Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Airgun Shooter

REPEAT PERFORMANCE Haendler & Natermann recently added a new pellet to its .22 line-up in the shape of the Baracuda 18, and has now done it again with the release of the Baracuda 15. “Fifteen” relates to the weight of the pellet, this being 15.89 grains compared with the 18.13 grains of its bigger brother. H&N reckons the new 15 is a precise and effective pellet, and we’ll be putting that claim to the test in a future issue. Baracuda 15 pellets have a head size of 5.52mm and are supplied in a screw-on tin of 250 for £6.95. Visit UK distributor John Rothery Wholesale (bisley-uk.com) for more details. ROLL OUT THE BARREL Countless air rifles around the world are equipped with barrels from Lothar Walther, and the German manufacturer…

While I love shooting, I also enjoy watching the occasional film, so when an invitation to travel to Eastern Europe popped through the letterbox I suddenly had flashes through my mind about the horror film Hostel! It’s an unsettling film in which a number of unsuspecting tourists meet a variety of grisly ends. But outside of my panic-stricken movie-infused thoughts, who could resist a trip to Lithuania to visit Pulsar, one of the most established and prestigious thermal optics companies in the world today? So I quickly replied with a “Yes please”! Not knowing what to expect, I flew out to the capital, Vilnius, with fellow field sports journalist Phil Taylor, and we were greeted at the arrivals area by a driver with a Pulsar Pro Staff sign, which I…

While some CO2 guns are totally original designs, others are inspired by powder-burning firearms, with the M4A1 Carbine from Lee-Enfield (Guns) falling firmly into the latter category. The M4A1 was developed by Colt and is in service with multiple operators around the world, notably the US Army. But while that gun fires 5.56x45mm NATO rounds, this CO2 variant shoots 4.5mm BBs. It features all-metal construction throughout the barrel, receiver and the 18-round magazine. Plenty of plastic has been used as well, notably the handguard, pistol grip and telescoping butt stock, but that’s the case with the original M4A1 too. The 5.56mm M4A1 was accepted into service by the US military in 1994. It first saw action in the hands of US troops deployed to Kosovo in 1999 in support of…

The first airgun I ever picked up as a teenager was my mate’s BSA Meteor, and while the local vermin population – or our own familiar adversary, the barn door for that matter – had very little to fear, that all changed with the arrival of two further BSA thoroughbreds. I went for the Mercury and my buddy the Airsporter, the former staying with open sights, while the latter carried a then-modern 4x32 Tasco scope. My mate lived on a smallholding on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border and with other family members owning adjoining farms we had plenty of land to roam freely with our two BSA classics. Warfarin was in abundant use on the farms at that time, so rats were not really a necessary quarry for us. Neither, in fact,…

More airgun shooters are switching to thermal optics for after-dark pest control. The reason for this is the fact that it is impossible to fail to notice the glow of a quarry animal’s heat signature when viewed through these devices. And because thermal imagers don’t use a light source there is no beam to betray your presence – you can carry out your observations and shooting with total stealth from the cover of complete darkness. Not everyone is making the change, and one of the main reasons for that is cost. Decent thermal technology doesn’t usually come cheap and it isn’t easy to justify spending two or three months’ wages on a new optic for a bit of pest control. HIKMICRO could just offer a solution to that problem; its…

Twhere’s no getting away from the fact that the Walther Reign wears a black polymer stock. Some people, mainly those who’ve never used one, dismiss the rifle as “plasticky”. But they’re missing the point. Yes, the Reign’s stock is unmistakably made of plastic, but it’s unbelievably tough, beautifully designed to be truly ambidextrous, and is extremely light and compact. In fact, the rifle measures only 665mm (25½ inches) without a silencer and weighs only 2.5kg (5.5lb). The curved butt pad fits the shoulder comfortably and eye/scope alignment is helped by a raised 230mm long dovetail rail that doubles, perhaps unintentionally, as a carrying handle. A large cut-out accesses a pistol grip that has patches of stippling, as does the forend which bulges slightly to both encase the 200cc air bottle…

