Winters' Winds - the ultimate master of the cold pellets fate

[cavedweller]

Yep, it's cold outside... and it's a blowin too... even howling.
That perfectly zero'd scope held no chance against a 20 mph crosswind; yet it is still a great starting point; at least i thought so.
Took aim (11"x14" splatter burst target only 25 meters out), pull the trigger and the pellet goes......?
Well that sucks.... even if i was sitting in a heated shooting shack.
Head says..."Put the airgun away, back to the coffee and the forum".

Still glad I live in the deep south where i can "usually" shoot year round.... just not today as i don't like donating lead to the winds.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

Yep, it's cold outside... and it's a blowin too... even howling.
That perfectly zero'd scope held no chance against a 20 mph crosswind; yet it is still a great starting point; at least i thought so.
Took aim (11"x14" splatter burst target only 25 meters out), pull the trigger and the pellet goes......?
Well that sucks.... even if i was sitting in a heated shooting shack.
Head says..."Put the airgun away, back to the coffee and the forum".

Still glad I live in the deep south where i can "usually" shoot year round.... just not today as i don't like donating lead to the winds.

These next few weeks are gonna be the most unproductive for iguana removal, atleast with an airgun. I may just end up having to pick up the dead iguanas as it's gonna be in the low 50'a to 60s consecutively and next week will get into the low to high 40s and I'm in South Florida. Also doing outside security is going to suck .

Still can't complain compared to the guys up north.

 

[Vana2]

T-shirt, lounge pants and socks, 10 degrees and I was outside for 5 minutes filling the bird feeders... no sense, no feeling eh?

But no, I don't shoot my airguns outside in those temperatures. Oil gets thick, o-rings get hard, everything stiffens up and preforms erratically. That and condensation on internal parts as the airgun warms to room temperature is a concern.

It's the winter indoor 10 meter shooting season in Canada. Speaking of which, it's time to open another tin of pellets. TTYL!

Cheers!

 

[beerthief]

yeah going to be @ freezing next 10 days , very unusual for this part of the country , usually 10 degrees warmer this time of year ?

(what happened to global warming ?)

 

[EPG]

It’s not looking like 40 Yard Challenge shooting weather here…

 

[Ezana4CE]

@cavedweller I was shooting my GK1 with iron sights from 10 yards out yesterday in the cold and my eyes were watering from the wind. Tough to call the wind speed since I misplaced my Kestrel. Hard to say what was weather related and what was me. Cooler weather with wind gusts is definitely more of a challenge to shoot in. It was only 40ºF here though. That's small compared to what others are experiencing. Some folks have it pretty rough right now.

 

[Joekrooz]

I don’t mind the cold as much as that dang wind. Winds are blowing here on LI all week, might get a break Friday.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

yeah going to be @ freezing next 10 days , very unusual for this part of the country , usually 10 degrees warmer this time of year ?

(what happened to global warming ?)

It happens because of global warming.

I don’t mind the cold as much as that dang wind. Winds are blowing here on LI all week, might get a break Friday.

On the same boat, don't mind chilly days as long as the wind isn't blowing.

 

[Vetmx]

It’s my fault gentlemen. I had a good bit of testing built up by the time I got done with hunting season. Right when I got all my ducks in a row to start, this weather and wind started. The snow or rain is never an issue. Wind is. It won’t even let up at night when I do all my testing. Maybe if I invest in a windmill to power my house the wind will never blow again.

 

[Phil.Probe]

Cold and windy are a bad combination. I'm lucky to have very little wind over winter, so temps in the 30's to 40's are not so bad when the sun is out, which is most of the time.

When it's warmer, then shooting the breeze can be fun with CPHP pellets. They're cheap, so missing doesn't matter much. I've learned a lot about where to hold for the wind.

 

[3Crows]

It has been in the teens and even below zero and howling winds. Yet the M-Rods continue to perform. I have cleaned out dozens of HOSPs over the cold spell. The bitter cold drives the HOSPs and trash birds into the feeders. Kills at 50 yards despite winds are not uncommon. Probably luck more than skill. The big JSB .25 Heavy 34 grain pellets buck the winds surprisingly well. Keeping the pressure on the HOSPs through the winter leaves my bluebird trail unpressured come spring time and nesting season. Sure, I still patrol the bluebird trail through the summer and snipe the occasional HOSP I see but in years before I hunted them hard all winter the bluebirds had great difficulty nesting successfully. Once the bluebirds establish a nest they will defend it but they cannot usurp a nasty HOSP and even defending their nests the HOSPs will sneak in and peck their eggs.

I have used the sparrow traps successfully but they require constant attention because they trap the good birds too and traumatize them if not freed immediately, especially in cold weather. But sniping a HOSP from between a cardinal and a junco, no problem, the HOSP explodes, the other birds just keep eating. They do not even flinch.

