Well as far as the brand of cat food goes, I don't know if that's what's really bringing them in.. I wouldn't go buy that yet.  

It's just so cold now that probably noone is going out in their backyard putting suet out or other bird food, so they come here because they have nowhere else to go.  I 'll tell you they are getting more cautious now though.  The flock now stays in a tree 50-60yds away for hours, and after 1-2hrs they sent (sacrifice, hehe) a volunteer to "test the waters" and see if he makes it back alive.  But I did not shoot that single Starling this morning (I was barely ready).  He took a couple of bites, flew off and the rest did not come back.  So after 1/2hr of waiting by my new hiding place, I look out the front living room window, and the flock is in the front yard where the snow is all but melted trying to find food in the lawn!  
So they ignored the cat food and hit the ground.  Maybe because they feel safer that way, not sure.  Not only that, there was a 2nd flock of about 12-15 birds about 30yds apart from the 1st flock which is about 30 birds.  I think the smaller one is the one that I reduced  So the cat food at this point seems useless when the grass is "green" and it's not covered with snow.  I think had I not been shooting them though, they would be at the cat food instead of looking for bugs or worms in the grass which we know are not there in 20deg temps.

[gamo2hammerli]

Harry, stay off the drugs and alcohol  heh heh.  But you still managed to nail a few of the yellow beaks afterall.

[Mebits]

There's a real difference between a .177 and .22! Also, my gun is pretty hot so I'm not losing as much energy in the bird. When you hit them, you have to be taking a lot of innerds out.

I have to say, I don't lose all that many, if I aim well. Those who fly or run, don't usually go far, but in an urban neighborhood, 26 feet can get you two yards away. I'd say that out of the last 80 birds that I've taken, I've lost maybe 6 and I'd say that almost all of them didn't go far (I see them fall).

BTW, I had some luck. The late day feeding frenzy brought them in three more times for me so I got a total of 4 on the day. Add to that 1 more that I got a few minutes ago (A side, shot, btw. He flipped over kicked a few times, mouthed a curse at me, and then lay still).

On that front, I JUST got back from examining that last one and this time I took a very good look/feel. I have rubber gloves. I found the exit hole just behind the wing/shoulder. I could stick my thumb into it. Yikes. That's using a .177 crow mag that I'm worried about passthrough with. That's a powerful pellet/gun combo, I think. I can't imagine what the crow mags would do in .22.