Air gun Addiction

[RoadBlocker]

Back in 2001 a raccoon family moved in to my garage when I left the door open one night. They were raising hell with damage, chewing wood, tearing out insulation. And they wouldn't leave. I called an animal removal company. They wanted $150 per animal removed or exterminated. A mamma and four adolescents. Wow. Somebody suggested shoot'em with a pellet gun. I was gunless at the time. A horrible condition to be in. I went pellet gun shopping. A whole world of shooting I didn't know existed. I didn't want too cheap, but some of the guns can get spendy. I bought a Beeman springer. Cocking the barrel can make you grunt. For each shot. So I'm standing on an 8' ladder trying to nail a coon in the rafters. It's dark up there. Trying to catch a shine off their beedy eyes. Ping and miss every time. Tire of the single shot. Go buy a Gamo CO2 repeater. Thought I was going shoot my eye out with a ricochet. I need something more accurate. Bought a Webly & Scott Hurricane single shot spring air. Target grade competition pistol. But before I tried to shoot them and maybe have to tear out a smelly carcass inside the garage walls, I googled the situation. The answer? Noise and bright light. Set up trouble lights and stereo blasting and garage door open. About midnight mamma coon creeps out, stands by the open door till 4 babies waddle out. I didn't wanted to shoot at them and scare them back in. They just crept away. I ran over and slammed the door shut. So now I'm up three pellet guns, but I live in city limits, ordinance does''t even allow a BB gun. A proper shooting range is needed to realize the potential of a good airgun. And as long as you're going to a range you have to have a .22 Henry for variety. And the progression of the gun addiction gets worse. A sad way to go. Or not.

[JEBar]

interesting .... thanks for relating a good story

[RetiredSeabee]

Great story, reminds me of a friend on another forum who bought a Ruger 22/45 and snake shot to take out a raccoon in his attic. He got the Raccoon but also stepped through the ceiling.

So have you learned how to shoot the springer with success? I don't own one yet but have learned from some very good shooters who do that they require an artillery hold to be consistent.
Do you still have the Webley? And if so how well does it shoot for you?

[RoadBlocker]

Shooting a springer is unusual, kinda like reverse kick back. You need a firm grip to avoid barrel jump before the pellet exits. The high velocities they can produce can approach Rimfire decibel. The Webly & Scott is a hefty well made barrel cocking gun, with thumb rest grips, rear extension for scope. Needs same firm grip. Got into a whole selection of the different pellet nose shapes, grains, seating depth in the chamber. It can be accurate out to 25 yards in the right conditions. And if you forget to load a pellet and shoot, it"ll crack like a .22.

[Travlin]

Great story. I have a Sheridan Blue streak .20 cal. with a factory installed Williams Foolproof site. I used to shoot at a candle flame in the backyard using just three pumps.

[daytime dave]

It's too bad you can't shoot in the back yard there. How about the garage?

That was an interesting story too. You usually get what you pay for in air guns.

[Sir Henry]

Sounds like a Chevy Chase movie.

[Sir Henry]

Great story. I have a Sheridan Blue streak .20 cal. with a factory installed Williams Foolproof site. I used to shoot at a candle flame in the backyard using just three pumps.

That is a nice rifle. I know a gal that has several.

[daytime dave]

I think I know her too.

Do you think she would want to spend any time here?

[Henry88]

Shooting a springer is unusual, kinda like reverse kick back. You need a firm grip to avoid barrel jump before the pellet exits. The high velocities they can produce can approach Rimfire decibel. The Webly & Scott is a hefty well made barrel cocking gun, with thumb rest grips, rear extension for scope. Needs same firm grip. Got into a whole selection of the different pellet nose shapes, grains, seating depth in the chamber. It can be accurate out to 25 yards in the right conditions. And if you forget to load a pellet and shoot, it"ll crack like a .22.

Interesting............

I take the opposite approach. I restrict the springer rifle as little as possible; just enough to pull the trigger. Each time I shoot, I also follow the EXACT same procedure. I think this was the basis of the "artillery" grip. But I see plenty of people that also take the firm approach..............

Your mileage may vary.

[dasmoeturhead]

Back in the day we had a couple of outdoor cats, and there food was kept outside on the back deck. We must have fed 3 generations of raccoons that fed on the catfood.
Anyway when my youngest boy was growing up, and got a new pellet gun, I gave him permission to shoot the big coon (just to scare him off), but instead of a hind quarters shot, he shot the poor thing in the head. Long story short about 2 months latter that same coon was on the deck, with only one eye. The other was completely closed. From then on out we called him (you guessed it) ole one eye. Never could bring myself or let my kid shoot him again. That old coon is probably still,out there.

[CT_Shooter]

Never could bring myself or let my kid shoot him again.

That's a very sad story, das. When we first moved here more than 30 years ago and put up bird feeders, I thought it was my duty to shoot every squirrel that had the nerve to raid them. I bought a pellet gun for that single purpose. I put their dead carcasses in the trash, not even considering them as game to be eaten. One day, I wounded one. It fell to the ground and limped away as quickly as it could, faster than I was able to reload to finish it. I watched as it suffered and bled as it ran with a hobbled leg. I have to say that I had an epiphany that day. I came inside and literally cried at the thought of it dying a painful and sensless death. Every since, squirrels are welcome at our bird feeders. We have even hand fed some of them over the years.

