I examined the female adult martin I had die on Saturday very closely. The weakened female had an injury to the back of the head created by a pointed object. The wound was leaking a clear fluid. Possibly coming from the skull on the inside. The wound was singular and no other indication of a struggle. I figure a starling hit her from behind in her cold tired state.
I'm on a mission to eradicate all starlings. I do trap year round with an S & S Controller. I'm looking for an air rifle. The best I can find. Expense is not an option. Does anyone know of they make a full auto version? I need to be quiet as I live in a subdivsion. I'm going to build a blind and take them out.
Last edited by Sparky on Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm a "nestcamaholic" Is 18 hours a day a bad thing? (I have 2 this year, luckily I have 2 eyes!)
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Sparky wrote:I'm looking for an air rifle. The best I can find. Expense is not an option. Does anyone know of they make a full auto version? I need to be quiet as I live in a subdivsion. I'm going to build a blind and take them out.
Well there is a full-auto BB gun you can buy that is CO2 powered and fires in 3 to 6 round bursts. It is legal to buy. Go to you tube and search for it ( EAA Baikal Drozd BB Gun) . It is Russian made and generally a good little shooter-- However it is not really considered a target/hunting grade BB gun. More for fun. But people do use them to take out pests "in a hail of bb's"
My tip--- Benjamin Marauder. I think it is a superb air rifle. I've shot it and I feel it is about the best air rifle you can own for hunting small game- especially smaller birds. So quiet no one (including you) will hear anything except the sound of the valve release. 500 dollar rifle. Accuracy is simply amazing... with a good scope nothing is safe inside 50 yards. Nothing.
Go to you tube and search for it also. There was also a good thread on someone needing advice on a pellet rifle that had lots of good advice from last week Here: http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18031
Chances are you allready own a blind. Your car. If you shoot through a open window it can work great. I had to resort to the car trick to get a very spooked starling that had seen some of his/her partners get shot. You can email me at tuckybill.com and I'll give you my thoughts on what air rifle to get. Oh what range are you shooting at? A open window on your house is the best blind of all.
I agree they all must die. We have already began shooting them at our place on site. They are sitting on the perches with the house still lowered, this is not acceptable. One night I went out and plugged the entry holes of the T14 knowing they were roosting in there, then slightly opened the door slid cardboard in to cover the compartments and reached in with welding gloves and caught 4. They are no longer with us This will continue till April, then it will be shooting only.
Emil Pampell-Tx wrote:Shannon, I have caught house sparrows like that, lowered the housing so that I could reach them at night, & it worked for me also..
For the OKIES on here, has anyone noticed that there are not nearly as many starlings this winter. I have seen like one or two all winter. Maybe this winter has been hard on them. I am not complaining or anything.
Martin Colony History: First pair in 2009 after 28 years of trying. 3 pairs 2010, 17 pairs 2011 and 35-45 pairs since. Many additional colonies are now springing up around mine in an area once completely void of Martins. I offer 50 compartments at my site consisting of primarily Excluder II gourds on Gemini racks. Also a wooden T-14. I utilize electric fence type predator guards on the base of the poles. Supplemental feeding is crucial in maintaining my colony. I platform feed throughout the season as needed. My site tends to be a stop over point for additional birds as they migrate further north.
The absolute most inexpensive semi-auto rifle is made by crossman. I have one. You can put the big paintball Co2 cartridge on it. It has a 12 shot magazine.
Crosman AS1077T
If you look at my posts from last summer I left much detail on it.
They are on sale now!!! Get a refurb. Some leak. The refurbs are repaired.
At first I was thrilled with mine. It was accurate and a killing machine. I am not sure what happened but it is possible I got a poor canister of pellets. I could tell that some had burrs and fit too tight in the clip.
Anyway it was a great gun with a scope on it until I got new pellets.
Otherwise there are other guns much better but the price is much more. Benjamin Marauder is awesome. You can fill it with a compressor. That will be my next gun.
Supplemental feeding plays a major role in Western Pennsylvania. Finally got my 1st pair in 2009 after 28 years of effort. The colony has grown quickly to 45 pairs that I care for. Many new colonies have now sprung up around me in the past few years as well. Where there was none.... there is many.
Sparky, about pellet guns, don't buy a gun made in China because you can't get them worked on. Parts for them are not available.
