Trail XL .22 Draws Blood :)

[longislandhunter]

It was a beautiful sunny day here today with temps right around 60 degrees so I packed up the Trail XL .22 and headed for the duck farm.  I thought there would be more yellow beaks hanging out at the farm by now starting to build nests but there were just a few of them buzzing around.  I decided to set up a hide behind an oil tank that is near a group of old trees that the yellow beaks love to hang out in.  I had just got settled into my hide when 2 yellow beaks swooped in and landed in the top of one of the trees.  One of the birds was not a viable target since there were to many branches in the way but the second bird was a possible shot.  I peered through the scope and even though there was a tangle of branches between us there was one small shooting window through the branches. If I could snake the pellet directly through the small opening in the branches I could take him out.  I used the oil tank as a rest and took aim.  The distance was 35 yards.  Just a slight pull on the wonderful gold trigger sent the CPHP screaming through the branches  (well, it really didn't scream) and a second later I heard the distinctive POP of the pellet striking home     The yellow beak let out one loud squawk then fell to earth like a stone.  I stayed in my hide for another hour but never did get any other birds to land so I picked up my DOA yellow beak and headed off to roam the farm to find another target.  About 30 minutes into my walk I got a clean shot at another yellow beak that was perched in a tree 30yards in front of me.  The XL dropped him cleanly with a single shot but the tree he was in was right on the bank of the stream that runs the length of the farm and when he fell he fell directly into the stream and floated away as I stood there helpless and watched.   I stayed at the farm for another hour trying to find another target but it seems like all the birds disappeared and I never did get to shoot again.  As I headed back to the truck I did get to see the first G-hog of the year though   As I walked past a clump of small trees and shrubs an adult G-hog poked his head out of his hole.  We stared at each other for just a second or two and then he popped back down into his burrow.  I was thrilled to see this g-hog as it's the first one I've seen this year above ground.  On the drive home I passed a farm field and saw another g-hog standing up on top of his burrow surveying his kingdom... so I guess they are finally coming "alive" again here.  Since the g-hogs seem to finally be getting active I'm going to head back to the duck farm late this afternoon with the XL and see if I can get a shot at one so the XL can get her first kill on "medium" sized game.   I took a couple of pics of the yellow beak so I could show off the XL with her first kill... Hope ya like em  

Jeff

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Jeff! Good luck on the G-hogs!

[Furseeker]

Nice looking piece of shooting hardware you have there. I've been doing my best not to order one of those. I keep telling myself I don't own a gas ram so it would be ok to get one. But I'm going to wait awhile and see if the desire will pass. Good shooting Jeff. And that's some nice camera work too. I look forward to another story about how the Trail XL took it's first ground hog today. I'll keep checking in.

I wanted to ask, how do you put captions and draw lines in your photos? I'd like to learn how to do that too.

[adrian]

nice shooting and im loving that gun.is it smooth and quiet.im looking to get a new brake barrel because my storm xt is like a bomb going off in my hands every time i shoot it.love to see the pics keep them coming

[longislandhunter]

Thanks guys, it was nice to get the first harvest with the XL.

Dave, as for the captions and the lines and such.......  my pc is running on Windows XP, if I put the cursor on a picture and then "right click" the mouse it opens up several options.  One of those options is "edit".  I "left" click on "edit"  and the picture then opens up in the "Paint" program.  The "Paint" program allows me to resize the photo, add captions, add word balloons, add lines, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well.  It makes it really easy to edit the pics any way you want.  Give it a try, it's pretty cool  


As for the XL,,,, I really do have to say that I am thrilled with the gun.  It cocks smoothly, has a really nice firing cycle, my chrony shows it averaging 920 fps with the CPHP's, it's deadly accurate and  I also have to say it's really nice to be able to cock the rifle, load a pellet and not have to worry about how long the rifle stays cocked.  I also have to say that the stock trigger is one of the worst triggers I ever used,,,, but Bob's gold trigger fixed that problem just fine    Oh yeah, I almost forgot...... this hunt is the first time I"ve fired the rifle out in the "open" and I have to say it really is much quieter than any of my springers, quite a bit quieter.  In my backyard range it sounds louder but I think it's because my shooting bench in the yard is in the back corner of the house and is surrounded on 2 sides by the house and 1 side by a large wooden fence and I think that all serves to cause it to sound louder,,, but shooting it out in the open today at the farm it really surprised me just how quiet the rifle is.  I still don't think it's 70% quieter than a springer, but it is considerably quieter than my quietest springer.  

As for the g-hogs,,, I'll be heading back to the farm in about 30 minutes  

Jeff

[gamo2hammerli]

Excellent shots at both Starlings with your Benji Trail XL....too bad one fell in the river.  That bird in the photo don`t have to worry about raising another brood of chicks!!!!!

[1377x]

congrats
excellent shooting

[airiscool]

Way to go Jeff, nice shooting. I knew it wouldn't take you long with such a great hunting gun as the XL.

You know there's a Woodchuck out there waiting to be next !!!!!

Paul.

[djmyers]

Good shooting and man is that a nice looking rifle. It's gunna be hard to wait till summer to order me one.