16 replies to this topic

[Brant]

We have many bluebirds in the area now and what used to seem like thousands of sparrows. I alway get asked why we kill all of the sparrows. Anyway we have two bluebird houses that get used every year now since the airguns have taken to the sparrows. This post gives some information on just what sparrows are capable of.http://www.sialis.org/hospattacks.htm

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Yep! That is exactly why I kill all the HOSP's that I see where ever I may be. I hate those little buggers!

[ratassassin]

I shoot 'em with air rifles, too. Same with starlings.

[STPilot]

Yup.. Blast'em every chance I get.

[mackeralboy]

Brant,Iteresting article. I've never realized they were so distructive to other speices. I will say though that I was out to breakfast a few months ago and had one fly over to my table and fly off with a whole piece of bacon! It was a sight to see as this fat little bird acutally got airborne with the strip that was about 4 times the length of its body.Mc

[KNOCKED UP]

My wife feeds birds in the back yard. I always see the scrub jays being the agressive ones. They chase away the doves and the sparrows. I don't shoot them because I don't want a divorce, but as far as I am concerned, they are all democrats.They eat all of the free food, call all of their friends to help. Then they leave a big mess all over, and poop on everything to show their apreciation.Tom

[ShooterJohn]

Scrub Jays while being aggressive are very territorial and would run other Jays off. They are also federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 so don't shoot them.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Yeah, those Scrub Jays are very territorial and very noisy too. Not a real "pretty" sounding bird, but like ShooterJohn said, they are federally protected. So no "bang bang" and the Scrub Jays.

[Hotchkiss]

Just called the police department to found out that I can't shoot the sparrows on my own back yard even when they are trying to steal my fruits. The lady said it is a violation if they found out or someone called the police, Can't even target practic........ sigh,,

[Bisley]

Yep, while some will tell you they are not classified as a "firearm", they are still considered a discharge of a "dangerous weapon". Unfortunately, bows also.

[Hotchkiss]

Yup. I even asked her that if Air gun uses pellets are consider a "firearm". She said, nope. But no matter it is a BB or Pellet gun, It is a violation to shoot on the stree, park or my own back yard, everywhere in this city, The Disney fire work they have every night is louder bang that always shake my windows but it was okay for them. lol

[mtn dog]

Yup. I even asked her that if Air gun uses pellets are consider a "firearm". She said, nope. But no matter it is a BB or Pellet gun, It is a violation to shoot on the stree, park or my own back yard, everywhere in this city, The Disney fire work they have every night is louder bang that always shake my windows but it was okay for them. lol

It might be worth the effort to track down an exact copy of that ordinance. (Could be one for the city and another for your county.) Some government employees 'think' they know the law or misquote a more restrictive version to cover their butt. I bring this up because a city I once lived in forbade firing 'projectiles' onto or across a neighbor's property without his permission. In other words, in THAT PARTICULAR CITY an airgun fired at a sparrow with a definite backstop to keep the projective in my yard would be OK. "Projectile" would include airgun pellets. Shooting sparrows out of your fruit trees would not fly in that case. Shooting them on the ground in front of a solid fence is possibly another story... IF... IF... IF your local ordinances are clear on that. Check first. Your mileage may vary but you also might get some good news.

[Hotchkiss]

Yeah, That is what I am going to do to check more into it. Since the air rifle I got is not that loud compare to the firearm. And I understand that I need to find a good backstop such as my concrete wall or aim it to the ground to prevent damage on anything else but aparrow that I want to shoot at. My neighbor saw me shooting everyday since I got the my 2 air rifles for target practic. I was just trying to play safe since I read more about other stories and wasn't so sure if it is okay for me to do this ( even with my hunting license that I was legally to be able to "hunt" ) in the city I live in.I will stop by department and/or maybe ask police to get more opinion. I need to go out this weekend to find me a good spot to hunt some sparrows............so itches.......... lol

[Bisley]

I need to go out this weekend to find me a good spot to hunt some sparrows............so itches.......... lol

SBNF is less than an hour away from you, and it was crawling with everything from quail to brush birds, to ground squirrels, and an over abundance of rabbit (both jack and cottontail) sign two days ago . We so often overlook our own back yards (local mountains).Good luck on the city ordinance, but I can pretty much tell you what any city in the OC will say .

[Braz]

Be very careful of shooting at anything as hard as concrete. You can get ricochets and they can do some serious damage. To you personally and also take out windows behind you or one of your neighbors. Use something to catch the pellet. A stack of magazines or some such backstop.

[Thumper Dunker]

Mouse traps work. . Love my scrub jays they keep all them sparows out of the eves of my house.

[BCF]

Well it's a good thing I didn't kill 3 of them today around my fruit trees...something else must have blown their heads clean off and put them in a neat little pile. Damn cats...