Shot of a life time?
Ok, last night I took a shot at a dying bird down at the pond on the property I live on. We didn’t know it was wounded at first and I was just trying to scare it off by splashing near it. That’s when we knew it was wounded cause it would not fly off. We were about to take the kids fishing down there so I ran down to see what was going on. I should have taken a gun with me, but I didn’t. What I found was a large raptor that looked like it had been peppered by some red neck with a shot gun or something. it was in bad shape so I went back up to the house and rested the 25 cal edgun standard r3m n the front porch railing. I had already figured out the hold over when I was trying to scare it off. But it was almost all the way to the edge of the view on 6 X so I counted up to what I thought was the upper limit of the scope and took a few more shots into the water. Still 10 mil dots of hold over so I took the scope to as much magnification as I could and still see the 10 mark and made sure the wind was dead. Took one shot and the bird stood straight up and fell over backwards. No movement. No way, this is at least 265 yards.
Now I didn’t enjoy killing this animal and I’m not posting pics of it or mentioning what kind of bird it was. I don’t think it was endangered and I assure you it was a mercy killing. However, I am so surprised at what this gun did, that I just gotta share it. Below are a few pics of the exact place of the shot. I put a one gal detergent bottle in its place to show. I have hit The bottle about 10 out of 13 times today. I was wrong about the scope being maxed out cause I was able to get it to the 2 mil mark, bu Thtats maxed out. About 160 clicks up from a zero of 45 yards plus two more mil. That is what it took to hit at that range.
This is the view from where I too the shot. There is an orange bottle whe the bird was for some reason its resizing the image so you got to look to the right a bit. If you follow the trail down the hay field, the bottle is on the far edge of the pond in line with the wheel tracks.
This is the best pic I could get to show the target. I don’t have a scope cam. I just held my iPad up to the scope and moved it around until I got a half assed pic. That’s a long dang shot for an pellet. It take forever to get a response from the target. Like one second to hit and another 2/3 seconds for the sound to come back. I still can’t believe I’m hitting targets reliably at close to 300 yards. I bought this gun to shot 100 yards and its gone way beyond that. :5:
The cheap energy shot bottle is what I use to carry pellets around with me. I’ve got a foam piece from a jsb can soaked in pellet lube in the bottom to help dampen the shock from it being in m pocket.
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Hi Wanta,
just to make clear that even though I’m not hunting, I don’t blame anybody for doing it (obviously within the legal constraints).
Now I understand that it wasn’t meant to be a mercy shot but a killing for mercy.
So behind the same word “Mercy”, actually there are two different concepts and two different meanings, very different, it’s just that at first glance sometimes you don’t get the difference.
Sorry for my misunderstanding.
ATB
Wen I say I’m surprised that I’m hitting at that range, what I meant was that I have been suprized since I bought the gun in December. Here is a post from 5 days before I took that shot
Here is another one from may 31st
As far as the percentages goes. I guess miss completely would be 33%, another wounding shot 33% and kill shot would have been 33%. However, I had more than one pellet and it wasnt the first shot i had taken that day. I never claimed it was a mercy shot, only that the killing was for mercy. That statment was only to differentiate between reasons to end an animals life. I don’t have anything against hunting and I eat tons of meat, but I don’t kill for fun. I don’t shoot at animals unles they are being a pest. I’ve killed a few turtles because I was asked to by the owner of the pond. Like I said before, I don’t own the house and all I had with me at the time was a 9mm pistol (talk about a long shot) and my edgun, which was sitting on the porch. I wanted to see what it would do at that range. Worst case, I could drive back down and finish it in less than two min. The post wasn’t meant to be about the bird. The back story was only to explain why I was shooting at such a bird. I didn’t ask for or deserve any credit for killing it. I was trying to see what I could do with this gun. An since the bird was dying, it was a rare opportunity for me to shoot at an animal without straight up being a dick.. I like hunting and killing, I just don’t do it unless there is a good reason for it.
I’ve had plenty of opurtunites to kill that bird from much less range in the last 6weeks or so. It would stock me from above everytime I went down to the pond. Flying lazy circles around me or purching atop a tree and watching me for hours. The white trash that moved into a lot behind us actually asked us about getting someone to trash its nest or something to get it to move. I think it tried to take one of its pets or was eating the birds on there property. I’d say they probably hit it the first time.
As far as believing whether or not I could actually make that shot. Well, I don’t believe anything I see online and I don’t expect you to either. I put zero effort into proving anything I did because I have zero concern for wether or not anyone believes me. I assume that most everyone on here is telling the truth and I assume they imbelish from time to time. I’m not a great shot, don’t claim to be. When I post about things I did, Im Bragging about the gun, not me. I’ve got a long way to go as far learning range estimation, proper hold over, and how to actually use a scope. That’s why I got into airguns. I don’t have the time or money to get into 1000 yard shooting but long range air gun shooting has prevent to be just as challenging. When I post, its either to be helpful, reinforce someone else’s point, or just to add to the forum because it has gotten slow. The people I work with talk about hip-hop rappers and the new Nikes all day. I have nothing in common with them, so I enjoy interacting with intelligent people about technical things on here. Nothing more. If someone in the Birmingham area would like to pm me about getting together and having some fun, light hearted, shooting time; I would love the chance. They may very well out shoot me all day long.. If that’s they case, then I get to learn from someone better than me.
Hi Wanta,
I’m a bit confused about your MERCY SHOT.
So you say you are surprised and can’t believe that you are hitting targets reliably at close to 300 yards but you took your MERCY SHOT from a distance of 265 yards.
