Blue Streak Let me Down

[Barkis]

I had an interesting situation at my bird feeder this a.m. A squirrel is sitting on the hopper feeder raking the seed on the ground while looking for sunflower seeds. A crow was eating what the squirrel had raked onto the ground. I loaded up the Blue Streak, gave her six pumps, and thought I would go for the crow rather than the squirrel as I'd never shot a crow before. Keep in mind that this is a 12 yard shot -- and that crow was as big as a pterodactyl. Surprisingly, the crow allowed me to raise my garage window without getting spooked. I took aim and fired -- bushwhacked him from behind and placed one right between the shoulder blades. Needless to say, he flew off seemingly unruffled by the experience. Rats! Should have used the CR140 or the 397P with a 10.65 gr Kodiak at 8 pumps. That would have settled his hash. But I wanted to blood the Blue Streak as I have taken squirrels and HOSPS with the other rifles. Today is not the day. I'll probably never see the crows around again, but the squirrel headed north upon hearing the report from the BS. I doubt that I will see him back today.

[Habanero69er]

How many pumps? Crows are tough birds, but at only 12yd that seems odd.

OOPS!
I see now that it was 6 pumps. Still I would have thought that would be enough at such a close range. I'm really surprised you were able to get the window open without spooking him.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Gee Whiz... That's a Tough one Dennis.        Maybe you will get second chance another day.       Best Wishes - Tom

[Mosin Marine]

The squirrel will be back soon enough! Crows are tough birds

[ranchibi]

Dennis, those pterodactyl’s are some tough customers! Wonder if he flew off to go see his Chiropractor!?!

[Barkis]

Dennis, those pterodactyl’s are some tough customers! Wonder if he flew off to go see his Chiropractor!?!

 

[only1harry]

Next to a squirrel the common crow will always look bigger and a more attractive target, unless it's a Fish crow which is 25-30% smaller.

Sorry to hear about the outcome with the crow since it is so rare to get a shot at one.  If the crow didn't caw and flew the way you said, I am pretty sure the pellet went through feathers and didn't hit the body or at least no vitals.  Sometimes they let out a caw when they get hit and not immediately knocked out or die.  I don't know what the power of your gun is at 6 pumps, but I would have pumped it to the max before shooting the crow.  Also the crow has a long skinny neck.  It's best to aim at center mass and even a little lower when shooting a crow.  Shots on birds from the back are tough.  It's not easy to gauge exactly where the body is or where there is just feathers.  Same as broadside shots because cwos and most birds have slim/slender low profile body.  I prefer frontal shots on crows and most birds.  Aiming at the "shoulder blades" is not the way to go because at the top is where their wings come out of, and can appear to be part of their body.  There is a lot of feathers at the top of their body.  A shot at low-center mass with crows is usually the best.

I am very surprised too that the crow did not take off when you opened the window from 12 yards.  I am sure now it will know better having gained this experience, and they NEVER forget.  It will remember your face and yell at you at shopping center parking lots too.

Harry

[19Sheridan57]

  1.  Your Sheridan could be weak . Have you ever tested it with a Chrony ?
  2. You could have hit him where the largest mass of feathers & small bones are . If you ever get a dead one, inspect the body & you will see this.
  3.  Crows ARE tough. I busted one at 35 yards not long ago with a Sheridan pumped 7 times.
  4. Benj./Sheridan cylindrical pellets penetrate a little deeper than typical dome/diabolo . 

  5. YES, A Sheridan will kill a crow .

[avator]

Yep, crows are tuff. A head shot or straight on chest hit is the best option. I think I would have opted for the squirrel. He was the one supplying the crow in the first place.

[Methuselah]

It's possible you got him wounded, and he didn't get too far --- maybe a look in the direction he flew off would turn him up?

I've had that happen a couple times with larger birds ... a black bird from the neighbors yard that rolled over when hit before flying off made it about 20 yards and I found him a month or two later on the far side of their fence, and a (in-season) dove that flew off and made it across the street behind the neighbors house.  He was supposed to keep the frying pan company...

I believe at six pumps you had enough horse power to get the job done, however I also have to agree with the other input you got about them being tough prey and using maximum power and center-mass.  Just nailed one myself, need to post pics - he took two shots because the same thing happened, first round was not pumped as much as it could have been but took out his ability to take flight.

[Rob112o]

Couple things could have gone wrong. If you are up to power that would have been somewhere at about 550fps. I've taken crowd with far less than that. Sooo.
1. Your power is down.
2. The pellet wasn't actually loaded due to excitement, maybe pellet fell out, maybe 177 was put in?

I don't think you even hit feathers. If you did that crow would have had him and his friends circling and screaming for a good 15-20 mins. Did you see feathers go flying at least?

