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Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

I saw a starling in my backyard and opned my window and shot at it with the air shotgun. Using my scope, I aimed perfectly and it was only a 7 yard shot. After I fired, the bird appeared to fly off uninjured. I figured that the shot pattern spread out too much and I missed it, but I went ahead and looked out the other window on the other side of the house to see if there were any other birds out there worth shooting.

What do I see when I look out that window? A dead starling. Confused, I walked out to examine it. I was certain this was not the bird I had just shot. Number one, the starling flew off in the opposite direction, and number two, the area it landed in was in the exact spot that I normally shoot birds in on that side of my house. For it to find that spot to die in was almost like it offered itself up to me.

Anyway, I examined the body and it had fresh blood coming out of its mouth. It was limp and flimsy, pre rigor mortis. This had to be the same bird as it clearly just died.

I can't say I've ever seen a bird double back after being shot. Generally they fly off in a given direction and if injured they'll just land. I think what happened with this one is that it was so badly wounded that it just flew off and probably lost its bearings and aimed for the big trees that it landed under, and then died. Would've loved to have seen the path it took to get from where it was shot to where it died, but I was inside and it was obscured from my view. Very wierd event though.

cw · Banned

You are lucky that it landed in your
yard and not a neighbors. Do ever
punch paper?

CW

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

thepaladin · Senior Member

I stayed away from the air shotgun. Years ago (and I mean like 30 years ago) I had some of the .22LR shells loaded with bird shot. I got them to keep corvids away from the garden. I shot a bird from no more than five yards and watched it fly away. It stayed in sight as it crossed a field and landed in another tree. Then, it simply fell out of the tree. I didn't shoot anything else with these shells as I like a quicker kill. A pellet dispatches a bird right away with a good hit.

Please don't take that wrong, it's your business and I wasn't saying not to use the shotgun, I just don't care for it myself. Most of the birds I've killed were with a .22 pellet. Some prefer a .177, some something else. Still, the shot is small so what happened probably isn't too unusual, The bird possibly circled across behind your house, on the oppisite side from you.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

DelfinJager · New Member

I've seen this happen with a crow. I shot him and he flew up to one of the trees turned back and took nearly an identical path crash landing at the base of the tree I shot him out of. There is not predictable route a wounded animal takes.