For a while Brocock was overshadowed by its illustrious sibling, Daystate, but the last few years have seen some new rifles introduced. Based on the Concept XR, the Ranger XR addresses a very specific need. Developed with input from red squirrel conservationist Jerry Moss, the rifle is designed for hunters who need to carry their rifle long distances and shoot from confined environments like vehicles and hides. A folding, telescopic stock means the Ranger XR measures between 610mm and 690mm without a silencer and stows away to just 390mm for storage in a backpack where, at just 2.5kg (5.5lb) you’ll barely notice it. Despite its proportions, the Ranger XR is packed with all the features you’d expect from a marque like Brocock, including a Huma-Air regulator. Pressing a pivot lever…

FOR SALE: Air Arms S410 Carbine in .22 calibre. Comes with moderator, 10-shot magazine and AGS 3-9x40 Mil-Dot scope. No lens cap. Airgun Centre fleece-lined cover, ornate engraved wood stock. New condition, no marks. £350. Paul Waddington (Essex). Tel: 07957 384352 or 07903 036828. Email: caswadd@hotmail.co.uk FOR SALE: Weihrauch HW100 Sport (thumb stock) in .177”/4.5mm calibre, with scope and silencer. Excellent condition. £675 ONO, including postage. Dave Roberts (South Wales). Tel: 01495 759234. FOR SALE: ASI Gamo Paratrooper .22 single-shot in good condition. Fitted with period 4x20 Bushnell. £245. Price includes P&P. R Woodgate (Isle of Wight). Tel: 01983 566634. Email: ozziebob@outlook.com FOR SALE: Weihrauch HW100 KT. Thumbhole stock, .22 calibre, Weihrauch silencer, Hawke scope 3-9x40, 2 x mags, refill adaptor, gun bag. VGC. £700. FOR SALE: Seven-litre dive bottle.…

Rabbit numbers have been up and down on my patch over the past few years. Myxomatosis, which has been around for decades, takes its toll but there always seem to be a few resistant rabbits that make it through and create a new breeding stock. Far more devastating over recent years has been the impact of rabbit haemorrhagic disease, usually referred to as RHD or RVHD. This highly infectious disease kills quickly, leaves barely any external signs and has a mortality rate of between 70% and 100%. Rabbit populations can disappear swiftly when it strikes. RHD has been the reason for the decline in rabbit numbers where I live – certainly over the past two or three years. Last year it struck just as the bunnies appeared to be making…

This evening I am shooting over grassland that is managed for cattle grazing and as pony paddocks. The lush meadows and sandy soil create perfect conditions for rabbits, which have bred rapidly through the spring. Although a growing population of rabbits may sound appealing to shooters, it is bad news for the landowner here. As most people who keep livestock know, rabbit burrows pose a serious danger to large animals. When a misplaced hoof goes down a hole, the result can often be a broken leg. As the rabbits here multiply, their excavations become larger and more abundant, and the chances of an accident increases. Both the landowner and horse owners are eager to see numbers reduced. Towards the start of the summer I did most of my shooting on…

Autumn is a wonderful season for the air-rifle hunter. Nature’s harvest is at its most bountiful at this time of year and there are usually good opportunities for making mixed bags as quarry species take advantage of the glut in preparation for tougher times ahead. Another nice thing about the autumn months is the shortening days. Back in the long days of summer, there was the potential for many hours of inactivity between the prime times of dawn and dusk, but now that diurnal wildlife has less daylight by which to forage, you can expect to encounter quarry at more or less any time of day. And even if you do want to hang on until nightfall, you’ll still be able to get home at a much more civilised time…

