Rats are back!

[Max115]

Got a text from the owner saying "the rats are back!" That was a wonderful text message indeed. I haven't been back at this location nearly a year because the numbers were reduced since I was shooting there regularly before.

As soon as I arrived there around 7:30pm, the rats were out roaming in and out of the chicken sheds. I missed my first 3 shots at 7 yards. I blamed it on my lack of short range shooting and I didn't have time to practice prior to the shoot.

But that changed as I went into the open area where the owner keeps the ducks. As you will see in the video, there were lots of rats going to the feeder that was 20 yards from where I set up shooting off my tripod. It was a very busy night and I was able to tag 27 rats.

More videos to follow as I returned there 4 times now on Friday night.

Enjoy this one for now. Thanks.

 

[Hal4son]

Looks like a great shoot. Nicely done! Have you thought about a thermal scanner to go with the PARD?
With thermal that light colored bugger in the tunnel would have been quickly identified.
Mr. Lump has a botfly.

 

[Max115]

@Hal4son. Thanks it was a blast. I have been back there four times now, on Friday nights. So far 106 rats, lol. Be sure to come back and watch the second rat video where there were a lot of baby rats and a giant mama rat which she no longer able to care for her babies that are still alive. Thermal scanner is expensive and yeah I would like to have one. But not necessary as these rats at this location feed at the feeder which is only 20 yards from me. I just have to place more boards under the feeder to help stop the pellets from pass thru. Oh that is disgusting with the botfly. Thanks for watching.

 

[customcutter]

Great shooting and excellent trigger control. Not shooting those rats when ducks could be in the background area in case of a pass through, it had to be tempting. A few well placed 2X's and you are in business. Don't know if setting up a "temporary" feeding station would also move the rats out of the line of fire. Is the scope mounted higher above the bore than normal? It looked high in the photo at the start of the video. If it is it would explain even more holdover for the close shots, but they are always problematic. Looking forward to the next video.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Max115 That rats are back!! Close shots have been rough for me. I can recall a big difference in hold-under marks used when shooting between 7-10 yards with a particular gun/scope combo. So knowing and remembering that has helped me some. I was wondering what happened to the rats. Nice video. I’d been waiting on another of these. Do you use lead or non- lead pellets when shooting around poultry? Ever have any issues with them ingesting pellets that passed through any rats you’ve shot?

 

[Max115]

@customcutter. Thank you. Yeah I was very tempted many times just to pull the trigger as the rats was just sitting there. I have placed some 2x4s below the feeder the following Friday night as you will see in video#148. I think you will be appalled to see how many baby rats were there that night and with them the giant mama rat. My Pard was mounted as normal with the supplied mount. It probably is a bit high. For the close range like 6 yards, I have to holdover to the bottom of my cross hair in order to hit them. My scope is zeroed at 25 yards.

@Ezana4CE. Ya I don't particularly like extremely close range shots. My brain is telling me I shouldn't need to hold over that much, but with my zero set at 25 yards with my HW100T, for 6 yards shots I need to aim at the bottom of the crosshair. Which seems unnatural to me, lol. I disposed them in the garbage as per owner where as at his other location, I fed them to the coyotes. I think you will like video#148. I used AA16gr and the baracuda 15 pellets. This was the first time I shoot inside the enclosed area where he keeps his ducks so I don't know if the lead would cause a problem for his ducks yet. Only time would tell. But so far I have been there 4 visits (Friday night) now and I have tagged 106 rats inside the area. My last visit only yielded 16 rats where as in previous visits I was tagging 30 rats. The number has decreased so I might not need to be back as often. Hopefully I can start shooting at the other location where I was shooting outside the barns. Cheers.

 

[Hal4son]

PARD with the supplied mount is 3-1/8" above the bore on my FX Maverick. If I'm shooting at 4 yards, impact is below the crosshairs. There is a lot of rise between the muzzle and 12 yards with my 18/55 yard zero. Between 12 & 80 the trajectory appears to be quite flat with all shots landing between 3 hash marks over/under.

For really close range a scope with a low mount is easier to hit with.

@Max115 Please post the link to part 2 and I'll happily watch it. The video is quite good. Thank you.

 

[Max115]

@Hal4son. Yeah it is crazy how much holdover it is for close range. Part 2 video will be released next Saturday and part 3 to follow. But I have an interesting video coming up as well where I finally got the chance to make. This video will show the coyote skulls damaged from a 18gr pellet versus from a 23gr slug. Stay tune for that one. Thank you.