First Steps for Air Rifle Hunting

[Scythe13]

I'm sat in the office all hyped about going out shooting again on Saturday (tomorrow), which will be 3 or 4 out and about's in as many weekends! Happy me.

However, it occured to me that some newer members or members new to air rifle shooting, may not know what to do and where to start with the brilliant hobby and survival skill of air-rifle hunting.

So, here I am, putting out a whole load of stuff for your entertainment, review, and education.

1. The Rifle.

First off, you will need an air rifle. It's very difficult to hunt with an air rifle if you don't have an air rifle. Weird hu?

When it comes to selecting your shooting option, go with what's affordable, suits your needs, is reliable as possible and is as accurate as possible.

The legal limit for an air rifle is 12lbs pressure. So getting something around 11.8lbs would be nice. A lower power rifle, e.g. a Crosman 2250 (The RatCatcher) has a much lower pressure, but is a more specialised hunting tool. Designed for up close, with rats, over short distances. Don't look at this kind of thing to begin with. Look more towards a good solidly build spring rifle. The springer (spring powered air rifles are often referred to as being a springer) will teach you the basics of marksmanship, as well as force you to get your fieldcraft down to a T. If you can hunt bunnies and woodies (wood pigeons) with a springer rifle, you'll be a beast on the other kinds of rifle available. But use a springer to get the basics sorted first.

What bore size to go for?

Whether to go for .22 or .177, that is entirely personal preference. The .177 has a longer range by about 5 meters, but the .22 has a heavier impact. There really is very little difference. A dead rabbit is a dead rabbit, whether it's hit by a .177 or .22 pellet. Providing you get a good clean kill shot, it doesn't matter what size pellet it comes from.

What make or model of air rifle to go for?

You will find there are many shooting snobs around. Whether they are 100% BSA fans, or some other company. The only real thing that matters is that the rifle is accurate, powerful (as close to 12lbs as possible), consistant, and reliable, then who cares what make or model you go for?! If it can take out your quarry consistantly, then that's what matters.

What style of gun should I go for?

Again, this will be up to personal preference, same as the make of the gun. Go to a store and try out as many different styles of gun as possible. See what sits best, what you're comfortable with. What has the best balance, etc. The balance of a gun should be where you can take away your trigger hand from a shoulder mounted position, and the gun should not lean back or forth. It should sit nicely in your front hand.

One thing to be careful of, if you are right handed and go for a left handed gun...not a good idea! The same is true the other way round. If you're a leftie, get a leftie gun. If you have a 'break action' then they're pretty much all ambidextrous. But if you go towards a bolt action PCP or CO2, consider yourself warned.

What pellets should I use?

You'll need to use the right size of pellet for your gun, e.g. .177 pellets for a .177 gun and .22 pellets for a .22 gun.

As for the make and model...I like to get the multi packs and try loads of different kinds and see what I get the best results with for the kinds of ranges I'll be hunting at. I love the Accu-Pell normal rounds, but that's just for my .177 Gamo. For the .22 Crosman, I like Besley Pest Control or the normal Rounds.

I'd also look at getting a little gun oil to keep everything working smoothly and without any problems.

So now you have a gun, you're good to go, right?

WRONG!

If you're going to shoot seriously, you'll want to get a scope. But for now, just practice using iron sights. That'll get your marksman skills right on, and will help you understand much more about the gun and the variances that nature has, e.g. you can see the wind down the range, and that gives you an idea of how much you need to adjust your shots. With a scope, these things are not as clear.

Also, you need a load of practice to get accurate so that you KNOW you can get a good clean kill shot.

So, now that you're practiced, you're ready to go shoot, right?

HELL NO! You don't want to get locked up or fined, right?

What legal stuff do I need to know?

You'll need to be keyed up on the General License.
http://www.basc.org.uk/en/shooting/general-licences.cfm
That link will take you to the general license. Read it, know it, repeat it in your sleep. If you shoot outside of the boundries of the GL, you are breaking the law and the punishment of the law will come down on you! Consider yourself warned. Shooting a blackbird or a robin might seem a good idea. FAR FROM IT!!! If you do that you can enjoy the prize of a £1000 fine and be marked as not being eligible to EVER own a firearm because of "previous firearm misuse, neglect for the law, and also a wildlife-based-crime criminal." You will be blacklisted by the RSPCA and the police. STICK WITHIN THE LAW!!! Learn the law and stay in it. Especially when using an air rifle. You don't want to give TPTB any more excuse to lock down air rifle ownership. Be smart with what you do!

Where can I shoot?

