Hey DAMAGE, it really is a great shooting location, I was lucky the owners gave me permission to hunt there. I spend alot of time shootin there for the fun and also to help me keep my sanity. It's like my "fortress of solitude" except with air guns. It's a commercial duck farm, about 75 acres, with numerous pens, each pen containing several thousand ducks at different stages of growth, a huge grain storage building, numerous large barns and processing buildings. There is a man made stream that runs through the center of each of the pens (to provide water for the ducks) as well as a natural stream and 2 large ponds at the base of the farm and that are surrounded by woods. In each duck pen are several large feeders, each one constantly filled to the brim with commercial pelletized duck feed. Needless to say all this free food, combined with natural cover and plenty of running water pull in wildlife of all kinds like a magnet. Huge flocks of starlings, sometimes in the thousands, are there all day every day, as well as pigeons, grackles, and any other kind of bird you can mention. Wild ducks and geese abound, especially with the stream and ponds in the woods. There are foxes and raccoons, which mainly eat the ducks, woodchucks, rabbits and squirrels galore. I often find the woodchucks inside the feeders gorging themselves on duck feed. I've watched them leave the woods and actually run 200 yards through open pens so they could crawl inside one of the feeders for dinner. It's really pretty cool. The owners are 2 of the nicest men I've ever met and are just thrilled when I show up to shoot pests. Apparently all these wild animals eat a very large portion of the duck feed and that winds up equating into lost revenue. There are guys that shoot there with powder burner shotguns, I've even done it myself on occassion, but the owners really like the fact that I use airguns as my weapon of choice. Shooting with a shotgun is legal, but the resulting noise usually results in some of the homeowners who live near the farm calling the owners, or the police, to complain about the shotgun blasts. With my airguns the owners are getting their pests removed and there is no noise, hence no complaints , which they absolutely love .
There is another duck farm right next to this one that is owned by another gentleman, perhaps a little larger in size, but with the same pest problem. The owners of "my" duck farm told me they will speak to the owner of the other duck farm and get me permission to shoot there as well. Can't wait. You must have some great shootin in New Zealand I'll bet.
Jeff
