Doves
What is it with Doves. I bought a talon ss just to shoot doves at a farm I help keep up. My first gun for this was a RWS model 34. Good hits and they just flew away with a puff of feathers. After much research I got a ss. Now, 50% are flying away. Setting is around 10 with JSB exacts that I can hit a quarter with at 35 yards. Is this pellet at 16 +/- grains to light or am I expecting to much. Heck, from the reviews I have read this gun should do the trick all the way to coons. What gives. I hit a bird at 50 yards Thankgiving only to watch it fly away to who knows were. Bad feeling for such a fine shot. Are doves just that tough or am exepecting to much from this air gun.
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I’ve been building a house that’s in a crow flyway. Get a couple of shots every day in the eighty plus yard range. (must be their comfort Zone) I watched four or five fly away with perfect center mass hits, only one fell on the spot. Started going for head shots after that. Anywhere in the head or neck and they are done. Either a hit or miss. No more wounding, although i am waiting to knock the beak off one but hasn’t happened yet. That would not be good, don’t want anything to die a horrible death. My kill ratio has went way up. I’m five staight right now without a missed opportunity all last week. One even hung on upside down for a minute or so flapping it’s wings in the top of a tree. Was waiting for the neighbors to come down but they didn’t. I love crow hunting. Shoot em in the dome! 😈
Headshots are pretty tricky under bad conditions like windy weather and so on. Back or breastshots work well in most cases. If you hit the wings that bastarts are though like tanks. Try to use plastic dummies which bring you the doves within your shootingrange ,and offer them a little bit of corn or other stuff they like.
Have fun!!and good luck!!
Yeah, never hit a dove, but I’ve hit a few other kinds of birds, one out to 50+ yrds. I never have done a head shot on any of them. Square in the chest everytime. A puff of feathers, and they instantly fall lifeless, like a rock right then and there. Used Kodiaks. Like I said, never did a dove, maybe they’re just a tougher bunch? I seen large crows drop on the spot with AG’s, and they seem to be pretty tough. Kinda surprised to hear this. Maybe go to a heavier pellet/hollow point?
c’mon, pigeons are the easiest bird to kill. Took hundreds of them down over the years. The upper chest or between the shoulders are the best kill zones. Yes, I had many take offs, but all of them downed few yards away. The longest death-trip was, if I remember correctly, around 40 yards or so. And that happens with usually .177 slugs that just zip through.
Same deal with doves. Heads shots…no, not for me. Squirrels and rabbits, then yes, definitely.
Like others said, headshot for sure. I killed a few pigeons with my crosman 1077, just pop off 3 rounds and hope one hits em in the face 😆
Thanks for all the help. I love my new SS and can hit things I never thought possible. W/O a doubt I have been shooting center mass thinking that was what I should do. I will work on better shot placement. Thanks again for all the help!!
maybe some of them are side shots and your just shooting thru the breast, which you don’t want to do anyway cause thats the part you eat.
First — I do not shoot Dove with my Talon SS because it is illegal were I live. These statement is for LEO.
Second — If you are shooting them in the body with a .22 pellet 50% will fly off and die elsewhere. You need to shoot them in the neck so that they either drown in there own blood or you brake there neck when shot. Then you kill count will go up to 80 to 90%. The best place is to shoot them in the head with 100% kill ratio.
I’d also suggest trying the 21gr Kodiaks. I’ve shot a barrel full of the bigger ring necked doves and just a few will ever leave under their own power. Mostly it knocks the crap out of them and game over….
A dove, as well as others such as grackles can take a direct center mass shot and have enough life left to fly just outa sight before giving up the ghost. As Machinist said, all about shot placement. Hit the head or base of neck to anchor’em down. Even tho the pellet goes thru the middle of’em they can still get away.
Peace,
ASMALLVOICE
Its all shot placement..I’m betting your aiming dead center at the breast..thats where I aim but before i pull the trigger i raise up a little and try for a head or neck shot, I killed 25 pigeons last night with my talon ss shooting co2 with Crosman Premier Pellets .177 10.5 gr, only had 5 fly off..I havent got to use any hpa but I like you thought the gun would rip one in half no matter where you shot it..go for the head.. 😉
you need a head shot on those little bastards.
you could also try Predators,
http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/pellet.pl?pellet_id=343
btw – welcome 😉
Forgot to mention that this rifle is .22
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Actually it’s illegal everywhere. Doves are migratory game birds, covered by federal treaty, and are therefore “shotgun only”, even in otherwise ‘airgun hunting friendly’ states like California.
Like lots of guys, I shoot feral pigeons on local farms from time to time, whole different deal.
As others have said, they can be tough customers. I find head shots hard to take, their heads seem to to be in constant motion. I’ve also decided wings might as well be bullet proof vests. There are some strong bones in there, and the feathers interlock. Remember, they hold the bird up in flight. Look up their anatomy on the web, it’s not what you’d think.
The best shots I’ve found are upper chest frontal shots (avoid the wings) or ‘between the shoulder blades’ from the back. If they’re above me (as is often the case) snaking one into the chest from below (trying to go out the back at the neck) seems to work ‘every time’.
Avoid the crop, if full of grain and rocks it’s not going to help but it will stop the pellet.
Otherwise, watch the fly off. Radically curved flight with an awkward take off is a sure sign. As is flying off with one or both legs hanging.
Doug Owen