Around lunch time the wife went out shopping with her cousin so I had the entire afternoon free. I decided to grab the .177 R-9 Goldfinger and do some bird huntin at the duck farm. Grabbed the R-9, a container of CPL's and headed for the farm. There were plenty of yellow beaks there today and it appears as though they're actively nesting because all the birds I saw were gathering food and returning to their nesting cavities in the trees and buildings on the duck farm. Right near where I park my truck there is a group of old dead and dying trees that the birds love to nest in so I set up my back pack folding seat behind a couple of overturned grain feeders that were 25 yards from the trees and proceeded to wait for a target to arrive. It didn't take long before the first bird glided into the trees with his mouth full of some kind of green colored caterpillars. Put the crosshairs on his chest, fired and he flipped backwards off the branch and hit the ground like a sack of nickels. During the next 45 minutes I had 4 more shots and scored on each one. I also hit another bird but he glided to the ground and became a "runner". I chased after him but he made it inside one of the brooder barns and disappeared among a couple of thousand little ducklings. Since he got away I didn't count him in my bird total for the day. After chasing the "runner" I decided to pack up my folding seat and head out on foot to find some more targets.
As I was slinging the folding seat onto my shoulders I noticed a large flock of pigeons near a grain feeder in a duck pen not far from me. I looked around and decided their was enough cover in the area to make a stalk so I planned my stalk and got to it. 5 minutes later I had worked my way to some large metal grain storage silos that were within range of the birds. I picked out one of the larger birds, put him in my scope and waited for him to be clear of any ducks. Finally he moved to a position where I wouldn't hit any ducks if I missed so I quickly judged the range to be about 50 yards, held the crosshairs on the middle of his neck and fired. At the shot the flock of pigeons took flight except for the one in my scope
He stood there for a short second and then just fell over onto his side and never moved again. As I walked over to retrieve him I paced off the distance..... 55 yards on the nose.... the CPL hit him in the upper breast. I placed him in the game pouch and headed off to find another target.
During the next hour 1/2 I hit a couple of different spots and got some shots and managed to nail 4 more starlings. I also missed a couple of birds but ya can't hit em all. By 3 pm I was getting hot and thirsty so I decided to head back to the truck for a drink. As I made my way back I found myself passing the duck pen that I had nailed the pigeon in earlier. As I glanced at the grain feeders I noticed that the large flock of pigeons had returned. Using the same stalking route that I used the first time I made my way into a shooting position, however this time I made my way to two large propane tanks that were near the grain silos I used as cover the last time. I peered over the top of the propane tanks and saw that the large flock of birds, about 40 in all, were still there. The birds were just a little further away then they were when I got the first bird but since the propane tanks were closer to the feeder than the grain silos the distance for this shot would be just about the same. Knowing the distance to be the same I picked out a really pretty light brown splotched bird, held the crosshairs on his neck and fired. The pellet hit true and the brown pigeon just slumped to the ground. I paced of the distance and it was exactly the same as the first bird... 55 yards. I picked up my bird and made my way back to the truck so I could take some pics of the birds to post on GTA for my hunting buddies
On my way out of the farm I saw some g-hogs coming out to feed, but today was a bird hunt so I decided to leave the g-hogs for another day. Hope ya like the pics....
Jeff
