Goin on the Hunt

[longislandhunter]

Have the next 3 days off,,,, gonna spend some time trying to nail the squirrels who are digging mines in my lawn.  You can't believe the size of the holes these buggers are digging  !!!  The other day I finally scoped the .22 Fast Deer and she's sighted in "dead on" at 25 yards....   She's just the gun for the job,,,, hittin hard, easy to shoot and  has a nice low report.    Will post pics if I nail any varmints  :)

These squirrels are driving me absolutely nuts  !!!

Wish me luck......

Jeff

[fatback]

Go get them Jeff... LUCK... The way you shoot, I don't think you need any luck!!!! they just have to show up and it will be all over.

[only1harry]

Good luck Jeff.  I know  you 'll get the culprits.

I 've been after a big G-hog, one of the last ones that has dug a very big hole at the foot of the hill 23yds from the back of the house.  He is very hard to get a shot at.  He sticks his head out slightly and looks around for 30min. or more!  So there I am standing still for ever at one of the back windows which gives me the best shot opportunity.  I don't know if he spotted me once or twice but he went down and never came back up.  Yesterday I had a good shot opportunity.  He finally almost completely came out of the hole and I was putting the crosshairs on him when all of a sudden he ran back down.  It was a fricking cat walking by!  I waited another 30min. and he never surfaced.  I had a couple of opportunities to shoot him while he stuck his head out only, but this hole is big and goes straight down and most likely would lose him down that deep hole.  So I have my work cut out for me.  This isn't an escape hole where you know he 'll come back up soon looking to run to his burrow.  It's his burrow and probably leads to another one.. and maybe he sticks his head out of another one and spots me while I 'm concentrating on the 1st one..  9-10 days we 've been playing this cat & mouse game now and I 've been checking the windows every 30min. religiously.  Another possibility is that he runs up the hill and feeds on the neighbor's lawn up there out of sight, because you can see a little trail from the top of the hill right down to this burrow.  He probably knows it's too dangerous to feed on my lawn and goes to the lawn on top where it's safer.  This one is going to be a real challenge.  I haven't seen the smaller one I spotted with this one a few days back so my guess is they "are playing both fields", mine and the neighbor's up top over the hill.

[longislandhunter]

Thanks Chris,,,,,   gonna do my best.......

Harry,,,,,,,Sounds like you have a difficult, challenging hunt ahead of you for this one G-hog,,,,,,  just makes that chase that much more enjoyable  :)

Will be looking for your hunt updates Harry,,,,, go get em.....

Jeff

[shadow]

EXPECT TO READ AND SEE SOME HUNT'S from you buddy, no doubt you'll drag something to eat back to camp.:) Ed

[BumbleShot]

Where on LI are you about?  My MM .22 B26 arrived today.  Might have some time this weekend.  I'm in the Huntington area.

Any suggestions on a place to test her out in Suffolk Co?

[longislandhunter]

Well, I was on the look out all day and didn't even catch a glimpse of a tree rat  :(    however my daughter said she saw a large G-hog feeding on the back lawn this morning when she left for work and when it saw her it ran underneath my shed.  I just recently got rid of a G-hog that had tunneled under my shed,,, now I gotta go back on the hunt for this one  :)

Neil,,,,, congrats on the new MM B-26 ,,,, you got yourself one fine shooter there !!  There's plenty of open land out here on the "east end" to break in that shooter.   I'll send you a pm with some directions to a good area.........

Jeff

[shadow]

You know buddy when you kick out one another will move in hehehe, nothing like using a vacent varment hole for bait. Ed

[raterminator]

Hi Jeff,
I’m not wishing you good hunting, since you’re already back and for sure enjoying the harvested meal. But good hunt to you in future.

Question: It is very easy in LI to buy a rifle (not just airgun). As far as I know there are no restrictions like in the boroughs of NYC, but what will be the outcome if somebody or even worse, police found me wandering in a wooded area with airgun? Let’s say I’m not hunting, just shooting for fun or testing the gun. What does the law say about it?