A shooting club is a great place to start. You'll meet up with people whom can teach you about how to shoot well, and will likely meet other hunters that can take you under their wing.

Look for farms.
You'll need to talk to farmers and get their permission to shoot on their land. Land owners are good to go for, but I've had best results with farmers and their issues. A couple of people that own stables have asked me to help with rabbits because they had a horse damage it's ankle in a rabbit hole. Just don't approach them with your gun on your back. Approach them with a bag on your back and paper in the bag.

If someone says yes, you should get them to sign a Shooting Permission slip. There is no official single Shooting Permission Paperwork. I use one I found ages ago.
http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/top...liability/
It's really good and looks pretty too haha.
There are plenty of others available though. Just search around online for on you like the look of and that appeals to you the most.

Are you ready to shoot yet?

Well, you're a practiced marksman, you have a gun and pellets, you have permission papers signed....go shoot, right? Nope. Wrong.

When you shoot a bunny (just using them as an example) what are you going to do with it? Do you know about weeing a rabbit? What about how to finish one for humane dispatch if the first shot screws it up and it's still alive? What about gutting, skinning, etc?

Always ask the farmer's permission before you shoot. DON'T just turn up. That's a good way to get the farmer to kick your butt and ban you (and every other shooter) off their land. Always text them and ask. Also, if they request you come down because of a rabbit issue, do so ASAP. Look after their needs and you'll get more permissions through word of mouth.

Ready yet?

Nearly.

You need 2 more things that will save you a whole world of hassle.

First off, insurance.
http://basc.org.uk/join-basc/basc-members-insurance/
It's only about £40-£50 for the year, and it could potentially save you a hell of a lot of money in the long run!

Secondly, you will need to wear sensible clothing. You don't need to go all camo and decked out. You can just have boring colours and make do with that. No point splashing out LOADS of money on gear you don't yet need. Become a good enough shot and your clothing choices are not going to matter too much.

Okay, this is the last bit of information you NEED to pay attention to.

Every time you go out shooting there is a sequence of events you should follow.

1. Get all your gear ready well ahead of time.
2. Make sure your shooting straight (zero the scope...again)
3. Gather up all your data (permission slips, insurance details, personal ID, copy of the GL) and keep it with you.
4. Text/call your land owner and inform them you're popping over.
5. Call 101 and inform plod you're shooting in that area and have full permission.
6. Load up and get ready to to do.

Technically you don't need to do number 5. It's just a recommendation really. I have a few permissions so far from anywhere public that I have pretty much ZERO chance of being seen by anyone aside from farm workers. If concealed properly, I should have zero chance haha.

However, if I am on a permission by a road or near a frequently used public footpath, I will call plod. It saves them coming at you with armed response! That's possibly the best way to annoy your land owner, lose a permission, and scare off your quarry. None of them are cool. However, call plod ahead of time, you'll be laughing. I had my mobile vibrate and I answered it. It was plod. They were asking if it was me shooting on X-Farm. I said yes. They just thanked me then hung up. Someone on a local path had seen a guy with a gun in the bushes and called the police. By law, the police must respond to a firearms related call. Thankfully, by them knowing I was going to be there, their response was a phone call to check. They did say to keep an eye out incase there was more than just me and to inform the land owner and them if I was to see anyone else with a firearm on the land.

Although you don't HAVE TO call 101, the benefits of doing so can sometimes outweigh the bad side of it.


I hope this helps those of you whom are just starting air rifle hunting, but also those that are looking to make the transition from range to field.

Enjoy.

[Devonian]

Thanks S13, very useful post!

Any chance you can post up the Permissions Slip as the link provided needs you to be a registered member of Hunting Life to download them.

[Scythe13]

(9 May 2014, 15:48)Devonian Wrote: Thanks S13, very useful post!

Any chance you can post up the Permissions Slip as the link provided needs you to be a registered member of Hunting Life to download them.

I'll get other copies for you mate.

Just popped "Air rifle shooting permission templete" into google and my good friends over at BASC came up with this:
http://basc.org.uk/shooting/pest-and-predator-control/

[Talon]

Nice post Scythe.One thing worth remembering regarding ftlb's.As a general rule of thumb spring guns prefer lighter pellets and pre charged prefer heavier.
This is in no way set in stone as skirt thickness/hardness/the rifling all play a part,including pellet weight.Just because your particular gun is shooting close to the limit with a particular pellet doesn't necessarily mean that it is 100% legal.

The police (if you were ever unfortunate enough to have them test your gun) can test it with whatever pellet they choose. The safest thing is to have your rifle chronographed with as many pellets as you can find,you should try as many different ones as you can anyway to see which one suits the gun you're using .

