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Wow, it’s on PEDs! I’m glad you whacked it so it could not spread its genes. Most of the birds in my pictures are house sparrows .
Check out my wimps.
Check out my wimps.
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My War on Starlings
- Thread starter Bob_O
- Start date
Nice gut shot on that big boy..their legs are redish looking, our starlings are more "yellow" in color..
keep up the good hunting at your farm..
keep up the good hunting at your farm..
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mark,
I was happy to get both those. They were 48 yards at 18 degree incline (top of a silo) with 10 mph wind gusting to 15, almost 90 degrees.
They were both facing me. You can see the smaller one got it a bit to his left while the larger one got it dead center. I had to hold between 1 3/4 and 2 1/4 mils depending upon wind speed. I dialed the turret for elevation though, 1/2 mil hold under.
I was extactic to make those shots. I ended up with six pigeons and maybe 8 Starlings. Going back early tonight for critters and stay tomorrow again for birds.
I won't forget the Side-Shot this time.
I was happy to get both those. They were 48 yards at 18 degree incline (top of a silo) with 10 mph wind gusting to 15, almost 90 degrees.
They were both facing me. You can see the smaller one got it a bit to his left while the larger one got it dead center. I had to hold between 1 3/4 and 2 1/4 mils depending upon wind speed. I dialed the turret for elevation though, 1/2 mil hold under.
I was extactic to make those shots. I ended up with six pigeons and maybe 8 Starlings. Going back early tonight for critters and stay tomorrow again for birds.
I won't forget the Side-Shot this time.
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boog,"Boog"Wow, it’s on PEDs! I’m glad you whacked it so it could not spread its genes. Most of the birds in my pictures are house sparrows .
Check out my wimps.
House sparrows are some of my favorite targets!! If you can hit those, you can hit everything else!!
A super nice thing about having a tank now is that a lot of shots on sparrows I normally pass up because I don't want to hand pump in the middle of a shooting day, I now take most of them because refilling now is quick and effortless. And I can do it right in the car even!
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Bob, I like dropping them too.
My Huntsman Regal is a .177, so unless I get a perfect shot it doesn’t always kill the starlings straight away, and like you I hate that. Both of the starlings pictured took two shots to dispatch and another one I just broke his wing and he got away. But those sparrows drop like rocks. My next will be a 25 caliber, like Ted says he likes whacking starlings with his 25.
Im also glad you can fill your gun so easily so you can now knock down all the house sparrows you want! The native species of birds appreciate it.
I now now have two farms I go to, and they’re not even 20 minutes away. The new one is so target rich for starlings and house sparrows I love it. Also, I’ve started shooting out of my car like you do, a moveable blind.
My Huntsman Regal is a .177, so unless I get a perfect shot it doesn’t always kill the starlings straight away, and like you I hate that. Both of the starlings pictured took two shots to dispatch and another one I just broke his wing and he got away. But those sparrows drop like rocks. My next will be a 25 caliber, like Ted says he likes whacking starlings with his 25.
Im also glad you can fill your gun so easily so you can now knock down all the house sparrows you want! The native species of birds appreciate it.
I now now have two farms I go to, and they’re not even 20 minutes away. The new one is so target rich for starlings and house sparrows I love it. Also, I’ve started shooting out of my car like you do, a moveable blind.
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Excellent boog!! 20 minutes away? Nice!!!
It's nice to find a new spot where the birds don't know what shooting is or means. Most of the farms I've visited for the past five months.....the birds have gotten wise to the shooting.
But hunger and easy food has them coming back. I just don't get shot strings on them like I used to. Maybe springtime will have them acting stupid again.... we'll see.
It's nice to find a new spot where the birds don't know what shooting is or means. Most of the farms I've visited for the past five months.....the birds have gotten wise to the shooting.
But hunger and easy food has them coming back. I just don't get shot strings on them like I used to. Maybe springtime will have them acting stupid again.... we'll see.