The last time I visited my local airgun range, a fellow shooter commented on the fact that I was shooting off split sticks. He told me he’d never seen anyone else at the range using sticks; when I thought about it, neither had I. As this particular range is predominantly set up for benchrest with individual shooting lanes, my habit is to spend most of my time zeroing and checking data, but then I’ll spend the last 15 or 20 minutes shooting offhand or using sticks. Marksmanship of any kind is a perishable skill, especially the fiendishly tricky stuff such as unsupported standing shots. I’ve learned through bitter experience that there is nothing worse than lining up a shot on a rabbit when there’s nothing to rest your rifle on and…

Roost shooting is a wonderful way to target woodpigeons during the colder months. It doesn’t require any of the cumbersome gear necessitated by decoying, yet can still yield impressive bags. Most people associate roost shooting with shotguns, and I often reach for the 12-bore when the wind is whipping through the woods and it’s simply too blustery to shoot accurately with an airgun. But in windless conditions the loud bang of a shotgun can spook incoming birds – this is the time when an airgun can really shine. Fitted with a decent moderator, modern airguns are almost silent so it’s possible to pick off pigeons with minimal disturbance. The lack of noise means that approaching birds are not discouraged as they home in on their favourite roosting spots and it…

After spending more than three decades trying to improve my decoying results, I like to think I know a thing or two about this challenging form of shooting. My early years resulted in more failures than successes, but the hundreds of hours of trial and error have provided me with a pretty good understanding of what works and what does not. I’m always happy to share my findings with other shooters, and I hope that it might help them to avoid some of the pitfalls that I have experienced over the years. The number one rule of decoying – especially when using an airgun – is to manage your expectations. Persuading a wily bird that lives on instinct to land within striking distance is a real achievement. Just being able…

I suspect we’ve all been there at some point: we’ve fitted a new scope using quality mounts, only to find out that we can’t zero our rifle at our chosen distance because we’ve run out of elevation adjustment. This problem is noticeable with high-magnification or high-mounted scopes. The traditional solution would be to shim the rear mount, but this will put stress on the body tube and may damage the internal components. But there is a better way: Blueprint Adjustable Mounts from MTC. MTC has released two sets of two-piece adjustable mounts, both designed for scopes with a 30mm tube. Set AS30 will fit a dovetail rail with a width of 11/12mm (3/8”), while set AP30 will fit rifles equipped with a 21mm Picatinny rail. Both sets are made from…

What’s the difference between a springer and a PCP? Recoil! This can adversely affect the way a shooter interacts with their rifle, and this will affect their results on target. But unlike pre-charged pneumatics, springers and gas-rams offer a simpler form of self-contained shooting, with no filling devices or hoses to worry about. I suspect there are plenty of shooters who, like me, prefer to shoot a PCP. But that’s simply down to the fact that PCPs are easier to shoot, so I get better results with them and therefore kid myself I’m a better shot. Of course what makes me a better shot is that I shoot my springers on a regular basis in an attempt to hone my basic techniques. And because springers are harder to shoot, that…

FERAL PIGEON Columba livia PEST STATUS: These birds cause serious problems, not only by stealing grain and animal feed around the farm, but also by contaminating feed, water troughs and stored produce with their droppings. CAUTION: Shooters must take care not to confuse racing pigeons with feral pigeons. Tired racers sometimes stop at farmyards for a rest, and it’s likely you will encounter them from time to time. They look leaner and more alert than ferals, and also have a ring on their leg. HUNTING TACTICS: Feral pigeon culls tend to take place indoors, where birds have infested barns or warehouses. These birds are not wary, so camouflage clothing is not essential. Owing to the disease risk, total eradication from your site should be the aim. You need to bag…

