Author Archives: Jim Chapman
High Powered PCP Hunting Rifle: .22 vs .25 Part II
The effect of wind on any pellet can be significant, and the presence of a strong breeze is a good indication that you should dial the range in and save the long shots for another day. My experience has been that at longer distances the .177 will get blown off target, and is much more … Continue reading
High Powered PCP Hunting Rifle: .22 vs .25 Part I
This is excerpted from an article I wrote for the British magazine “Airgunner” a few years ago, discussing the .22 and .25 as hunting calibers. In more recent years I’ve written several articles for this and other magazines examining the .25 and .30 calibers in the same context, and at the end of part II, … Continue reading
Airgun Hunting by Night
One of my favorite predator hunting venues is Texas, where the variety and the sheer numbers of predators is incredible: coyote, bobcat, fox, and raccoons, and the possibility of a mountain lion always present. I’ve been traveling to the Lone Star State to hunt for about 15 years, and for the first five I only … Continue reading
Does Camo Clothing Improve Success for the Airgun Hunter?
Part II I’ve used many different camo patterns over the years, as I’ve hunted deserts, plains, mountains, tropical swamps and jungle, and waist deep snow fields. I’m not sure an exact match between the camo pattern and the natural surroundings is mandatory, but blending in helps. This is the most obvious when hunting in snow; … Continue reading
Does Camo Clothing Improve Success for the Airgun Hunter?
Part I Several years ago, when I started hunting in South Africa, I found that I’d usually be the only hunter in the group wearing camo. There was some good-natured ribbing about the camo clad American redneck, but my local friends would tell me that if you worked the wind and shadows properly it wasn’t … Continue reading
Is the .30 the new .25?
This is excerpted from an article I wrote for Airgunner Magazine in the UK a couple years back. I’ve found myself gravitating to the .30, and for many of the same reasons I drifted away from the .22 to the .25 a few years earlier. BTW: Airgunner is a great magazine available either as a … Continue reading
Hunting Hogs with an Airgun
I’ve been going down to Texas quite a bit this year, and even though you can now hunt all game species with an airgun there, I still make trips specifically to hunt feral hogs. It is possible to hunt hogs in several states, but Texas is my favorite because of the varied hunting terrains, and … Continue reading
A Trophy is What’s Important to You!
I was at a friends house looking at some mounts he had of truly impressive bucks, and in my mind I compared it to my own trophies of past hunts. I’ve got a few nice representative animals on the larger side of the scale, but nothing that would impress a hard core trophy hunter. But … Continue reading
Fall Squirrel Hunt
I like squirrel hunting in the fall when the leaves are coming off the trees, because the squirrels are moving, both up in the bare branches and also on the ground. You can spot them from a ways off and plan an approach…. on the other hand they can see you from a long ways … Continue reading
Calling Raccoons!
Many years ago I had an experience that opened my eyes to a new hunting opportunity that I’d not realized existed. I was out squirrel hunting in the woods of central Indiana on an overcast and very cold morning. Sitting in the shadows at the base of a shaggy oak as morning broke over the … Continue reading
