Thread: What little pesties did you bowl over today?

Went for a rabbit shoot Thursday where I took the Sako .222 CZ455 .17 HMR, Ruger 10-22 and the Benelli .12 gauge all for a bit of a play.

I used the .222 for some long range bunnies with some 50 gr V-Maxs before going for a walk carrying the .17 HMR and .12 gauge.

Must say I haven't shot bunnies with a shotgun for nearly 20 years and forgot how much fun it is as there were some great running shots and ran dry in a few spots as the gun only holds 4

I've been thinking of a .20 gauge shotgun to help get my boys (13 & 11) into it... Thoughts?

All up it was a great day running around with a total tally of 88 rabbits, 3 wallabies and missed out on a feral cat!

Just some of the critters shot

Originally Posted by Rushy

That is either a very small possum or a bloody big hammer.

Dont worry Rushy its only a bolt action hammer

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Originally Posted by kukuwai

Dont worry Rushy its only a bolt action hammer

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I feel safer knowing that you have to manually re cock your elbow between blows.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

There's something deeply satisfying about shooting magpies. All these were taken from the same two trees, one at 80m, the other at 96m, using a single decoy bird at first (the really rotten one), then adding other birds over the next several days. This morning I smacked three new birds who'd come for a look, obviously keen on moving into the recently vacated territory... There's a couple more that are just scattered feathers now as the hawk was on them first thing.

Magpie hunting is something of a craft I reckon, you get to recognise the different types of calls and what they mean, how many birds there are, where they are. I can listen in the study while I'm working, and quickly pop out for quarter of an hour when I hear they're close. It's getting a fair bit quieter...

Thanks to @GWH for sending me a distress call media file, played that on the shed hifi at max volume this morning, worked a treat! Three birds came into the garden, first one landed about 30 seconds after I pressed play on the remote... it bought a CCI right through the engine room. Brilliant. Won't play the distress call very often, as don't want them becoming accustomed to it.

Attachment 108890

I kept a magpie diary before I left the family farm,the magpies keep coming back I got nearly 1000 one year and 7 and 8 hundred for the two years before that all the trapping info is on this thread in the first few pages,never used a distress call but a decoy works bloody well.

Originally Posted by Rushy

That is either a very small possum or a bloody big hammer.

Me n mrs northdude went out sat afternoon and night got 3 turkeys with 243 and 26 possums with our 22lrs and used one of my 22 hornets on the longer range ones

Originally Posted by Dundee

I kept a magpie diary before I left the family farm,the magpies keep coming back I got nearly 1000 one year and 7 and 8 hundred for the two years before that all the trapping info is on this thread in the first few pages,never used a distress call but a decoy works bloody well.

Christ... really???

I can't get my head around where they're all coming from. Every morning, the hole we made in their territories the day before is filled with another mob.

The 'new' mob that arrived this morning is now a dead mob. Me and the lad got 12 more with the .22LR already today, plus another 2 with the .223 Rem.

Fair way to go if its gonna be like @Dundee's place.

Well after yesterday's full bag of magpies I was wondering whether we'd see more of the same this morning. But it was silent at dawn, so I went out about 30 minutes after sunrise and played my little tune. Immediately three birds came for a look, which I wasn't expecting as they hadn't made a sound up til then, so obviously they were wary and knew something was up. But still, they screwed up, and two of them went down to the .22LR, the third one I missed and he buggered off sharpish. Since then, you could hear a pin drop...

Its incredible what a difference no magpies makes to the ambient sound of the place. They drive me fucking bananas usually, especially at dawn, one of the reasons I'm waging war on them. That and wanting to give the native birds a fair go this spring. But suddenly its just little tweeters and the occasional myna. Could just about hear a couple of magpies in the distance at dusk. So we've made a hole in the territory map for sure, will be interesting to see how long our little area stays quiet. Probably until tomorrow morning first thing...

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Well after yesterday's full bag of magpies I was wondering whether we'd see more of the same this morning. But it was silent at dawn, so I went out about 30 minutes after sunrise and played my little tune. Immediately three birds came for a look, which I wasn't expecting as they hadn't made a sound up til then, so obviously they were wary and knew something was up. But still, they screwed up, and two of them went down to the .22LR, the third one I missed and he buggered off sharpish. Since then, you could hear a pin drop...

Its incredible what a difference no magpies makes to the ambient sound of the place. They drive me fucking bananas usually, especially at dawn, one of the reasons I'm waging war on them. That and wanting to give the native birds a fair go this spring. But suddenly its just little tweeters and the occasional myna. Could just about hear a couple of magpies in the distance at dusk. So we've made a hole in the territory map for sure, will be interesting to see how long our little area stays quiet. Probably until tomorrow morning first thing...

It'll be like pukeko's and possums. My aunt has a small lifestyle block near whangarei. Surrounded by dairy farms.

I shot 16 possums 2 years ago. And last she shot 60. They come from miles away!

Try and thin,the mynas,down as well

Have a go with a myna distress call @Flyblown

Problem is with the mynas is that they are generally congregating around the buildings. Whenever I line up on one, there seems to be a reason why I shouldn't take the shot. An air rifle would be a better option for mynas on this property at least.

There's air rifles, and then there's air rifles, of course. I've been watching the Air Arms Hunting SA channel on YouTube, man he has some cool air rifles. Variable power PCP would be important for me, I would need one that can be tuned for low power, and cranked up for maximum blitz when required.

Magpies generally inhabit the best patches so when you take them out, the next bunch are waiting to claim the territory. Lots of fun bombing them though. When I was working in pest control we used to do a lot with the Larsen magpie traps and it was amazing the numbers farmers would catch, as Dundee said thousands. You would wonder where they keep coming from.

For mynas and magpies a 7,5-10J (0,5 gram pellet at 170-190 m/s) breakbarrel airrifle in 4,5mm is sufficient out to 25-30m. More power gives you more knock down and less wind drift at distance, but isn't needed for these small birds at shorter distances. Because of the limited energy chances of unwanted damage to buildings and other risks are minimized.

This is getting ridiculous. Heard some birds at dawn, cold one today, so got up and dressed in something suitably warm, set up my tunes in the driveway, got a chair, and brewed a coffee.

Sat down and pressed play. No time for the coffee. Three birds came in immediately to the distress call, and sat on top of fence posts at 56m, three in a row. I started on the left post... pop... to the middle post... pop... to the right post... pop. Each bird fell off their post, stone dead. WTF? I have never seen magpies stay put at the sound of even a well suppressed sub. The second and third ones just gawped at their mates. POP! Stupid birds. I thought they were meant to be smart. Highly entertaining.