Temptation got the best of me..

[only1harry]

Well after having missed 1 Starling and 1 Grackle today at almost point-blank range, I could not resist taking a crack at one the squirrels that now seem plentiful and run around my yard like they own the place.  

I was upstairs in my enclosed porch (more like a house extension) waiting behind an open window for the yellow beaks to come back because I know sometimes they fly right back to the same spot they were at 1/2hr later when I spotted 2 squirrels making their way towards my line of sight in the trees behind my house.  I tried to ignore them but after 10min. of them going through the leaves looking for food and hanging out within the same 2-3 square yards, temptation got the best of me.  I was going to try and hold out until the hunting season in the Fall but somehow I knew that would be an impossibility  :-)  

I put the crosshairs of my 850 .22 at the corner of his eye, on the ear end, just as soon as one of them stopped moving at exactly 20yds.   Squeezed the trigger and let the 14.3gr CP fly.  I immediately see the squirrel doing the death dance for only about 2 secs, 3 max.  I was like wow that was fast.  I walk over and see blood everywhere in almost every direction (notice the leaves all around the nutter).  An artery must have been squirting blood all over the place from the exit wound on the other side near his ear.  Exit side was one big red mess..  The CP entered just above his left eye and he was bleeding from every cavity in his head including out of both ears.  As I was getting ready to turn him over and take a couple of more pics, my neighbor pulled up in his driveway about 25yds away.  He had a very clear unobstructed view of me so I casually backed up and walked away with the 850 in my hand and retrieved him much later as it was getting dark because he was out there for a couple of hours working on his car.  Him and I don't get along and since it wasn't exactly "squirrel season" I didn't want to give him a reason to start anything..  

[PryorDaniel]

Nice shooting and nice pics. I've always heard that if you're on private property the hunting seasons don't apply because it's considered pest control. You might want to look in to that just in case it's true. Wouldn't it be nice to hunt all year long, legally?

[shadow]

Nice shootin Harry and great pic's. If the nutter's and other critter's being dustructive on your property you can eleminate em. Thank's for sharing. Ed

[Gene_SC]

Another great hunt Harry.. You seem to have plenty of game on your property for a daily hunt. As usual you are still giving that 850 a good workout...:) Maybe you should invite your neighbor over for some nutter stew...:) That may break the tension a bit..:) Also you may invite him to shoot one of your air guns and get him interested in hunting in his back yard..:)

Anyway great hunting account and thank you for sharing...:)

Gene

[longislandhunter]

Great shootin Harry,,,,, Great pic as well....

I do believe that taking out critters that are creating a nuisance or damage on private property is ok.

I hafta get me one of those 870's one of these days,,,,, first though I gotta get me more PCP stuff :)

Jeff

[only1harry]

Gene:
Yes I think I 'm lucky.  I seem to have a lot of game in my back yard and generally in the neighborhood.  I think it's the abundance of oak trees on the block (including a couple of big ones on my property) that are housing many squirrels.  If I shot something every day I 'd probably run out of things to shoot in a couple of months unless it was all Starlings & Grackles, then I wouldn't mind :)  

I 've tried everything with this neighbor.  He 's just a grumpy guy that noone gets along with.  He 's called the cops on me before when I shot the 350 last Fall.  I went over to tell him that I 'm using airguns and he didn't want to hear it.  He kept saying that  pellets would hit his house or car.  This is only the 2nd time I actually shot something on the left side of the house.  I usually do most of the shooting straight back or on the opposite side of the house or porch because of him.  I 've been considering putting up a 6ft wooden fence along his driveway where my property starts which should correct the problem of imaginary pellets flying towards that direction.  But then he 'll come up with something else like the pellets climbing the fence and going after his roof :)  You can't really win with these people so I just look for his car to make sure it's not in the driveway when I plan on shooting anything near that side of my property.

[Gene_SC]

I guess you just have to be aware of him being around when you shoot. That's too bad though but it sounds like you have enough room to shoot without bothering him...:) Hope the cops did not hall you off for shooting a pellet gun in the city. Keep posting your accounts Harry cause we all enjoy them.

