Some thought on air rifle hunting

[Steve]

So, you've got your shiny new air rifle, some good quality domed pellets, a place to shoot and your looking for some lunch. In the UK you'll be mostly looking for rabbits, squirrels and wood pigeons.

I'd say wood pigeons are the most difficult to stalk within range, they are very alert and because they like to feed and roost in numbers there are many eyes to spot you. With a shotgun you can walk through the woods and shoot them as they launch from the trees, but with an air rifle a different approach is necessary. Decoys are plastic pigeon replicas placed in a field to simulate a feeding flock, a passing pigeon assumes there is food and safety and comes in for a look. If you place them well, with the majority facing into the wind, some with their heads down feeding, and with a few strategically placed gaps in the pattern for the arriving birds, they will actually land - but don't expect them to stay around for long, they're not stupid and will soon feel uncomfortable and leave. You will need to be well camoflaged and in a position to aim with the minimum of movement. Every pigeon shooter has his favourite type of pigeon decoys, I like the flocked ( just like flock wallpaper ) type half shell, they stack inside each other to save space and are light. Mount them on sticks with a piece of spring in the middle and they will dip in the wind and look as if they are feeding. Another method that has worked well for me is to set up a hide thirty yards from the base of a roost tree and wait for them to come in to the tree in the late afternoon. Sometimes pigeons will come in to roost several times a day after a good feed, so you can get them at different times depending on local conditions. The easiest way to spot a roost tree is to watch the pigeons coming into it, obvious, but if you haven't got time to observe before building your hide then choose a tree that has a good growth of ivy, they love the cover it offers, they also love conifers but are difficult to shoot in them. Hides can be man made or natural, camo netting draped across sticks is best for field edges, a decent camo suit will work well in woodland as long as you are still. Cover your face and hands as they shine brightly to a wood pigeon.

Rabbits are a bit easier, in some areas they are very common. Look for fields where the edge of the crop ( at the hedge line ) is wavy rather than straight, you can bet the farmer sowed those seeds straight, the wavy edge is rabbit damage and gives away the position of the warren. Rabbits will feed as close to the hedge as they can for most of the year, their panic reaction is to bolt for the hedge and then smell their way back to the warren. In spring they will run much further out into the field as they chase and play, but that's little use to an air rifle hunter as they will be out of range - you should be very close to the hedge. If you live in an area with dry stone walls you are lucky, creep up to the wall and carefully look over the top, otherwise avoid silhouetting yourself against the skyline and move very slowly. Rabbits will often sit up and look around, stay still, they will put their heads down again if you don't move. Camo is good, but any drab coloured clothing works well, you should be hunting in poor light at dawn or dusk. I find that once you have shot one at dawn they rabbits take a lot longer to come back out - sometimes they don't come back out, I guess they've already had a good feed and won't chance it. At dusk they will often come out after 10 minutes of a shot. Usual rules about approaching the area from downwind, no smoking, no aftershave etc. Turn your mobile phone off, it's really annoying to spend 20 minutes sneaking up on a group of rabbits then your wife rings up to see how you are getting on.

Squirrels are the easiest to get close to because they will invariably run up the closest tree. That doesn't make them easy to hunt, wild squirrels ( as opposed to those you might see in your local park ) are very skittish and will often lie up where the tree trunk meets a large branch. You will see their tails twitching but not get a shot until they move. It's best to wait for the squirrel to move rather than try to get yourself into a better position, chances are they know you're there and will run around the other side of the tree. There is an old wives tail that says you can throw your coat around the tree and they will come back around your side - try it if you like, it's never worked for me. Squirrels are surprisingly tough little critters, good shot placement is critical, like rabbits they will obligingly present the side of their head so hit them between the eye and the base of the ear. If the spot you and bark ( to warn the other ) they will look straight at you, hit them just above the nostrils. If they are on top of a branch and you can't see the head hit them in the "armpit", ie underneath the shoulder.


