Underwater targets

[Shamsher]

Does any one have any experience of shooting at underwater targets like fish etc with an air rifle.
Which would be the best pellet for the purpose?

Remember fishing is legal, and more so, if it's your pond.

ss

[perazzi]

Fishing is legal so long as you have the required permits issued from the concerned fisheries deptt.........
Moreover most fellow anglers today follow the more humane practice of C & R (catch and release) so that the game fish may live another day to fight again.

Having said the above you may have heard of the practice of shooting a particular fish called Murral which comes up periodically to the surface of the water and some so called sharp shooters have a crack with a .22 or even a 30.06 !!!

Also pls bear in mind the laws of refraction whilst shooting at under water targets.

Cheers Rohit.

[lionofkathiyawad]

ss what are you planing to do

Please take care to write normal English on this forum
Mod

[perazzi]

Yes else SS may start using U in lieU of the Underwater targets , do U get the point

[Shamsher]

Planning to go fishing with a new invention.

[lionofkathiyawad]

Fishing or Fish Hunting

[junaidpathan]

i would really not preffer an air rifel for water shooting, cause the pellet are very light and hence deviate from its line of attack, if u really wanna enjoy water shooting , fish named murral (sweet water fish) u can use a twelve bore , mostly a ball shot ...

[Shamsher]

GG request you to kindly resize that picture being displayed, I give up on that.

Shooting underwater with a powerful AR the trick is to use pointed pellets if you are shooting down and domes if you are shooting flat (but they would still slide off)

From 12 yards approx, you need to shoot about 3" below the fish to be able to hit the fish. the pellets deviate from their line of flight and tend to lift up till power loss takes them down again.

A BB or a No. 1 would be equally effective.

ss

[Yash]

Unless u r shooting perpendicular to the water surface, the pellet would move from the line of fire after hitting water, not to mention the effect that moving current of water will have in accuracy. At more acute angles the pellet would skid off the surface.

[Shamsher]

A Nice article posted in NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, ST ALBANS BAY, VERMONT
Wednesday, May 12, 2004, Page 16

The hunter's prey darted into the shadows, just out of reach of Henry Demar's gun.

"Come on, stand up and be counted," Demar muttered. "There was a ripple that came out of the weeds. There's something out there."

Dressed in camouflage, gripping his .357-caliber Magnum, Demar was primed to shoot. But this time, no such luck. With a flick of its tail, his quarry -- a slick, silvery fish -- was gone.

Fish shooting is a sport in Vermont, and every spring, hunters break out their artillery -- high-caliber pistols, shotguns, even AK-47s -- and head to the marshes to exercise their right to bear arms against fish.

It is a controversial pastime, and Vermont's fish-and-wildlife regulators have repeatedly tried to ban it. They call it unsportsmanlike and dangerous, warning a bullet striking water can ricochet across the water like a skipping stone.

But fish shooting has survived, a cherished tradition for some Vermont families and a novelty to some teenagers and twenty-somethings. Every spring, fixated fish hunters climb into trees overhanging the water or perch on the banks of marshes that lace Lake Champlain, on Vermont's northwest border.

"They call us crazy, I guess, to go sit in a tree and wait for fish to come out," said Dean Paquette, 66, as he struggled to describe the fish-shooting rush. "It's something that once you've done it ...."

Paquette, a retired locomotive engineer, has passed fish shooting on to his children and grandchildren, including his daughter, Nicki, a nurse. "You have to be a good shot," said Paquette, 31, who started shooting at age six. "It's a challenge. I think that's why people do it."

Her 87-year-old great uncle, Earl Picard, is so hooked that, against the better judgment of his relatives, he frequently drives 1000km from his home in Newport to Lake Champlain. Picard still climbs trees, although "most of the trees that I used to climb in are gone," he said. "You can sit up there in the sun and the birds will come and perch on your hat and look you in the eye."

There is art, or at least science, to shooting fish, aficionados say. Most fish hunters do not want to shoot the actual fish, because then "you can't really eat them," Paquette said. "They just kind of shatter."

Instead, said Demar, "you try to shoot just in front of the fish's nose or head." The bullet torpedoes to the marsh bottom and creates "enough concussion that it breaks the fish's air bladder and it floats to the surface."