MTC Optics names its telescopic sights after various snakes, and after bringing out some larger models last year in the shape of the King Cobra, the company downsized its most recent releases with the new Copperhead line of smaller scopes. The Copperhead range launched with a pair of second focal plane (F2) models – the 3-12x44, as seen here, and the 4-16x44, priced at £300 and £315 respectively. These inaugural Copperheads offer pull-up/lock-down elevation and windage turrets, side parallax adjustment from infinity down to 10 yards, a fast-focus eyepiece and flip-up lens covers. MTC equipped these scopes with its new AMD2 reticle, with uncluttered graduations for easy trajectory and wind allowances. There’s also an illuminated central crosshair offering six brightness settings. In the animal kingdom, copperheads are a type of…

Made in Russia by Ataman and imported by Sure-Shot Airguns in Suffolk, the BP17 Micro Bullpup is one of the smallest production, full-power air rifles ever made. Measuring just 605mm and weighing 2.3kg (5.1lb), the clever design means it has a standard length of pull of 340mm (13.5 inches) and the chunky forend has plenty of room to accommodate your leading hand. You can choose from either a sumptuous piece of walnut or soft touch olive or black stocks, all of which are ambidextrous and have a large thumbhole cut-out, sculpted pistol grip and non-adjustable solid rubber butt pad. The drop-down-handled sidelever articulates forward to ensure the cocking stroke is not cramped, and can be swapped to either side. That said, although it works perfectly, it does lack a little…

How often have you heard it said that “a good big ‘un will beat a good little ‘un”? Well that might be true in the world of rugby or boxing, at least most of the time. But when it comes to air rifles, it’s simply not true. There are plenty of shooting scenarios in which small, compact rifles are preferable to more traditional sporter stock alternatives, such as shooting from a hide, around farm buildings in the dark or from a vehicle. As our test rifles have shown, clever design means that short rifles do not have to be a compromise on ergonomic fit, performance and even shot count in some cases. They also have the benefit of being easier to store and transport.…

It was 1983, a school day – English in Room 2 if you must know – and my mates and I were crowded around a picture of a Theoben Sirocco Deluxe in a magazine. Back then, with our Webley Vulcans and BSA Airsporters, the Sirocco looked like it came from a different planet. Its sleek, yet purposeful lines hinted at unobtainable levels of power and accuracy. And that gas-ram system, which compressed then released a sealed cylinder of gas instead of a spring, was too futuristic for words. As Theoben’s first production rifle in 1982, production of the Sirocco ran until 2003 and covered nine models. In addition, that patented gas-ram system, apparently inspired by motorcycle suspension, went on to power the Weihrauch HW90 and inspire many other manufacturers. Webley…

There is no getting away from the fact that farming operations attract pests and the impact can be at its greatest when uninvited guests home in on the yard. You can’t blame feral pigeons, corvids or rats for targeting farmyards, as the large buildings provide them with shelter and they are an easy source of food. Most of the farms that I shoot on tend to be hit worst during the winter. Cold, wet weather and a lack of natural food makes five-star living on a farm even more of a temptation. As spring slowly rolls around, the days lengthen and temperatures rise. This, combined with the wealth of food and shelter on the farmyard, can create ideal breeding conditions. Thankfully, pest numbers on this farm are still comparatively low,…

Shooting throws up unexpected surprises and that is certainly the case here. This particular hide site was originally set up to ambush squirrels when they turned up to visit a feeding station, but it has now created a useful opportunity to thin out the corvids that are causing problems nearby. Much of this estate is grazed by sheep and the crows have been targeting vulnerable lambs. Add the fact that rooks, jackdaws and magpies have been making a nuisance of themselves around the poultry sheds, and there is certainly justification for keeping their numbers in check. As it happens, my feeding station has already attracted the attention of corvids. With a few tweaks, it appears that I could bring some of these scavenging birds to book from this ready-made hide…

