starling mayhem

[miguel1]

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh600/miguelito13/starling%20mayhem_zpsey9egbxd.jpg


First of all starlings are an invasive non-native species in my country and their destruction is encouraged by the government.
I found a dead tree near cut hay fields where starlings were feeding and near some brush where they were roosting. There was some brush nearby and I set up a lawn chair and a tripod with a view to the top of the tree. I sat there for 2 days starting at daylight and the starlings kept landing and I kept shooting. I got about 150 or so and it was my best hunting of the summer.
I also had some success with starling decoys that I made and set up in recently cut hay fields with a hide nearby.
I am curious if anyone has had success with the electronic calls. Foxpro has about 5 different sounds of starlings that you can get. They are mostly Starling in Distress calls. When I have wounded one and they make the distress call, others come in but just hover.

 

[SmokingTRG]

Excellent! Keep blasting those starlings!

 

[Sheharyar]

Great Shooting!
(Just copy the direct link)

 

[miguel1]

Thank you Sheharyar, I was floundering there. Got it fixed now.

 

[Monkyshine]

Miguel1, where are you busting those starlings? I shoot a few at 70 Yards and they disappear. I have a permission that I remove the pests in the spring of the year. They see my blue truck show up and fly to another country it seems. Any way I would be very interested to know how the fox pro distress call works for you if you try it. PM me with your results. You are correct on distress call, if I hit one and it screams always be quick on trigger to hit second one. Keep up the good work, I love hunting sturnus vulgarus.

 

[miguel1]

Hi Monkyshine
I live in Montana. I have hunted starlings a lot in the past year and a half. There are large numbers of them around here in the summer, but they leave or go to a feedlot to snuggle with cows when it gets cold. I have the most success setting up places to hide near either a big old dead tree in a area they are hanging out or in cut hay fields where lots of them come to feed on bugs. I set up maybe a dozen decoys made of black foam in the hay fields and it really seems to attract them to land although sometimes pretty briefly. You gotta be quick to load and shoot. I shoot a RWS .22 model 54. I could kill at least a third more with a PCP. When I set up on the dead trees I am in a area where they are feeding or roosting. They land in singles, pairs, small groups or sometimes large flocks and when i have a really good spot the action goes on all day. Frequently when you kill one the mate will come back to look for it and you can kill that one too. When I use a hide it is nice because I know all my range and wind holdovers and it is a real high percentage shot. I use a tripod and the shots are usually under 50 yards.
I am a little reluctant to buy the electronic call unless they offer a peaceful flock of starlings sound. I think that would work really well with decoys. The distress call sure sucks them in but they hardly ever land and if they do it is very briefly.

 

[Monkyshine]

Thanks for the information, I shot that model 54 for 15 years and a 34 for 5 before that, now a PCP. Keep up the shooting.

 

[MP44]

Wow. I am in awe and I am jealous. Nice shooting!

 

[miguel1]

Hey MP-44
There are starlings all over the country that need shooting. The photo shows the best results from a year and a half of obsessive-compulsive starling hunting. I had days when I got 0. When it was good hunting I would get up to 50 or so. Lots of fun. It just takes some free time, a good weapon and a twisted mind.

 

[anomad]

Nice work miguel1. 

I used to rent an old house surrounded by tall trees in an agricultural area in Oregon. I had a lot of success with an old ruger 10/22. Didn't know about airguns back then really. 

 

[miguel1]

Anomad, that would be the ultimate weapon if you had a moderator on it! Awesome gun!

 

[Sheharyar]

Awesome hunt!

 

[LNielsen]

Very nice shooting and with a springer even better!

 

[miguel1]

Thank you! That was shooting about 30 yards and 45 degree incline. I only missed a couple of shots. The Model 54 is really accurate. I have hit starlings to 107 yards and if the wind is manageable they are in big trouble to 75 yards. On a calm day at a cattle feedlot and shooting out the window of my truck, I shot 47 at an average range of about 55 yards. Recovering them for a picture was out of the question. It weighs in at about 12 lbs though!

 

[crosman2016]

Man, I wish I could just sit somewhere and pick those off...living in the outskirts of the city sucks. Nice haul of birds!

 

[Smaug]

Well-done! We owners (or previous owners) of recoilless springers know, they are a lot like PCPs, except for their practical power limit of about 23 FPE.

Starlings are pests and can travel in flocks of THOUSANDS strong, so I don't wish I had them, but it's nice that there are good citizens out there keeping them from totally overrunning the native birds. It makes me wish that I had kept my 56TH.

 

[miguel1]

Thanks Smaug. There are a few good reasons why I might eventually put the Model 54 away for a PCP but accuracy is not really one of them. My next purchase is looking like the Model 54 in 177. I am curious where you live where there are no starlings?