1st grackle down

[longcruise]

I never thought they were ugly! Like Brent said, they have a very pretty purplish irridescence, espcially about the head and neck.

First time I ever saw a grackle was when I was about eight years old. Heard a racket in the alley and sneaked around to peak and was looking at a flock of them about five feet away. That color was captivating.

 

[Rocky Johnson]

I belive that grackles do migrate they just showed up in our yard.They are protected in Michigan.

 

[texcl]

I suppose it depends on where you live, in Texas they don't seem to migrate probably because it is somewhat warm all year. The males do get a cool coloration certain times of the year. I know when I was a kid a male grackle was quite the pellet gun prize (I used a brass/walnut .22cal benjamin pellet gun).

 

[BillinOregon]

Bull: All the birds you list are protected in Oregon. The only ones not protected here are starlings and English sparrows. Just sayin', as the rules vary widely from state to state.
I sure don't mind shooting starlings out of my cherry trees but don't have a small bore muzzleloader. Another reason to get me a .32 ...

:wink:

 

[Jason Lewis]

i respect your opinions boys about the fashion sense of the grackle, but i still think they're ugly :rotf: to each his own.

 

[William O.]

Bull: All the birds you list are protected in Oregon. The only ones not protected here are starlings and English sparrows. Just sayin', as the rules vary widely from state to state. I sure don't mind shooting starlings out of my cherry trees but don't have a small bore muzzleloader. Another reason to get me a .32 ...:wink:

Well, that I can see, although I've got quite a long list of reasons to get a .32 already :grin:
TexCL, it was the same way with me but it was a .20 caliber Sheridon Blue Streak.

 

[rabjr]

Oh man the memorys...a Crosman 760 and climbing in the Duck house to watch the pan of feed out in the pen. I would get a dozen on a good day. Seemed to be no end to them.

 

[Brent]

I did a little surfing around and it appears that grackles are protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1913 as I thought. However, it appears that in the case of some species where they are abundant and a pest species, the Feds can and have turned over regulation to specific states for regulations within their borders. Thus, in one state, they may be legal to blast to your heart's content, for the sheer joy of seeing them die. But in another state, it may be a federal offense to harass them in anyway.

If you google "grackle migratory bird" and "Migratory Bird Act," you will find many useful sites. Best to check before you blast.

 

[texcl]

Yup, before I owned the benjamin I had a 760 and I could shoot the pants of my cousins, the benjamin was the cadillac of pumps and I mowed lawns a whole summer to save enough to buy one. It isn't that powerful by todays standards but it woud take rabbits and turkeys cleanly. Those were the days. wasn't long after that I was given and old .50cal hawkin and I never looked back.

 

[rabjr]

Nah, my days of blasting grackles are long over. If it was agaist the law here then, theres something called the statue of limitations that would save me as its been almost 40 years heh.

 

[William O.]

Nah, my days of blasting grackles are long over. If it was agaist the law here then, theres something called the statue of limitations that would save me as its been almost 40 years heh.

If I could blast them inside city limits I would, it would be a relief from all the diseased poop they generate. Plus all the nesting song birds might have a decent chance to raise their young without all the grackles killing the chicks or feeding on the eggs. About the only useful thing grackles ever did was feeding en mass on a sudden explosion of crickets in San Marcos, Texas back in the mid 1980's, but they quickly processed all those crickets and left peoples car covered in manure, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the paint jobs of all those vehicles. The City of San Antonio uses some kind of loud exploding rockets to scare them away from the trees near the Riverwalk downtown as the tourists don't like getting extra sour cream landing on their chicken enchiladas. I think they should just close the Riverwalk on Mondays and use light loads of #9 shot out of some flintlock smoothbores, but I guess I'm old fashioned. :idunno:

 

[rabjr]

:haha: They'll never get outa me where all the bodys are!

 

[Rocky Johnson]

I have a .177 Benjmin discovery I only shoot sparrows becouse they get into my bluebird boxes.We have enough starlings but the only thing I see them do is eat grubs out of my lawn so I leave them alone. The starlings did take over my martin house but I forgave them for that. :wink:

 

[August West]

Starlings displace native species, like Martins, whether you see them do it or not. Chris

 

[rabjr]

There was a State out west there some place that just poisoned a bunch of starlings and they were dropping dead all over a town, forgot where but remember it on the news.

 

[tg]

"Oh man the memorys...a Crosman 760"

Yeah, I had one of those and raised havock with the local bird popularion, back then a lot of stuff was fair game that is off limits now, i bought my son one when he was 9 and was really bimbed to find the forestock and buttsock had been changed to wood and the overall heft was different but he loved it and comtinued the merciless onslaught....with a bit more caution as the area had grown in population and protected species had changed some.

 

[William O.]

:haha: They'll never get outa me where all the bodys are!

ROFL!!! :rotf:

 

[BillinOregon]

My childhood weapon of avian destruction was a Daisy "Spittin' Image" Model 94. I'm not proud of the work I did with it, as I was indiscriminate in my youth.
For starling elimination, however, I like a break-barrel pellet rifle, although a small bore flint smoothrifle with shot would be far more fun.

 

[jethro224]

Quotes from the on-line Ohio hunting regs book legal definitions; http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/regulations/PDF/2010huntregs.pdf

GAME BIRDS include ring-neck pheasants,
bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed
grouse, pinnated grouse, wild turkey, Hungarian
partridge, Chukar partridge, woodcocks, crows,
black-breasted plover, golden plover, Wilson’s
snipe or jacksnipe, greater and lesser yellowlegs,
rail, coots, gallinules, duck, geese, mourning
doves, and brant.

MIGRATORY GAME BIRDS are waterfowl, rails,
mourning doves, and shorebirds

NONGAME BIRDS include all other wild birds
not included and defi ned as game birds.

PROTECTED SPECIES including yellowlegs,
plover, snowshoe hares, bears, badgers, bobcat,
and nongame birds may not be hunted or
taken at anytime; Hungarian partridge may not
be taken except from a shooting preserve, dog
training area, or fi eld trial.

:hmm: I don't think I'd be shooting any more Grackles.

 

[luieb45]

I believe in Illinois that starlings and sparrow are considered a nuisance species and have no game laws regarding them, right?