This session is all about crop protection. Pigeons and corvids are targeting leftover grain on a stubble field that is to be redrilled. If left to their own devices, they will decimate the next crop before it has time to establish. The farmer tried using bangers to keep them at bay but his efforts haven’t had much effect, so it’s time for more positive action. This sort of protection is often carried out with a shotgun to maximise returns by taking birds on the wing. However, the area the birds are targeting on this farm is close to buildings and a road, so the 12-bore is not an option. With a more subtle approach required, I am going to be using my sub-12ft/lb BSA R-10 TH. This airgun is near-silent…

Although some farms hold a resident population of rats right through the year, numbers of these unwelcome rodents peak during the autumn and winter months. This is because although rats can live comfortably in the open countryside during the warmer months, life becomes tougher when the weather turns cold and natural food is less abundant. Most of my farmyard shooting permissions see a gradual increase in rats once harvesting gets underway. With less food out in the fields, the scaly-tails start looking for easy pickings elsewhere and lots of them will settle on the farm where they can usually find a reliable supply of animal feed and stored grain to get them through the toughest part of the year. Rats that move onto the farm find plenty of shelter from…

Although I am willing to embrace new technology if I think it is justified by the improvement it brings to my results in the field, I am not a huge fan of newfangled kit that’s complicated to use and ultimately makes for a less enjoyable shooting experience. For this reason, I have been slow to jump on the thermal night-vision bandwagon, preferring to stick with my trusty infrared set-ups instead. I have dipped a toe, though, and I had pretty good results using an InfiRay Saim model I was sent for review recently. Therefore I was quite excited when Highland Outdoors asked if I would like to give the Saim SCP19 thermal riflescope a try. I accepted the offer and the unit duly arrived, along with an InfiRay Eye E3…

I’ll let you into a secret: if I go out hunting and return home empty-handed I feel disappointed. Yes, I know, I’m supposed to have enjoyed the trip just as much for getting out in the Great British countryside, irrespective of the contents of my game bag. But, I’m afraid, the success of the hunt does matter to me. This impulse is always close to the surface. If while out for a gentle family stroll I spy a bushy-tail high in a tree or hear a trout break the surface of a nearby river, I feel a deep pang of loss at an opportunity passing me by. At 37 years of age I have, of course, shed much of the unfortunate bloodlust that typifies the young initiate hunter. However, I…

PCPs are great – until the air pressure in the onboard air reservoir falls too low and needs topping up. That’s easy enough at home, especially if you have a dive-style charging cylinder, but isn’t so easy in the field. You can certainly take a pump out shooting with you, but they do take a fair bit of physical effort to operate. The GX L3 super portable compressor, on the other hand, will fill your rifle with a minimum of effort. This compressor comes from the same factory that makes the Omega line of compressors, but while those are more suited for static use in the home or at the club, the GX L3 can simply be thrown into the back of a vehicle. And because it runs on rechargeable…

If you need a powerful torch that has the potential for clear quarry identification at more than 400m, while being simple and silent to operate, then look no further than the Night Master NM1 XL. And in addition to the choice of white, red, amber, green or blue LEDs, which can be bought separately, the NM1 XL can also be configured with either a UV, 850nm or 940nm LED to convert it into an illuminator for use with a night vision setup. The XL weighs 390g with a battery installed, measures 67mm wide at the front and has a body diameter of 30mm. No mounts are supplied, although Night Master’s Fully Adjustable Scope Mount Set (£52.96) offers easy scope-mounting and angle adjustment, while the QMD Quick Multi Directional Hunting Light…

LETTER OF THE MONTH LEAD’S NOT DEAD – A DOCTOR’S REPLY I read Mr McCafferty’s letter Lead’s Not Dead with both sympathy and sadness. “Sympathy” because, as a fellow shooter of over 30 years with FAC handguns and rifles, and air pistols and rifles, I do not want to see lead disappear, but “sadness” because, respectfully, his arguments are flawed. Copper is vital for health. For example, together with iron, it helps make red blood cells. Copper is in our diet and toxicity is rare, and only after long-term exposure of high levels or due to a rare inherited condition. Tin is not needed for health and toxicity exists, but is mainly related to industrial exposure. Mr McCafferty states “Tungsten is not considered toxic” – not true. Just Google “tungsten…

