VIPER does it's job.....

[gamo2hammerli]

2nd "pest control" outing.....

Woke up an hour earlier than usual due to the humid hot temperatures. Heard a cacophony of bird noises outside.... Without thinking I quickly slid open the window screen...hitting the metal edgeat the end. Thus scaring 6 grackles away. Lesson learnt.....won't happen next time!!!!

Was getting dressed while occasionally checking out the window...lo and behold....a few came back. Time to break-in the Viper!!! Loaded the .177 pellet into the rifle and stuck the barrel about 4" outside......pulled the trigger and the first one's down. Surprisingly the other grackles didn't hear the "Twang" of the rifle. Loaded another pellet and took out the 2nd one.....now the rest flew off. It's going to be a great day at work......

After work....and doing some stuff around the home....I see some more of those flying rodents in my backyard. I quickly rushed up to my room....slide open the window screen and nailed another one. Three birds in one day...not bad. The first pic is of the two birds that bought it in the morning. The second pic is of them all together....the middle one is the one I took out later in the day. All from the 2nd floor....so it's "Death From Above". Btw...none of them twitched a muscle after getting shot.....those Crosman Competition Wad Cutters going at 1000fps (Allegedly) did their job too.

[longislandhunter]

Rifle and prey look great lying there.  Congrats,,,, good shooting...

Jeff

[PeakChick]

Well done. Grackles have the same behavoir as Starlings and invade beneficial species territory agressively. Avian thugs, that's all they are.

[shadow]

Btween all of us dropping em you would think that they had enough but they keep comin and we'll keep droppin em.:) Great shootin and pic. Ed

[gamo2hammerli]

I don't know if this is good or bad....after nailing 6 birds in two days....I haven't seen any land in my backyard in two days....at least they learnt to stop eating my grass seeds.  I'm sure a few are still landing....just that I missed seeing them.....  I've got an air rifle in 3 separate rooms....propped up and ready if I see any of them varmints.   :o)

[only1harry]

Good job on those birds!  Nice pics too.  

Don't worry they 'll be back.  There 's more of them out there.  Other birds are always looking to move in some new territory, but they 're out there.  I thought the same thing.  I shot about 10-11 Starlings & Grackles in the spring and then I thought, geez it's been aweful quiet around here, did I wipe them all out?  Nope after a ~2 week dry spell I got 2 Grackles a couple of days ago and 2 Starlings today!  They just keep coming back.  It's different gangs/clans that rotate and visit our properties at different times.  You 'll get the next clan to visit soon.. you 'll see.
Harry

[gamo2hammerli]

Yeah....they're out there....I see them across the boulevard in the open field with the bike path and electric pylons....so I can't shoot there :o(  ....there's still about 16 or more landing there and feeding.  Sometimes a few of them  land on my neigbour's backyard......hmmmm wonder why they're avoiding my backyard.  heh heh

[gamo2hammerli]

Finally got my airgun hunting fix.....  Was watering the grass in the late afternoon....and a bunch of birds landed to get a shower and pick on some worms (I think).....there were robins, sparrows, grackles and starlings....the robins and sparrows were safe.  I was up in the second floor when I see this big one got off my backyard and land at the top of an evergreen.  Loaded a Crosman Wad Cutter and waited until it showed abit of itself through the branches and leaves....when that happened I squeezed the trigger and that was that.  I didn't see it fly off....so I'm pretty sure I hit it.  I had thought it got hung up in the tree....so I went out with a step ladder to check the tree top...I even shook the tree but nothing fell out.  I went behind the shack and saw it lying there dead....

[gamo2hammerli]

This is what happens to grackles I nail........

I boil them in water to make broth.  I don't bother to grill, fry or bar b q them....since they've so little meat.

[only1harry]

That's great.  They look even better laying there without their feathers and wings  :-)
Good shooting on that big one.

[longislandhunter]

Great shooting,,,, those birds look good all dressed out like that  :)

I did try to eat a grackle once, just to give it a try.  I didn't like the taste,, had like a weird "after taste".  Maybe it was just the bird I shot but I won't be trying anymore.   I know all birds are basically edible, but  that grackle I tried just tasted bad.   How is that broth you make????  

Jeff

[tjk]

G2H, Very nice spread on the board. Never tried grackle. First time I've seen them dressed like that. One thing that might help others get over the after-taste is to stick with the breast,...like dove, squab, crow, etc, and burn/trash the remainning carcass. But if you can stomach the whole bird, I say go for it!!!!!! Just my luck, now that I've gotten two tuned rifles, it's like the grackles/starlings have all migrated to safer "fly-zones". Guess I'll stick to the spinning-spoons til they get brave enough to venture to my fish-pond for a drink of water,.....then I'll lett'em have it!!!! LOL's tjk

[gamo2hammerli]

Hi you all,  I'm San Diego right now...so no shooting for a week or so.

The broth tasted great.  I also haven't eaten any cooked grackle....so I wouldn't know how it tastes.....maybe the next one I nail....I'll marinate it and cook it to see how it tastes.

[fatback]

Nice Shooting gamo2hammerli !!!
keep up the good work.
Chris