An airgun will make short work of pigeons and crows.
The crow and the pigeon are two birds that probably cause more headaches for farmers the world over than any other. Large flocks of these birds can devastate a field, costing these hard-working men and women thousands of dollars. Here in the United States, the usual method of taking them out is to use a shotgun.
However, we recently ran across this video from Simon6ppc over the U.K. He takes care of the pigeon and crow problem at this farm using an entirely different method. Instead, he is using two different types of high-powered air gun to stealthily pick the crows and pigeons off the fields.
It is a different way of taking out these pest birds, but also a highly effective one. His scope camera captures all the action in a day of shooting. The most impressive is a 90-yard headshot on a tiny pigeon way on the other end of the field.
This was some impressive shooting for an air rifle. Especially that 90-yard bomb. We usually see air rifles deployed here in the states for pests like rats and iguanas down in Florida. In this instance, it works extremely well for problematic birds too. In a way, it may be even more effective than a shotgun since an airgun is almost completely silent. No worries about spooking the rest of the flock away with a constant barrage of shots.
Much like iguanas and rats, air gun hunting is a fantastic tool for teaching people new to hunting the ropes. Especially younger hunters with shorter attention spans. In most states, the seasons are long, and the bag limits are often unlimited. You can really take your time to have a new hunter practice safe firearms handling practices and shot placement before taking them into the field to target bigger game.
Plus, you will be doing the farmers a solid favor by helping keep the populations in check. You never know, a little help controlling the pests may also help earn you an opportunity to pursue larger game on an area that is otherwise off-limits to hunting.
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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