Pics-kiling food birds with airgun at minus 30 to minus 40

try the image link:

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Great shooting!. I have no experiance with that type of bird being a southern type myself. How much meat is there once all the plumage is plucked and bird cleaned? The one in your right hand looks like a good size chicken.

A few years ago we experimented at my sisters apartment building in Downtown Washington, and had a great broiled pidgeon brest dinner with expenditure of some air rifle pellets.

An airgun is a very valueble food gathering tool!:thumbup:
 
My friend Tommy Tompkins, the renowned Canadian bushman, used to pack an air pistol (a Franklin, I think) on his months-long sojourns through the Canadian north for just that purpose. Ping! Supper on the fire...
 
jackknife said:
Great shooting!. I have no experiance with that type of bird being a southern type myself. How much meat is there once all the plumage is plucked and bird cleaned? The one in your right hand looks like a good size chicken.

A few years ago we experimented at my sisters apartment building in Downtown Washington, and had a great broiled pidgeon brest dinner with expenditure of some air rifle pellets.

An airgun is a very valueble food gathering tool!:thumbup:
Click to expand...

There is a very thick and meaty chest on these birds and they are built almost exactly like a typical Grouse. There is a bit of meat on the legs and pretty much nothing on the wings. Most people, myself included just grip the chest feathers and skin then rip it off or to the side. Then you shove your thumb under the chest cavity just above the anus and pull straight up to yank the breast meat off the bird. So...one hand holding the legs, other hand push thumb in and pull up to yank meat off. It takes longer to explain, than to do it. I just keep the breast meat and hearts. I have read somewhere to use particular oil on an airgun compression mechanism. However, I have just been putting a little shot of WD40 in it and the gun has worked like a charm for months now. I am talking about extreme conditions here and I am also a little surprised that nothing has broken or shattered internaly from the cold. For a cheap little Crosman 781, it has been rock solid and reliable. You may or may not notice that these birds have snowshoe type feet and long claws on their toes. It is all to stay on top of the snow, but also be able to scratch down to old frozen berries. They are a fairly mild bird, on the gaminess scale.
 
Alberta Ed said:
My friend Tommy Tompkins, the renowned Canadian bushman, used to pack an air pistol (a Franklin, I think) on his months-long sojourns through the Canadian north for just that purpose. Ping! Supper on the fire...
Click to expand...

Cool. Sometimes I get 1-2, other times 8-9. I have noticed that the colder it is out, the less they want to move. Meaning that I can get closer to them on extremely cold days. Although it takes a lot of jam to go out at minus 40, like today.:eek:
 
Speaking of close, how close are you able to get to these birds. It's hard to tell, but it looks like you're getting them with head shots. Yes? Also, do you have a scope on your airgun?
 
Great shooting. I popped a ptargiman up in Alaska and several spruce grouse with a .22 revolver. Fortunately it was only 20 degrees F and I didn't have to put up with those extremes. I'm acclimatized for Brazil now and don't handle cold like that anymore. OK, who are we kidding, I never really did and then moved to Brazil.

In my experience the spruce grouse were tough birds, they would fly away if you didn't hit them in the head or through the shoulders breaking the wings. If I read those birds correctly those were head shots. I am surprised you can get an air rifle to work in that kind of cold. Mac
 
on_the_edge said:
Speaking of close, how close are you able to get to these birds. It's hard to tell, but it looks like you're getting them with head shots. Yes? Also, do you have a scope on your airgun?
Click to expand...

Head or neck shots from 30-50 feet, usually on the closer side as I use white camo and cover such as large boulders. I have a little Crosman pellet scope on it, works great, no complaints. Funny how we usually think that white is white and that white furred, winter coated, animals blend into the snow. Well yes and no. These birds have a sort of subtle florescent white to them and I can discern them fairly easily in a tree, as opposed to a snow blob. The rabbits here are also slightly off white and are a greyish version of white. Their coloration is damn close, but just off enough to catch the knowing eye. I guess it is like Chanterelle or Bolita mushrooms up here. Once you recognize them, you suddenly see them everywhere.
 
pict said:
Great shooting. I popped a ptargiman up in Alaska and several spruce grouse with a .22 revolver. Fortunately it was only 20 degrees F and I didn't have to put up with those extremes. I'm acclimatized for Brazil now and don't handle cold like that anymore. OK, who are we kidding, I never really did and then moved to Brazil.

In my experience the spruce grouse were tough birds, they would fly away if you didn't hit them in the head or through the shoulders breaking the wings. If I read those birds correctly those were head shots. I am surprised you can get an air rifle to work in that kind of cold. Mac
Click to expand...

I would take Brazil over this also buddy.;) The north can have a long winter, but the spring,summer,fall are to die for as the country is beautiful. I will try to find some summer pics. I am on Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. I think Field and Stream magazine called this the best Lake trout fishery in the world. I also have Lake trout catch pics, maybe I can find those also. Having a .22 pistol would be blast but Big Brother here will not allow that.
 
Upnorth.

Cool. I haven't thought about ptarmigan in a long time. Used to hunt them when I was a kid with my Dad, but then for some reason they stopped coming that far south.

I've also had a lot of success using an air gun, but it was a Sherman....hit like a .22 and was soooo much quieter. Nobody even noticed around town.

My favorite recipe for the ptarmigan was to bake the breasts, hearts and thighs in mushroom soup, with extra mushrooms added....

...thanks for reminding me of my father, he taught and encouraged me in many ways - very good memories.

Thankyou.
D
 
I think I have you beat for latitude, I am in Iqaluit Nunavut.
Still a bit from the arctic circle, but its been cold nonetheless.
-50 with the wind chill is not uncommon this time of year.

I pasted this from cbc north just now

Tonight..Clear. Wind northwest 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low minus 35. Wind chill minus 47.
Friday..Sunny. High minus 29.
Friday night..Clear. Wind up to 15 km/h. Low minus 33. Wind chill minus 43.

Nice birds, I havent tried much of the local fare, and I have been here 3 years. Caribou and narwhal or beluga blubber.
I have smelled a lot of it, maybe thats why I stay away.
aged walrus blubber, anyone?
 
Handsome pics. So I guess a .410 would be overkill? CB caps in a .22 boltaction are practically like hunting with an air-rifle.

CHEERS

---------------
Now you just need a brace of grouse.
 
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