Often the target is a female fish come to spawn in shallow water, accompanied by several male acolytes who might also be killed, or stunned, by the concussion.

"If you shoot a high-powered rifle, you can get a big mare and six or seven little bucks," Paquette said.

Permitted from March 25 to May 25, and only on Lake Champlain, fish shooting has probably existed for a century. (Picard was 10 when he started.) It also used to be legal in the state of New York, which also borders the huge apostrophe-shaped lake.

State officials say that fish shooting disturbs nesting birds and that killing spawning females could endanger the northern pike population (although so far there is no evidence it has).

Worst of all, state officials say, many shooters do not retrieve all the fish they kill. They leave behind fish they cannot find or do not want to wade after and fish that exceed the state's five-pike-a-day limit or fall under the minimum length for northern pike. Marcelle recently found 18 dead fish left to rot.

Two dead fish recently greeted Demar and his companions at the marsh, a species he called mudfish. There were some frolicking muskrats, chickadees in the ash and willow trees, and shell casings from an 8mm Mauser. ("Oh, that's made for blowing them out of the water," Rushford said.)

There were not, however, enough live fish to shoot. So Demar tested his gun on a log in the water, and spray shot up.

"I got a little water on my sunglasses," he said sheepishly. "That's the thing about pickerel shooting. Afterward, you have to turn away, or you get sprayed in the face."

Pic above;-
Kyle Paquette fires at a fish in Guay's Marsh in St. Albans Bay, Vermont. Fish shooting is a sport in Vermont and every spring, hunters break out their artillery and head to the marshes to exercise their right to shoot fish. It is a controversial pastime and Vermont's fish-and-wildlife regulators have repeatedly tried to ban it.

[cavalier]

Hi Shamsher,

Couple of decades back, we used to shoot Murrels from the Railway bridge on the Betwa River near Jhansi. As you are aware, during the breeding season in summer, the Murrel's ( mum & dad) take turns to come to the surface while protecting their offspring. We used to be firing almost vertically downwards with a 30.06 springfield. Trick was to retrieve the fish before it sank into the depths of the pool. We used to have a boy ready to jump in & catch the dead fish. We used to go for a head shot only & regularly get fishes around 5 to 6 kg's. Thanks to reckless dynamiting, now nothing is left there.

Regards
Cavalier.

[Shamsher]

Dear cavalier,
Much has been destroyed over the time, even the little house sparrows which you could see in hundreds are now almost gone.
eroding lakes and rivers, forests and fields are taking a heavy toll on the wildlife.
To add to misery, poaching for commercial gains, and ruthless fishing also for gains is ruining the little what is left.

Some spots still retain their glory, I generally fish on Son river, this part is infested with gharials and one has to be very careful and constantly look around. Standing knee deep in the clear shallow waters you can see the river bed around a diameter of 20 yards. With the water flowing gently and the course sand massaging your feet it feels great.

With the yellow sand below it is easy to spot a fish coming your way, I know a local chap who used to spear them using a pointed stick. I had pictures of it all but the chip seems to have gone corrupt

I have earlier taken on fish. with a .22 LR shooting at about 40*, in my little pond at the farms. This time i would like to try with a decent pcp.
Hope to get a couple of them.

ss

[junaidpathan]

me and my grandpa go for this fish named murrals they are great in taste, and my grandpa is crazy for them , the river is named as krishna nadi its around 190 km approx from belgaum , karnataka to this place known as manjeri , maharastra .. well we go in summers when the water level is around 4 to 5 feet , we wait on the bridge itself and wait for a good game , some time i go to the banks n climb on a tree...murrals frequently come up for air so thats the time we get a shot ,needs a lot of patients for this cause some time they are just a feet below in the water and u cant shoot it as they just swim away n there is no point in trying cause it will never come back again and hence also disturb the place . i remember last time we had been we had got around 20 kg of fish (murrals) one was a huge 10kg .. the biggest murral i have seen was around 4to 5 feet..

[lionofkathiyawad]

junaidpathan,

Which rifle and ammo do you use for murrals?

[Shamsher]

Abroad, the hunters had trained otters to retrieve the fish too

ss