Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

Airgunning

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 67

ona headnet.I mighthavedonea bit

ofa rushjobwiththecamoscreen

butI knowfromexperiencethatfew

thingsspookcrowsmorethanthe

sightofa peeringface.Evenwhen

shootingfroma hide,I usuallywear

a veilalongwitha peakedcaptocast

someshadeovermyeyes.Apartfrom

boostingconcealment,it alsokeeps

horsefliesandmidgesoffmyfaceand

neck,andthathastobea goodthing.

I hadchosentousemyFAC-rated

DaystateRedWolf.This35ft/lb.22

calibreairgunhasa lotmoregrunt

thana legal-limitmodel,butI don’t

tendtopushthe ranges extremely

farwithit.

Thebigadvantageit offersis that,

ratherthanstickingtoheadshots

asI usuallydowithlower-powered

airguns,thisset-updeliversclean

killswitha striketotheupper-body

area.Havinganextra,andslightly

larger,killzoneonoffercanmake

a significantdifferencetobagsize

at theendoftheday.TheRedWolfis

blisteringlyaccurate,though,andwill

shoot fingernail-sized groups at 60m

if youswapthemulti-shotmagazine

fortheverypellet-friendlysingle-shot

tray.Unfortunately,I can’tmatchthe

RedWolf’saccuracywhenI’msitting

ona bucketseat,soI tend to keep my

shotswithin40m.

Theairgunwasputintoaction

a lotsoonerthanI hadexpected,as

a solitarycrowcameflappingoverthe

fieldandswoopedintoa treebehind

thehideandacrosstomyleft.

Framedinsights

I hadn’texpectedanythingto

landtherebutit wasa safeshot,

comfortablywithinrange,andI could

justaboutgetonit afterswivelling

aroundonmyseat.I framedthe

unsuspectingcrowinthesights,

settledthecross-hairsbetweenits

shouldersanddroppedit witha shot

thathithomewitha heavy“thock”.

Anotheronemadethemistake

ofpitchingona wallonmysideof

thesilageclampsabout 10 minutes

laterandmetwitha similarend.

I wasverypleasedwithmyselfafter

bagging two crows with the air rifle

asitewhereI wouldhopefullybeable
toshootbirdsthatwerepitchedin
treesoronwallsorposts.I quicklyset
upa camouflagenetagainsttheside
ofa convenientlypositioned hedge.

Percheddecoys
Unusually,I didn’tbothertodress
thehidenetwithanyvegetation
tohelpit blendin.Oneortwobirds
werecircling,soI wantedtokeep
disturbancetoa minimumandsettle
inasquicklyaspossible.Also,the
camouflagenetwasactuallya pretty
goodmatch,witha thickbackdrop
andplentyofnaturalcoveraround
andinfrontofit,soit was already
quiteinconspicuous.
Longgrasssurroundingthesilage
clampmeantmydecoyswouldn’t
reallybevisibleontheground,soI
mountedthemonfencepostsinstead.
Thismakesfora natural-looking
set-upandI usuallyadda coupleto
thearrangementevenwhenI can
havethemonthedeck.Topropup
thesepercheddecoysI simplymount
themontheirusualpegandthenuse
plastic-coatedwire— thestuffyou
canbuyingardencentresfortyingup
roses— tofastenthemtothepost.
Withthehideanddecoyssetup,
I sat down on a bucket seat and pulled

“ TheRedWolfis blisteringlyaccurateand

will shoot fingernail-sized groups at 60m”

Crowdroppingsaroundthesilageclamp
testifytothelargevolumeofcorvidsthat
have been ravaging the farm since June

Decoyssetonfence

postslooknatural

to incoming birds