Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

There have always been some house sparrows where I live, but for some reason this summer they have been swarming my bird feeder and plowing thru my bird seed.

I’ve been killing them as best I can, but I am a little constrained by neighbors (don’t feel comfortable shooting my .22 in all directions).

The only real change I feel like I’m making is they fly away when I go outside instead of to the nearest bush.


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ALL OF THEM!!

dude i'm trying.

I've killed like 15 in the last week and it didn't make a dent.

Any recommendations on air rifles? I think I can get a lot more if I can shoot a single shot projectile in the air and not have to worry about where the bullet goes down.

It's crazy tho, like they know how to hug the house so I can't shoot at them.

.410? Cat?

Cats ain’t worth sh!t for actual pests. Plus I’d be too tempted to just shoot the cat, because I hate them.

House sparrows don’t even fly into windows.

I’ve had every manner of bird crash into the windows. Even a racing pigeon, but never once a house sparrow yet I have rare warblers and sparrows that literally spend a day in the yard migrating thru hit the glass and die.

I use the 12 and 20 gauge, but I’ll literally blow the plants apart if I use them too often.

Im looking at sparrow traps online, and maybe I’ll look into donating the trapped birds to the Raptor Center or some shit. Might be something fun to do to keep me off frozen lakes all winter.


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Trapping would have to be the way to go

.22 shorts are subsonic and probably safer than an air rifle. My .17 Remington air rifle is the shit though....bought it as a birthday gift out of the bargain cave in Rogers Cabelas ten years ago and have killed a lot of shit with it. Out of the box....put the scope on it and have never adjusted it once. If you're worried about stuff being hit behind the target I'd actually be more worried about the air rifle versus .22 shorts. The air rifle is either 1200 or 1400fps and gives off a loud crack since it's super sonic.

Otherwise.....poisoned bird seed will take out a lot of them. The problem is it'll take out any of the other birds hitting the feeder too, but sometimes you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

We used to shoot a .32 Auto in my buddy's basement....wasn't a big basement....older house in Bloomington. We didn't do anything for the range either....would just line up some cans or other shit after getting spun and shoot them off a table in front of the cinder block basement wall. No one ever got hurt...nothing broken besides whatever target we were gunning at. I think the bigger bullet helped because it'd flatten out and stop when hitting the wall versus where I'd bet my air rifle wouldn't stopped at the wall....would've ricocheted and possibly taken out a window, one of his dogs, or came back and one of us would've lost an eye. A lot of stuff people would find really stupid or insane is actually pretty safe.

Point being....I think you'd be better off with .22 shorts versus an air rifle.

I've killed many, but they keep coming. The worst part is they are smart now. They know to hug the house not to get shot with a shotgun. They no longer sit in a bush long enough to line up a shot with my .22. The second they see me, outside or inside they split.

The best luck I've had is when a hawk keeps them in the bushes.

I actually need to hunt them now.

How many do you have? Isn’t there a bird trap of some kind you could buy?

Approximately how many have you killed? Just curious. Work from home?