Finished mowing the grass, edging, weed wacking, raking and all the other yard work around 3 this afternoon, and even thought I was dead tired I really wanted to do some pest shooting so I grabbed my .177 Goldfinger and headed over to the duck farm to see if there were any birds flying around.
When I pulled in to my usual parking spot I saw large flocks of starlings and pigeons flying over the grain feeders. They were going after almost all the feeders on the farm so I decided to head for the far end of the farm and set up a makeshift blind just inside and old decaying farm building. My sniping position put me within range of 4 different feeders. 2 of the feeders were 30 yard away and 2 others were 40 yards out.
Within minutes of setting up I had my first flock of starlings land and start attacking one of the 30 yard feeders. Picked out a bird offering a clear breast shot, squeezed and the yellow beak dropped instantly in it's tracks. Every few minutes I'd get a nice flock of starlings land. I had steady shooting for over an hour. I managed to nail 12 starlings and missed quite a few others. It was rather windy at the farm today, but the wind was only part of the reason I was missing, the majority of the misses were my fault as I tried to quickly snap off a shot at the nervous birds hopping around on ground. 3 of the birds I shot were fatal hits but they managed to get airborne and their "death glide" took them into a swampy area of the stream that borders the farm so I didn't get to retrieve those 3 for the pictures.
Around 5:15 pm I was sitting on my stool in my sniping location waiting for more starlings to land when I saw some movement to my right. The duck pens are closed in by small 3 foot high wire fences. About 30 yards away and to my right I saw a small woodchuck emerge from the undergrowth on the stream bank and head for the wire fence. He climbed up the fence, sat on the wire for about a minute surveying the area and then, when he felt secure all was safe, he hopped off the fence and made a bee line for the closest feeder, which was one of the 40 yard feeders.
He got to the feeder and began feeding greedily. I watched him in my scope for at least 5 minutes but he never gave me a head shot. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he turned and offered me a perfect head shot. I put the cross hairs between his eye and ear and pulled. Immediately heard the "thwap" of the pellet slamming into his head. He dropped where he stood, quivered for about 10 seconds, and layed still forever. As I watched him lying there through the scope I could see where the CPL had struck him because there was a steady stream of blood pouring from the hole. This 40 yard kill is the perfect example to anyone who doubts that the .177 is capable of taking medium sized furred small game, it's simply all about shot placement.
I wanted to get home in plenty of time to take some pics so I grabbed my trophy's, put them in my game pouch, and started walking back to my truck. Halfway back to the truck I noticed a flock of pigeons on the ground near a feeder about 50 yards away. I doubted I could get close enough for a shot but I gave it a try. Managed to get within 35 yards and stopped. Picked out the biggest bird in the group and fired. Hit the mostly white pigeon right in the bread basket and down he went. Retrieved my pigeon (also my dinner) and headed on home.
Had my daughter take some pics, along with a couple I took. Hope you enjoy them.
Jeff