My HW80 is set so .177 RWS Superdomes leave the rifle at an average 10.7 ftlb's,still perfectly adequate for all british air rifle quarry but it gives me some leeway if the rifle was ever tested with something like RWS Hobby or one of the new composite style pellets.

If the gun goes over 12ftlb's by even a fraction you could very well go down for it (at the very least they would likely confiscate and destroy it).

For a first time gun I would personally recommend a springer.They're self contained and are much easier for first time tinkerers who want to venture into tuning their gun.They're also more unforgiving of poor technique and generally are more accurate with a relaxed hold.

If a scope is going to be used a spring gun really needs a quality scope and preferably a good one piece mount.Spring rifles have a push/pull recoil due the piston first travelling at speed then coming to an abrupt (though cushioned) stop,and can wreck a cheap scope pretty fast.
Definitely better to start with open sights though.

.177 vs .22 is a never ending debate,both will do the job if the shooter does their part.I prefer .177 at 12ftlb's for it's flatter trajectory.

Gun oil is great for protecting the bluing,but for the cocking linkages or the barrel hinge i use a molybdenum grease.

The most important thing in this climate though is make sure the gun is on the right side of the limit.A chrony is money well spent,but it is vital if you want to start down the path of home tuning (and who doesn't)

[Scythe13]

Talon, I agree with everything you've said. Most of it was probably too tech for a first time shooter though. The whole PCP, Scopes, and that kind of thing...they'll be in the Second Steps for Air Rifle Hunting post

To start shooting, I wouldn't bother with tuning or anything like that. I'd just go with the basics that I've outlined above. Off the shelf, in the hand, into the field. That sort of simplicity, to start with.

Once you've become well bedded into the sport and are comfortable with your progress and want to take the next steps, then we'll look at what to do next.

For now though, follow the above and have fun doing it.

[Talon]

Sorry about that Scythe,I did go off on a tangent a bit there.I just wanted to emphasise that beginning shooters really need to make sure that they stay legal.

When I was younger I never gave a care about the legal limit(neither did the police to be honest),but age not to mention mortgage has given me a new appreciation for not getting my collar felt by the gendarmes.

Shooting has gotten a really bad press these past few years so it's best that we try to ensure we keep to the rules for the preservation of our shooting heritage..
Air rifles can have a tendency to stray over the limit even when bought new from a RFD,especially after they've bedded in after a 1000 shots or so.
Looking forward to part 2.

[Scythe13]

(9 May 2014, 20:41)Talon Wrote: Shooting has gotten a really bad press these past few years so it's best that we try to ensure we keep to the rules for the preservation of our shooting heritage..
Air rifles can have a tendency to stray over the limit even when bought new from a RFD,especially after they've bedded in after a 1000 shots or so.
Looking forward to part 2.

That's one of the reasons I recommend the BASC insurance. It's a solid policy, and the BASC do some great work with preserving shooting for us all.

With the off the shelf stuff, if it is over the limit, the police will come down heavy on you if you modified it. But if you can prove it's off the shelf, it will get confiscated, but you should be able to get a new one straight off the manufacturers at no extra cost, as 'it must have been a default' in the initial product that made it over 12lbs.

I'm going to be doing a few more posts about simple mods, e.g. moderators, bipods, scopes, etc. But that's really not needed to build an awesome foundation.

I know guys that went straight for the really high tech stuff. Great PCP's, fully kitted out, Zeroed to perfection, etc. No field craft or marksmanship. Their gun was hitting the targets, not them. They could hand the gun to their grandma and she would be hitting bull, every shot. The real funny thing...they couldn't stalk a dead crow, couldn't shoot any other gun than their own, and they had ZERO skill without a scope, or from standing. When it came to hunting, they could not control the adrenaline and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

Without great foundations, shooting is nothing more than luck.

[Tarrel]

Very, very useful post. Thanks for sharing.

[Talon]

Very true Scythe.I've known a few people with the best high end pcp's fitted with quality optics shooting at a given range,It takes very little skill on the part of the shooter.I fell for it myself for awhile until I found the whole set up lifeless.I sold the kit.
My field craft is sorely lacking these days since I'm now predominantly a paper puncher using diopter sights. Anyway enough of me derailing this thread.

[Scythe13]

It's good info Talon.

Your comment about "field craft lacking these days" is one of the reasons I'm going the photo challenge thing and why I created this thread. The photos is to help people develop their fieldcraft and stalking, then this thread is to help them take the next step, to convert those skills into actual hunting.