Things have been pretty dead around her for weeks. Then I picked off a starling and then a sparrow. Still, they were jumpy and I wasn't seeing many to begin with. I figured it was all over except for stalking that nesting pair of sparrows in the brick of my neighbor's house ( only 11 feet away but they are super wary and I have to use iron sights and a pumper).
Then, today, it was raining so I put out a bit more catfood in a new spot in the yard `40' out, along with some sunflower seed and some stale bread.
That may have done the trick, but I also think that this is mating season for the sparrows. They must be hungry because they are coming in like I haven't seen them come in before. In fact, I had to stop typing this post to nail another. I've gotten one starling and 5 sparrows today. I'm about done as I have other stuff I need to do, but that's a big day on sparrows.
Oddly, they were pretty aggressive too. In fact, I was lining up for a "just in case" shot on the starling when a sparrow landed right behind him. I altered my aim about 4" and shot her. Amazingly, she managed to fly into the clematis on the back fence which is 9 panels away. That's about the farthest I can legally shoot. Which I did. Mind you, I couldn't actually SEE her, but I knew where she went in and I could see a dark spot on a cross beam. So, I took a coup de gras shot. Nothing fell. Nothing moved. Was she dead already? No doubt possible. Had she moved? Did I just kill a knot in the fence panel?
Well, I went out and looked at the spot. Yup. There she was, held in place by a vine. She may have been dead already (those crow mags pretty well lay the sparrows open--I've literally blown one in two), but if not, I hit her. At first I couldn't find the pellet but then I saw the bloody splatter where it went through her and drove flush with the pressure treated panel. That's out of a BC 1200 at roughly 72'. Not an incredible shot so much (most of you guys do much better), but incredible penetration.
A note of caution: If you're shooting the BC, double check your backstop. Even if you hit your quarry, it's likely to pass through and it'll be pretty hot still.
M
