I'm going back 50 years in memory so I messed up about Cowbirds and Grackles. Cowbirds will lay a egg into another birds nest and the chick is so aggressive in feeding that the other birds starve.
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Grackles are back!
- Thread starter Dr. Kralenstein
- Start date
Shoot them right in the shoulder where the wing meets the body. They drop dead immediately...usually
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Actually They're how I got interested in airguns. I live in North Texas and it must be on the great Grackle flyway to and from San Antonio (can you say infested?). I used to have a huge hackberry tree just outside my bedroom window and Grackles decided that was the place to hangout while they emptied my bird feeders. Literally hundreds of them. For weeks on end all we'd hear from daybreak to sunset was that GRAAAAAACCK! Well, they woke me up early one too many times. Without knowing better I drove to Cabelas and bought a Gamo Shadow 1000 in .177. Bad ammo, flyers, poor optics and a bad trigger be damned I must have shot hundreds of the vile creatures. Today the Gamo has a GRT trigger, a tune, one piece rings and a 4-12x40 scope. Funny thing though. Grackles don't come around here much anymore.
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LOL. I spotted some Grackles on the power lines and grabbed my Gamo and went out to see it I could get a shot. Crept out on the back deck, hid behind the BBQ grill, raised the gun and put a perfect head shot on a big one. It proceeded to dangle upside down from the wire dripping blood. Finally it fell to the ground across the wood fence into my neighbors yard. I heard the neighbor (a Karen) say to someone. "Did you see that bird fall! It just fell out of the sky!" Ooops. I stealthily crept back inside.
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They POP super loud when you center punch them with a .22 FX Hybrid steaming along at 900 or so.
I was using an Impact Compact and the schwack grackle POP was hillarious. It was louder than the plenum refreshing right next to my face.
I was using an Impact Compact and the schwack grackle POP was hillarious. It was louder than the plenum refreshing right next to my face.
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The same medicine I've been using with great success here in southern PA. My Taipan loves the Hybrid's at 925 fps MV but the grackles hate them.
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I took out about 450 of the cowbirds at one of the local dairies the other night. 1 full tin of JSB 10.3 grains.
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Well I'm jealous! I wish I lived closer to some farms. Would love to have some permissions.
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I have shot grackles, starlings, etc with R9 in .177 and i also found that a broadside shot does not kill them instantly, but shot placement in the breast or back usually does. With my R9 in .22 broadside shots usually put them down immediately
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I shoot them and starlings when I get a chance but rarely do anymore. I see my neighbors yards full of starlings and grackles fairly often but they never come onto my property
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It's been getting all the love lately. If I can come across some parts for cheap, I may make another in 22. These krals can be pretty damn accurate, especially in 25 cal. My 25 jumbo I built is even more accurate and powerful. Just heavier and longer.
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I have no reason to jump into a project like that but you sure make it tempting. Kral does build some accurate guns.
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I've got a np01 22 cal barrel in my cart at CSS and I'm about to just buy it. Might toss that on the 500cc jumbo and run the fat shroud with NP Trail baffle. Would make it about 35" long and have a ton of shots around 25 fpe. Can always swap back to the 25 carbine barrel for 50 fpe whenever.
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