We had about 4 inches of beautiful white snow during the night, really beautiful. Wish I didn't have to work today cause I'd be out huntin but at least I'm off tomorrow so I'll be in the woods at sunrise lookin for game. Anyway, back to the yellow beaks. The other day I filled all the feeding stations but other than a few sparrows there haven't been very many birds coming in. However, last nights snow and the cold that came with it must've made the birds hungry because they were out there in force today all over the feeders.
There were all kinds of birds on the feeders and in the trees but they were all just regular songbirds. Beautiful birds and fun to watch, but what I was looking for were some "targets". Well, didn't take long before I spotted some starlings way up in the tops of my trees. Quickly went down in the basement workshop, grabbed the XS-B3-1 .22 cal , loaded her up with a superdome and snuck out the basement door hugging the side of the house as I went.
Got to the corner of the house and looked up,, yup, still there. Picked out a bird that gave me a clear shot and pulled the trigger. Heard the superdome hit and the bird did a death glide to the ground, hitting the snow near the back of my property. I figured the other starlings probably took off with the shot but there were still a couple up there. Picked out another one that gave me a good side profile and fired. Yellow beak #2 fell off the branch and hit the ground sinking into the snow on impact. The distance for both shots was about 20 yards.
Still having camera problems,,,, have to get another chip/card or whatever you call it, so no pics,, but those yellow beaks looked good layed out on the snow. Took the XS back into the shop and wiped the snow and moisture off her then gave her a nice rub down with the silicone cloth. Once again she proved her worth protecting my yard from the dreaded yellow beaks :)
Wish I could stay home from work since I'm sure I'd get more shooting if I set up my pop up blind and hunkered down in the backyard. Oh well.....
Jeff