[longislandhunter]

As you know it's illegal to even be afield with a "Rifle" on Long Island however air rifles  are legal so it's not a problem.  If you were confronted by a police officer of any kind  (county, town, state, or DEC) my advice would be to insure that the air rifle is pointed in a safe direction and follow whatever instructions the officer may give you.  The officer  may instruct you to lay the air rifle on the ground and back away from it,,,, that's the procedure I follow when I'm at work and am in such situations.  Simply do as your told, keep both your hands in plain view and then politely inform the officer that it's an air rifle and what you are doing.  The chances of you actually being confronted by an officer is remote if you are in an area removed from any dwellings or occupied buildings, however if you were hunting or target shooting in area that could be seen from nearby homes or occupied buildings then you stand a good chance of having someone calling the police to come check on you.  Once the officer realizes you have an air rifle, not a firearm, and the officer is convinced there aren't any violations being committed, then you should be free to go about your business.  However, keep in mind,,,, if the officer tells you to leave the area  immediately follow his instructions, even if you know you have a right to be there.  The landowner or officer has the final say no matter what.  If you try to argue with an officer in the middle of the woods I can guarantee you that you will lose the argument very fast and that usually has some very uncomfortable ramifications......

I've had other small game hunters give me strange looks when they see me carrying a scoped air rifle because they automatically think it's a firearm rifle.  I am always quick to point out to them that it's an air rifle and usually wind up answering a thousand questions about hunting with air rifles because they didn't know you could actually hunt small game with "bb" guns  :)  

The important thing to remember when dealing with anyone, police or civilian, who confronts you while out in the field is simply to be polite, professional and act calmly.  

Hope this answers your question.  

Jeff

[shadow]

My thought's exactly Jeff, alway's follow the rules of law and I alway's hear the same thing. " it doesn't look like a BB gun" then answering many question's plus explaining that it's NOT! a BB gun and I'm not Red Ryder lol. It does surprize folk's that you can hunt with them until they witness a harvest with them.:) Ed

[JOHNNY QUEST]

so where are the pics Jeff.. I'm almost out of popcorn here waiting....

[only1harry]

You 're absolutely right Ed.  My neighbor across the street used to be a marine sharp shooter and luckily I get along well with him.  When I told him I was shooting G-hogs with my pellet gun last summer/Fall he was like "WHAT?".  He advised me to go back to the .22LR rimmie.  Then a couple of days later I knocked on his door and said I had something to show him.  He couldn't believe his eyes.  I then showed him the exit wound too on the other side of the 14lb g-hog's head that the 350 .22 had inflicted at 30+yds with a CP.  He was like "wow I didn't know these air rifles could do that, I knew you can get birds and stuff with them, but not this size animal".  Last weekend he was over and we were talking and I brought the Condor out and shot through a 2x4" I had in the back yard with a log behind it as back stop.  He was like "you gotta be kidding me, it went through the 2x4"!"  I said yeah and it's only on setting 2, the power wheel goes to 12!  He now wants to do a shooting session with me and is thinking of getting one too!  
I told him I don't want him to have an airgun because I like it when his g-hogs cross the street and come to my property :)

[raterminator]

Thanks forcomplit and educative answer, Jeff. Didn’t expect less from you.

[longislandhunter]

U welcome  :)

Randall,,,,, better break out a couple more bags of popcorn buddy,,,,,,, been scanning my yard almost non stop,,,, haven't seen a single tree rat since I went on the hunt  :(

I was supposed to leave around 4 am for my summer home up in the catskill mountains to mow the lawn but wound up something came up so I stayed home.  I still got up REAL early in the morning though,,,, thought I'd catch a bushytail diggin in the grass for sure but they were nowhere to be found.   I'll keep waiting, I know it's only a matter of time  :)

Jeff