Rabbits have a reputation for being able to breed quickly. That reputation is based on fact and means that they are able to bounce back after a slump. A few years ago rabbits went from being abundant to alarmingly scarce across much of the country. This was down to several reasons; I don’t think the huge numbers of badgers helped, and myxomatosis was a factor, but rabbit haemorrhagic disease played the biggest part – and the rapid decline points to this virulent disease. Thankfully, we have seen a marked recovery in the rabbit population in my locality over the past year or so. Numbers seem to be more or less back to where they were before the sudden drop, and in some areas they are noticeably higher. Although I am…

I have been recently considering the vast numbers of serious airgunners who much prefer to shoot indoors rather than put up with the inconvenience of a naughty wind and the fact that targets can be placed at all sorts of weird distances and not just the standard 25, 40 and 50-yard lengths of the average indoor range. Outdoor airgun sport can be enjoyed in many ways, from hunting to either FT or HFT competition, which also has thousands of serious adherents who are prepared to take on the challenges of steering those tiny and relatively slow pellets onto all sorts of targets in any conditions. Overall though, I reckon that there are far more “bench-type” shooters who simply enjoy their time shooting either official benchrest competitions or just plinking away…

Older airguns are great fun to use, and let’s not forget that these were put to serious use in their time. Many were capable of outputting very good power levels, and guns like a pre-War Improved Model D can reach 11 ft-lb with a tune today. Most of these older guns will have piston seals made of leather unless they’ve been subjected to a recent modification by a keen home tuner. Picking one up and testing it may show muzzle velocity is down, not that this in itself is a bad thing. There will be less recoil for a start, so accuracy should be improved. But there comes a time when even the best of the best needs looking at. There is nothing wrong in using modern materials in older…

Everything is getting bigger – cars, TVs, the national waistline – and yet some airguns are bucking the trend. Over the last few years, a subset of smaller, lighter and more compact rifles has emerged that make regular bullpups look like howitzers. Somehow manufacturers are managing to squeeze fully featured, legal-limit performance into increasingly diminutive packages. Some even manage to offer FAC-rated outputs. So, are they curiosities for those who have too many rifles already and want something different? Or are they credible alternatives to more conventionally proportioned rifles? To find out, we’ve gathered together four of the smallest rifles on sale today to see not only how they shoot, but to gauge their gun fit and balance as well. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that the…

FX’s Impact needs no introduction and is one of the best-selling air rifles of all time. However, favoured as it is by FAC shooters and long-distance target shooters, the Compact version is less well-known. A friend had just bought a .22 calibre FAC model and it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, so I borrowed it for this test.The rifle shown includes a number of aftermarket trinkets. The Impact is already a relatively small rifle, but with its 500mm Smooth Twist X barrel, the M3 Compact measures just 640mm and tips the scales at 2.8kg (6.1lb). In every other respect, bar a smaller 300cc carbon-wrapped air bottle, it is the same as its bigger brothers. A twin regulator setup throttles air pressure down from the main bottle through…

While domed diabolo pellets are a “go anywhere, do anything” type of ammo, some hunters prefer the knockdown potential of a hollowpoint pellet. These are usually ballistically inferior to a pure domehead, but are designed to expand on impact, delivering more lethal energy to the quarry. BSA’s new line of high-end ammo includes a variety of pellet types, one being a hollowpoint design called the Black Star. It’s available in both .177 and .22, and this time I’m looking at the smaller calibre. Black Stars have a dished head with a cleanly formed hollow and a fairly long skirt. Despite the size of the skirt, they measure only 6.46mm in length overall, which could prove advantageous in some PCP magazines or single-shot loaders where a too-lengthy pellet may foul their…

