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Summer is here, and that means the resurgence of insect bastards who don't have the good grace to die on their own.
About a year or two ago, though, I found what I'd assumed to be a pretty gimmicky item but that I have found to be really frigging useful...
The Bug-A-Salt.
Essentially it works like a Nerf-gun by compressing air when you pump the grip back, but instead of foam darts, it loads in a small amount of plain table salt from the hopper on top. It then shotguns the salt out with some pretty good force, and it's been incredibly effective against everything I've used it on. I'd guess in depending on the size of the fly, it's comparative to me getting shot with a BB or a marble. Both would fucking hurt.
There's also something cathartic about nailing a fly on a window from 8 feet away. I've only been able to hit them in-flight a couple of times, but that's generally not worth the risk of taking a quick shot without knowing exactly what's in the line of fire. The biggest issue I've had is my kids occasionally telling people I kill bugs with a gun, but this is America, so I don't think anyone's that shocked...
The only real negative I've found to it is the look my wife gives me when she hears 500 grains of salt bounce off the glass and go skittering into the corners of the room. Even worse when you apply zombie rules and go for the double-tap.
I have one of those electric-rechargable rackets, too, but it gets way less use. Unless it's a big house-fly going back and forth across the room, then I'll generally dual-wield the bug-a-salt in my right and the racket in my left for if I catch it flying past me.
They do sell a CO2 powered version, that comes with pre-packed salt in little loadable revolver rings like those cap-guns used to come with, but they won't ship them to New York addresses and I don't care enough to get one shipped through another state. They advertise those as being better for hard-carapace bugs like hornets, though. I've avoided even trying to shoot wasps or anything of the sort with my regular pump-action one, as while I'm sure I could fuck up their wings and ground them, the chance of missing and pissing it off seems less than ideal.
Though I kind of gimped my hunting stock by putting up a big bug-zapper on the wall in my downstairs bathroom. Half the time, anything that does get into the house will go investigate the UV light and fall prey to my passive defenses. Honestly 100% worth the investment, as last summer we had some wasps coming into that bathroom through the baseboards and they'd just fly straight up to that and fry themselves, without ever bothering us in the house. It puts out a mighty crack though when something discharges it, so my daughter tends to want it turned off when she goes to use the bathroom, for which I can't entirely blame her. That'll scare the shit out of you.
About a year or two ago, though, I found what I'd assumed to be a pretty gimmicky item but that I have found to be really frigging useful...
The Bug-A-Salt.
Essentially it works like a Nerf-gun by compressing air when you pump the grip back, but instead of foam darts, it loads in a small amount of plain table salt from the hopper on top. It then shotguns the salt out with some pretty good force, and it's been incredibly effective against everything I've used it on. I'd guess in depending on the size of the fly, it's comparative to me getting shot with a BB or a marble. Both would fucking hurt.
There's also something cathartic about nailing a fly on a window from 8 feet away. I've only been able to hit them in-flight a couple of times, but that's generally not worth the risk of taking a quick shot without knowing exactly what's in the line of fire. The biggest issue I've had is my kids occasionally telling people I kill bugs with a gun, but this is America, so I don't think anyone's that shocked...
The only real negative I've found to it is the look my wife gives me when she hears 500 grains of salt bounce off the glass and go skittering into the corners of the room. Even worse when you apply zombie rules and go for the double-tap.
I have one of those electric-rechargable rackets, too, but it gets way less use. Unless it's a big house-fly going back and forth across the room, then I'll generally dual-wield the bug-a-salt in my right and the racket in my left for if I catch it flying past me.
They do sell a CO2 powered version, that comes with pre-packed salt in little loadable revolver rings like those cap-guns used to come with, but they won't ship them to New York addresses and I don't care enough to get one shipped through another state. They advertise those as being better for hard-carapace bugs like hornets, though. I've avoided even trying to shoot wasps or anything of the sort with my regular pump-action one, as while I'm sure I could fuck up their wings and ground them, the chance of missing and pissing it off seems less than ideal.
Though I kind of gimped my hunting stock by putting up a big bug-zapper on the wall in my downstairs bathroom. Half the time, anything that does get into the house will go investigate the UV light and fall prey to my passive defenses. Honestly 100% worth the investment, as last summer we had some wasps coming into that bathroom through the baseboards and they'd just fly straight up to that and fry themselves, without ever bothering us in the house. It puts out a mighty crack though when something discharges it, so my daughter tends to want it turned off when she goes to use the bathroom, for which I can't entirely blame her. That'll scare the shit out of you.
