Chipper #62 for 2021, #11 for October

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BackStop

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Oct 10, 2020
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North Alabama
This is another one taken from my wood pile. I stepped out my back door and almost did not see this one. When I did, I went back inside to get the Fortitude and my "rest" and that spooked it. After I came back out and set up, almost immediately it poked just its head out from under the wood pile facing me. The shot went in just behind the tip of the nose and exited out the right ear. I couldn't see it after the shot because it fell back under the wood pile and I had to fish it back out for confirmation and the pics. I had a hard time finding the entry behind the tip of the nose and it doesn't show up well in the pics because there was no blood. Next time I make sure to take the pics in the shade!

Sorry for the quality of the pics. This is what my flip-phone camera does when I take pictures in full sun light. Turns everything green! 

EDIT: The more I thought about how the shot sounded when it hit and the tiny amount of blood at the right ear, I am now fairly certain the shot did NOT exit, but traveled through the head, into the body and got the heart. The blood at the ear was not an exit wound and the shot did not pass through.

~15 yards with .177 Benjamin Fortitude Gen2 using LUM77 10.5 @ ~750fps for ~12+fpe. Scope is Aim Sports Alpha 6 4.5-27x50 on 27x.

First pic is entry, next 2 pics show small amount of blood at right ear that I first thought was the exit wound.

IMG_0769.1634404433.jpg


IMG_0763.1634404444.jpg


IMG_0766.1634404451.jpg

 
Nice! And no cigar?
Click to expand...

I have had several today. I guess the cooler, drier weather that just came in last night put me in the mood. I put fans in the windows so I can now smoke a stogie while sitting at the computer. (grin)

Alec Bradley American, Montecristo Platinum, La Aroma De Cuba, Ave Maria Immaculata and a Man O'war Ruination. (chuckle)
 
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There is nothing like a spicy old Cuban cigar. In this case many times size does not matter.

The best cigars I ever had was so very long ago. I brought them back in my wife’s luggage, she didn’t know. Hard to be nervous if you don’t know. They were relatively small ring, I think a six, and 6 inches long…And when I bought them already 30 years old.

I have not had a cigar in 20 years nor any other type of tobacco device. But I can still smell the aroma, thank you for that.

Good shooting. I’m not surprised when pellets turn corners inside Varmints.

How many acres?

mike
 
Upvote 0
There is nothing like a spicy old Cuban cigar. In this case many times size does not matter.

The best cigars I ever had was so very long ago. I brought them back in my wife’s luggage, she didn’t know. Hard to be nervous if you don’t know. They were relatively small ring, I think a six, and 6 inches long…And when I bought them already 30 years old.

I have not had a cigar in 20 years nor any other type of tobacco device. But I can still smell the aroma, thank you for that.

Good shooting. I’m not surprised when pellets turn corners inside Varmints.

How many acres?

mike
Click to expand...

I have never had a real Cuban cigar, but some of the NC offerings these days are top notch. Problem is, the good ones ain't cheap, even buying them online when they are on sale.

At first, I thought the pellet did take a turn and come out the ear. However, the sound of the hit was that solid THUMP you only get from a body shot and also the lack of blood made me think twice about the ear being the exit. Had it been a simple head shot, there would have been a lot more blood at the ear and the nose. I went out and re-examined the chipper very closely and determined the tiny amount of blood at the right ear was not from an exit wound. Also, there was no exit wound anywhere else on the body.

I am pretty sure of my shots, especially at that close range (~15 yards) and I am always shooting for the heart. If the head gets in the way, I am still aiming for the heart. Yes, I do miss some times, but usually only by very small amounts. However, missing by 1/4 inch on a chipper can mean the difference between a solid heart shot, DRT, no blood kill and having to do a follow up shot. That's why even at ~15 yards, I have the magnification set to max (27x in this case) if the lighting allows. Aim small, miss small.

Haven't had any opportunities for longer pesting shots lately, so I have been occasionally taking shots at objects between 35 and 40 yards to make sure everything is set right. I don't have any pictures, but from practice shots if a chipper shows up anywhere in my yard where I have a safe shot and sits still long enough for me to get a shot, I will hit it. (knock on wood-grin)

My entire lot is 65x140 (1/5 acre?), but all of these chippers are taken just from my backyard. You would be surprised to see how small the area is where I have taken the majority. All I am doing is creating a temporary vacuum in my yard. The pests from the surrounding area soon come to fill in the void.
 
Upvote 0
There is nothing like a spicy old Cuban cigar. In this case many times size does not matter.