IMG_2909.JPG

I look forward to hunting squirrels for food someday, soon. But the squirrels in my backyard are safe and well fed.

[DWD445]

Squirrels are one thing CT, coons and ground hogs are another story entirely
Don't have much sympathy for either. I had to evict a family of 5 coons from my garage attic this spring.
I'll admit I didn't like killing the babies, but they had to go, moma was about 25lb
Then I got 4 more in my barn over about a week or so. The entrance is closed now also !
And between me and Petey the pit bull, about 15 ground hogs

[CT_Shooter]

...coons and ground hogs are another story entirely.

I understand. We had a rare ground hog come by just this past summer. It was eating everything -- and I mean everything it could reach including all of our vegetables, shrubs, and flowers. I was warned that these creatures can be a big problem if allowed to remain, so once again I loaded my pellet gun, pumped it up to full charge, and took careful aim. I hit it hard in it's vitals, but not hard enough to get through that fur coat with enough force to kill it. It fell over, then scampered away under my ground level deck and out of sight. I tried to find it, but it was well hidden. Two days later the cloud of flies hovering above the deck showed me where it was. I spent a bit over an hour on the ground with a large treble hook tied to an extended boat pole reaching for it under that very low deck to hook it and drag it out. It smelled something awful and I couldn't help but thinking I heard a squirrel laugh as he watched me carry the carcass away on a shovel to bury it in a far corner of the yard.

[PT7]

...coons and ground hogs are another story entirely.

I understand. We had a rare ground hog come by just this past summer. It was eating everything -- and I mean everything it could reach including all of our vegetables, shrubs, and flowers. I was warned that these creatures can be a big problem if allowed to remain, so once again I loaded my pellet gun, pumped it up to full charge, and took careful aim. I hit it hard in it's vitals, but not hard enough to get through that fur coat with enough force to kill it. It fell over, then scampered away under my ground level deck and out of sight. I tried to find it, but it was well hidden. Two days later the cloud of flies hovering above the deck showed me where it was. I spent a bit over an hour on the ground with a large treble hook tied to an extended boat pole, reaching for it under that very low deck to hook it and drag it out. It smelled something awful and I couldn't help but thinking I heard a squirrel laugh as he watched me carry the carcass away on a shovel to bury it in a far corner of the yard.

Great story, CT, on moving out the ground hog! And also enjoyed the post of that really cool picture of feeding your squirrel visitor. Neat to have such backyard entertainment.

Curious...could you describe the sound of a "squirrel laugh?!?" I've not heard one do that yet... but I'll keep my ears open.

[North Country Gal]

Okay, she's here.

Good point, Henry88. With all airguns, but especially springers, the most important thing is consistency of hold, regardless of the hold you use. That's number one. The main issue with firm holds is repeating them with the same degree of firmness/pressure. Even the slightest change can move your POI with an airgun. Still, with airguns, you can't lock yourself into a one kind of hold fits all mindset. Have had some AGs that would ONLY shoot with a firm hold and others that would NEVER shoot with a firm hold. If you're a glass is half full person like me, that extra challenge just adds to the fun.

[daytime dave]

CT, I like that story. I got a squirrel proof bird feeder that is truly squirrel proof. So much so that they get mad at not getting food and tinkle on the roof before leaving empty "handed". Several have done that. Feeding them by hand is neat and that's what I would want to do if I chose to feed them.

If I shoot one, I intend to eat it. As far as the ground hogs and coons, I try to only use my most powerful .22 pellet rifles. I also only take head shots on those critters because of the tendency for them to only be injured otherwise and crawl off and die someplace I don't want them to.

What NCG said above is certainly accurate. I have a variety of air guns and all have a certain hold that makes them perform best. It takes a while to learn what works best with each one. A difficult but effective hold is the artillery hold. I have shared a link before about it.

[CT_Shooter]

Curious...could you describe the sound of a "squirrel laugh?!?" I've not heard one do that yet... but I'll keep my ears open.

They don't laugh that often, but when they do, it sounds a bit deeper than a Chipmunk's laugh; otherwise they're pretty much the same.

[PT7]

Curious...could you describe the sound of a "squirrel laugh?!?" I've not heard one do that yet... but I'll keep my ears open.

They don't laugh that often, but when they do, it sounds a bit deeper than a Chipmunk's laugh; otherwise they're pretty much the same.

Ah, yes....got it! I've heard chipmunks laugh at Poverty Knob, while sitting around a campfire drinking coffee out of their Henry mugs.

[DWD445]

Ground Hogs and Coons get the Marlin 22, Some times the 9mm
Got a few holes in the garage ceiling drywall, but I was NOT going up there under armed
with a moma coon and her youngins up there, no lights so 1 handed...9mm
I've had both GHs & coons keep going with the 22, about 4 were found in the tall grass, far
from where shot, by neighbor that came to mow
He didn't care but was asking my wife where they came from and wondered why they were dying ??
She would tell him, so I later told him it must be lead poisoning
1 big Coon I emptied my 22 [16] in it, and it still crawled in the culvert across the street