Little Train That Could.....

[gamo2hammerli]

Woke up from a fitful sleep....due to the hot temperatures...by the screeching cries of the ravens. Gwah Gwah Gwah they would go....

That's it.....I had enough. I was sleeping in the downstairs livingroom which was cooler than upstairs....so I quietly opened the patio screen door and slid the barrel of my Diana model 24 out. Took aim at one of the four that were on the grass in my backyard. Squeezed the trigger and a very slight pop (Not even...more like just mechanical noise)....and one of the ravens flapped it's wings suddenly....and then started to spasm abit. The other three flew up and hovered in circles....and screaming their heads off!!!! The irony of it all....trying to silence them....and they end up making more noise as they watched their buddy died.

I quickly put on a shirt and shoes and walked hastily out to the bird...the other three were still screeching and hovering.....scanned all around to see if there are any nosey neigbours and did the "Two Step Boogie" on the dead raven's head...just to make sure. Put the bird in a box and brought it inside the house. A short while the 3 birds left.....

Upon inspection....the mild mannered Diana 24 throwing .177 pellets at a measly 500 fps shot the raven in the head....she can take all the credit....I was aiming for the body.   Distance was about 25 meters.

It's the biggest "bird" I've taken with an air rifle so far......and with my least powerful one...the Diana model 24.  It's not an optical illusion in the photo......the raven is right beside the rifle.....that's how big the bird was.....

 As I mentioned on another thread.....they're like black feathered mini chickens!!!!

[tjk]

Mini chickens,...that's funny. Too bad you couldn't get the other three. I can picture crow-breast kabobs on the grill!!!! Nice shooting. It still tickles me that so many people thing they need high velocity rifles to take down small critters, when in all reality, it comes down to shot placement and accuracy!!! I've taken grackles at 20 to 25 yards with my 'pre-tuned' norica that was shooting in the mid 400's at best,... with Crosman Destroyers. Even got a trio of bushy-tails that pryordaniel posted for me too. Gives one a genuine feel of accomplishment. Great shot!!!! Hope you were able to get some more sleep! LOL's tjk

[longislandhunter]

Great shootin Stanley and a great pic  :)

Jeff

[only1harry]

Good shot Stanley!  That's one big bird!  Way to go.  

Ravens are about 50% larger than crows.  You would not have been able to drop it with a body shot, not even if it were a crow with 500fps MV (4.4fpe) at 25 meters.  A neck shot might have produced good results..  So it's a good thing the pellet found its head.  You only need about 2fpe on impact with a head shot on most  birds.  When I was a teenager many moons ago I shot a crow at 15yds from a window with 10 pumps from my 760 while it was facing me sitting on a low branch, using a Crosman pointed pellet traveling at 520-530fps (MV).  I saw the impact dead center on its upper chest which has no wings protecting it and it's the most vulnerable spot other than the head.  The crow just twitched and opened its wings when it got hit, and then flew away like nothing had happened.  I was like what the hey?  I can shoot through a Delmonte can at 15yds with those pellets at 15yds (but not much farther) and 20+yds with a BB.  Then about a year later the following winter, I had the back sliding door to the deck opened a few inches when a crow was walked within about 10-11yds.  I only had BB's loaded which traveled at 600fps or more w/10 pumps.  I remember shooting it though the deck's open door and striking it to the side through its wing (I didn't have a scope at the time on it) and again the same behavior.  I watched it fly away a good 100yds before I lost sight of it.  A couple of months later I turned 18 and bought a Marlin 60 .22LR thinking there were no airguns out there that would bring them down with a body shot.  Of course that was 25yrs ago.. and a lot of things have changed.  There might 've been a HW gun or two at the time doing 700-800fps but they were like $1,000+ in today's money, and Benji Sheridan .20 or .22 was the same or more $ than a cheap .22 rimfire.  
Anyway I was just going down memory lane when you mentioned 500fps  :-)  Again it just goes to show you that it's still all about shot placement.

[shadow]

Good shootin and pic:) look at the size of em, big fella for sure. Their around her but like the Crow's, very smart dude's and tough. I had a few shot's at some the other day, the Jay's were chasing em around and I was already setup in my blind but Mr. squirrel showed up and well we all what happened hehehe. I imagine that my big baby, the 1250.22 will drop em with no problem. Ed

[gamo2hammerli]

Thanks guys.  I always thought a raven is bigger than a crow....  Maybe I shot a crow.  I'll "google" raven and crow to see the difference later.  They take a long time to take off due to their size, unlike a grackle.....when I get my multi-shot PCP...maybe I can hit two of them before they all take off......

