Along with a new found respect for what a .177 Talon SS is capable of.
I work construction, and one of the projects I've been working on the last couple of years is a former apple orchard that's (SLOWLY!) being turned into a high end housing development. Still in the infrastructure stage, and I'm the guy that gets to fix the orchard and other irrigation systems that keep getting torn up by other work. It's a nice place to work, couple of hundred acres, still lots of apple and pear trees, but no one living there any more. I've made it a habit to keep one of my air guns with me down there, mostly for whacking starlings and the occasional feral cat. The former owners house is still there but empty, we use it as a storage/office building.
This is the third summer I've been working this site, and although I've seen the occasional coyote and rabbit, I've never seen any ground hogs until this year, and that's just been in the last week. Saw the first one in a rock pile across from the beach house we built just last week. Plan on leaving that one alone unless he starts tearing up the park. Then this morning, I was up by the old house, walked into the car port to get the Gator (ATV), when this damn thing scared the crap out of me by whistling, then diving into the concrete well around the houses crawl space. Turns out he dug himself a hole into the crawler. NOT good! These guys are a major pest around here when they get under houses, they can and do really tear stuff up. So even though the house will be demolished sometime in the near future, this guy had to go. However, I had no intention of chasing him under the house :-).
Well, I had plenty of work to do, so I put my Talon in the Gator, along with some tools, and got to it. Just got an 18" .177 barrel for it, and spent several hours with it on Sunday. Had it dialed in nicely, and had finally come up with a setup that likes CPL's. I usually shoot Kodiaks in my Talons, but the CPL's were shooting nicely, and all I anticipated was birds. So that's what I had loaded. Nailed a starling with an off hand shot a little later, so I was feeling really good about how the Talon was shooting. By now, I'd just about forgotten the marmot under the house. But around lunch time, I was heading back to my car in the Gator. Now that thing is diesel, it's noisy and smelly, you'd think any critter within earshot would be off like a shot. Not this guy! As I'm driving up to the house, I remember, so I was looking for him. And sure enough, there he was perched on the concrete well. I'm getting closer, but he's not moving, full profile, his entire right side is facing me. I stop the Gator about 20 yards out, he still hasn't moved, so I shut it off and grab the Talon. I rest across the steering wheel, hold the crosshairs just under his right ear, and let fly. Solid hit, he tumbles off the wall and into the well. I was afraid he was going to make it under the house, but I could hear him thrashing around. Grabbed a Kodiak from my car on the way by and reloaded, when I got to him, the back legs were still kicking, but he was done. Couldn't tell exactly where I'd hit him, lots of blood everywhere, so I put the Kodiak through the top of his head to make sure.
This is where that new found respect comes in. First, I got a tape and measured the distance, almost exactly 20 yards. Then I got a hose and cleaned up the blood on his head so I could see the damage. Bear in mind, this was a CPL, 7.9 gr. pellet. My Talon is spitting these out at almost 950 fps, but that's still only about 16 fpe. The entry wound was right where I was aiming, slightly ahead of and below his right ear. The EXIT wound was right at the base of his left ear! All the way through, and this guy weighed about 10 pounds. I noticed something I've seen shooting cans of water. Oddly enough, when you hit a beer can full of water, the ENTRY side splits open, and the exit hole is about pellet size. Well, something similar happened with this marmot. There was brain tissue hanging out the entry wound, but just blood on the other side. This is by far the biggest critter I've shot with any of my air rifles. I've had other chances to take marmots, but I've avoided it, fearing that the .177 wasn't up to the job. Seems like I never have my .22 Talon with me when I need it :-). Sorry I don't have any pics, I wasn't expecting to do any "hunting" today. Later.
Dave
