Pest Birds!

Want the opportunity to do a LOT of shooting? This week I’ll take you along on a dairy farm pigeon shoot!

There were pigeons everywhere, but with all the livestock you have to be careful about shot placement.

This week I was in Phoenix on business, and was able to take an early morning pest shooting excursion with my hunting buddy Kip Perow of AOA. Early one morning well before daybreak, before my meeting started, I jumped in my rental car and dropped down from Scottsdale to meet up with Kip at the shop. He met me as the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and I moved over to his truck for the drive out to a local dairy farm that has an enormous concentration of pest birds; pigeons, Eurasian doves, and starlings in the hundreds if not thousands. The rifles we had selected for this outing were a Daystate Huntsman Classic that Kip was using and for me it was an FX Whisper, both guns in .22 caliber. Both guns were shooting JSB 18 grain pellets, and were dialed in at 5o yards.

In a two hour shoot we nailed about 75 pigeons between the two of us (I didn’t count the starlings and Eurasian doves), and could have done a lot more if we hadn’t gotten so selective about the shots we were taking. Only birds at 50 yards, facing left, had the right color pattern, etc… I have only seen this many birds on one or two other occasions in my life! The guns we were shooting performed brilliantly; the Whisper besides living up to its name with quiet deadliness, offered spot on accuracy. I could cycle and fire the gun quickly, at one point knocking 7 Eurasians off a roof in rapid succession before the others decided to move on. And Chip was knocking them down left and right with the Huntsman as well.

Kip lining up on a bird with his Huntsman Classic. There were so many birds it was hard to focus on a single target sometimes!

This was my first field experience with the Whisper, and it shares many attributes with its FX stablemate the Monsoon, solid feel, very nice trigger, ergonomic and (for me) great fitting stock. This is another gun I’ll have to consider for my collection, I’ve really been enjoying the FX guns lately. It has to be something special to move me a way from the Huntsman Classic for any length of time as I still think this is one of (if not) the most beautifully designed hunting guns ever built. As a matter of fact, I’m going squirrel hunting tomorrow and after talking about this gun, decided its the one going with!

I was using the FX Whisper to stack up the pigeons, Eurasian doves, and starlings.

Going out on some clean up work after one quick session. You’d be hard pressed to find another spot with this many birds!

Kip and I took a quick photo with part of our bag, it was a short but great outing! You can set up a trip here through AOA, and I’d recommend it for some outstanding pest shooting.

Quick outing with a springer!

I also got out for a short ground squirrel shoot with the Weilrauch HW 50 spring piston rifle, and managed to knock over a couple of the little round tail ground squirrels that resemble miniature prairie dogs. With all the PCP rifles I have in my personal collection or have access to, I still love to get out with the springers and this little gun was a blast to shoot! I took it out with open sights, and the low cocking effort, nice trigger, and outstanding accuracy make this a very nice small game gun. The only thing I’d do differently next time is scope the rifle, I could have done a lot better but my eyesight in low light and shadows is less good than it used to be …. and much, much enhanced with some good glass.

Had a lot of fun shooting this cool little springer!

New Shop

The other thing I did before leaving town was swing over the the AOA shop for a visit with the guys, and they were very busy. The shop is undergoing an expansion and owner Robert Buchanan has taken over more floor space effectively doubling their current square footage. They have built a new conference room, photo studio, offices, warehouse, an additional indoor test range, and are expanding their shipping, repair and work space. They already have a very nice retail area, and I love wandering through the place. If you live in the area or are traveling through it’s well worth a visit. You’ll feel like the proverbial kid in candy store. There are of course the guns, plinkers, hunting guns, target guns and from some of the best builders in the world, but a ton of adjunct gear as well! I picked up some new mounts, several tins of JSB pellets, and a few other things I’ve needed to pick up.

AOA has added a lot of new space and were in the process of moving when I stopped by.

Putting up new racks to stack the inventory, AOA is a stocking dealer for several gun and adjunct gear.

The guys had just received a couple pallets of JSB pellets, and were moving rapidly to get the back orders out.

I loaded up on mounts and rings …… not so much because I needed them right now, but because I’m sure at some point I will.

