My Field History: Hunting with Daystate and Brocock Rifles

One of the questions I’m asked a lot, is what is my favorite hunting air rifle?

To be honest, I hate this question because there is not an easy answer. There are a group of rifles at the top of my personal list, that come from several different manufacturers. I could base the answer on pure performance related to accuracy, power, ergonomics, practicality or aesthetic appeal, and could come up with different answers based on each.

One of the manufacturers that has most consistently produced rifles that fall into my top category for high quality hunting rifles is Daystate. And with the addition of Brocock as a sibling company, this is truer than ever. I was thinking back recently, about the hunts I’ve been on and went back into my photo vault to pull out some photos (and the memories that go along with them) of past hunts. These photos are only in rough chronological order, and by no means represent anything more than a brief snapshot of more than 15 years of hunting with these rifles. They do however represent some fond memories in the field with some great rifles. My first PCP was an original Huntsman that I’d bought on a whim and filled with a hand-pump. Unfortunately, it was before I was photographing or recording my airgunning journey.

Several years ago I had a call from the guys at Airguns of Arizona to join them on a hunt in North Arizona, so I flew into Phoenix, jumped into a truck with Robert, Greg, and Kip for a drive up north. We had several rifles with us but the one I selected was one of the first Daystate Wolverine .308 rifles built. The four of us spent a couple days working the high desert chasing jackrabbits cottontails, and ground squirrels. The power and accuracy of the Wolverine blew me away, this was early in the development of the .30 caliber guns and ammo, and stretching out for 100 yard shots that slapped a big jackrabbit right off its feet was really impressive. The other thing that impressed me was the build quality of this gun, it was a large gun but so well designed it fit well and carried like a smaller gun. I think this is the rifle that launched the rise of the .30’s we see today.

Another gun I was using a lot at that time, was the one I still consider the zenith of air rifle design aesthetics, the Huntsman. I’ve used this gun for rabbits in AZ, prairie dogs in South Dakota, Midwestern squirrels, quail in California, and many other hunts over the years. It is a very accurate rifle, moderately powerful, a great trigger…. But it is the graceful line, beautiful wood, cut checkering….it is really a perfect feast for the eyes! This is one of those rare and special guns for me, one that will never leave my collection!

The airgun market has been gravitating towards bullpups and more tactical designs. Daystate was right there with the Pulsar, a bullpup design with an electronically controlled firing cycle that is self-regulated and has an electronic trigger. It also includes a built-in laser for target acquisition and range estimation, and though I loved shooting this gun on the range, because performance wise it was outstanding, I’ve never been a fan of electronics on my field guns. Probably more in my mind than based on fact, I want my field guns to be free of any dependencies other than air to run! Then came the Renegade, essentially a Pulsar without the electronics and I was a happy camper! This compact bullpup was a treat to carry in the field, one of my first trips was the wide-open Texas deserts after jackrabbits followed by a visit to a feed yard for some pigeon pest control. The long-range accuracy and power let me reach out for those long shots on jacks, but I could also finesse the shots on pigeons around equipment. buildings, and livestock.

When Daystates parent company acquired Brocock, I was interested to see where it would go. I’d used the Brocock Enigma, Specialist, Super 6, and Concept, and thought the performance was generally good, and absolutely loved the compact dimensions and feather weight of their rifles/carbines. The stocks were workmanlike, in the case of the concept quite nice really, but for the most part they lacked the attention to detail of the Daystate rifles. But once the companies started to share engineering resources and technology, the Brocock line took a major step forward.

First with the Compatto, then the Bantam (and most recently the Commander XR) they have turned out rifles that are among my favorite hunting guns. I’ve used the Compatto and then the Bantam more than almost any other single rifle I have. My first hunt with the Bantam on its release was back out to the West Texas desert, where I had an awesome few days of rabbit hunting. The great field performance, shootability, compact carry matched that of my Compatto, but the air-bottle in place of the Compatto’s reservoir tube gave a high shot count, which was much appreciated as I wandered over the rugged landscape.

The highest praise I can give a gun, is that it’s one I keep in my collection and one I continue to use. That’s rarefied air when you consider I shoot around 100 new rifles per year, and only about a dozen (collected over 25 years) stay in my “never-to-be-let-go collection. The Huntsman, the Compatto, and the Bantam are three of these guns…….. unless maybe they get upgraded with a newer version 😉

If you are looking for that “Grail” airgun, this is a line I’d check out. I know I am looking forward to trying the Revere…… which could be the only means of persuading me to part with my Huntsman …… though more likely it would be adding to….

Change of topic: How many of you are getting ready for hunting season? I’ve already been out for a couple small game hunts in Nebraska, and looking forward to much more action in the coming year! As a matter of fact, thinking about using a couple vacation days and heading back down to Nebraska tomorrow to take advantage of their early squirrel season!