Finally! Unscoped 350 takes crow @ 40+yds (pics)

[only1harry]

Finally after a long time I get a shot at a crow that didn't take off at the site of me, but she wasn't too close either..  

Finished breakfast this morning and I walk to the living room to look for a newspaper or something to read with my coffee. I notice from the living room window several crows flying over the house. I haven't harrased or tried to shoot them for a couple of weeks simply because I had kind of given up. Everytime I approached a window they 'd head for the hills, or usually fly to a tree 50-60yds out at the edge of my property or on a neighbor's tree a couple of feet away from my "jurisdiction".

Well this time I noticed the closest ones were at the side of the house on the big willow tree.  I run downstairs and load a CP 14.3gr in the 350 because I knew I 'd be doing some long range shooting.  Kodiak & Crow Magnum wouldn't do this time.  I needed a fast flatter shooting but also hard hitting pellet since it looked like I 'd be doing 40+yd shooting.  I slowly open my office door that leads to the driveway (about 10") and see about 20 crows on the willow. I then open the outside glass storm door every so slowly again about 10" or so and back up ~4-5 in the room.  Now most of them fly away but 2 remain! I raise the rifle to my shoulder and 1 flies away.  I quickly put my open sights on the remaining one which is almost all the way up on the willow tree.  About 10-12ft below the top on the left branch which is at ~40deg. angle (see tree pic.).  The branch is kind of thick so I can only see the upper half of her body.  There also seems to be some small thin branches in front of her. She looks like she 's ready to fly so I must aim and shoot quickly trying to keep it steady.  I 'm standing 4-5ft inside my house with nothing to lean on - free hand.  I only had her on my OPEN sights for maybe 4secs because I know they never gave much time in time in the past before taking off.  I squeeze the trigger and I hear the sound the pellets makes usually when it hits a branch, but to my surprise the crow falls straight down 75+ft to the ground!  I knew I had made a good shot because the wings didn't open on the way down like a couple of months ago when I shot one at closer range and she hopped away accross the street after falling.  I don't see any movement.  I quicly run over to her and she is upside down with large claws up in the air, not moving but taking her last breath as her beak opened & closed.  I am happy it was a very quick kill.  Here are some pics of the tree as well to give you an idea.  It's 36 paces (I 'm 6'2) from the door to the base of the trunk and the tree is at least 80ft tall. I estimated the shot at around 45yds without using the Euclidean or Pythagorean theorem :)  

I took a pic where the crow fell, and then brought her over by my shed so neighbors wouldn't be watching me posing gun & crow, etc. and the neighborhood dog wouldn't grab it in its mouth and run, like he's done with squirrels in the past, although I didn't see him around, the neighbors could let him out any moment so he can crap on other people's lawns  :)

[only1harry]

I forgot to mention that the CP entered the left chest of the crow where you see an opening in the feathers (on the right side looking at the crow on her back - right where she fell) and exited out her lower-middle back at an angle right under the wing.  So the pellet traveled about 1/2 her body length.  The blood drops you see in the back is not exactly where the CP exited.  The POI is almost an inch above that, right under the wing.   The reason for this is because she had her nose down almost parallel to the ground, ready to fly when I pulled the trigger.  Otherwise exit point would 've been much higher. Had I hesitated 1/2sec., she would have been airborne.  

I am glad I was doing a lot of paper shooting outside at 20yds yesterday - off hand.  I have shot over 1,200 pellets without a scope now.  I have learned that the 350 can be pretty accurate once you know its quircks, the right hold and how it likes to shoot.  Hek, 22-23 total game animals taken so far, I think I 've got the hang of it :-)

[shadow]

Fine shot harry, atlast a crow harvest.:) Great story and the pic's say it all cause she look's very happy next to her kill. Ed

[longislandhunter]

Outstanding  !!!!   A fine shot indeed,,, and with open sights no less...   Great pics and a great huntin story,,,,, enjoyed both very much.   That 350 certainly got the job done  :)

Jeff

Big willow... purty gun... dead crow... heh, heh, heh...

Nice shootin', Harry. Keep after 'em.

