Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Pigeons ... WTH?

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HAD SOME FUN FRI NIGHT

Yep.

LOL! Well, I guess you could try that!

I would agree with this. I've shot pigeons with a .22 rifle and Super Colibri's (500 fps) from about 20 to 25 yards. I've shot a few broadside in the wings and I see feathers fly and they just fly away. But with head-on frontal shot, they die every time.

i shot one off a power line with 22 springer, hit him in the chest and saw the blood oozing out. the next day he was still in the same area with a big blood stain. we still see him from time to time. he is solid white in color. we like to call him whiteeee. so with that said they are pretty durable.

I guess they can be tough sometimes.

Funny story has nothing to do with airguns, but everything to do with pigeons.

When I went to pick up my German Shorthair Pointer from the trainer several years ago, he said he wanted to walk him around with me so I could see how he did. He said I could bring my own shotgun or he had one I could use. I planned a combo trip with my wife and we had some fun before we went to pick up my dog, so I didn't want to take a shotgun.

When we get there, he hands me a single-shot and 2 shells. We start walking and Hank (my dog) points a pigeon that's in a spring-type trap (trap is canvas and folded with the bird in the fold - when the remote is hit, the bird is tossed up into the air). Trainer tells me to get ready and hits the remote. Stupid (smart) pigeon is thrown up in the air and continues to fly straight up. I shoot and miss.

We walk around and Hank points another pigeon. Trainer tells me that I need to be sure and shoot the pigeon so Hank will have a bird to retrieve (reward). I start sweating and put the last shell in the single shot. He hits the button and pigeon flies straight up again. I shoot and miss.

Boy was I embarrassed. But those pigeons made a beeline straight up with a little bit of flutter on the way. Not sure if I could have hit them with my semi-auto and 5 shots. I remember thinking that I ruined my dog. But luckily, he remembered what to do when we went on our first quail hunt.

So now I have a death wish for all pigeons!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!

Don't anybody do that!

Order some chamber oil from Beeman.

- Tom

i was wondering how much did you pay if any to be embarressed like that lol this ol crow wasn' so durable

benjamin marauder 22 strikes again

Paid him too much, I'm sure. My dog must have been good, because my brother and another friend had their 2 dogs there also. They got theirs back 2 months before the quail season was over. Trainer said mine "wasn't ready yet". So I don't get mine back until the week after quail season was over. And half of his weenie was torn off from barb-wire fence, I guess. Honest to goodness....it took awhile to heal. So I think he kept Hank and hunted the crap out of him....probably getting paid for it as an outfitter.

But Hank was good when he was young. He's basically retired now.

And the last quail hunt I went on, all I had to shoot at was crows. I couldn't believe when 1 flew right up to me and started to turn. I let him have it and dropped him right there. I shot at another and swore I hit him, but he didn't drop. He flew about 20 yards and then dropped like a rock. I guess he had a pellet in his heart or something because it took awhile for him to die.

there is nothing better than a good shot at a crow dem crows think day so smart

Wow! Thats certainly an innovative thought! What kind of results have you gotten Tom? And at what range? Won't the pellet eventually become unstable and tumble the farther it gets from the muzzle?

All my shots were from a distance of about 10 feet on small nuisance birds when I was a little younger.

The birds would usually drop dead without even a twitch, I havent shot at paper with it at any range so I dont know about the tumbling but knowing what I know nowadays thats a good possibility.

My Uncle used to have pigeons on the roof of his house and would try one thing after another from strips of nails to fishing line. Nothing worked to keep them away. I had a single pump Daisy pellet gun that did 400 fps and a little Crossman 4 power scope. At 20 yards, I'd sit at his picnic table and pop one in the head. Down the roof it would roll and maybe one or two would ruffle their feathers. Another poof and bird #2 would roll off the roof. They'd fly and come back again. I'd pop another. I got them all, maybe 20 birds that afternoon. They wanted to roost on that roof so badly, they didn't leave and I popped one after the other. Cheap Crossman pellets and a 400 fps gun worked every time. I've got a .20 cal Beeman R 10 that's powerful and I've shot raccoons and skunks with it. The little Daisy served me for many years.

I suggest you learn pigeon anatomy and put the pellet in a better place, or get a better air rifle. If it's a gunshow special, they only make about 400-500 fps. Do a search on the B-2 air rifle.

While working in an aircraft hangar we had pigeons at an epidemic level. The boss offered me overtime pay to come in early and/or stay late to shoot them with an airgun. My RWS model 45 in .22 caliber with a Bushnell airgun 3x9 scope paid for itself many times over. Pellet selection proved to be very important because you wanted the pigeon to drop on the spot and not hit a customer aircraft. Pointed pellets didn't immediately convince the pigeon that he was dead and they often walked along a beam and fell on an airplane. Try explaining an in the hangar bird strike to a paying customer. In one of life's happy coincedences, inexpensive flat nosed Hobby pellets seemed to kill the best and the pigeons last landing could be controlled to within a few feet. Of course, the following spring a damn Kestral hawk moved in and put me completely out of business. Of course, with the current political climate it wouldn't be a good idea to be walking around an airport with a scoped rifle anyway. Ah, the good old days. Thanks; Mike

Mike,

What I DO know about Hobby pellets......

1) They FLATTEN sparrows in 22 cal from a RWS 34.....

2) When fired from a .177 cal CO2 Daisy 790 pistol, bumped up on a power mod trick....maybe 500+fps, they did not at least on one shot penetrate Levi blue jeans but left one hell of a BURN and Bruise on the inside of some owners thigh.....don't ask Pellet bounced around the inside of the car but had flattened out as if made of soft plastic and hitting Kevlar. But Damn it Hurt like Hell!

I can see it making a mess of a Pigeons insides if hitting from a frontal shot, or head/neck.

Pigeons can be tricky, an old BSA Stutzen w/22 cal RWS 'Domes' roundnose hammered them around 25-30 yds, and Eley Wasps, both around 14.5gr IIRC, at a sedate 550 FPS thanks to a broken mainspring later discovered on the demo gun I had.....and when hit w/14.3 gr Premier 20 cal roundnose at 670 mv, though a few flew and dropped via body shots w/177 FWB 124D around 800 mv w/7.7gr Premier 'lites' so yes Pigeons can be fickle to 'DROP' when hit w/airguns.

Having shot many a small birds w/slingshots years ago using #8 shot, penetrating feathers well at close range, AND lethal when hitting the heads, I wonder just how effective a 'SHOT' load of birdshot would be at close range w/a modern slingshot. A Leather pouched band works best, the old wide thin leather types, held alot of shot and the pattern really peppered birds well. I'd think it very likely to get a few in the head at close range and producing good 'drops'......just a thought.

If one had really close shot presentations, I'd be tempted to try that set up, as they will not go thru any metal roofs etc. though will cut thru feathers....likely a bird that size, it would need to be hits to the head and the multiple shot loads enhance that likelihood FWIW. An idea that might be tried. Surely quiet as well.