Finally, I got a chance to shoot at something this morning, as the weather cleared at last and the day dawned clear and relatively calm. I was having a cup of tea at about 7.15 am and spotted 2 hares on the hillside across from my house, so it was out with my silent-shooting Falcon .22. There was a problem in that the hares were just above the treetops so it had to be a standing shot. My shaky hands wouldn't allow an off hand shot at 101 yards, so I carried the boom box across the deck to a suitable spot and rested on that.

I shot and hit one of the hares, but not convincingly enough for an instant kill, and as I watched he hopped into the gorse bushes and disappeared.
Just then 3 magpies landed in the gum tree right across from me. I lasered one at 50 yards and was about to dispatch it, when I dropped my range finder and the resulting noise scared them off. I was about to pack up when I saw them land on the hillside, further away than where the hares had been. So I lined up the closest one, which lasered at 133 yards, and fired. I heard a satisfying "thwok" as the pellet hit, and all hell broke loose as the maggie did a ground loop, then somehow took to flight amidst screams and squawks from its mates. It made it to the pine trees across from me, but must have done so on adrenalin, as it was a good hit

Walking back from retrieving it, I took a photo from the spot where I hit it, back towards the house. 133 yards is quite a way!

And here's the shooters eye view

The maggie I shot was in the sunny green patch of grass just above the muzzle of the gun.
This is my best long distance kill yet, though my son's 139 yard hare still holds the record for this gun....
It's a beautiful day here so I better go outside and do some work!
Regards
Neil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2009 06:24AM by neilmcp.

Nice shot! The heck with work, enjoy that day!

Thanks Jerry, I did! I did some chores then played with my big bores during the afternoon, doing some field testing by shooting targets at various distances off my rucksack, and found the range tapes to be pretty good, and then the day finished well too with this 110 yard shot on a hare, prone off the bipod off my back deck at 7.45 last night, shot at nearly the same spot as "the one that got away" in the morning

It was a good day!
Cheers
Neil

Hey Neil,

You are a machine Dude! Good shooting. Nothing like a Magpie/Hare stew to stick to your ribs!!

Thanks for the post! Gosh ... I wish one of my guns would shoot that far ....

Gary

Ummm, Gary, I think you mean "I wish someone would post about shooting one of my guns that far.."
Thanks, it was nice to get to shoot something that wasn't paper for a change!
Regards
Neil

Oh ... that must be what I meant. But ... don't be silly. ha. To shoot one of mine ... you'd have to ... put air in it ... you'd have to have a pellet ... cock it ... pull the trigger .... it DOES get cumbersome ... say phwat?!!

Gary

Good job Neil! Very impressive shooting. Oh, that big silent portable bench is really nice! Wish I had one.

Gary, you're very funny he..he..