Taipan gets a new scope and takes a spatze

Got a new scope for the Taipan .25 Shorty. Hawke Airmax 4-16x44 Compact. This was about two weeks ago, and I finally got it zeroed tonight. I then went into the shed the spatzes nest in and made a bunch of noise. I heard them fly out so went back to the door and they were perched in the near corn crib. They saw me as I came to the door and flew to the far corn cribs. I drew a line on a male, offhand, and dropped him in a shower of feathers.

I paced off the shot and it was 32 long paces for my 6’2” legs so I figure 30-35 yards.

The Taipan short really is nice to shoot offhand.

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nice off hand @ 35
I am perfectly willing to admit a certain amount of luck in the shot, as I probably could have wobbled just a bit differently and missed. I am also willing to take a certain amount of the credit 😁. I look forward to practicing more, so I can take more credit with time.

The ergos of the Taipan definitely help with offhand shots though. That fat forend, with it's 4x4 lumber looks, lets you dig your elbow into your ribs when holding offhand. Bone on bone stability.
 
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I work from home at the farm, and happened to see a pigeon in the driveway about 45 minutes ago. Lunch time!

I grabbed the Taipan, which sits in the corner of my office, went to the upstairs bedroom facing south, knelt and opened the window, oh-so-slowly. The pigeon spooked, last second, and flew off. I rested the Taipan on the window sill to see if the pigeon would come back, or if any spatzes would land in the corn crib or spruce tree out the window.

Two birds startled up in my right peripheral vision and I got a glimpse of black birds with yellow beaks right before they landed in the spruce and did their best impression of a tree branch. I am sure sitting as still as possible in thick evergreen branches is a good survival tactic most of the time, but…

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