casts_by_fly Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 I think we'd all agree that an air rifle isn't the tool for geese. Some scrote apparently disagreed and shot a greylag in the center of the breast with a 17 cal air rifle pellet. Fast forward a number of months later when said goose flew over me on the first day and a stout load of B steel folded it up. Tonight i finally cooked the goose (I had only frozen the breasts) and 2 bites in i think i find a pellet. I was excited to see how it looked but lo and behold it was an air rifle pellet. There was no indication it was in there when i cleaned the goose, and i didn't feel it when prepping for the pan tonight. Somehow i missed it when i butterflied the breast with a chef's knife. The teeth got it though (nothing broken). So if anyone is contemplating shooting a goose with an air rifle, just don't. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muncher Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 A few seasons back a farmer asked me to cull some greys on his reservoir as they were getting a bit out of control ,anyway we shot 18 and when we breasted out these birds all but a young bird had shot in them all lead! and several had air rifle pellets in them mostly 22 I was very surprised how many were carrying shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Found a swan wondering up the side of the road near us away from the lake. The road is quite busy at times so we stopped and caught it. Sock over the head and wrapped it in a towel we keep in the car for the dogs. One of its wings had a weepy looking hole in it high up and the swan didn,t look well. We took it to a local wildlife hospital and they gave us a reference number so we could find out how it got on. The weepy hole had an airgun pellet in it. They also x-rayed her and she had two more in her that had healed over from previous encounters. She made it thanks to the Wildlife place and is now back on the lake. Sometimes the RSPCA do get it right. Thumbs up for Stapeley Grange RSPCA wildlife sactuary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeonslayer15 Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Last season I had 2 swans on my flight pond, I was sitting tucked up waiting for duck one evening when all of a sudden I heard an airgun go off and looked up to find 2 young lads shooting from a distance away but they were defo trying to hit the swans, so I layed my gun down got up and started sprinting at them, they absolutely **** themselves and run as fast as they could, they ended up getting away,( lucky for them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlerob Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Could be some one reloading cartridges with air rifle pellets joke some people will shoot anything with a air rife to try and kill it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossEM Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 A few seasons ago I shot a drake mallard, and found a .22 pellet deeply embedded in it's neck when I plucked it. The pellet had a significant amount of healed scar tissue around it, it was an old wound and the duck had clearly recovered well - this is why I believe the wildfowl-dying-from-lead-shot-ingestion thing is an absolute crock of ****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 (edited) Ross a lead pellet in the flesh is a very differend story to pellets in the digestive system. A wound in the flesh provided its not fatal will grow around the pellet and may not cause the bird any serious hard and could persist for the life of the bird. A pellet in the digestive systen gets ground down in the gizzard within a few weeks and becomes disolved and taken up in the body causing lead posioning. If you do not beleve lead pellets can posion duck just rase a few mallard next spring and when they are feeding on grain mix in a hand full of lead no 6 into their water and count how many you will have alive after a few weeks. I can tell you the answer now , all will be dead Edited September 29, 2014 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalmac Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Very sad news indeed. It makes me shudder thinking about it. I have seen some car's parked by a local wildlife area with pond with lots of ducks on it at very unusual hours.... (I'm often out and about at odd hours for work and shooting) and oft wonder if any of the occupants are looking for a duck to kill and take home... A friend of mine Burnham way shot a hare with his RF a few year back that was limping, when skinned he reckoned there was multiple airgun pellets in it. But then when you overhear some conversations in gun shops with new airgun owners and I quote: "So, do I just aim the cross in the middle of the rabbit and pull the trigger" - makes you realise there are plenty of idiots out there, likely with SMK's or ancient airguns trying to kill animals they should in places they shouldn't be. Incenses me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I don't and wont shoot hares with FAC airguns full stop. The issue is some see something that is not actually illegal as being ok, its not- but do we really need laws to cover every action of a darn fool? I think not. Yes I have taken airgun pellets from stuff that shouldn't be shot with them, I have also taken lead no.6 from geese, some obviously cannot control their urge to kill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossEM Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Ross a lead pellet in the flesh is a very differend story to pellets in the digestive system. A wound in the flesh provided its not fatal will grow around the pellet and may not cause the bird any serious hard and could persist for the life of the bird. A pellet in the digestive systen gets ground down in the gizzard within a few weeks and becomes disolved and taken up in the body causing lead posioning. If you do not beleve lead pellets can posion duck just rase a few mallard next spring and when they are feeding on grain mix in a hand full of lead no 6 into their water and count how many you will have alive after a few weeks. I can tell you the answer now , all will be dead That makes sense. I may be sceptical as I've never seen the results. I'm not anti-NTX at all, just hadn't considered that shot could dissolve faster in the gizzard than in an open wound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) Ross it may not dissolve at all in an open wound . There were many guys from the last war walking around with bits of lead in their body for years after the war ended. Edited September 30, 2014 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossEM Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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