is .22 LR (from 22" barrel) sufficient for magpies?

S

SkinnyJoe

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Assuming they're legal to hunt in the Western states.

Anybody shot these things? They sound kinda interesting. :)
 
.22 LR is fine. They will go over a mile or two if you miss though, so watch your back ground. They will also go through the magpie as well. My 22LR went through both doors of a 1970's era Impala.

FB
 
I recall a story about the Israelis once using Ruger 10/22's for "crowd control" - the goal being to shoot people in legs to dissuade bad behavior. Lethality (as in, too much) became a problem, so they stopped using the .22 for this purpose.
The story was from an Israeli military website called something like isaret.com, which I think might be gone.

I digress. :)

So, it is effective against small game, assuming proper shot placement. Frank is right about you not wanting to shoot one up in the air.

:thumbup:
 
Unless anyone has experience to the contrary, I'd suggest trying one of those ultra velocity hollow point rounds. Might get more energy transfer that way.
 
Agreed - I'd suggest CCI Stingers. They're usually more accurate, too, for some reason that I have yet to figure out.
 
I have shot many Magpies with my various .22lrs. I have always used subsonic hollowpoints, from a suppressed rifle.

They are very alert birds.
 
If you are not shooting the birds on the ground, I would suggest using a good air rifle. The down range risk of shooting a bird in a tree is pretty high unless you don't have anything of value in your "backstop". Pick your shots carefully. ;)

22LR's have a lot of penetration so, punching a hole through a Magpie is not that hard. Accuracy is up to you, your ammunition, and your rifle.
 
They're scavengers and are really pretty obnoxious critters. Pretty, though (at least the ones here in the West are).
 
dawsonbob said:
I'm curious; why would anyone want to shoot Magpies?
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I was wondering that too. Bet they taste like kaka, and there can't be much meat on them.

s_magpie.jpg
 
As Bob W said, they probably taste terrible and there's not much meat on them.

Just my way of thinking, but if you can't eat it, and it's not attacking you, then there's no reason to shoot it. The way I look at it, if it's not carrying an AK-47, dressed in black pajamas, and drawing a bead on you, you shouldn't shoot it unless you need to eat it. Shoot rabbits; there are lots of those, and they make a good meal.

Just my .02 cents worth.
 
Really, what's wrong with a bird being a scavenger? They're just cleaning up crap that we leave laying around.
 
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How big are they? from the pics I found on the net the appear to look like a crow with some white.
 
rmc85 said:
How big are they? from the pics I found on the net the appear to look like a crow with some white.
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The ones I've seen around here a just a little bigger than a Bluejay. They are related to Crows, apparently.
 
For Washington State FYI:
Magpies are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. However, under the Code of Federal Regulations, “a Federal permit shall not be required to control . . . magpies, when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance . . .”

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/magpies.htm
 
"They raid the nests of wild birds, taking eggs and chicks."

So do many other birds and other critters: it's called nature.

"..however, I shoot them because they are noisy, arrogant assholes."

So are many people.
 
dawsonbob said:
...it's called nature...
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By extension of your argument, man killing animals is nature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-billed_Magpie#Relationship_with_humans
Especially during the first half of the 20th century, black-billed magpies were considered detrimental to game-bird populations (they sometimes steal bird eggs) and domestic stock (they may sometimes peck at sores on cattle), and were systematically trapped or shot.
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You can go ahead and tell people that they should let their cattle be picked at by birds because "it's called nature" but that isn't going to cut it with most people. Sure, it's easy to say when you don't have a stake in the matter.

There are plenty of varmints that humans kill who are just playing out their role in "nature." Where do you draw the line? What about invasive species?

Your position of only killing in self-defense or for food is pretty black and white. You wouldn't kill to sustain an ecosystem from the invasion of a non-native species? You wouldn't kill a pack of wolves who were picking off livestock? You wouldn't kill to cull overpopulation of a species which threatens an area with disease and starvation?

I'm not saying these scenarios are applicable to magpies, just that your black & white stance doesn't hold up so cleanly in the real world (as most black & white stances).
 
hell ya! it will be fine,
shoot CCI 36gr hollows out of something like this and you will be golden :D
IMG_1181.jpg

and the israelis failed miserably using .22s as crowd control fyi
 
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