These crows have been decimating a rancher’s pecan and fruit trees. He also says they get into his cattle feed. The first one was taken at about 15 yards. I stalked upon it until I found a suitable place to brace myself for the shot. One shot and it dropped from the tree like a pear. The other two flew off without much of a squawk.
I aimed for the breast and hit the breast on 6x magnification. The pellet passed through beneath the right wing.
Within minutes the flock flew into the rancher’s pasture around a pond - one, three, then I stopped counting crows. I crept up to the fence line, knelt, and braced against a post. Next I cranked my magnification up to 8x and dialed the parallax knob a little beyond the 25 yard mark. Then I picked my target, steadied myself, aimed for the breast and squeezed. We heard the thud loud and clear this time, but the crows kept flying in. It’s as if they didn’t know what was happening at the time. After I hit the first crow I aimed for one next to it. Then the first one flopped in front of it and I hit it again. It cawed and they circled him jumping up and down and raising a raucous. Some flew off. Before they all left I’d hit about three total and I honestly couldn’t tell how many were down because from I was standing with all that was going on I thought some of the fresh cow patties may have been downed crows.
When the group finally flew off, they cawed and must have called the others from elsewhere in the woods. A couple of groups converged in the sky and circled the general area.
The large group broke up and the lighted in different trees creating some sort of perimeter. I stayed put and stalked the group in the tree closest to me. I could hear them but could not see them. I found a small patch of pine saplings with a few vines growing amongst them and hid behind the foliage. I scanned the tree line and found the crows dispersed throughout the top of an old oak behind some pine trees. I estimate they were about 50 yards out (at least according to the parallax knob and the clarity of my lenses). I picked one that I had a clear shot on, selected what I though was the appropriate holdover, and squeezed. It was a straight whiff and they flew off. Finally I went to recover the the corpses and was surprised to only find one down by the pond and it was still alive. I felt kinda crappy because I wasn’t expecting that and it was hard to tell throughout all the commotion. I don’t like leaving wounded animals to suffer. When is saw it moving I aimed and shot it in the body once more from about 15 yards. By the time I walked up on it it was on its back and still breathing. This time i shot it in the head up close. He twitched for a time, too long for me so I gave him one more to the head and that finally ended it. These are some tough and highly intelligent birds. As I type this some have returned. I still have work to do.
Here’s a pic of the first shot on the second bird.
Their feathers are pretty dense and I had to search for the holes in them.
Edit to add gun and ammo type: All were shot with .25 JSB Diabolo Exact King 25.39 grain pellets from an Edgun Lelya 2.0 with a Vector Veyron 3-12x44mm FFP scope.
I aimed for the breast and hit the breast on 6x magnification. The pellet passed through beneath the right wing.
Within minutes the flock flew into the rancher’s pasture around a pond - one, three, then I stopped counting crows. I crept up to the fence line, knelt, and braced against a post. Next I cranked my magnification up to 8x and dialed the parallax knob a little beyond the 25 yard mark. Then I picked my target, steadied myself, aimed for the breast and squeezed. We heard the thud loud and clear this time, but the crows kept flying in. It’s as if they didn’t know what was happening at the time. After I hit the first crow I aimed for one next to it. Then the first one flopped in front of it and I hit it again. It cawed and they circled him jumping up and down and raising a raucous. Some flew off. Before they all left I’d hit about three total and I honestly couldn’t tell how many were down because from I was standing with all that was going on I thought some of the fresh cow patties may have been downed crows.
When the group finally flew off, they cawed and must have called the others from elsewhere in the woods. A couple of groups converged in the sky and circled the general area.
The large group broke up and the lighted in different trees creating some sort of perimeter. I stayed put and stalked the group in the tree closest to me. I could hear them but could not see them. I found a small patch of pine saplings with a few vines growing amongst them and hid behind the foliage. I scanned the tree line and found the crows dispersed throughout the top of an old oak behind some pine trees. I estimate they were about 50 yards out (at least according to the parallax knob and the clarity of my lenses). I picked one that I had a clear shot on, selected what I though was the appropriate holdover, and squeezed. It was a straight whiff and they flew off. Finally I went to recover the the corpses and was surprised to only find one down by the pond and it was still alive. I felt kinda crappy because I wasn’t expecting that and it was hard to tell throughout all the commotion. I don’t like leaving wounded animals to suffer. When is saw it moving I aimed and shot it in the body once more from about 15 yards. By the time I walked up on it it was on its back and still breathing. This time i shot it in the head up close. He twitched for a time, too long for me so I gave him one more to the head and that finally ended it. These are some tough and highly intelligent birds. As I type this some have returned. I still have work to do.
Here’s a pic of the first shot on the second bird.
Their feathers are pretty dense and I had to search for the holes in them.
Edit to add gun and ammo type: All were shot with .25 JSB Diabolo Exact King 25.39 grain pellets from an Edgun Lelya 2.0 with a Vector Veyron 3-12x44mm FFP scope.