 

[Vetmx]

It has been in the teens and even below zero and howling winds. Yet the M-Rods continue to perform. I have cleaned out dozens of HOSPs over the cold spell. The bitter cold drives the HOSPs and trash birds into the feeders. Kills at 50 yards despite winds are not uncommon. Probably luck more than skill. The big JSB .25 Heavy 34 grain pellets buck the winds surprisingly well. Keeping the pressure on the HOSPs through the winter leaves my bluebird trail unpressured come spring time and nesting season. Sure, I still patrol the bluebird trail through the summer and snipe the occasional HOSP I see but in years before I hunted them hard all winter the bluebirds had great difficulty nesting successfully. Once the bluebirds establish a nest they will defend it but they cannot usurp a nasty HOSP and even defending their nests the HOSPs will sneak in and peck their eggs.

I have used the sparrow traps successfully but they require constant attention because they trap the good birds too and traumatize them if not freed immediately, especially in cold weather. But sniping a HOSP from between a cardinal and a junco, no problem, the HOSP explodes, the other birds just keep eating. They do not even flinch.

I have a good many sparrows around. I didn’t realize they went after other birds eggs. I only pick off a couple a year. Maybe I should pay attention to just how many of them I have around.

 

[steve123]

Right now where live at 7000 ft in northern AZ it's not "pellet gun season" yet, as I call it, but an hour or two south and it's T-shirt weather. It was 16 when I got up this morning and a inch of snow was on the ground.

A few days ago on Monday, in the Camp Verde area, it was absolutely perfect riding weather and I had a great E-MTB adventure with a friend. I was glad I took my jacket off before we left for the ride.

When I go down to Yuma AZ to the sand dunes next week I'll likely feel hot at times.

 

[3Crows]

I have a good many sparrows around. I didn’t realize they went after other birds eggs. I only pick off a couple a year. Maybe I should pay attention to just how many of them I have around.

This winter started off mild but the blizzard dropped some ice and then snow and the wind during the storm was awful. Despite that I connected with a high percentage on the HOSPs and assorted trash/pest birds. I have always liked the 34 grain JSBs but the .25 Hades is not bad in the wind either. As pellets go . Shooting through a cross wind is the challenge when it is gusting, hard to decide on a hold. Out to about 25 yards in 20 gusting 30 I hold on the bird. Beyond that I start to lean into the wind.

HOSPs are imported invasive English House Sparrows. They are as destructive as are starlings. Sparrows decimate bluebirds and starlings decimate purple martins. Both I understand were brought in by some deviant so as to make sure all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare plays were represented in America. Thanks, I do not even like Shakespeare and I definitely do not like his birds but my JSBs do! There are many native sparrows and many native birds that look like a sparrow but the only ones I shoot are the English imported house sparrow, they are not protected. I am pretty good at identifying them by sight, sometimes the females are easy to confuse with a native finch and in such case I just pass on the shot. But the bull HOSPs are easy to identify and a challenging target compounded by the cold and wintery winds.

 

[.20calguy]

Yep, it's cold outside... and it's a blowin too... even howling.
That perfectly zero'd scope held no chance against a 20 mph crosswind; yet it is still a great starting point; at least i thought so.
Took aim (11"x14" splatter burst target only 25 meters out), pull the trigger and the pellet goes......?
Well that sucks.... even if i was sitting in a heated shooting shack.
Head says..."Put the airgun away, back to the coffee and the forum".

Still glad I live in the deep south where i can "usually" shoot year round.... just not today as i don't like donating lead to the winds.

If you have a straight crosswind that tells you that you're going to need compensation. Aim into the wind and give it a shot.
You will need a wind sock or something to guage direction and the amout of correction.
Last week we had a calm morning with fog although the wind flag wasn't moving much you could see the fog moving like clouds, and the hits were about an inch on the down wind side of the point of aim.
Later it started blowing like you're describing changing directions occasionally and such. I also noticed a transition period where you could shoot without compensation. I hit several shot shells and CO2 cartridges during those transitions.I tore up my windsocks, while I was shooting.
My distance was 75 yards with an HW35e .22 cal with lightweight JSB pellets. Shooting from front and rear bags.

One of the wind flags from the crazy winds.

 

[Vetmx]

This winter started off mild but the blizzard dropped some ice and then snow and the wind during the storm was awful. Despite that I connected with a high percentage on the HOSPs and assorted trash/pest birds. I have always liked the 34 grain JSBs but the .25 Hades is not bad in the wind either. As pellets go . Shooting through a cross wind is the challenge when it is gusting, hard to decide on a hold. Out to about 25 yards in 20 gusting 30 I hold on the bird. Beyond that I start to lean into the wind.

HOSPs are imported invasive English House Sparrows. They are as destructive as are starlings. Sparrows decimate bluebirds and starlings decimate purple martins. Both I understand were brought in by some deviant so as to make sure all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare plays were represented in America. Thanks, I do not even like Shakespeare and I definitely do not like his birds but my JSBs do! There are many native sparrows and many native birds that look like a sparrow but the only ones I shoot are the English imported house sparrow, they are not protected. I am pretty good at identifying them by sight, sometimes the females are easy to confuse with a native finch and in such case I just pass on the shot. But the bull HOSPs are easy to identify and a challenging target compounded by the cold and wintery winds.

Thanks for the info. When I get settled in I’m going to do some research so I don’t start picking off finches.