Spent a good bit of the morning fighting 24 inches of wet snow with the snow blower only to give up and start shoveling, then take a break.
At least I got a shooting a trench out to the feeder ... and a path out to the street in case that big brown truck shows up !!!! Put out seed and cat food and hoped I hadn't over done it with the shoveling and wresling with a 300+ lb snow blower !!!
Sure enough the starlings showed up.
Nailed the first one with a Jumbo heavy right where it stood.Just as a test left it there for 30 minutes but the others wouldn't come near the place. Put it out back under trees my Crows hang out in and sure enough, it was gone within about 30 minutes.
Nailed a second Starling, but it got up and flew off even though I could see blood droplets on the snow behind where it had been standing. Oh well.
Hour later the mob is back. I cross hair one, squeeze sending another Jumbo heavy on it's way and down it goes. Then through the scope I realize there's two birds down out there. Nailed a Sparrow that I didn't see was behind the Starling. My first two-fer.
By now the Starling mob is realy twitchy. While I'm waiting to see if they'll come back in I catch movement off to my right.
Two days left in the Squirrel season and here comes the one I've been waiting for.
A Gray that's been sneaking into a hole in the barn box soffits where I haven't gotten the facia board on yet, is climbing up the rough-cut siding, goes into the hole, turns around and lays down with his head out the hole.
The propped open storm door is in my way so I opt to shoot through the door's hinge gap. It's about 30 yards out, and I re-sighted to 22 this morning knowing I'd only be going after Starlings. I put the cross hairs on the top of it's head and squeeze ....
THWACK !
It Swan-dives out the hole, head first into two feet of snow. All I can see through the scope is the tip of it's tail quiver a few seconds then disapear into the snow.
My first two-fer, Gray number 21 for the season, and of all the Grays here, it's the barn trasher I was hoping to get before the season closed. A good ending to good day !!!!!!
And don't worry Harry, this wasn't one of your two Grays !
The first pic is the "shooting trench" out the the feeder.
Second pic is the first Starling dead at the base of the feeder pole.
Third pic is Starling number three and the Sparrow that was standing behind it. Both through and throughs.
Fourth pic is the hole in the snow with a dead Gray down at the bottom.
Fifth is the Gray with a hole through it's head from the Jumbo heavy.
Sixth pic is a "muzzle view" through the door hinge gap out to the barn. You can just make out the hole in the boxed soffit right at the roof line, above the right side of the door opening.
Paul.
