More Backyard Pesting - The Chipper Smackdown Saga Continues.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Dear Readers:

After I did the shakedown run on all of my rifles, I put most of my rifles away in my gun safe. For info on the shakedown Run see this post.
> https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=176090.0

I kept out the 22 cal. NP2 Crosman Summit Ranger, the 117 cal Umarex Multi-Pump and the Hatsan 177 cal Vortex Striker, for any chippers that show up today.

So Today..... at 11:30 am CST, I shot another Chipper with the Summit Ranger shooting 22 cal Crosman 14.3gr. Destroyer Hunting pellets at 35 yards.  It was sitting on a tree stump, between my two woodpiles.  That stump measures exactly 35 yards from my shooting position at the backdoor of my garage.

I have put a few sunflower seeds on that stump now, to keep the Chippers stationary long enough for me to be able to throw up a rifle and take a stationary shot. I prefer a stationary shot as opposed to a moving shot but sometimes a running shot is all I get.

I shot this one right behind the ear for the killing shot.

I shoot from a sitting location on a three legged camp stool. I employ a semi-offhand shot technique with my for-stock hand braced on the upright door jamb and the rifle resting in the Vee between my thumb and fingers of the foreshock hand.

The day has been overcast but no rain. The temp is 65F with a 8 mph north west breeze. The humidity is 82% The elevation is 886 ft above sea level.  The mosquitoes are real bad but manageable, provided that I don't sit there for hours at a time.

I have posted pictures of the shooting position that I have been using on the Chippers and how I rest my rifles for each shot.

This will be an ongoing saga and I will employ the six rifles I have at various times.  Stay tuned for more postings on the chipper plague that I am experiencing this year.


Best Wishes - Tom

[WildCJ5]

Nice shooting.

Based off another members post I purchased a WiFi door bell and now have it out in the yard where the gs come under my fence. Now I get alerts when there is movement.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Nice shooting.

Based off another members post I purchased a WiFi door bell and now have it out in the yard where the gs come under my fence. Now I get alerts when there is movement.

Hi C.J.

Thank you for your reply.

I don't have a door bell alarm but I do pay attention to what the birds are doing.
If the birds are active then the Chippers are too.

No birds = no Chippers.


Best Wishes - Tom

[35 shooter]

Nice shot with the Ranger! Tom, your having way too much fun while i’m Out working lol.
Get those chippers!!!!

[Bicycleman]

Tom, are you sure that you are not working too hard sitting on that stool in that sweltering 65ºF in you garage?   
Fine shooting - keep it coming.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Nice shot with the Ranger! Tom, your having way too much fun while i’m Out working lol.
Get those chippers!!!!

Hi Buddy !

Thank you for your reply and kind complement. 

Fun you say...I have been Working Hard at getting those Chippers !    (kinda.. pretend.. working).   I also tagged a second Chipper today. 


Best Wishes - Tom



(I do know about real work though.  I started working full time on my dad's farm at age 10 and retired at age 66. 
I worked a full time job, of one kind or another, for 56 years and 2 full time jobs for 20 of those years.) 

[Blowpipe Sam]

You're setting quite a streak Tom!  I'm signing on here to see how it comes out. 

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Tom, are you sure that you are not working too hard sitting on that stool in that sweltering 65ºF in you garage?   
Fine shooting - keep it coming.

Hi Mike !

Thank you for your reply and complement.

Yep ..sittin on that stool on a nice day, sure is....Easy Money.    Well.. a fellas just gotta do..what he's gotta do.

Oh wait....I snagged a second Chipper today... Just sweltering and sitting on that stool. 

I also got about 50 Skeeters too.



Best Wishes - Tom


(The weather around here can change 30 degrees in a few hours. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday it will be in the mid 90's with high humidity. If the jet stream is below us we get air from Canada and if the jet stream is above us we get Southern Texas air from the Gulf of Mexico. September around here can really get crazy. 85 F one day and 40 F the next day. Canadian air is less humid and the Texas air is very humid.  Then Winter hits and the temps can drop to below zero and there is no humidity because all the water is frozen for 6 months.)

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

You're setting quite a streak Tom!  I'm signing on here to see how it comes out.

Hi Carter !

Thank You for your reply, complement and interest.