So many pellets, so little time; JSB, H&N, Crosman, Predator International …. lots of different calibers to.

I got out this morning for a squirrel hunt, and had a great time. Been doing a lot of shooting and testing of guns and pellets since our return from SA a couple weeks ago, but this was my first chance out to hunt. I’ve mentioned in the blog before that this bushytail rodent is one of my favored quarry, and this was my first hunt in my new home state of Minesotta. The gun I selected for todays outing will come as no suprise, but I’ve been very anxious to hunt the countries most popular and accessible small game animal with the .303 this year. I’ve been using the caliber a lot for medium game and predators since last season, but think it will be an interesting choice in the field for squirrel.

Why do I think this admittedly large and powerful option is right for the small bodied tree squirrel? First, it’s fall and there are still a lot of leaves on the trees and while I always want and strive for one shot one kill, I want that kill to be immediate at this time of year. Most shots are still up in the trees, and I don’t want to loose a squirrel in the dense folliage. And while I typically take head shots, at this time of year shot selection can be more limited with all the leaves and branches to shoot through. This was the same rationale that had me using .25 so much over the last few years, I like .22 hunting guns and use them a lot as well, but when out in the woods don’t really see a downside to a major caliber, so long as it’s accuarate. Also to put it in context, arguably the .22 LR rimfire has been the principle gun used to take squirrels for the last hundred years. And it generates significantly more power than either of the .303 air rifles I use without adding any range, with the downside it carries a lot further if you happen to miss.

I got out in the woods at daybreak, and it was a destined to become a clear and cool morning as sun light started to filter in through the early mist. I had my camo poncho, a messenger bag with my binos and range finder, some coffee, pellets, a camera, and a combo camera/rifle rest tripod. The gun was the FX Boss and the pellets the 47 grain JSB, sighted in at 50 yards. I’ve been using Hawke Frontier Binos for the last two seasons and love them, unfortunately mine are sitting somewhere between Port Elizabeth and Johanessburg airport, I don’t know exactly where only that they didn’t make it back with me. So I’m using my Leupolds for now, and you can’t complain about any optics from this company!

I worked my way through a 20 acre stand of woods bordering a lake by my house, and picked up the rustle of leaves and some exciting barking as I walked into the woods. Moving to the base of a tree about 30 yards from a big oak. I settled in and only waited a few minutes before I saw the outline of a squirrel moving in the leafy shadow high up in the oak. I found him in my scope, lost him, then found him again, quickly lining up and pulling the trigger. That pellet smacked on a broadside chest placement with a loud thud and literally threw the squirrel out of the tree! This was the performance I’d been wanting, and a couple more squirrels in the bag signaled it was time for me to wrap up and get back to the house. I’ve got some articles in the works in which I’ll go into the detail of the guns performance as the season progresses, for now I’ll just say that the .303 shows a great deal of promise as a bridge from small game to larger quarry, and the statement I’ve made a few time about the .303 becoming the new .25 is not hyperbole.

Ok, so why the rush to get home? Well I’ve got some home improvement work going on that I’m trying to spend a few hours a week on right now. The basement in my house gives me a 15 yard target range, and I’m building it up into a combined shooting range/test facility/workshop/filming studio for several writing and filming projects that I’ll be working on through the winter. Hopefully you’ll be seeing the fruits of this work starting to roll out in the next few weeks. I’ve got about 75 rifles up in my gunroom/office, and many new ones on the way to write up, and I want to get back to some quantitative testing to support my field work. Life has gotten so busy, that if I don’t have the capability to at least do the initial work up at home, it’s almost impossible to keep up.

If any readers have topics they’d like to see covered, shoot me an email or post it on the blog and I’ll follow up. Another thing I’m doing, and maybe several of you are as well, is getting ready for AOA’s Extreme Bench Rest competition. Still leaning towards the Boss, but could also see the Wolverine or the Verminator as well. I’m trying to work on my discipline; pacing shots, timing myself loading the magazines, and putting together my rest and wind meters….This event was tremendous fun last year, and even if your like me and don’t consider yourself a competitive shooter, I’d recommend you become one for a day ….. it’s a blast!