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Oh they will. I got one starling that was so insistent on bringing grass to its nest even with me there. But the pigeons at the first farm are so on to me they fly off when I get out of my card 90 yards away. The first day I walked up to the silo they were on and shot two no problem. But not now. I have to see if I can find where there nesting.
Another good old place to shoot starlings and house sparrows are at purple Martin houses and gourds. And now is the time to do it as they are trying to take over the sites from the martins. I got one of the starlings and one of the house sparrows at a Martin house.
Another good old place to shoot starlings and house sparrows are at purple Martin houses and gourds. And now is the time to do it as they are trying to take over the sites from the martins. I got one of the starlings and one of the house sparrows at a Martin house.
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I end up camping the silos from as close as I can get while still seeing the tops, usually 50 to 80 yards depending upon the farm and the directions I can shoot, and wait for them to return. Sometimes it's a few minutes, other times it's 30 minutes or longer. This way I'm all ready to take a shot.
There are so many farms in the area I go to that the pigeons usually transit to another farm after I shoot one. I think there are several flocks and some loners, as when I watch some fly lets say out of sight to the north, more come in from a different direction a minute later. No way they are the same ones.
I think that unless they are nesting there, they just make their rounds from farm to farm all day long.
I actually found a great spot to shoot from last time out. It's in an open ended barn/shelter with a missing window. From there I can see the side of the roof the pigeons are usually on when they're not on the silo at this particular place, and overlook the yard area where the cows feed where they like to eat also. And if they land on the silo, all I have to do is lean out of the open barn end very carefully to make a shot.
Last time there I got three in 10 minutes at the end of the day. I will spend more time there tomorrow and hopefully bag a bunch!
There are so many farms in the area I go to that the pigeons usually transit to another farm after I shoot one. I think there are several flocks and some loners, as when I watch some fly lets say out of sight to the north, more come in from a different direction a minute later. No way they are the same ones.
I think that unless they are nesting there, they just make their rounds from farm to farm all day long.
I actually found a great spot to shoot from last time out. It's in an open ended barn/shelter with a missing window. From there I can see the side of the roof the pigeons are usually on when they're not on the silo at this particular place, and overlook the yard area where the cows feed where they like to eat also. And if they land on the silo, all I have to do is lean out of the open barn end very carefully to make a shot.
Last time there I got three in 10 minutes at the end of the day. I will spend more time there tomorrow and hopefully bag a bunch!
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Thanks Boog.
I just bought a window mount for my camera so I can grab some 3rd person footage to add to my videos.
Getting things ready right now. Hoping to leave here in an hour or so, so I don't miss the start of prime critter time. Last time all I saw were tracks everywhere in the fresh snow but no critters.
Also the weather tomorrow is supposed to be great....sunny and 40 with 5 to 10 mph wind. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, which is something I've done a few times in recent weeks only to have things end up kind of slow.
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I've got a great video coming, hope to finish it tomorrow. Has some 3rd person view that I hope you all will like.
Here's a short teaser clip. It should play in slowmo on your mobile device.
Here's a short teaser clip. It should play in slowmo on your mobile device.
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Bob_O The third person view is great, it gives a person more of a insight of the distance & size of target your shooting at. Your doing a great job on everything, but the only problem I'm seeing is that your having to good of a time ! (LOL) Darell
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Great work! I loved watching. Your video is perfectly clear. Thanks for the videos for us to watch. Third person is very good but I love watching the holds and windage your using.
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Man, I don’t if you’re a better shooter or a better cinematographer. Whatever, thanks for doing it for us.
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Here it is. The editor and microphone was giving me fits last night. You might be able to tell by the quality of editing. :-(
Still a good video, it's all scope cam though.
I have all the footage for another third person/scope cam video....just need to get time this week to put it together.
Still a good video, it's all scope cam though.
I have all the footage for another third person/scope cam video....just need to get time this week to put it together.
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Nice video and shooting Bob.. love to see those starlings fold up with a solid, hard hitting, body shot. Quoting Blackdiesel it's " lights out!". Off the grid and out of the gene pool..
Gotta love it. Well done!!
Gotta love it. Well done!!
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