Killzones are important, a wounded animal will often be lost, bad news at any time but especially in a survival situation. A spot between the eye and ear is a good rule of thumb for most small animals, behind the ear at the base of the skull works too.

[Highlander]

I hope Montblanc sees this, he doesn't think we can hunt with out air rifles

We are at a bit of a disadvantage up here, we dont have any rabbits or squirrels at all, so it the Hooded crows and the like that catch our lead

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ooops mistake, should read,....with `OUR` air rifles

[NorthernRaider]

Good post Steve

Around here its the same story as I think Wet & Cold it was, or possibly SD where the fat woodies come to us in great numbers, we then shooot them successfully for a week or two until their collective brains tell them to no longer go to NRs garden and then they stay away on average between 8 months and a year before the dopey buggers start coming back. The corvids are just plain inteligent though I rarely get more than two or three before they just stop coming around for months.

[Carnebwen]

Do squirrels taste ok? I mean in a shtf scenario who cares, but as a meat for say stew or however you would likely prepare them what does it compare to?

[Steve]

(10 July 2013, 22:05)Carnebwen Wrote: Do squirrels taste ok? I mean in a shtf scenario who cares, but as a meat for say stew or however you would likely prepare them what does it compare to?

I'd compare them to the dark meat from near the bone on chicken, quite tasty. Add in some wood pigeon breasts and chestnuts from the woods and you have the makings of a tasty meal:

[Mortblanc]

(10 July 2013, 21:01)Highlander Wrote: I hope Montblanc sees this, he doesn't think we can hunt with out air rifles

We are at a bit of a disadvantage up here, we dont have any rabbits or squirrels at all, so it the Hooded crows and the like that catch our lead

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ooops mistake, should read,....with `OUR` air rifles

Oh I see it.

Just wondering how many were maimed and crawled off to die in the effort to secure 4 dead for a photo opp.

I used to kill birds with my Daisy Red Ryder too. I don't promote that as a survival tool either.

If it's all you have it's what you use, if you have too.

I killed a big mean rooster with a broom today, because that was what I had in my hand at the moment he needed killing. I doubt that a 12 pound pellet rifle would have accomplished that job as well as the broom did.

Still, I am not going out hunting with a broom.

[Steve]

(10 July 2013, 22:41)Mortblanc Wrote: Just wondering how many were maimed and crawled off to die in the effort to secure 4 dead for a photo opp.

I take that as an insult, good shot placement ensures a clean kill and if I can't place the shot I won't take it. Of course the range is limited, if I need to hunt further out I'll use my 22LR, or HMR, or .308 .

That is not a photo opp, just a few photos I took some years ago to help new hunters with shot placement.

Different tools for different jobs.

[Skean Dhude]

Now now. Let's not bicker.

We simply use different tools and I for one would like the option of using his over an air rifle.

We have to be much closer, and very accurate to make the kills. With better tools we can afford to take targets at longer ranges.

[NorthernRaider]

The stuff I used to shoot at often shot back and I've hunted rabbit n pigeon in the UK, and Whitetales in Kansas and both require the right choice of weapon for the job, Air rifles are fine for small verminous critters and 30-06 is fine for Whitetales. Vive la difference I say.

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Its called SAA chaps, SAA is what matters no how big your tool is, be it a kid from a rural village in Somerset or Tennessee the kid with the old 22 is often the better hunter than the city dude with the £1000 sporting rifle. I have pointed out before most of us know some ancent old git who still hunts with his ancient Airsporter or Walmart single shot 22 and never comes home without food for the pot.

[Barneyboy]

cant see the prob with hunting with airguns. head shot rabbits taste better than ones shot by high cal round the high cal round hit bunnys you have to pick up with a spoon .lose a lot of meat .keep the wind in your face when hunting ,move slow and stop moving when they look at you and be bloody quiet.snares are very good,you can get a lot of meat with them .you don't need a bloody great gun for little bunnys guys