# pest control.



## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

i dont know if this should go into hunting or not,since its mainly pest control if its in the wrong section please let me know! A crew of 50+ grackle/starlings are flying around my entire neighborhood pooping and attacking and aggressive behavior to other birds including cardinals and finches.Ive taken few with bb guns and now its time to practice! Im thinking of hiding behind something and put some bird seed in my bird feeder or bread on the ground,so the good birds fly in,then once the grackles move in its time for some shooting! have you guys ever used a slingshot for pest control? like birds or rats/mice? i used to kill mice with bb guns and im sure a slignshot would do. any tips?


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## Sunchierefram (Nov 16, 2013)

Is this legal where you live? If so, then make sure that you're actually able to hit one because grackles and starlings ain't the biggest things around.


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## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

its certain days you can hunt ill check the days,and i wont be hunting them today unless they land 10 feet away from me,lol


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

I have used slingshots recently for rats. I think rats are harder to kill than starlings. But I would still recommend using pretty heavy ammo ... like .44 lead for example. You want to be sure that if you do not get a head shot (starling head is very small) then you will still take your bird ... no wounded escaping birds, please.

Baiting is a good idea, if it is legal. I would put the bait on the ground ... you do not want to be shooting your feeder, and for safety you do not want your shots flying upward. Feed on the ground, birds on the ground, you will be shooting down at the ground.

As a boy, I used to use my slingshot to shoot doves behind the barn ... they came in to scavenge grains of corn from around the hog troughs ... I would pop around the corner of the barn and had about 1 second to line up and shoot ... very challenging. Shooting game over bait is one of the oldest hunting techniques in the world ... but it is not always legal.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Grackles, like their crow cousins, are very smart. I've shot them out of my neighbor's garden before and afterwards for a couple weeks every time I come out of the house they start yelling to each other up and down the street about it and none come anywhere near my yard.


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## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

ive had good luck with these,i used to be a ninja by crawling on the ground behind trailers,and nailed a few,im looking forward to getting dove and rabbit also.im sure i could hit a starling from the wing bone up close to the neck,birds dont need much power unless ur shootin turkeys lol


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## Tentacle Toast (Jan 17, 2013)

Grackles are smart like crows, but they're not cousins; crows are corvids (in the Jays family), while Grackles are passiformes (blackbird family)...


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## Abomb (Dec 22, 2013)

I would shoot at everything when i was young! even the little mice. keep at it kid!


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## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

yea kinda me,but since last year all the police came to my house i kinda let it go,got in trouble for the stupidest things.i still like my shooting though! me and my friends like to go back in these railroads behind a farm and we lift up matttresses and junk and mice fly every which way,we like to trap them/corner them and take our shot,im sure u could kill a mouse with a slingshot anywhere you could hit it,ive shot a mouse with a 300 fps airsoft gun and died quickly since i got a headshot,and i used to shoot grackles and starlings everyday i got home from school and grab my pumpmaster and shoot 1-4 a day kept the population down until today since i saw a lot fly by,cats loved them too! throw one under the porch and that kept the cats warm for the winter.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

mj is right bout them being smart like crows. once you miss, forget it . they will put up a shooter alert on you everytime you come out. you may be better off if you can scare them off without having to kill one.


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## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

ok thanks for the tip! trust me im sneaky! lol


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

I'd say the majority of the shooting I do at live targets is at vermin... rats maybe a couple dozen, grackles 100's taken, snakes more than a few, armadillos a few, squirrels not many maybe 20 or so, rabbits a truckload.... and ONE skunk!


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## BunnyBlaster (Dec 16, 2013)

wow,one goal is for me to get either a **** or a pheasant this year


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