[only1harry]

You know.. the more I look at your pic, the more it resembles a crow.  The Diana 24 must be a relatively small gun which makes the bird look big.  I 'm no expert but it looks a lot like a good size crow.  Have you shot crows before?  Once you kill one and see them up close you don't forget them..  so if this is your first crow, it's understandable that you could confuse it with a raven.  Raven's have a much larger wing span too.  I happened to see one chase 2 crows today.  Its wing span looked almost twice that of the crows' and was at least that of a good size hawk, if not bigger. Very impressive.  

Here are a couple of pics of some crows I got with my Diana 350 .22.  One crow in that pair is larger and as big as they come.  The 350 is a big gun and probably as big as Magnum springers get (and 48" long - 4ft!).  It dwarfs my Diana 36 which is bigger than your 24.  I also posted a pic of a crow with its wings open.  A raven's wing span would be at least 9-10" longer on either side.  There 's an old pic on the Diana forum of a kid posing with a raven he had shot and was holding the wings open.  It was almost as big as the 13yrs kid.  I 'll try and find it in the archives.

[gamo2hammerli]

Yep, my bird sure looks like a crow.....  Thanks for your photos so I can compare.  And the Diana 24 is a small adult air rifle....so that makes the crow  look even bigger.....

Just a question.....are the beaks of crows and ravens the same?  The one I shot had a beak that looked vicious.

[only1harry]

Yeah their beaks are pretty similar and do look vicious and ugly.. not too attractive :)  
Did it look like this?

[gamo2hammerli]

Yep that's how the beak on my crow looked like.....vicious.  It'll probably peck you eyes out if given a chance!!!!  They need to shot and eaten......

[only1harry]

Me feelings exactly..  that guy in the pic above got it in the head with about 17fpe on impact.. was lucky it was lights out instantly.

[fatback]

Great shooting gamo2hammerli!!! way to teach him to disturb you when your sleeping.... they can be annoying.
keep the pics and stories coming

[gamo2hammerli]

There's still four crows hanging around....this morning they were doing their noisy screeching....but about 4 or 5 houses down....I couldn't see them, I think they were in some trees.  Just they wait, it they land in my backyard or trees on my property and start yapping away in the morning....I'll bring out a 1000fps shooter and nail them!!!!....or at least one of them.

I saw them pecking on some carcass two blocks away yesterday......and chasing the robins and grackles away.  Their size will intimidate any other smaller bird.

[Timmyj1959@yahoo.com]

Congrats Stanley!! Let me start out by saying,, I HATE CROWS!!  Man I think I probly get 2 Deer for every Crow I get!! Getting one with a Diana 24 is an acompishment you should be very proud of my Friend!! Not so long ago, while out in the woods I shot one with my 24 @ about 20 yrds. out,, he barely flew off not looking "too sporty",, I watched him land in the top of a tree across the street. (I could tell he was gonna drop!!)  I was sooooo happy,, I was gonna be able to make a post with pics. that I knew my Buddy Harry (Only One Harry from here) would be proud of me!! Well,, I watched him drop,, dead as a door nail,, right on the Golf Course!!LOL!! Golfers were EVERYWHERE,, including 2 older gents that saw him drop,, it was pretty funny from my hiding place in the woods watching them,, they looked up the tree & back down at the crow several times!!LOL!! I could not collect my "Prize Trophy" that day for obvious reasons,, but,, I also have a "Confirmed Kill" with my 24 Stanley!! NICE SHOOTING Buddy!! Tim.

[gamo2hammerli]

Congratulations on your shot crow too Timmy. Your 20 yard shot is almost equal to my distance....give or take a few feet.

That's why I looked all around before doing the "Two Step Boogie" on my crow's head......never know if any antis (gun and hunting) are looking.Too bad you didn't get to pose with your crow. Maybe next time..... heh heh. I was lucky.... my 7.9 grain .177 Crosman Wad Cutter hit mine crow right in the head....so it just flapped twice and twitched abit....and that was it. If it had hitthe crowin the body....it might've just hurt the crow. If the pellet had hit it on it's wing....the pellet might've just bounced off....considering the distance and lack of power of the gun.