Worked until 3 pm and raced home to change into my hunting clothes. Grabbed the QB78-D .177, some C02 cartridges and headed for the duck farm. Parked in my usual spot and scanned the sky and trees for critters. Saw a few small flocks of starlings flying over the farm but I knew right away it was gonna be another slow day due to the heat, which was actually even hotter than yesterday if that's possible.
Went to the north end of the farm where there's a large stand of old oak trees and plenty of shade. Figured I'd sit still inside the trees and see if I got any shots at anything. The only birds landing in the area was English Sparrows, and even though they are legitimate pests and a legal target I'm not really big on shooting them, but I did nail 4 of em just to get in some more shooting with the QB on live targets. Nailed each one out of a small dead tree 25 yards away with a single shot each. That QB really is a tack driver :)
I bestowed amnesty on the remainder of the sparrows and moved on to the south end of the farm, stillhunting my way along the stream and thick undergrowth. Reached the far end of the farm without seeing any targets but as I approached one of the large grain feeders I heard a "thud" come from inside the feeder. I knew what that meant,,,, there was either a G-hog or a squirrel inside having a feast. I got ready, took the safety off and kicked the feeder hard. All of a sudden the biggest, fattest squirrel I've ever seen in NY came flying out of a hole in the side of the feeder and made a bee line for the bushes. This thing was HUGE !! Looked like he was on steroids or something. There was no way I could get a shot and he was now long gone so I moved on.
I decided to take a walk down the dirt road to the other duck farm, the one where they raise the breeder ducks, and see if I could get a shot at some starlings there. There were literally thousands of starlings there, but after nailing 2 off a barn roof at 35 yards they all just seemed to disappear. I could see the flocks heading off into the distance and they just kept going until they were gone.
I decided to slowly walk along one of the small paths that runs along the length of the stream and see if I could find any more targets. Well, I did see 2 large G-hogs but they saw me first and dove head first into the thick reeds and bushes long before I could even get the rifle up to my shoulder. One of th G-hogs scared the you know what out of me,,,,, I was climbing a small 6 foot high mound of dirt covered with thick grass and as I reached the top I practically stepped on a G-hog that was in the grass. The G-hog rose up on his hind legs, bared his teeth and actually growled at me. Well it sounded like a growl anyway. At that point we were about 18 inches apart. I yelled a not so nice word and backed up real quick and the G-hog dove into the grass and disappeared. Certainly got my heart racing :)
I decided to head back to the truck so I slowly hunted my way back to where I had parked the truck. On the way I did see one other G-hog, a medium sized one, and I tried a slow stalk to get within range but he busted me and was long gone when I finally got into my planned shooting position. At least I know where he lives now so tomorrows another day.
I took a couple of pics of the 2 starlings I nailed and during my roamings I took a few pics of the farm, the stream, the woods and of course the ducks. Hope you like em.
Jeff