Gene

[hunter220]

only1harry - 4/27/2008  8:31 AM

Gene:
Yes I think I 'm lucky.  I seem to have a lot of game in my back yard and generally in the neighborhood.  I think it's the abundance of oak trees on the block (including a couple of big ones on my property) that are housing many squirrels.  If I shot something every day I 'd probably run out of things to shoot in a couple of months unless it was all Starlings & Grackles, then I wouldn't mind :)  

I 've tried everything with this neighbor.  He 's just a grumpy guy that noone gets along with.  He 's called the cops on me before when I shot the 350 last Fall.  I went over to tell him that I 'm using airguns and he didn't want to hear it.  He kept saying that  pellets would hit his house or car.  This is only the 2nd time I actually shot something on the left side of the house.  I usually do most of the shooting straight back or on the opposite side of the house or porch because of him.  I 've been considering putting up a 6ft wooden fence along his driveway where my property starts which should correct the problem of imaginary pellets flying towards that direction.  But then he 'll come up with something else like the pellets climbing the fence and going after his roof :)  You can't really win with these people so I just look for his car to make sure it's not in the driveway when I plan on shooting anything near that side of my property.

Sounds like one of my neighbors.  He gets mad when I shoot my airgun in the yard, even though I point the opposite direction of his house.  I just make sure he is not home when I get a bird or squirrel...

[longislandhunter]

To bad about the neighbor Harry,,,, probably the best approach is exactly the one you're taking,,,,,, avoid him as much as you can and only shoot when he won't present a problem. Most cops don't have a problem with people shooting air rifles and will, after receiving a complaint, usually just ask you to keep a low profile to keep the neighbors from calling again,,,, that's the approach the guys I work with take. However, on those occasions where we keep getting repeat calls then the cops usually get tired of dealing with it and decide to take enforcement action which can lead to a person having their rifle confiscated. Even if there isn't an air rifle ordinance the New York State Penal Law has a few sections in it that can be used,,,, the big one being "Reckless Endangerment". Anyway,,,, I think you're doing the smart thing and avoiding the guy......

Jeff

[only1harry]

The cops hauling me off was too funny Gene.  No, we don't have any laws against airguns in my town or county and I personally think it would be too hard for them to win "reckless endangerment" like Jeff said.  Sure they could summons me and it would be a big nuissance, but it'd be very hard for them to prove anything unless the neighbor puts a pellet hole in one of his trees or siding.  

Actually it was the 2nd time they had come out because the neighbor called them about a year ago when I shot my .22 rimfire Marlin and got a groundhog.  This guy only bought that house about 2yrs ago so I didn't know he was going to be like this.  That was the main reason I got back into airguns and met you nice folks :)  I showed the cops an old Crosman CO2 revolver when they came and they just left :-)  Last Fall he called them again when I shot my 2nd or 3nd groundhog with the 350 on the opposite side of my house about 60-70yds away from his  house (my property is 101yds long) but he didn't know that I was shooting at anything in particular.  The 350 is just loud and may sound to someone not familiar with guns like a .22 short perhaps.  The cops asked what direction I was shooting at but didn't ask if I were using a backstop or anything.  I told them I was shooting towards the hill in the back of my house into a log I had setup for practice.  I had a hunting licence but don't need one for g-hogs but didn't mention either one..  I then said they are welcome to look at it and see the pellets penetrate and don't recocet.  They said no need for that and handed me my driver licence back.  I then told them I used to be on the job and they started joking about how it must stink having a neighbor like that doesn't like me, etc.  I told them he doesn't talk or get along with anyone in the neighborhood since he recently moved in.  They suggested I go talk to "him" if I had an idea who it was (they won't tell you - anonymous call they said, yeah ok..) and I said I was planning on doing that anyway.  I did later that day and the guy was a complete jerk about it.  At the end as I was leaving I mentioned to him that the cops will not like it if he calls them again because it's perfectly legal to shoot airguns on one's property.  He said: "I don't know what the hek you 're shooting back there.. it sounds like real guns to me".  Like I said, complete jerk..  

Oh well, now he has 2 cars and I saw him drive away this morning in the "other" car he normally doesn't drive, so I 'll have to guess if it's him or his wife that's home, but she usually works and gets picked up by someone else (carpool).  He 's unemployed or on a pension/retired or something (he 's in his late 50's).  His old house burned down which is why he bought this house while the insurance company took their time waiting for his new house to be built.  Maybe I 'll get lucky and he 'll burn this one down too?  :-) or he 'll move back to his "newly built" house and leave us all alone.  Perhaps if I shot the airguns every day, that would make him decide to move out?  :-)  The problem is the realestate market is way down now, and he bought the house just before the market decline, when prices were at their highest.  So I don't think he 's going anywhere anytime soon  :(