Crying wife! how do I make it stop!

[djmyers]

SO there I am enjoying the sounds of good birds in my feeder. Then things go silent and I look out just in time to hear the call of grackles and see 3 of them in my feeder again. I have taken down a few and she was not to happy. I slid over to the shooting window and slid it open. Loaded up and looked out, their still there chowing down. One dropped to the ground and picked through the grass. Now thats a no brainer to which one gets it. I sat on her tanning bed then eased into position and let it fly. Dropped him where he stood. Busted wing and knocked out the center of his chest. Well she throws a fit. Tells me she really wishes Id stop shooting all the birds! I only shoot the crows/grackles cause they eat everything and chase the little song birds and dove away. The only thing that stays are the ducks. I would much rather listen to dove or song birds then the crows and grackles. I have explained it that they are like parasites and all the way to the other end of the spectrim of making them sound like an L.A. street gang thats going to roll by and start spraying the house and other birds. she just wont listen. I know what woman does listen to reason. She acts like I am baiting and poaching black rhino's or something. How the heck do I convince her they are souless evil creatures. I have thought of filling the bed with birdseed while she's asleep and baiting them in so she wakes up to a room full of them "attacking" her. lol I think I would get the go ahead then. Any other ideas?

[SDale]

Pull up a few youtube videos of crows attacking smaller birds. Then of grackles invading territory and taking over.

My wife is the same way, so I bird hunt when she isn't home. For me, having to wait for the opertunity makes for a funner hunt!

[longislandhunter]

I'm pretty much with Sam on this one.  My wife knows that I shoot any  starling that ventures into my air space but she still gets upset over it.  I've explained to her the facts concerning the issue, even showed her online articles on how destructive the starlings are and how the government itself has programs designed to cull their numbers, but being the animal lover that she is she still gets upset,,, so,,,, I make sure she doesn't see me shooting the starlings or taking pics of my trophies.  Seems to be the best solution for me.  

Jeff

[airiscool]

dj,

Growing up in the country with older brothers who hunt, the Girl Friend  understands about natural balance and how it can get out of balance at times. And being a home owner she understands what damage  Red and Gray Squirrels can do "attacking" the house and barn. She even lets me know when she sees any doing that. But, even though she understands all that and about the impact of invasive species, she prefers I not shoot the Starlings while she's here, so I don't.

If you can't bring the Wife around to the fact that by law, certain birds are NOT protected for very good reasons, I think you may need to impliment the three 'S' policy. Shoot, Shovel, and Shutup.

Paul

[North Pack]

Don't make a big deal over it, - she'll get over it. Now, personally I'd go after one or two of those ducks.

[djmyers]

My kids were trying to get me to pop the ducks but I only go after the crows and grackles. I got dove for days out there everynight too but won't pop them either.

I googled crows attacking. There's some crazy videos on there. Them things attacking cats and stuff.

Maybe I should tie a couple dead ones to her precious poodle and run inside screaming they are attacking it! Lol just gotta make sure I make it outside and catch The dog so she dosent find out I tied them to the dog.

[Big_Bill]

Hello DJ,

I had my wife watch how these birds attack the little song birds and chased them away from the feeders. She didn't seem to mind that too much, until she watched the Grackles peck and kill one of her precious Yellow Finches. She went ballistic, and gave me cart blanche to kill those murdering Grackles ! She said, I don't ever want to see that again, and she hasn't !

The bad behavior of Grackles will convict them every time

Good Luck !

Bill

[Bogey]

Grackles are not like parasites.   They are the  THUGS  of the bird world.   They have become a P I T A here in Gerogia.   At one time they could be found mainly  at the coast.  Now they are everywhere.  They are plentiful in my yard and I live about 150 from the coast.   And all of the bad habits expressed sofar are on the money.


Now, as far as the Wife,   simple.   Get a different one.    As the man said, " Got a gun for the  Wife .......not a bad trade".

[VINNY]

Just set them up.... Easy.. Put bird poop on her car, [ lots- Grackle poop, if she asks ], then shoot one of the song birds,leaving Grackle footprints near the body.Make the bird feeder messy and run down, again making it look like the Grackles did it, and tell her their taking over because you cant shoot them.Piece of cake....

[jay morgan]

mine is the same way whines & crys every time I shot a tree rat or useless blackbirds, but I'll tell you what works? just tune her out & have a good day of shooting, it will build your nerves up for the hard shots!!!!

[pgsmith]

Guess I got lucky in this department, my wife hunts with me she hates those damn rabbits. I even came home with a new Ruger airhawk elite rifle and she was excited (It was for her) but she even mounted the scope cleaned the barrel, then we took it to the range in the basement and sighted it in. Now she wants a new scope and mount to match mine.

[cactusrat]

I don’t know pgsmith.

On one hand, wife lets you buy as many airguns as you want, as long as you buy them in matching pairs (his and hers).

On the other hand, after buying so many airguns, no money for pellets, pest bait, or tank fills.

What about a crying wife but on the other side of the coin. Wife is crying because you shot the rabbit that she has been trying to get clean shot at for the pass week.

Nope, I just don’t know.