Airgun World – July 2019

68 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk

HI-TECH HUNTING

the somewhat harsh calls of the pheasants all

blending into one soundfest. The sunlight

streams through the branches and I could stay

here for hours and not think about pulling a

trigger. All the time, though, I’m

subconsciously taking in information from the

surroundings; how the light falls on a certain

area and creates shadows that can work in my

favour; which trees the woodpigeons are

visiting to either rest up or feed; the faraway

scratching of the grey squirrel, or its call

because it senses you there – it’s all info for

the hunter and it all needs storing. All too

soon, it was time to head home and prepare

for the following day.

CLEAN HEADSHOT

The Sunday sun was already up to greet me

that morning, and the temperature was going

to be high. I do love the warm sun on my

back, but the other side of the coin is that the

heat slows down the feeding rate of the

pigeons and squirrels, so an early start is the

only way forward.

The tracks are now dried up, so the farmer

is okay with me taking the truck all the way

down to the woods and once parked up in the

shade I was off to the first hide. The first thing

I saw was that a couple of huge stones that I

laid under a low-set feeder had been moved.

They are quite large stones and there’s only

one thing in these woods that could move

them – badgers. So, it was clearly time to lift

the low-set feeder and discourage old brock

from feeding here.

The temperature was already rising and

would slow things down, so it was down to the

job in hand. The first hide is central to the

wood and overlooks one of the most visited

feeders I have. It also gives great all-round

views of the towering beech trees, and the

leaves were not yet fully develop, so spotting

any incoming woodies would be easy. With the

power set back to maximum, I knew the

Impact had the legs to take the long 65-yard

shots required, if necessary.

DAYTIME DUTIES

It wasn’t long before the chance came to

prove the daytime accuracy of the N455, and

believe me, the accuracy was good – very

good! A clean headshot brought the first

woodpigeon to the ground with a satisfying

thud, and from a decent 40 yards. Next up,

was another woodpigeon. I’d seen it drop into

an ivy-clad tree at over 50 yards, and I

figured I might have lost it in the heavy

leaves, but after waiting for some movement,

I was proved wrong and once I had it in the

viewfinder, it was game over. The Ultra was

proving to be an excellent day scope – two

down already!

Movement of bluebells below my feeder

indicated a feeding skinny, and I resisted the

temptation to take a quick shot, until it came

on to the bait. Once there, I just had to get a

snap of it feeding confidently, head buried

deep inside the steel feeder. When it had

enough peanuts in its mouth, it sat on the

front tray as if waiting for me to take the shot

and the invitation wasn’t wasted. With a solid

crack, the skinny fell motionless to the floor.

The 25gr Air Arms Diablo takes no prisoners

at this distance; another clean kill.

AWESOME EQUIPMENT

It was time to move on. The next station

provides a vantage point over two feeders and a

good mix of beech and oak trees, favoured by

pigeons and squirrels alike. One of the feeders

is a later design and is constructed from

six-inch galvanised steel cable trunking, but it

needs a little tweaking to bring it up to the latest

design. Keeping still in these situations is a

must, so before repositioning my stance or the

gun, it always pays to check all around by

turning just my head, and then make a move

once happy that there’s no quarry.

This worked as described in this instance

because I spotted a plump woodie sitting

some 60 yards to my left, over the stream, and

a ‘between the shoulders’ shot brought it

tumbling to earth.

I took another squirrel that was feeding on

the loose feed on the ratched ground, before

returning to my original hide and taking yet

another skinny in an almost identical scenario

as the first one. An hour later, nothing else

had shown itself and the temperature had now

hit the high 20s, so my fears of a ‘too hot a

day’ had been confirmed.

VERDICT

Looking back over my time with the Pulsar

Ultra N455, I have to say it is indeed an

awesome piece of equipment. It’s up there

with the low- to mid-range thermal scopes and

at a fraction of the price, even if you opt for the

additional Wicked Lights IR add-on, the price

is still good. Battery life is outstanding

compared to other NV units, and the ease of

controls is excellent; in particular, the record

button is so easy to reach compared to say the

Photon RT, where you have to reach right over

the scope. As I predicted, it’s a round-the-

clock winner! 

Time for a break,

but keep alert.

Not today, you

dirty rat.

Six for the

morning.