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Post by x101airborne on Jun 4, 2021 10:02:36 GMT -5
I have let my squirrel population get a little out of check. I live on 4.9 acres with houses around and one old lady that has a coronary every time I shoot something. She has called the SO on me twice for using a shotgun on nuisance animals. They dont even respond to her calls anymore but I just wanted to limit the anxiety in the hood so I dropped back to my Benjamin Nitro Piston 22 cal rifle. I picked out a spot to shoot from and got two the first day. They didn't come back to strip my pear tree that day.
The next day though, they would look from well out of range to see if I was sitting in wait. When they saw me they went the other way further out of range. My range for squirrels is 50 yards. After that, that little pellet just doesn't have the oomph. Accuracy is there, but if I am going to shoot them, I want to kill them. I dont want injured animals (or take the chance of it at all).
Day 3, I took the screens off my window in the kitchen and set a high backed table chair next to the sink to use as a rest. I got 1, they ran and didn't come back. I saw 8, only got one. They wanted to come back, but they got wise to the open window. They would sit at 65 or so yards and just chatter at me. Smart little suckers but I aint getting my butt whipped by no danged tree rats.
Day 4 right at daylight, I used some black stuff I bought years ago off Ebay; some sheer black material that looks like window screen but it stretches and you can see through it. So I made a sacrificial "screen" over my window and cut a small slit in it just big enough for the muzzle of the rifle to go through. The scope sees right through it but the image is like looking through sun glasses. I got the 5 that came. They never did figure that one out till it was too late.
One squirrel had mange pretty badly. It got tossed on a brush pile with an old lawnmower tire and burned. The rest got cleaned, brined over night, rolled in cornmeal fried with onions. Added some flower for a few minutes on medium heat, turned the burner off, put the lid on the cast iron skillet and walked away for about 45 minutes.
Kings dont eat that good. Kids and wife didn't even mind eating it two days in a row.
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Post by bula on Jun 4, 2021 10:23:07 GMT -5
Am smiling. Thanks for the report !
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Post by bula on Jun 4, 2021 11:31:43 GMT -5
On the back side of my house, overlooking the river and my range, the middle window is kept without a screen for just such occasions.
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Post by junebug on Jun 4, 2021 15:49:00 GMT -5
Adaptive camouflage I can see it now full camo boxers crawling down the hall peek one eye around the corner slither across the kitchen floor silently slide the barrel out the screen, wife turns on the light says, WHAT THE HE&& are you doing? lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking us along!
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Post by kings6 on Jun 4, 2021 16:07:14 GMT -5
Same here, screen out of one upstairs window so the Kimber Hunter Silhouette with subsonics and wage war on the starlings.
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Post by squawberryman on Jun 4, 2021 16:21:29 GMT -5
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Post by dougader on Jun 4, 2021 16:30:00 GMT -5
Same here, screen out of one upstairs window so the Kimber Hunter Silhouette with subsonics and wage war on the starlings. I hate starlings. I could sit and shoot them all day. I used to mow a 3 acre field and the starlings would swarm in to grab all the insects and worms, chasing away all the native birds in the process. I took to carrying a Glock 19 loaded with Speer snake/bird shot loads. It was no good much past the front wheels of the John Deere mower, and it turned the gun into a single shot affair, but the draw of delicious bugs kept the starlings coming back with every turn around the field I'd make. I'd shoot one of the little thugs, and the rest would fly off... but come right back the next time I'd come around. I'd get a bird every revolution or two. Little boys next door would put on their cowboy outfits, including their cap guns, and watch me from the west fence, peeking through the slats to watch the crazy neighbor shoot starlings.
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Post by dougader on Jun 4, 2021 16:36:11 GMT -5
I've never seen starlings with light colored breast feathers... but holy cow! I'd be shooting those bastages with the Daisy!
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Post by x101airborne on Jun 4, 2021 16:47:31 GMT -5
Back in high school, I had a bunch of friends that worked the ranch for us and they would often stay the night to work the next day. I had a beat up to hell and back single six I usually carried with rat-shot. One night the mud swallows were terrible under our porch light; and there weren't all that many bugs. I saw one coming to buzz us again out of the corner of my left eye and slapped leather. I pulled the pistol out at low draw, guessed at the lead and fired. One dead mud swallow hit the porch and I was re-holstered. Before I could even say "Hey! Did yall see that!?!?" another kid picked it up and was all weepy eyed because he thought it ran into the porch post and killed itself. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was the greatest pistol shot I had made to that date. I just let it go and turned off the porch light. I guess they thought the report of that rat-shot was the bird hitting the post. I dont know and never brought it up.
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Post by x101airborne on Jun 4, 2021 16:52:38 GMT -5
Adaptive camouflage I can see it now full camo boxers crawling down the hall peek one eye around the corner slither across the kitchen floor silently slide the barrel out the screen, wife turns on the light says, WHAT THE HE&& are you doing? lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking us along! Adaptive camo is what I use to hide from my WIFE!! When she gets mad it is like (figuratively) walking around a corner and getting sucker punched! Believe me, I have learned to "bob and weave"! LOL!
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Post by bula on Jun 5, 2021 7:02:46 GMT -5
As a boy, with a Britt pup to train and starlings to keep away from Dad's bird feeder, desperate measures were sometimes used too. On another day, only fate can be thanked. We were heading out across the back yard to go into the abandoned plant nursery that lied off the back property line, an abandoned sand quarry was beyond that. No turkey and deer rare them,or coyotes but we considered it game rich for the quail, grouse, pheasants and ducks. Half way across the backyard, mowed grass, a ruckus of a big flock of starlings came to us, and only an apple tree for some cover. As the flock was right over me I stepped out and with my 1st 12ga, an H&R Topper, I let loose my one gun salute ! Jeez that bleep for a stock and light weight 12ga kicked ! But a 1'-2' hole magicly appeared right up and all the way thru that tightly bunched flock. The noise of the birds doubled in their panic and it rained dead starlings. Six ended up bouncing down about 15ft away. So I guess not really straight up. My poor little Britt pup though ! She was going crazy ! This beyond her training, beyond her experience, beyond her wildest puppy bird dog dreams ! She'd pounce on one, and bring it half way to me, then spit it out and grab a different one and bring that one, half way to me. So confused, and little stub tail a blur ! It took her awhile to get all 6 to me. I could hear Mom, she had come outside of the backdoor at the shot, and was standing laughing, and cheering on the pup. An oh so happy memory now.
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Post by x101airborne on Jun 5, 2021 7:19:47 GMT -5
A happy memory indeed!!
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Post by contender on Jun 5, 2021 8:19:21 GMT -5
bula,, now that's funny! I can just see a young dog & all them birds, & with her a bit "confused."
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Post by junebug on Jun 9, 2021 9:39:32 GMT -5
So how's the squirrel sniping going? Be careful sneaking around the house. If your wife is like mine you might not be able to see out of your shooting eye for awhile!
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Post by x101airborne on Jun 13, 2021 9:21:15 GMT -5
Going well. My son came home from staying with my folks working the ranch on Friday. I told him it is open season on squirrels (pellet rifle only). He was helping me adjust the lawn mower yesterday and one started chattering at us. Good thing I wasn't holding up one end of a washing machine cause he just dropped what he was doing (literally) and went for the pellet rifle. About 5 minutes later that familiar "whack" of bullet meeting flesh rang out and sure enough, a head shot squirrel hit the ground. This one also had mange and was immediately burned. Very sad, but that is nature. Cant have that stuff getting loose and infecting my domestic animals.
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