Long Range Aim Points For Crows

[Stoater 21]

I have been having some hectic and fruitful sessions on carrion crows, but am missing a good few too, and need some advice.

The birds keep coming back to the top of 120ft (40 yard) tall lime trees to mob their fallen comrades, once you get the first one of course. My shooting position is 45 yards away.

So, the shot is taken at a steepish upwards angle.

I think I read somewhere that on these steep shots, you should actually aim under your intended target?? I would have thought gravity would mean the opposite effect more relevant. Any thoughts? I am using .177 Bisley Magnums in a BSA Ultra SE, and cannot reliably see the pellet through the air.

[mark williams 7,549]

Hi Stoater,

Utra SE you say , great rifle.Go headshot only on crows, the ultra wont miss but "you or i might".

Take up your usual position and pick out any mark on the tree at about the height the crows are and check your zero is spot on.

Air Arms Fields Diablo are an extremely accurate, hard hitting pellet through an Ultra.(Do clean the barrel first mate after using Bisley Magnums if you try them).

 

Good Luck !

Edited May 7, 2015 by mark williams

[bigmac 97kt 13,735]

Hi Stoater,

Utra SE you say , great rifle.Go headshot only on crows, the ultra wont miss but "you or i might".

Take up your usual position and pick out any mark on the tree at about the height the crows are and check your zero is spot on.

Air Arms Fields Diablo are an extremely accurate, hard hitting pellet through an Ultra.(Do clean the barrel first mate after using Bisley Magnums if you try them).

 

Good Luck !

As Mark has say,d the ultra is a cracking rifle and the only thing that lets it down is the one behind it

 

its more than capable of taking down the crows

 

do as mark has say,d check your zero and go for a head shot and if the pellet falls short you will end up with a chest shot the result is the same dead crows

 

I shoot hundreds of them and never had a wounded one yet chest or head shot is the way to go

 

as mark has say,d pick a point on the tree where the crows sit and fire away and you will see where your pellet falls then just use your mill dots to adjust so the pellet fall on or next to your first shot

 

The point of impact will change when your holding the rifle elevated up on your shoulder and wind will efect it more as the wind is stronger the higher your shooting

 

Just practice until your spot on if you can not see the pellet hit the tree get some one with you with a set of binos and they can tell you where the pellet is hitting or even take a set of binos along with you and look your self a bit of a fafe i no but the results will tell when your dropping the black sky rats

 

when you get good at it heres a target to beat 386 in three days 2 hours be fore dark on each night

 

but you will need a springer for this as the ultra needs filling after 30 ,40 shots

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[bigmac 97kt 13,735]

Heres a tip for you to dont have any white skin showing at all wear face nets and gloves and dont sit in the same place all the time they may be birds but there not daft

 

 

[j j m 6,481]

very clever birds the crow get in a good position plenty of cammo on,ui use biz mag pest control in my tx200,i knock them stone dead at long ranges with head shots or heart shots

[charlie caller 3,654]

Totally agree with Mac, although I usually shoot them with the shotgun, cammo and concealment is vital shooting crows, their eyesight is very very good, and they are damn clever birds, have fun

[Adrian Kenny 64]

It always baffles me how well a crow can see!!! Tiny little eyes.. Crafty sods! I have to say picking off crows at my grandmothers farm with an old .22lr with my uncle is a great memory, used to cause havoc on the wrapped bales.. Good times!!

And blasting them off the back of the tractor lol

[Rez 4,957]

Cant you just take a few sighting shots when the birds aren't there and see where your POI is against the tree bark?

[Stoater 21]

Cant you just take a few sighting shots when the birds aren't there and see where your POI is against the tree bark?

It's all but impossible to see marks on craggy old bark at that height, even through the MTC Viper Connect 3-12 x 32! These trees are truly enormous and the highest ones locally. They are about 150 years old, and so there are always non-leafy dead branches towards the top.. It's crow heaven, and truly spectacular to see them fall from that height. The Bismags drop them stone dead, but the thump on landing probably does anything needed that the heavy little pellet doesn't. The Ultra .177 is much better than my HW100 .22 at this range. But I still can"t work out if the steepness of the shot affects things. Obviously, a still day is best.

[Stoater 21]

That's some seriously tall lime trees, never seen them over 20ft or are they 40 yards away? The steeper the angle of the shot, the less gravity affects the pellet so a high angle means you may need to aim lower than normal.

For a .177 at 11ftlbs with AA Fields at 8.4 grains and zeroed at 35 yards you would almost be aiming dead on. Using heavy bismags means you may gain a bit of clout (tiny bit) but lose a lot in trajectory.

Give us an accurate distance to the base of the tree and the height and we can get a better idea.

Regards

Tim

Cheers for that. Yes, the trees are 120ft high (and subject to TPO's too, which is a hassle as I own them!). The distance from firing point is actually 47 yards to the base of the most favoured tree. May try the AA Fields, when I zero with Bismags at that range it is almost one hole stuff, amazing. I think you are onto something with the gravity thing.

[Stoater 21]

 

 

That's some seriously tall lime trees, never seen them over 20ft or are they 40 yards away? The steeper the angle of the shot, the less gravity affects the pellet so a high angle means you may need to aim lower than normal.

For a .177 at 11ftlbs with AA Fields at 8.4 grains and zeroed at 35 yards you would almost be aiming dead on. Using heavy bismags means you may gain a bit of clout (tiny bit) but lose a lot in trajectory.

Give us an accurate distance to the base of the tree and the height and we can get a better idea.

Regards

Tim

Cheers for that. Yes, the trees are 120ft high (and subject to TPO's too, which is a hassle as I own them!). The distance from firing point is actually 47 yards to the base of the most favoured tree. May try the AA Fields, when I zero with Bismags at that range it is almost one hole stuff, amazing. I think you are onto something with the gravity thing.

 

47 yards to the base of the tree is a fair distance, add in the height and an angle of close to 40degrees, for that with my S200 and AA Fields I would actually be looking at crosshair to 0.5 mildot holdover purely as a ranging shot then check the impact as others have said. Have you checked the distance to the top of the tree with an LRF?

 

Not checked it with an LRF, but my measurements of ground distance and tree height are pretty accurate. Think I will try the lighter AA Fields, but maybe that would increase the wind/gravity effect??

[charlie caller 3,654]

Your bismags, will have a better ballistic co-efficient than the aa fields, so should carry a little more energy further, and at that distance you need all the energy you can get, you are obviously hitting/ killing them, so you are doing something right

[Elliott 436]

May be of some use:

 

How to Aim and Shoot Up [uphill and Downhill]:

[Adrian Kenny 64]

This is why I am on this forum!! Gret post, very informative! I had seen the teds hold over before but great to hear it chatted out amongst people shooting it all the time! Did a simialr thing last week but for the life of me could not find the pellet on impact.. Was dropping 2 dots down into a big knott in the tree

[Adrian Kenny 64]

Took me ages to find them and work it out lol