Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

32 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

The calls of the wild

Airgunning

Using callstolure inpestsis a usefulpart ofyourarsenal — simply

mimic what you hear — but don’t overdo it, advises Mat Manning

M.

MANNING

I

talwayssurprisesmehowfew

airgunshootersusecallsto

lurepestswithinrangewhen

theyareoutshooting.The

vastmajorityofushavecountless

imitationdecoybirdsinourarsenal,

yetcallingis often treated like a

darkart.

Goodcallsarenotoutrageously

expensivetobuyand,withpractice,

arenotparticularlydifficulttouse.

Inmostcases,it is simplya matter

oflisteningtothechatterofwild

creaturesthentryingtomimicwhat

youhear.Usedproperly,therightcall

can improve results considerably.

Andtheydon’tjustworkforbirds

— someshootersareadeptat luring

squirrelsoutfromcover with some

lightconversation.

Noisyrasping

Thegoldenruleforanyone

experimentingwithcallsis not

tooverdoit.Whileit is important

toputinplentyofpracticetoperfect

yourtechnique,I havefoundthatit

is usuallybesttousecallssparinglyin

thefield.Toomuchnoisyraspingcan

putwaryquarryonedge,evensend

it flappingawayoverthehorizonor

scuttling back into the bushes.

Overzealouscallingrunstherisk

ofdrawingyourquarry’sattention

toyourhidingplace.Moreoften

thannot,youonlyneedtouseyour

callseithertosteeraninquisitiveeye

towardsyourdecoys,orprovokea

responsethatwillpersuadea hidden

crittertorevealitswhereabouts by

chatteringbackat you.

Anyonewhothinksthatonly

wildfowlerscanbenefitfromeffective

useofcallsis missinga trick.With

thatinmind,thesearethecallsI use

mostoftenandthescenariosinwhich

theytendtoworkbestwhen targeting

pests with an airgun.

Callsarea usefuladdition

to an airgunner’s toolkit