Spring sparrow strategy

[airgunmike56]

Put the hurt on them all winter , So now I just shoot the males and all the females bring in more males, Two years ago I had just almost no sparrows to shoot, I had to wait months for the population to rebuild, Last year I did the males only in the spring worked out pretty good keep population in check and still get to have some fun,, i do put out a lot of feed 12 months all year long for all the birds,, OOPS let me add 48 to 35 yards most shots with Uragan Standerd 177 caliber and 10.34 gr JSB pellets,Athlon helos gen 2 ,6x24x56 FFP , 75 degrees with a slight breeze at 10 to 15 MPH All birds shot in a 45 minute time span, And all sparrows will be cat food in the ally for feral cats,

 

[tibor]

I would take all of them..falconry food

 

[Contndr35BB]

Put the hurt on them all winter , So now I just shoot the males and all the females bring in more males, Two years ago I had just almost no sparrows to shoot, I had to wait months for the population to rebuild, Last year I did the males only in the spring worked out pretty good keep population in check and still get to have some fun,, i do put out a lot of feed 12 months all year long for all the birds,, OOPS let me add 48 to 35 yards most shots with Uragan Standerd 177 caliber and 10.34 gr JSB pellets,Athlon helos gen 2 ,6x24x56 FFP , 75 degrees with a slight breeze at 10 to 15 MPH All birds shot in a 45 minute time span, And all sparrows will be cat food in the ally for feral cats,
View attachment 452212

I do the same , mostly take males when opportunity happens . 8 so far these last two months . Bluebirds & Chickadees haven't picked houses yet , so the battles still ongoing . The Kral NP03 .22 is set at just over 16 ft. lb.s. range 12-22 yrds.

 

[Motorhead]

Around here the Common House Finch ...

Yup them little buggers are already making stick grass and twig mess piles around the house. There attempts in getting a nest foundation on light fixtures eves gutters etc often blown down with the wind. It still does not stop the onslaught of there trying.

 

[Contndr35BB]

Around here the Common House Finch ... View attachment 452286
Yup them little buggers are already making stick grass and twig mess piles around the house. There attempts in getting a nest foundation on light fixtures eves gutters etc often blown down with the wind. It still does not stop the onslaught of there trying.

AHHH ! I'm at war now w/these little buggers ! I just put up my owl decoy under my awning because of 5 nests taken apart so far ! If they would just stick to the bushes !

 

[airgunmike56]

Still sticking to the male only shooting of the sparrows , A few today before the high winds hit, So far about 30 males this past week, The new males comming in are pretty stupid and not wise to my shooting,,

 

[airgunmike56]

I would take all of them..falconry food

I so wanted to get into Falconry , Everything I read and every thing I looked into in my younger years is its a very time consuming sport . But I think its a very cool sport, Wish there was someone near me to show me a hunt, I would supply the pigeon ,,,
Mike

 

[airgunmike56]

Its working better that I thought it would, I did take a hen out with a double shot but other than that all male sparrows, The new males coming in are dumber than rocks , Took about an hour to shoot these males , Some I could not find because of the thick bushes ,,Now there are a lot more sparrow hens in my yard which bring in all the males for easy target shooting , Very pleased with my master mind place that I have made for the sparrows,
Vulcan II 177 , 10gr JSB 25 to 48 yards , chicken scratch as bait, And yes I do shoot the fly's when the time is right
Mike

 

[airgunmike56]

Had to go to El Paso for a few days came back and I can not believe all the male sparrows , The past couple weeks I have shot a hundred male sparrows easy,
I am sure the ones I am shooting now are not from my area and are not aware of the shooter at the table . WOW, Now there are a lot of hens but not a whole lot, When a hen comes down to the feeder I load a pellet as I know two or three males will be coming down, Almost like shooting fish in a barrel, Not sure how long this is going to last ,But its breeding season for the sparrows , The hens seem to know there in know danger and come to the feeder even when I am walking around which bring in the males , Its just a big cycle .. These pictures are just a spit in the bucket of what I am shooting .
Can't get the picture to load

 

[airgunmike56]

OK got it more male dead sparrows

 

[airgunmike56]

Pretty windy today so had to use the 32 yard feeder , Took out 10 male sparrows I have noticed a lot more hens now but the males are still coming in. The hens do not seem as jumpy now, I shoot and the sparrows come back in 3 to five minutes , Seems like it used to take 10 to 15 minutes for them to return,
Not sure where they are nesting as I have all pine trees in my yard and they do not seem to like the pine trees, I have seen a few young ones coming to the feeders and I can't tell if there male or female and they get a pass, At some point I will start taking the hens out but for now its just to easy taking males only out, Still using the 177 calibers shot with Vulcan today . No picture got dark on me and tossed the birds in the ally for the cats, Shot a cow bird today also.
Mike