Beeman's R7 is made in Germany and is a good choice. You can call Beeman at 1(800) 822-8005.
RWS is also made in Germany. I bought an RWS 34 Meisterschutze Pro 177 cal, and I'm very pleased with it.
I got it from Pyramyd Air Gun Mall, telephone 1(888) 262-4867.
I also have a Feinwerkbau 127, but it is now out of production.
Airborne
P.S. Beeman has a nice free catalog.
Thanks for the input folks. I think I'm going for the Marauder. Should I get .177 of .22? How about an Air Force Talon? Any one shot one?
I have a Gamo spring gun (too loud) a Crosman 1077 Air Source. It broke after 2 seasons. The air just comes out. The seals must be bad. Then, another which I haven't used in years. (Can't remember the make)
My car is too far away (out in front) I'll put a blind up in front of my shed.
I'm a "nestcamaholic" Is 18 hours a day a bad thing? (I have 2 this year, luckily I have 2 eyes!)
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
I'd get the .22 mainly due to the fact that it gives more knowdown power, is more forgiving on small game due to a hit just off the vitals. Makes a bigger hole. As accurate as the .177. Pellets are easy to find like .177.
Anything made for .177 is available in .22.
It is less affected by the wind on farther shots. Meaning you will not need to "dope" your shot as much if the wind is blowing left to right or vice versa.
In the Marauder it is also extremely silent.
Never shot the Air Force rifles, but they are good too. Cost more than the Marauder--- but the Marauder can easily hang with those rifles.
I have the marauder it's a great gun. Very accurate. Has a 10 shot clip. You
Can buy extra clips and fire away. The only thing I don't like is the manual
Pump. I want to get the compressed air set up but have not taken the time
To get the set up figured out. Can someone out there with this gun give me
The skinny on this?
Thanks
Mike
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
the other method to the manual air pump is to get a full size scuba tank to refill the rifle. You can get it filled at either a dive shop or maybe a place that handles welding bottles. Where I live the dive shops refill the scuba tanks for 7 bucks. the scuba tank will refill the marauder about 45 times. and thats if you refill from empty- which you wont do much at all.
You CANNOT refill with a regular air compressor. It has to be a special high compression type which is a few thousand dollars.
The maraucer can also be filled with CO2 from paint ball bottles. Instead of compressed air.
Used scuba tanks can be bought for less than 100 bucks. My friend that has a Mauder bought one for 60 dollars.
The hand pump is not bad if you use it to top off after you shoot 20 or so rounds. You'll pump only 20 or so times in this case.
Watch youtube videos on filling the marauder. It's much easier to understand that way.
Sparky, I use a scoped .22 bolt action and shoot CCI CB 22 Long ammo. It is quiet and accurate. Killed 2 starlings this morning. If money is no object the Marauder is top notch.
hi sparky i use what terry uses except i have single shot breakdown and i shoot cci cb short no sights just scope very accurate starling and sparrow terminator i tried two or three pellet guns german made and usa made they shot harder than the .22 and also much louder a friend refferd me to these cb shorts i could'nt believe till i tried it much more accurate than pellets box reads cci cb 22 short 710fps sub-sonic low noise most of the pellet guns to be accurate needs 800 to 1200 fps good luck
The bullet of a CB cap weighs 29 grains while a .177 pellet weighs around 8. The weight of the CP cap combined with the fact it has much higher balistic coefficency means it carrys quite a wallop down range if and when you miss. Enough to damage a window or a car's paint. A flat nosed .177 pellet has very short range due to its shape. Since we are defending our martin houses most shots are short range, under 40 yards, a .177 wadcutter flat nosed pellet does great at that range. Heavy round nosed pellets carry much further and hit harder.......somewhere. Just a safety reminder.
most of these pellet guns will kill a dog or knock a window out at the same distance as a cb short and travels much faster these pellets guns will kill a human to it's not a toy my friends german pellet gun shoots through 1/2 plywood cb short won't
I "sprung" for The Beeman R7 last year and was very pleased with the accuracy. The break barrel is much easier to reload than the manual pump method. The pellet speed is sub-sonic so there is no loud "crack". Now i take out S&S without putting more holes in my aluminum houses.
This will continue till April, then it will be shooting only. 