[Barkis]

Couple things could have gone wrong. If you are up to power that would have been somewhere at about 550fps. I've taken crowd with far less than that. Sooo.
1. Your power is down.
2. The pellet wasn't actually loaded due to excitement, maybe pellet fell out, maybe 177 was put in?

I don't think you even hit feathers. If you did that crow would have had him and his friends circling and screaming for a good 15-20 mins. Did you see feathers go flying at least?

Hi, Rob, the pellet was loaded. The feathers did not fly, but he lurched as if he'd been hit. Took him a second or two to orient himself to fly off. I'd thought that maybe I had missed, but I used the BS yesterday to take out two HOSPS at approx the same distance. So I am pretty sure that I did not miss him. It might be that the power is down. The forum member I bought the gun from originally offered for sale noting that it did not hold air. By the time I bought it, he had noted that he had oiled it up some and that it was holding air and shooting 622fps on 8 pumps. I've not got a chrony so I don't know what that looks like now, but the gun does hold air and I've been hesitant to reseal it. I figure that as long as its holding air, I do not need to get into the guts yet.

[Backyard Airgunner]

Dennis:  Birds can be tricky due to all those feathers hiding everything.   If your shot into the shoulders was off just a little you could easily have hit nothing but feathers.  I'm shocked you where able to open a window and the crow not fly off.  I've never shot a crow but the ones by me fly off when they hear anything from my house even if they're 40 yrds away.  I would also see if you can use a friends chrony just to double check your numbers.  I will say, we all miss shots, its part of hunting.  You didn't miss though, you may have just missed vitals or maybe there was not enough power behind the pellet.  But you hit what you where aiming at.  Its all part of hunting live and learn and next time it will turn out different.

Here is a skeletal picture of a crow.  Where do you think you hit the crow?

[Barkis]

Jeremy, I was aiming for the middle of the bird at the top of the wings. Essentially I was trying to get a spine shot.

[Habanero69er]

Dennis, from what you said about how the crow acted stunned after the shot & how it took him a few seconds before he flew off, I’d bet you lethally wounded him. He probably only flew 100-200 at the most & crashed.

[Backyard Airgunner]

Dennis, from what you said about how the crow acted stunned after the shot & how it took him a few seconds before he flew off, I’d bet you lethally wounded him. He probably only flew 100-200 at the most & crashed.

I agree with Dave. If the bird acted stunned hopefully you got a vital hit in and will be able to find it if you follow where it flew off.  I really hate losing a wounded animal and do my best to avoid it.  Good luck.

[Bryan Heimann]

I think a solid hit to any part of the body would have knocked some feathers.  6 pumps in a sheridan would have done that much at least.  I think you pulled it.

My 2 cents.  I have missed before too, lol.  Even at 12 yards.

[Longbow]

Crows are tanks like gray squirrels...

[Bryan Heimann]

Inside 20 yards with a .22 rifle pushing around 13.5 fpe, my pellets stopped just under the hide on the opposite side of the squirrel.  Using JSB 18 grain domes

8 pumps on a 392 should get you in the same ballpark with power.  I'd tear my 392 down to see whats wrong if it was bouncing off a squirrel that close with a max charge. 

6 pumps on a sheridan, inside 12 yards, ought to at least pop some feathers on even a large bird.  And you will hear the thwack, too.  It is distinct, not the same noise as hitting dirt or a tree

I do think it could have delivered a glacing hit at an angle up the back, and not the same satisfying thwack, but still- no feathers? even going up the back, against the direction of the feathers?

[only1harry]

As you can see in that nice anatomical pic the rear half of the body has no vitals and not much to shoot at.  Also the upper chest/shoulder/neck is mostly feathers and the area to avoid.  So like I said earlier it's the front-lower half where all the vitals are.

When you take a shot at a crow or animal and miss, the critter will jerk or look surprised especially from the loud report of a pumper at 12 yards.  So it may have looked like the crow was hit, when in fact it was stunned/surprised for a sec and then took off.  The fact that it did not fly off when you opened the window, but the other one did, tells me that there is something wrong with that crow.  It could have been a young inexperienced one that maybe lost its parents which they need to teach them things, or it could be a dumb one.  Another possibility is that it could be hard of hearing or could have impaired sight. 

I strongly believe there are some dumb crows among all the smart ones, and also some with health or other birth defects from the many years of observing them and also shooting them.  I have gotten lucky too a few times when all the crows flew away when I opened a door or window, but 1 stayed and ended up paying the ultimate price for it.  Why would he not follow his buddies if he were as smart as them, or as alert?  Something is not right with a few of them.  I don't believe they are "100%".   

There is such a thing as dump crows or sickly (old) crows, and I think those are the ones we shoot most of the time.

I even had a 1-legged crow come to eat some seed a few years back during a bad snow storm.  I didn't know it had 1 leg until after I shot it.  After inspecting it I realized that crow was also very old and had many scars and could have been sick or on "its last leg", pun intended

Harry