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.