I've been working on some murals and mosaics in the shop the last couple of days. To take a break from the constant drone of the tile saw, I took a short (50 yard) walk through the commodity barn and surrounding area for some Euro action. I wasn't disappointed as there were about 15 birds that I could see between the electrical wires, roof tops, and on the ground. Electrical wires are off limits for obvious reasons, which sucks because 75% of the time that's where they are. But no dove is worth the cost and embarrassment of having the repair faulty wires due to being hit with slugs.
At any rate, I was able to select a bird that was A) on the ground, and B) right in the happy zone for my FX Impact .25 Sniper at @ 45 yards. The shot was good, and all of the birds took off. Within minutes some started circling back and landing on nearby barns and wires. I waited patiently for one to sit in the perfect spot for a safe shot and a clean kill. Pffft - Whack! After 30 minutes of walking back and forth between roosting/resting spots and bonking a bird or missing one each time, I went back to the tile saw.
I gave it about an hour or so and went back to my mural. At a stopping point, I looked up and saw about 15 birds on top of the nearest barn. I picked up right where I left off and starting whacking and stacking again. I finished up (meaning I emptied my clip) with a total of 11 confirmed dead birds and another 3-4 that flew off mortally wounded.
The highlight was by far my last bird. After being messed with and about a dozen of their comrades pushing up daisies, the doves start landing waaay out away from the barns. I saw little gray dots on a power pole at @ 200 yards from where I was. Looking through the scope I confirmed that they were Euro's (there are a few Mournings around too) Two of the birds were of the wooden crosspiece at the top, and thus fair game so I set up for a shot. I guessed on the range being 200 yards and my holdover was @ 4.5'. There is a medium swirling breeze today and I allotted for @ 6" of windage. I didn't have much hope in that shot, but it doesn't hurt to try.
I let it fly and after what seemed like forever, I heard the telltale 'PLOP!' of the NSA slug hitting home. I saw the feathers fly through the scope and the whole flock took off. The distance was so far that I tracked 'my' bird through the Hawke scope and watched him helicoptering away from the rest of the birds. He made it about 50 yards and then just fell like a stone out of the sky. I watched the whole thing through the scope, which I can never really remember doing.
I've made longer shots before on turkeys and ground squirrels, both with my Texan .308 and my Impact, but given the conditions that shot ranks up in the top three. I attached some pics below. I drew and arrow to the power pole and the pic is right where I was when I shot.
Some of my kills were unrecoverable due to them falling on top of barns, into the bullpen, or flying off to drop to the ground after 100-200 yards. I don't care, as I'm pesting as well as getting eating birds. The doves and other pest consume a ton or more of corn and other commodities every month. On top of that, testing sometimes yields false positives for brucelosis because of the sheer volume of blackbirds, doves, and starlings in the feed. Dove breasts are merely a bonus, but mostly it's just a pleasure to molest them mercilessly and keep them out of the feed as much as possible.
At any rate, I was able to select a bird that was A) on the ground, and B) right in the happy zone for my FX Impact .25 Sniper at @ 45 yards. The shot was good, and all of the birds took off. Within minutes some started circling back and landing on nearby barns and wires. I waited patiently for one to sit in the perfect spot for a safe shot and a clean kill. Pffft - Whack! After 30 minutes of walking back and forth between roosting/resting spots and bonking a bird or missing one each time, I went back to the tile saw.
I gave it about an hour or so and went back to my mural. At a stopping point, I looked up and saw about 15 birds on top of the nearest barn. I picked up right where I left off and starting whacking and stacking again. I finished up (meaning I emptied my clip) with a total of 11 confirmed dead birds and another 3-4 that flew off mortally wounded.
The highlight was by far my last bird. After being messed with and about a dozen of their comrades pushing up daisies, the doves start landing waaay out away from the barns. I saw little gray dots on a power pole at @ 200 yards from where I was. Looking through the scope I confirmed that they were Euro's (there are a few Mournings around too) Two of the birds were of the wooden crosspiece at the top, and thus fair game so I set up for a shot. I guessed on the range being 200 yards and my holdover was @ 4.5'. There is a medium swirling breeze today and I allotted for @ 6" of windage. I didn't have much hope in that shot, but it doesn't hurt to try.
I let it fly and after what seemed like forever, I heard the telltale 'PLOP!' of the NSA slug hitting home. I saw the feathers fly through the scope and the whole flock took off. The distance was so far that I tracked 'my' bird through the Hawke scope and watched him helicoptering away from the rest of the birds. He made it about 50 yards and then just fell like a stone out of the sky. I watched the whole thing through the scope, which I can never really remember doing.
I've made longer shots before on turkeys and ground squirrels, both with my Texan .308 and my Impact, but given the conditions that shot ranks up in the top three. I attached some pics below. I drew and arrow to the power pole and the pic is right where I was when I shot.
Some of my kills were unrecoverable due to them falling on top of barns, into the bullpen, or flying off to drop to the ground after 100-200 yards. I don't care, as I'm pesting as well as getting eating birds. The doves and other pest consume a ton or more of corn and other commodities every month. On top of that, testing sometimes yields false positives for brucelosis because of the sheer volume of blackbirds, doves, and starlings in the feed. Dove breasts are merely a bonus, but mostly it's just a pleasure to molest them mercilessly and keep them out of the feed as much as possible.