The best cigars I ever had was so very long ago. I brought them back in my wife’s luggage, she didn’t know. Hard to be nervous if you don’t know. They were relatively small ring, I think a six, and 6 inches long…And when I bought them already 30 years old.

I have not had a cigar in 20 years nor any other type of tobacco device. But I can still smell the aroma, thank you for that.

Good shooting. I’m not surprised when pellets turn corners inside Varmints.

How many acres?

mike
Click to expand...

I have never had a real Cuban cigar, but some of the NC offerings these days are top notch. Problem is, the good ones ain't cheap, even buying them online when they are on sale.

At first, I thought the pellet did take a turn and come out the ear. However, the sound of the hit was that solid THUMP you only get from a body shot and also the lack of blood made me think twice about the ear being the exit. Had it been a simple head shot, there would have been a lot more blood at the ear and the nose. I went out and re-examined the chipper very closely and determined the tiny amount of blood at the right ear was not from an exit wound. Also, there was no exit wound anywhere else on the body.

I am pretty sure of my shots, especially at that close range (~15 yards) and I am always shooting for the heart. If the head gets in the way, I am still aiming for the heart. Yes, I do miss some times, but usually only by very small amounts. However, missing by 1/4 inch on a chipper can mean the difference between a solid heart shot, DRT, no blood kill and having to do a follow up shot. That's why even at ~15 yards, I have the magnification set to max (27x in this case) if the lighting allows. Aim small, miss small.

Haven't had any opportunities for longer pesting shots lately, so I have been occasionally taking shots at objects between 35 and 40 yards to make sure everything is set right. I don't have any pictures, but from practice shots if a chipper shows up anywhere in my yard where I have a safe shot and sits still long enough for me to get a shot, I will hit it. (knock on wood-grin)

My entire lot is 65x140 (1/5 acre?), but all of these chippers are taken just from my backyard. You would be surprised to see how small the area is where I have taken the majority. All I am doing is creating a temporary vacuum in my yard. The pests from the surrounding area soon come to fill in the void.
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Well, as usual, I should not brag about my shooting abilities. I had a shot at a chipper today at ~27 yards. Missed high, but I saw where it (the chipper) went and took the Fortitude out to where I figured it would be. It was there at the corner of my lot/privacy fence just looking at me as I took aim from ~15 feet.

It was only ~15 feet so I could not focus precisely (10 yards minimum focus/parallax with this scope), but that wasn't the problem. I missed again because I simply forgot that at that distance the holdover was a LOT more than I am used to. ARGH!!! Nothing to blame for either missed shot but me. I took a couple of shots later at the same distance (~27 yards) and they were spot on. So it was ALL me. (heavy sigh)

Oh well... this chipper WILL be back, but as fast as the temperatures are cooling off lately, I don't know how many more days I will have to take shots at this one or any others.

I will try and remember this next time I am tempted to *brag* about my shooting abilities. (sheepish grin)
 
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The cold snap just came in and slowed activity down here. I think I’ve taken about 20 in a month or so, the herd is thinned a bit now.

Had a funny one yesterday, it heard me and took off but made a mistake of running up and over a large stump. I pulled an un rested standing shot at about 30 yds and the impact cleared him right off the stump. Still haven’t measured on the chrony but this Leshiy 2 with 18 gr H&N Barracuda Hunters is really putting a whomp on the chippies.

The hardest shots for me as well are the up close due to the hold over. I need to set some measured yardage pins and commit the holds to memory.
 
Upvote 0
The cold snap just came in and slowed activity down here. I think I’ve taken about 20 in a month or so, the herd is thinned a bit now.

Had a funny one yesterday, it heard me and took off but made a mistake of running up and over a large stump. I pulled an un rested standing shot at about 30 yds and the impact cleared him right off the stump. Still haven’t measured on the chrony but this Leshiy 2 with 18 gr H&N Barracuda Hunters is really putting a whomp on the chippies.

The hardest shots for me as well are the up close due to the hold over. I need to set some measured yardage pins and commit the holds to memory.
Click to expand...

Nice work with the off-hand shot! I don't think my chipper opportunities are over because I am still seeing chippers outside of my property, lots of them, scurrying about. I just can't shoot at them because they are either not on my property, not where I have permission to shoot, or it simply is not a safe shot.

Not sure how much longer I will have opportunities because I didn't keep good records this time last year. One of the reasons I post my chipper kills here is to keep a log for next season.

On the close shot. Yes, I *should* have remembered that a 15 FOOT shot will take a LOT more holdover than a 10 metre/meter shot... well, that was the first time I have had a shot that close where I could still actually use the scope, unfocused as it was. Oh well, live and learn.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice! Practice! Practice! (grin)
 
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