Bandit beatdown - scope cam footage

[nervoustrigger]

Okay so for a while now, I have had a feeder like this one:



It's a gravity feed type...food behind the rear wall replenishes the tray as it's eaten.  I kept having a problem with bandits raiding it:



They would rake out the entire contents in one night.  I decided to try making a feeder with a small hopper to at least slow them down.  Here's a picture of it assembled and filled, then another with it installed. 



It wasn't long before they figured out how to lift the lid but it did in fact reduce the rate of food loss.

Until recently, that is, when the level started dropping precipitously.  Looks like a popular night time eatery, huh?



Well, finally I've had enough and decided to camp out with a red light shining on the feeder and see about thinning them out.  I wanted to be sure I could get a humane shot so I put out some table scraps, and visitor number 1 couldn't wait for a turn:



Then Friday night, I sat out again and it wasn't long before this one headed in and climbed right up to the feeder:



And about 30 minutes later, this one came crawling down the tree:



So that should about do it, right?  Sunday morning I checked the camera and found this:



I guess I still have some work to do.

[Slippy117]

Awesome shooting !   You showed alof of patience with that first bandit.     
  Im jealous,  i wish my feeder got 1/4 of the attention yours does.   

[LDP]

Nice shooting Jason. Coons are one of my favorite quarry.

[dk1677]

Nice ones Jason!

[BenjiHunter]

Great shooting and videos, Jason!!

[beachgunner]

Nice shooting. Way to take control of the feeder perimeter and get those bandits out of there.

What is your aim point? Are you going between the eyes, or a bit higher on the brow? I've had a couple of, shall we say "bandit interactions" where it took a bit more effort than I had anticipated, and I think my problem was not knowing where the actual off switch is on a noggin shot for these guys. Low ear ended up starting the dance, but anything a bit higher wasn't working for me. It was a 12 fpe gun too.

Thanks,

[ranchibi]

Jason, great vids, awesome patience, excellent shooting! LOL..those bandits sure are coming out of the woodworks to feast on your feeder!

[LDP]

Nice shooting. Way to take control of the feeder perimeter and get those bandits out of there.

What is your aim point? Are you going between the eyes, or a bit higher on the brow? I've had a couple of, shall we say "bandit interactions" where it took a bit more effort than I had anticipated, and I think my problem was not knowing where the actual off switch is on a noggin shot for these guys. Low ear ended up starting the dance, but anything a bit higher wasn't working for me. It was a 12 fpe gun too.

Thanks,

When using lower power on a coon or any larger vermin shot placement has to be perfect. Shots taken while they are directly looking at you will usually be deflected and any shot where the head is angled is dicey. For lower power perfect side profile shots and head down going thru the top of the head are best and less chance of deflection. Deflection is still a concern with higher power but the higher power does help with less than perfect angles.

[only1harry]

Excellent shooting Jason and thanks for sharing the videos.  3 bandits down and lots more to go

[screwwork]

NIce shooting Jason!

[nervoustrigger]

Thanks guys!  I just want to say I appreciate all the positive comments but I really hold the ones of patience in high regard.  That's the toughest thing for me to do.

Michael, the POA for a frontal shot is an X drawn between the eyes and ears.  For a side profile, a bit closer to the ear.  That puts them down hard.

The first shot with a 20fpe .22 cal is pretty similar to a .177 at 12fpe in terms of penetration.  Leland makes a good point about the angle of the head.  I haven't had a problem with deflections even when they are looking straight at me (frequent shot when giving a lip squeak) but enough people have experienced it that I'd say it's good advice.

[Wayne52]

Fantastic shooting on them bandits Jason !!!

[tejon]

Niiiceeeee shooting!

[Tater]

Way to go Jason! I really liked the videos too.

[Gertrude]

nice shooting and taking your time Jason. There were a few times in the videos that I was thinking
 "squeeze it now,... err, ok,... Now,... No?,... OK,...NOW !,...'
 Dang, why isn't he tak... oh, nevermind,... game over, bandit go boom now 

[beachgunner]

Thanks guys!  I just want to say I appreciate all the positive comments but I really hold the ones of patience in high regard.  That's the toughest thing for me to do.

Michael, the POA for a frontal shot is an X drawn between the eyes and ears.  For a side profile, a bit closer to the ear.  That puts them down hard.

The first shot with a 20fpe .22 cal is pretty similar to a .177 at 12fpe in terms of penetration.  Leland makes a good point about the angle of the head.  I haven't had a problem with deflections even when they are looking straight at me (frequent shot when giving a lip squeak) but enough people have experienced it that I'd say it's good advice.

Thanks Jason. Thanks Leland. I’m shooting with a bit more power now, 27-ish fpe, so I’m hoping deflection issues will be at least mitigated a bit. I’d prefer a side profile shot, but like you said, many times they are looking right at you.

[shadow]

Great shooting and vids Jason and the shots looked in the kill zone of the fusebox from the reaction of the bandits. Frontal shots work fine as long as the lead is in the zone between eyes and up a touch. I use the black strip going up between the eyes and just below where the black strip ends. I've taken countless bandits with frontal shots and my Avatar is a good example of where I like the lead to be.

Its good to see someone getting some pest bandits it's been a ghost town for them here. Ed

[Smaug2]

Are you hunting or pesting them?

If pesting, I'll make a suggestion. Take the lung shot. They're 100% fatal and they will have time to go off to some out-of-the-way place to die, then you don't have to clean up their big smelly carcasses. The bugs or coyotes will do it for you.

[jimmykay]

Great videos and shooting Jason...

[agorena123]

Nice shooting, videos and pictures!  Bandit beatdown for sure!