Talon SS vs wild rooster
So I’m sneaking around in the jungle in Hawaii, next to a dirt road, hunting feral roosters with my 12″ barreled TT Talon SS .22 set on power wheel #10. There is a GTBJ shroud on to keep things nice and quiet, and I’m wearing camo. I cross a pig trail which has a rank smell of wild pigs, but considering what happened next, thank God I don’t encounter any of those suckers. I spot a white rooster before he spots me, and he’s walking along the road in my direction. I crouch behind a bush, adjust the scope, aim at his chest, and when he gets 25 yards away, I pull the trigger. The 21 grain Barracuda makes a “thwock” sound as it hits, and there is a puff of feathers into the air as he lets out a squawk. I figure it’s an instantly fatal shot for sure, and that he’s down for the count. Instead, he flaps his wings and flies off squawking like mad, never to be recovered. Guys, this rifle with Tony’s valve work must be pushing 30 fpe, and yet that’s not enough to take down a wild chicken??? What kind of fpe do I need to do the job if I’m not going for a head shot? Sheesh…..
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well trained dog might be usefull
hahahaha, that was hilarious, Maw. The chicken my friend shot also ran off with the arrow exactly centered on its body, front point sticking out same distance as the rear fletches and last seen running full tilt into the brush. I turned to my friend and told him, “congratulations, you just lost a $30 arrow. You could have bought a whole chicken at costco already cooked for $6 you idiot.”
I had a blackbird one time fly off with my arrow straight through it, got a kick out of that story Walt. Thanks for the memory.
You’re barking up the wrong hau bush. 30fpe should be plenty to take down a rooster. You’re aiming at the wrong place. When taking one from the side, you have only 2 options: head shot, instantly fatal, but hard to hit as they weave and bob. Trying to time the bob is hard. Have done it, but it ain’t easy. Other option is base of wing, the forward edge, not the rear, try to break as many bones where they connect to the skeleton. If you break enough, they will puncture the lungs and the bird will go down almost instantly. Will flap in place, but will stay down and won’t last 30 seconds. From the front, if its coming at you, you only have 2 shots. headshot, easier because even though it’s bobbing, it’s in the same plane as your shot; or neck, smaller target but just as lethal. Never try for body from the front, your pellet will never reach the vitals. I’ve seen chickens run off with $30 worth of carbon fiber arrow and %$#*%*#(( expensive hunting heads, to disappear in the bush and never be seen again. No, not my arrow, thanks for the vote of confidence assholes 🙂 I’d never waste an arrow on a stupid shot like that. The guy I was backing up got bored and decided he’d like to try for the chicken instead of waiting for a pig.
aloha,
walt
Find a pellet you like that will impart more energy into the target.
X 2 🙂
30 fpe should be plenty, Though as knife says, birds can be tough as the feathers make for some good armour 😯
If you go up a calibre and use a bigger pellet, you are just gonna make a slightly bigger hole, and that extra energy you invested in will merely bury the pellet deeper in the dirt once its passed through the target..:x
If you are shooting these things within 40 yards or so, try using a crow mag or Pred’. The Kodiak pellets are very good and accurate, but they pass through flesh real easy and don’t leave a whole lot of shock damage behind.
Find a pellet you like that will impart more energy into the target.
Knifemaker,
I hear you about the superiority of head and neck shots with wild chickens and a 30fpe rifle. However, often in the jungle, it’s damn tough to even spot ’em, much less get a head shot. They retreat into this kind of thick cover called Hau bushes which is impossible to get through without a machete. So, guys, what if I upgraded to a 20″ .25 barrel that gave me 50 fpe at powerwheel #10? Would that 31 grain pellet be enough to put ’em down with a body shot? if not, I’m going to save myself some money, stick with the 12″ .22 barrel, and limit myself to head and neck shots only.
It’s been said many times. Bullet placement is much more important than placement.
Breast shot+ Feathers that act as armor. Thick muscle tissue, backed up by a thick breast plate. Probably one of the worst places to place the shot. Add to this and the fact that most people have n idea where the vitals are in the chicken anatomy. The vitals are lower than you would think. Hit too high in the breast, and it is a bad wound. Probably will die, but slowly. (Not good when its’ the neighbors loud mouth rooster.) 😉 Kinda does away with the advantage of having a LDC when the run of squawking like hell!!!
Neck. Easy to miss—BUT—its usually kill or not. Very little chance of a wounded animal.
Head shot, Mostly the same, unless you only shoot his pecker off! 😆
Now you have a wounded and starving chicken.
damn i thumped a few crows at 50+ with my hunter extreme pushing 30 fpe with polymags
and nailed a few with my 20 fpe disco pistol using cp’s
aim for base of wing or hip
if you bust the hip they cant fly and u caan finish them if you nail the wing it will go through the vitals and they cant fly but can run but will usually die quick
Birds like that are so thick with feathers it amazing also you just never know what you hit next time you do that it might drop right where you shot it I would go for a head or neck shot next time to flying off then
Oh yea almost forgot great stocking story you might want to give pyramid Air a call your story sounded allot like Paul Capelo that does all there videos if you haven’t watched any they are usually great he is also a great guy!
I’d go for head shots 😈
Welcome to the world of the small game hunter!!
I have put a pellet through the vitals of many rabbits just to see them run a 100 yards before dropping. Unless you smash the brain or heart, they will keep on going out of sight before they die…
Little fuckers… 😆
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Thanks to all you guys who gave me very helpful advice. I’ll go for head, neck, and wing root shots from now on. (That reminds me of when I was a kid and used to read stories of WW2 fighter pilots aiming at the wing roots of Zero’s and ME-109’s.) I spent some time Googling chicken skeletal diagrams and now have a good idea where the wings connect to the backbone. Out in the field it is going to be tougher to determine that connection point because the feathers fluff up and camouflage the actual body outline, but I’ll do some hunting this week and let you all know how it works out.