WELCOME to the fourth edition of The Airgun Hunter’s Yearbook. This guide is a collection of the best of the hunting articles that the Airgun Shooter team and I have produced over the past year. We hope that having them compiled in a seasonal format will make for easier reference and enable you to make the best use of them for guidance and instruction throughout your shooting year. Hunting with air rifles is one of the most challenging fieldsports out there. Pitting our wits against wild quarry with finely tuned survival instincts can make getting in close enough for a responsible shot almost impossible at times. That degree of difficulty certainly makes successful days in the field that much sweeter – we really do have to earn our rewards. Having…

The woods where I am shooting today are managed for wildlife conservation, so grey squirrels really aren’t welcome. I tend to hit this particular permission hard twice a year, once at the beginning of the winter and once again in early spring. By having two concentrated campaigns, each running for a month or two, I am able to drive down the numbers rather than just chipping away at them. The owner and his son are both keen shooters, and they do their best to keep the pressure on when I’m not around. My efforts are concentrated around the hungry period, when natural food is thin on the ground. I hold back on my first push until after the autumn harvest of nuts and seeds has been mopped up, and then…

Farmyards can be useful places for airgun shooters to turn to. Not only do they attract a lot of pests, they also provide somewhere to shelter from the elements when weather conditions don’t suit shooting out on open ground. During the winter, when the weather is cold and wet and natural food is scarce, rats and pest birds home in on the farm as they know they will be able to find protection from sleet, floods and icy winds, and there’s also likely to be a ready supply of easy pickings waiting for them. In summer, farm buildings remain attractive. Pests are drawn in by feed and the shade provided by the large, airy buildings when outside temperatures start to climb. Although the farmer wanted me to come and help…

Airgun shooters and rabbits have been pitting their wits against each other for as long as there have been, well, airguns and rabbits. And often the battleground is a paddock or field in which horses are kept. The unfortunate truth is that by digging holes and scrapes, rabbits pose a real threat; a broken leg will result in a hefty vet’s bill or, worse still, the destruction of the horse. One of my permissions is an equestrian centre and home to many millions of pounds’ worth of bloodstock. Racehorses as well as dressage, showjumping and cross-country horses roam around the many paddocks. The threat of rabbit holes is ever-present and exacerbated by the fact that horses not only live at the centre but train and compete there, too. The thought…

Every once in a while you get a session that really goes to plan, and that was certainly the case with one of my outings after corvids. The field I was targeting contained the remnants of a maize crop and the birds had descended on the scraps of corn left behind by the forage harvester. With autumn drillings set to be planted in just a few days, the farmer was eager to bring the pests to book before they had a chance to turn their attention to his seed. This scenario is usually best tackled with a shotgun because it enables you to take birds on the wing. And even if you miss, the noise you create will drive the birds away from the field. The problem was that this…

My very first permission, gained many years ago, is a field in the next village. It might only be a few acres, but wandering about the hedgerows with my HW35, I could have been stalking in the Highlands or roaming the great plains of Africa. Before long I had pretty much explored every corner. It sounds ungrateful, I know, especially to those still seeking their first permission, but things got a little stale. I knew exactly where the rabbits would be and where to lay up to ambush them. When I mentioned this to the farmer after several years, he replied: “Oh, you should have said, I’ve got plenty of other land you can shoot on.” I didn’t know whether to kiss him or throttle him. Fortunately, I did neither…

On the farms in my locality, fields of maize grown for cattle feed are usually harvested in the late autumn and new crops are then quickly drilled in their place. However, wet weather made last year’s harvest extremely difficult. Some farmers had to leave it much later than usual and many fields were then too wet to use the heavy machinery to sow the following crop. Today, I am shooting over one of these late harvests that is yet to be redrilled. Lots of corvids and a few pigeons have homed in on the remaining maize kernels, which offer them an easy food source at a time of year when natural pickings are hard to come by. Although the birds aren’t doing costly damage, the farmer is planning to redrill…