I snagged a second Chipper today and I will be posting it soon.   Stand by for Chipper # 2



Best Wishes - Tom

[superchikn]

Tom,
You have grass???  I thought you always had 3-4' of snow.   

Nice shooting Tom.  Love that Summit Ranger.  Got mine last year after reading your review of the gun. Thank you for that.

You're shooting running running rodents with a breakbarrel pretty much offhand?  I need more trigger time.  That is amazing.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Tom,
You have grass???  I thought you always had 3-4' of snow.   

Nice shooting Tom.  Love that Summit Ranger.  Got mine last year after reading your review of the gun. Thank you for that.

You're shooting running running rodents with a breakbarrel pretty much offhand?  I need more trigger time.  That is amazing.

Well Hi Ray !   Thank you for dropping in, your reply and generous complement.

Say how is the B-3 coming along ?.  Have you got it all rebuilt and up to snuff ? 

I am glad that you like your Summit Ranger...I sure like mine.  It's a good one for hunting. Tough as nails too.

I have always been able to shoot running targets..just a natural knack I guess. 
I could do the same thing with a Recurve Bow.  It is all in the lead, the arrow release, trigger pull and the timing.
The same thing goes with shooting with a shotgun. I was a pretty good wing shooter on Ruffed Grouse.

I managed to hit another Chipper today.  I'll be posting about it real soon.



Best Wishes - Tom

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Well I managed to hit another Chipper today.  I harvested it later on this afternoon sometime after I got the one with the Summit Ranger.

I go out into the garage doorway and sit a spell until the skeeters drive me away.  Sometimes longer and sometimes less.  I am usually there for a hour or so, that is,  provided I don't have something else to do.

I watch and see if any birds are out and about.  If the birds are out foraging then the Chippers will be foraging too. This method works most every time for me and I am not putting up with the skeeters and not seeing any chippers.

Contrary to what I I have just stated I decided to go out and see if any chippers were out moving around.  OK...there were No Birds and there were NO Chippers either.  There were... Plenty of the Skeeters and I slap-killed several. So anyway I decided to pack it up and leave. I normally discharge my rifles when I call it quits so I fired the Hatsan Striker then started to discharge the Summit Ranger. I had spotted a new burrow hole out in my compost pile where I put the Fall leaves. I marked the new hole with a 7/16 wood dowel for a quick reference point in-order to keep my eyes pealed to that area quickly. To to discharge the summit ranger I decided to take a pot shot at that dowel.
The new Chipper hole is about 36 or 37 yards out and around 30 yards to the right of my wood pile. It is around  40 degrees right from the wood piles and is a move from the left door jam to the right door jam. So I brace my shot on the right door jam and fire away. I made the shot and hit the dowel. The vibration from the impact must have roused the Chipper because it popped out of that hole and stared at the dowel.  I quickly grabbed the last loaded rifle...the little Umarex Pumper and let fly an off-hand shot. I hit the chipper dead center in the back of its head and dropped it right there. Early on today, I had re-sighted the Umarex in with 117 cal RWS 6.9 gr Super-H-Point hunting pellets. They don't provide as much penetration as the 7.2 Daisy Pointed pellets but they are slightly more accurate and mushroom better.

When I shoot totally off-hand, I have my own method for that type of shot. I rase the rifle and align the cross hairs of the scope all in one motion. As soon as I see the target in the scope I begin the trigger squeeze so that when the cross hairs reach the point of aim, the gun is discharging a pellet.  That way I don't have the issue of the cross hairs weaving around before the rifle is fired. It is all a delicate matter of  timing the shot just as the cross hairs arrive at the point of aim.  It works for me with all my rifles.

Anyway... "at the end of the day".... I got lucky again and managed to get another Chipper. 
 
Here are the pictures of the pesting shot and a picture of the wooden dowel that I shot with the Summit Ranger.


Best Wishes - Tom



 

[ranchibi]

Tom, great shooting on both of those lil chippers! Tough shots semi offhanded on tiny lil targets! Seems like we’re both a tad busy with our pesting duties!