 

[RangerPete]

Put the hurt on them all winter , So now I just shoot the males and all the females bring in more males, Two years ago I had just almost no sparrows to shoot, I had to wait months for the population to rebuild, Last year I did the males only in the spring worked out pretty good keep population in check and still get to have some fun,, i do put out a lot of feed 12 months all year long for all the birds,, OOPS let me add 48 to 35 yards most shots with Uragan Standerd 177 caliber and 10.34 gr JSB pellets,Athlon helos gen 2 ,6x24x56 FFP , 75 degrees with a slight breeze at 10 to 15 MPH All birds shot in a 45 minute time span, And all sparrows will be cat food in the ally for feral cats,
View attachment 452212

You should be shooting the ferral cats in the ally too, they do much more damage to the local wildlife then the sparrows do.

 

[airgunmike56]

You should be shooting the ferral cats in the ally too, they do much more damage to the local wildlife then the sparrows do.

Oh my number one enemy , I raise racing Pigeons, Lots of time and money, I have a Belgian Malinois if the cats get in the yard, When they are treed in one of my pine trees I take them ferrals out , I have two live cat traps set around my yard 24/7 ,,, But dont mind feeding them ferrals in the ally , A hungry cat is a big problem for me, For me it's only legal for me to shoot them on my land to protect my pets and livestock , Thanks we always have to protect the good wildlife.

Mike

 

[L.Leon]

@airgunmike56, you are a genius, love how you evolve and came to your conclusion on leaving the hens alone … Hope you won’t mind me borrowing your technique…

 

[airgunmike56]

@airgunmike56, you are a genius, love how you evolve and came to your conclusion on leaving the hens alone … Hope you won’t mind me borrowing your technique…

Please let me know how it goes with you,, I am really pleased with how it is turning out for me, I kind of wish I would have kept track of the numbers more , But its well over a hundred males down, Good hunting to you.
Mike

 

[RangerPete]

Oh my number one enemy , I raise racing Pigeons, Lots of time and money, I have a Belgian Malinois if the cats get in the yard, When they are treed in one of my pine trees I take them ferrals out , I have two live cat traps set around my yard 24/7 ,,, But dont mind feeding them ferrals in the ally , A hungry cat is a big problem for me, For me it's only legal for me to shoot them on my land to protect my pets and livestock , Thanks we always have to protect the good wildlife.

Mike

Good man
Seems crazy that you can’t shoot ferral cats unless they r on your property. It’s not just pest control, it’s conservation work.
Try a bit of catnip in those live traps…

 

[airgunmike56]

It seems the male sparrows come out more around 5 to 8 PM the evening time, I have had to read up on the nesting cycle of the sparrow, Hens set eggs at night but males give the hens 5 to 20 minute breaks all day, I will have 20 hens on my feeding tray and I will load a pellet as I know a male will be showing up soon under a minute. Now when I take the male out the hens take off but return fast about five minutes or less they seem to know there in know danger. Now I am getting quite a few young ones also with yellow on their beaks , they get a pass as can't tell sex on them,. Just curious if I keep this up until next spring what all the hens would do, I may try it. The males on the wood are my AM shooting and the blue plastic are my PM shooting, I am feeding a small coffee can of chicken scratch twice a day squirrels good birds and outer varmints I dont shoot .Only one or two squirrels
Thanks Ranger pete for the cat nip tip, I will try it.

 

[Scroooface]

I always enjoy seeing a bunch of dead dirty birds

 

[Contndr35BB]

Put the hurt on them all winter , So now I just shoot the males and all the females bring in more males, Two years ago I had just almost no sparrows to shoot, I had to wait months for the population to rebuild, Last year I did the males only in the spring worked out pretty good keep population in check and still get to have some fun,, i do put out a lot of feed 12 months all year long for all the birds,, OOPS let me add 48 to 35 yards most shots with Uragan Standerd 177 caliber and 10.34 gr JSB pellets,Athlon helos gen 2 ,6x24x56 FFP , 75 degrees with a slight breeze at 10 to 15 MPH All birds shot in a 45 minute time span, And all sparrows will be cat food in the ally for feral cats,
View attachment 452212

Just got back to the house from hip replacement. My wife gave me the news HOSP’ have moved into the bluebird house ! Well after the necessary phone calls to square away the prescription snafus , she fetched my pill slinger and I pulled off a double , taking both male & female from the kitchen table ( I even remembered to open the window first ! ).

 

[airgunmike56]

Update, It was super windy today in west Texas had to break out the 22 Mutant with 16gr Hades 800 FPS , After taking a day off I really could not report on the population due to the wind blowing the little birds around, Found most of the shot birds and a few extra wings and legs , The 22 does a lot of damage compared to the 177 pellets , Kept the range to around 35 yards . Still shooting all males , No problems yet except for the wind.