Bryan

[only1harry]

Thanks guys,
It was a long anticipated hunt which went my way this time, so now it's Harry - 2, Crows 100 :)   I usually just can't get them to stay still long enough to take the shot.  I 'm sure lady luck helped me out a little because I keep staring up at that Willow tree from the small window of my office door where I made the shot from, and I still can't believe I made that shot.  I made some calculations and the distance may have been closer to 50yds, but enough bragging :)  

BTW, the crows came back about 1hr later because I had forgotten their buddy outside by the shed!  It's nice to know that they think of one of their fallen comrades as food.. Maybe I 'll use the dead one as bait :)  They landed on the same willow tree with a few them doing fly-by's over the shed checking things out surveying the area, or trying to get the fallen one to join them, who knows.. but they were making a LOT of noise.  We know they 're supposedly very smart, so they didn't get fooled again.  As soon as I opened the outside door just a little they were all gone. I knew 2 crows in one day would be too good to be true.

Anyway that's when I got to see again how small they really look way up on that Willow.  It seemed like shooting a sparrow at 20yds without a scope.  I 'm lucky they have a relatively big fat body, so the pellet had to strike within only 2" or so to be effective.  They actually present a better target (more square area) than a squirrel. They also weigh about as much as squirrel. Squirrels up on that willow look like ants from that same door and blend in with the tree well.  I pass up on them all the time unless they 're down on the big trunk closer to the ground.  I really think the tree rats have a nest up there.  But I couldn't pass up on the crow.  It's not very often I get the opportunity with them.

[Big_Bill]

Good account of your hunt Harry,

Excellent shot ! along with your beautiful baby standing overyour prey !

I would say that not too many hunters can brag about shooting a crow with an airgun at 40+ yards !!!

Thanks for sharing you hunt with us !

Bill

[30-06]

Brilliant shot Harry!!! Looks like you've got a great shooter there. Hell i would not take a shot that far out without some glass on her.I gues you must have some very keen eyesight.

As usual i enjoy a great hunting account, this is the section i look forward to the most!!! Around my property theres pretty much nothing to shoot at. I usualy go to my buddy Simon to shoot inside the "factory store" where he lives. Were planning to go to his uncles farm(about 100miles) in a couple months time, and i will definately take my camera along to post some pics on the hunting forum. Cant wait for the time to pass!!!!

Good hunting!
JOHAN

[Phil_B]

GOOOOOD Shooting man, since you don't need a scope you can put that money towards a leaf blower  :)   just kidden great shooting

Wow, great shootin'!  Glad you finally got yer crow!  I'd never manage to hit a crow at that range with open sights..  Hell, scoped I'd be a challenge for me if I had to shoot off-hand.

Great work, well told!

J

[longislandhunter]

Yesterday I had a bunch of crows at the tops of the trees in my yard.  They were out there for about 30 cawing away loudly.  I walked outside and they just looked down at me without flying away, which really surprised me.  I went back inside, ran down into the basement, grabbed the first gun within reach,,, which was my Crosman G-1 Extreme,,,, loaded a pellet and silently exited the basement door on the opposite side of the house.   Poked my head around the corner of the house to get select a target and every crow in every tree immediately took off for parts unknown....    SMART BIRDS  !!!!

Jeff

[only1harry]

It's like they have a 6th sense or recognize that long thing in your hands and know it means trouble.  
I 'll pull into the driveway, get ouf the car and not a single crow flys away from the tree tops.  I 'll go inside grab a gun, and soon as I step foot outside, or open another door or window, they 're gone.  Go figure.  They sometimes seem to give us a very small window of opportunity and we must make the most of it.  I also found out that if you come in from a different direction than usual or walk away the opposite direction, they don't fly off right away.

Yup, smart birds for sure!  I played with this a while back....

If they see me at the window, they look back and generally ignore me.

If I show a broomstick to the window, they look back and generally ignore me.

If I show a pellet rifle to the window, they bolt.

Makes them the most challenging quarry I know!

J

[30-06]

Those suckers sure seem very SMART. Have you tried a decoy?? Like for instanse one person at the window while you creep around back??

JOHAN

Yup.  They're smarter than that.  Seems you have to wait till one has an off day.  I find they're easier on foggy days, but that cuts both ways.  I've heard that an owl decoy may distract them enough for me....

Since I got the last one, they're in the air before I even notice them...  It's -20C out today, so leavin' windows open isn't an option.  Beware this summer, Crows!

J