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

I went out and counted the Chipper burrows and holes today. It has rained hard the last couple of days.  I think any unused burrows got washed out in the heavy rain & thunderstorms.  I started shooting Chippers sometime ago..early last spring actually. I have always had problems with the Chipmunks but this year there have been many more. Two years ago I had to replace a fairly new A.C. for the house because of Chipper Damage in the electrical compartment where they nested. My Wife JoAnne loves to Garden and the Chippers have wrecked havoc in some areas of her gardens and some areas have had to be re-done. I counted thirteen "still existing holes" around the house today.
The pictures will show many of the areas where I have had trouble with Chippers. I had 40 or 50 burrows at one time this year but those chippers have been eliminated in one fashion or another. Anything in or around the house or in my wife's gardens gets a special rodent poison mixture combined with peanut butter and placed in a rodent only container. I have also put out rodent repelling compounds around the house and in JoAnne's gardens. I have no idea of actually how many Chippers I have shot this year but it is a whole lot more than I have posted. How many were eliminated by the poison is another unknown number. I only started counting the ones I am shooting with my last two Hunting Posts.


Best Wishes - Tom

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Tom, great shooting on both of those lil chippers! Tough shots semi offhanded on tiny lil targets! Seems like we’re both a tad busy with our pesting duties!

Hi Randall !

Thank you for a great reply.   

Yup...we are both busy controlling the Rodents lately.

I normally don't post pesting activities (Only Hunting in the Woods) but this year has been extreme.


Best Wishes - Tom

[35 shooter]

Wow, those chippers are trying to homestead on your yard for sure.
I think they picked the wrong yard though .
Great shot with that little msp!

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Wow, those chippers are trying to homestead on your yard for sure.
I think they picked the wrong yard though .
Great shot with that little msp!

Hi Buddy !

Thank you for your reply and complement !

Yup they sure are trying to take over the place this year. 

Early on, I gave them fair warning and tried a sign   ..."Deadly Force Employed- No Chipper Trespassing "   
I just don't think they can read English very well.   



Best Wishes - Tom

[Wayne52]

Great shooting on the chippers Tom !!!  I've only had a few occasions this year seeing chippers in my yard, I have been watching for them too.  There use to be a lot of them til I cleaned them out a couple three years back.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Great shooting on the chippers Tom !!!  I've only had a few occasions this year seeing chippers in my yard, I have been watching for them too.  There use to be a lot of them til I cleaned them out a couple three years back.

Hi Wayne !

Thank You for your reply & complement.

I clean the Chippers out every year but there is always more the next year.
I usually get a dozen or so each year... but this year... there has been..... way... more.


I used to feed the birds but I stopped doing that because it tends to attract the Chippers and Field Mice.
Now-a-days I only feed the birds during deep winter months (November thru March) when it is cold & there is a lot of snow on the ground.
They are coming from the woods out back of my place. There is 160 acres of privately owned woodland back there.
One of these days, the Lutheran church that owns that land will sell it and there will be houses back there.
That seems to be what is happening around here, over the past 10 years or so.
When I first moved here, 40 years ago, it was all farms & woodlots around me. Ever so gradually, there has been houses going up.
I have been thinking of relocating to a more remote area (because of that) ..but then I think about winter.
It is better to be closer to town when winter comes and the snow is deep.


Best Wishes - Tom

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

OK... it is 6:15 am CDT.......the 22 cal. Summit Ranger, the 22 cal. Hatsan Edge & the 117 cal. Umarex Pumper are loaded up and ready to go.  The pellets that I will be shooting today are 22 cal. Crosman 14.3 gr. Destroyer Hunting Pellets and 117 cal RWS 6.9 gr. Super-H-Point Hunting Pellets. The rifles are sighted-in at 30 yards. The three legged stool is out and in position.  The bottle of Muskol bug spray is out in in position too.   

Time to go to "WORK" 

Best Wishes - Tom

The weather conditions this morning are as follows:

Current conditions at L O Simenstad Municipal Airport (KOEO)
Elev: 886ft.
Fog/Mist
53°F
12°C
Humidity   100%
Wind Speed   Calm
Barometer   30.16 in
Dewpoint   53°F (12°C)
Visibility   3.00 mi
Last update   23 Jul 5:35 am CDT
Local Daytime Temperatures expected to reach 85 F midday with 82% humidity.
More Information: Local Forecast Office