I had another busy week of backyard pest control! I'll get started with the smelliest of them all... the skunk! Shooting a skunk with an airgun takes a little planning. My dog usually has a run in with one once a year, so when I see on come through the security camera footage I get to planning ASAP!
I get a lot of questions about where to shoot them, do they spray, etc etc. I'll start with do they spray... and the answer is yes! However, you can control this with the right shot placement. The heart and lung shot is my go to. They will still spray, but it's involuntary and happens right as they die. See the red dot below. When you see the video you'll think I was a little high, but I'm shooting from an elevated position, so I shoot a little high thinking that the pellet will penetrate and travel downwards.
The headshot is a BIG NO NO! I made this mistake, and while it died immediately it sprayed everywhere. My wife was level 10 pissed. I've killed them with .177 and .25. The .177 requires a perfect shot, and I would recommend the .25 in something heavy or a slug/hollow point. This skunk was shot with a 34gr MK2 at about 615fps at 25 yards. I have the EDgun Matador R5M Standard setup to shoot about 28ft/lbs for when the need arrises. Sometimes a heart and lung freezes them in their tracks for a second, and a quick follow-up, while not needed, is what I like to do. This one darted off behind a tree and died about 4 feed to the right of that bird bath.
Next up was a fun one... a little back story. I've been watching a ton of Cam Hanes on youtube and instagram. His videos are pretty epic. My "hunts" take a little young boy imagination to bring to that level... so here's my first go at an stalk on a monster bull... chipmunk ;)
when it comes to rats I shoot first ask questions later... big, small, whatever... however, it is pretty awesome when you get a monster rat! I was laying in bed, and got a text from a security camera (yeah, that's right...
read more on my setup here) about some movement. It was a HUGE rat. So big I thought it was a rabbit at first. This one was offhand'ish (sorry for the shakes!).
This next one I'm excited about because it was the first user submission to the series. Tyler sent along some great footage, using my old EDgun Leshiy I sold him BTW, along with the ATN X Sight II HD. Tyler has a passion for putting pigeons to sleep... here's a few he caught on film.
Like everyone these days, I was curious about shooting slugs out of the EDgun Leshiy and Matador R5M... both setup in .25. The testing is ongoing, but so far the best luck I've had is the H&N Grizzly. This thing is devastating. In true overkill fashion, the only pesting I got with it was with some small rats and a few house sparrows. It did show how accurate they can be at low speeds though... here's some small rats getting shot with the both the EDgun Leshiy and the Matador R5M.
I bring both the Leshiy and the R5M out with me, but usually only one has the ATN X Sight 4K on it. While you can quickly mount it between the two airguns, I try and stick with one. Here's me not doing that... and you can see the quick mount holds zero'ish... almost a miss, but still a pretty bad rat headache and dirtnap.
Speaking of the EDgun R5M... the thing is a beast. I have the Leshiy setup for all day plinking and pesting (it's soooo quiet!) and keep the R5M for bigger stuff. Here I was in the middle of tuning the gun, and had it running pretty hot for me at least. This chipmunk literally imploded. The H&N Grizzly did some work at 35'ish ft/lbs.
Chipmunks do some crazy things when you shoot them... very acrobatic and dramatic. Here's one doing some sweet breakdancing moves thanks to the EDgun Leshiy.
The last one just made it into this weeks post. I saw it come out of my neighbors attic. In my head I imagine it listens to some pretty shitty music too ;)
and now you're all caught up... enjoy your week!
Cheers,
Tim