Airgunning
“Stopcallingwhen
birdsarenearby
becauseyoudon’t
wanttodrawtheir
attentiontoyour
hiding place”
34 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
Whenit comestosquirrelcalling,I am
stilla relativenewcomer,butI amalready
gettingsomereasonableresults.The
callI havebeenexperimentingwithover
thepastcoupleofyearsis thePrimos
SquirrelBuster.It hasanimpressive
rangeofsounds—includingthesqueal
ofa distressedyoungsterandthechatter,
wheezeandbarkofterritorialadults—
thoughI haveyettomasterthemall.
Pushthebellowsinandletthemback
out,andtheSquirrelBustermakesa
raspywheezingsound.Youcandothis
one-handedbypushingit againstyour
kneewhenholdinga gun.Holdthebarrel
and give the bellows a shake, and you getanexcitedchatter.Youcanevenmakea
piercingsquealbyblowingintothebarrel.
ThoughI amstilllearningtheropes
ofsquirrelcalling,I havealreadyused
thetechniquetobringplentyofthemto
book.Ratherthantryingtoluresquirrels
towardsme,I findit worksbestwhen
youcanhearonechatteringbutare
strugglingtospotit upinthetreetops.I
copytheircallstokeepthemchattering
soI canusethesound to pinpoint them as
I stalk in closer.GREY SQUIRRELSIhavebeenusingtheACMEdoveand
pigeoncallformorethantwodecades.
Forsucha basicdesign—it lookslikea
verylargewhistle—it doesa remarkable
jobofreplicatingthecallofa pigeon and
it’sveryeasytogetthehangof.
Frequentlywhencontrollingpigeons
withanairrifle,it canbedifficultto
persuadethebirdstolandwithinstriking
distancewhentheyaretargetingopen
crops.Onewayaroundthisis toambush
theminadjacentwoodlandtowhichthey
willusuallyflightbackandforth.Theonly
snagis thatpigeonscanbedifficultto
spotupintheboughswhenthetreesare
infullleaf.Moreoftenthannot,birdswill
clockyouandclearofflongbefore you
managetopinpointthem.
Ratherthantryingtostalkwithin
rangeofperchedpigeons,it canbefar
moreproductivetosettleintosome
shadycoverandusea callertomimicthe
“coo-cooing” ofnearbybirds.Woodies
oftenrespondandswoopinfora closer
look,offeringyoua chancetoearmark
theirwhereaboutsandlineupfora shot
when they fl utter within striking distance.WOODPIGEONSApigeoncallcanbea
greatwaytopersuade
birdstorevealtheir
whereaboutswhenthey
are hidden by leavesYoucanusePrimosSquirrelBusterone-
handedbypushingit againstyourkneewhile
holding your gun; it makes a range of sounds