doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Starling shooting

Sitting in the local Harris Teeter I picked up an outdoor magazine and there was an article about shooting starlings. Seems this was out in Oregon and the guy was shooting at local vineyards. Seems the stalings love the grapes.
Has anybody ever shot starlings before?

Starlings are a scourge around dairy farms. Of which Michigan has many.

Shooting starlings with a 410 is a favorite activity of mine.

I can stand in the shadow of the Cottonwood tree across the field from the dairy barn,and on any given day could see, God knows how many.

This time of year, they fly around in big clouds.

Probably close to 30 years ago, on the shooting sportsman bulletin board, a guy named Lenard Lemke was an avid starling whacker.

I remember Leonard well, and think of him every time someone mentions starlings. I remember asking him if he was related to Mark Lemke, who played for the Atlanta Braves in their National Championship streak. I didn't figure there could be more than a few Lemkes in the whole nation. I'm pretty sure Leonard was from Oregon or Washington, too.

Introducing a .410 into the starling game piques my interest. Get some pictures next time you can, CZ. What.410 do you use?

wrapped in bacon, bet them starlins taste bout the same as them doves...

I have a bunch of 3/4 ounce 12 gauge loads that I think would work. Now, where can I buy Starling decoys?

Shoot a few then stuff them.

Nah.

As far as technique, just get on a flight line away from the cows. lol.
Starlings make a terrible mess in the barn, as well as in the silage rolls.

The big cottonwood I mentioned, is the tree that they aggregate in the top of it as they fly back-and-forth from the dairy barns.

I use an AO Mossberg .410 pump as often as any other. 2 1/2” cartridges, 1/2oz #8’s
When they are really flying, the hard part is only killing one with the shot.
That’s why the full choke.

Leonard shot light 12ga loads (5/8, 3/4oz) and tight chokes. He wanted the shots long and tall.

Some people shoot them on their way to the barn, and other people shoot them on their way away from the barns.
Because plastic wads harm cattle, my preference is to stay well away from the barns.

Cooking them? Yes, he mentioned that his wife would wrap them in bacon and cook them up. He went on to say that he never went back for seconds.

At a farm near here I watched about three or four flocks flying around overhead a few days ago. Hundreds in each flock. Sometimes they get over to my yard. I keep 2x4s about 18 in long out on my deck and when they land up in the trees in my yard, I'll slap those two boards together and it makes a loud bang. And I would run them off. Otherwise they would be pooping all over the place.