May I please ask you to put some percentages of success to the following situations you think might have happened to your 265 yards MERCY SHOT?
1) You miss the bird (?%)
2) You hit the bird but you don’t kill it, so your mercy shot is only adding suffering to suffering (?%)
3) You certainly kill the bird instantly with one single shot at 265 yards (?%)
Personally if I would have been concerned about the suffering of the animal I would have walked the whole distance back to give him peace instead of risking a “Shot of a life time”.
Thanks in advance and ATB
Wanta,,, I admire to your story and you are a great man,,, go ahead and be with your family ,,, family is always 1st priority ,,,, and at least you can shot through the land that we can see in the pic,,isn’t it? if yes,,,then ,,that is enough to have a place to shot there,,,,
Good shooting by the way!!!
Thanks for reminding me of nice this palace is. I often forget about it. It has really started to feel like a prison. 11 years ago I was the lead mechanic at a test facility in south Florida and had everything going for me. Two incomes, condo less than two miles from the beach. Two new cars and a custom built 88ci, 6speed Harley sportster I build for myself. i was also working on my engineering degree and had a kid on the way. Then my father-in-law had a massive heart attach and was given 9 months to live. I took a pay cut to get back to the test facility here in Alabama so my family would have at least a little bit of time together before he died and they were going to need help keeping this place going. Well, 8 years later, the bottom fell out of the economy and I lost my job. There just isn’t shit in this area that pays but I can’t move away without leaving my kids behind. My father in law is still alive and they still need a lot of help to keep this place going. My first job out of school payed $19 an hour back in 1997. The best I could get in my field around here as a master mechanic is $12. So I feel trapped because I’m waisting the most productive years of my life working in a factory and most of my free time is tied up replacing fence posts or cutting acres of grass. But, every once in a while I wake up and realize that I have kept my family together and they are growing up a much better way than I did. Unless you count the gang of rednecks shooting at birds, There hasn’t been a single gang shooting at the local school since I moved here. I had been shot at more than once by the time I left school. Of course, I may have more to do with that than Id like to remember. Thanks for reminding me of the kick ass place I’m allowed to inhabit. We have a little corner of it with an old farm house but I don’t own any of what you see in the pictures.
Cracking place you have there, and an amazing shot well done and for putting the bird out its misery.
Hey Wanta! are you looking for a tenant?! Man that’s a gorgeus yard you have there buddie!!!! Soooo jealous! In a good way 😉
Good shooting by the way!!!
It seems that the .25 caliber likes 100+!
unbelievable. so 100 yd is a piece of cake for .25. Hope to see your video one day to show long range shot.
I never realized how much the angle of the shot would have on the pellet speed. I was shooting from about the same distance today from below the pond (+2 degrees) and was way off. I never actually got it figured out from that spot. I went back and started shooting from the side walk (-10 degrees vs the -14 degrees of the orginnal shot) and I was at a six mildot hold instead of 2 mil. I put a 32 oz icy cup next to it today and got lucky. The wind held long enoug for me to figure out my holdover and hit the cup in one shot. Went back after putting the steaks on the grill and couldn’t get a decent shot to save my life. Too much change in the wind. Also, I can’t realy feel the wind from this spot. The house is blocking it . One shot would be 3 mil left, the next would be center, then back to the left again. It just takes too long to for the pellet to get there. Next stop. Bullets, maybe. Well just have to see if I get that raise I’ve been promised for 2.5 years.
Amazing! I Wish I could order a .25 caliber also! Nice shooting! No, AMAZING shooting! :7:
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Good shooting by the way!!!
Thanks for reminding me of nice this palace is. I often forget about it. It has really started to feel like a prison. 11 years ago I was the lead mechanic at a test facility in south Florida and had everything going for me. Two incomes, condo less than two miles from the beach. Two new cars and a custom built 88ci, 6speed Harley sportster I build for myself. i was also working on my engineering degree and had a kid on the way. Then my father-in-law had a massive heart attach and was given 9 months to live. I took a pay cut to get back to the test facility here in Alabama so my family would have at least a little bit of time together before he died and they were going to need help keeping this place going. Well, 8 years later, the bottom fell out of the economy and I lost my job. There just isn’t shit in this area that pays but I can’t move away without leaving my kids behind. My father in law is still alive and they still need a lot of help to keep this place going. My first job out of school payed $19 an hour back in 1997. The best I could get in my field around here as a master mechanic is $12. So I feel trapped because I’m waisting the most productive years of my life working in a factory and most of my free time is tied up replacing fence posts or cutting acres of grass. But, every once in a while I wake up and realize that I have kept my family together and they are growing up a much better way than I did. Unless you count the gang of rednecks shooting at birds, There hasn’t been a single gang shooting at the local school since I moved here. I had been shot at more than once by the time I left school. Of course, I may have more to do with that than Id like to remember. Thanks for reminding me of the kick ass place I’m allowed to inhabit. We have a little corner of it with an old farm house but I don’t own any of what you see in the pictures.
I feel you brother! I went thought a rough time myself went the economy went south a few year ago, I lost my job, lost my house and on top of that getting a divorce, horrible times,I got so many traffic tickets that I almost lost my right to drive, I was so frustrated and depressed, but fortunately I have a great family and real friends that helped me to get up and keep going! I know some of you guys might think the opposite but for me money it’s important but it’s not everything, you got your family together wich is the most important. I’m glad I have a excellent job that pays well but even I couldn’t afford a place like that here in Cali, I’m not a city guy and I would die to have a place like that, but that’s life, you can’t have everything right!