Well, that’s it for this week… Grab a gun, fill your tanks and get out there and hunt!

A few thoughts on the Boss and .303

I’ve been doing a lot of shooting with the FX Boss the last few months, and think it is one of the finest hunting airguns I’ve ever used. The reasons for this strong statement are multi-fold: the guns is dead accurate all the way out to 100 yards, it is a hammer with respect to both power and the size of the wound created with a .30 caliber pellet, it has a high shot count, it is lightweight and ergonomic, it is quiet, and it is very fast to cycle with a very robust and reliable magazine feed. I wish it wasn’t quite as long, the shroud adds quite a bit to the overall length, but can live with this minor distraction in view of everything else the gun delivers.

When first taking the gun to the range, I was immediately impressed by the inherent accuracy of the guns, with my one hole near range groups opening to about an inch at 100 yards. Fred Axelsen is a great shot, but he sure didn’t hurt his odds of winning the Extreme Benchrest Competition last year by opting for the Boss as his gun of choice either! It’s a combination of the caliber and JSB pellet the gun was designed around, the smooth twist barrel pioneered by FX, the great trigger, and the ergonomic stock design. This is going to be the gun I compete with this year, and if I don’t do well it won’t be because of the gun 🙂 .

The Boss fills to 250 BAR (3500 psi) and generates about 40-50 usable shots on that fill. For most hunting applications that’s a day or two of air, but when going out on high shot opportunity hunts (like prairie dogs), I slip a small xxx cc, 4500 psi buddy bottle into my daypack and am good for just about anything that comes up. I also appreciate that the gun fills with a standard, easily accessable, Foster style fill nipple. As a quick aside, AOA supplies a small magnetic nipple cover for that is the best approach to protecting the fill port on just about any gun, it’s one of those little things that you don’t give much thought to, but after using it think “this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in awhile)!

Shooting from a sitting position off my tripod is a favored technique, which I practice a lot and use for sighting in my guns before a hunt.

The results payoff in the field! I’ve shot Guinea fowl, hyrax, rabbits, vervets, and duiker with it over the last few weeks. I love the gun, the JSB pellets and I love the caliber!

When you can empty a magazine like this every time at 50 yards, you’ve got a great hunting gun. Especially when it hits like a hammer.

But I’m a hunter and not a target / competitive shooter, so what really matters to me is how the gun handles in the field, and in fact this is where the rifle shines. I’ve now used the Boss for squirrel in Indiana, jackrabbit and prairie dogs in Arizona, predators in Texas, and Guinea fowl to duiker in South Africa, from cold and wet to hot and dry climates, close range to the 100 yard shots, and this gun has never been less than exceptional. And when it hits …. simply put it is the most impressive knockdown power I’ve seen with a Diabolo style pellet.

The 30 caliber pellet has a lot to do with this stellar hunting performance; driven at relatively
high velocities, the surface area of the pellet create quite an impact when quarry is hit, and furthermore opens a large wound channel. This delivers an outstanding outcome on both smaller and larger quarry, which is another cornerstone of the caliber….. flexibility!

I’ve been asking the question for awhile now, is the .303 the new .25? The reason I’ve migrated so much of my hunting to .25 calibers guns is that they hit harder, creat a bigger hole, travel further, and are less effected by environmental conditions calibers flexibility. All of these statements are even more appropriate to the .303. What I’ve mentioned but not focused on is that the bigger caliber Diabolo pellets gives me the flexibility to use the same gun for more hunting applications. I can use a .177 to kill squirrels, but that’s not the right choice for a raccoon. I can use a .45 to shoot a coyote, but it’s the wrong choice for a rabbit. But I can and have hunted squirrel with the .303 and it worked great. And I’ve used the same .303 to shoot predators, and it worked great. And even though I am blessed with a whole room full of airguns in just about any conceivable caliber, when I go out hunting I only carry one gun with me and therefore appreciate this flexibility.

Other Happenings

I’ve been back home for a week now, and have been doing a bit of shooting but no hunting to this point. I’m going to head out on a squirrel hunt tomorrow morning (guess which gun I’m taking) and then next week fly out to Arizona where I hope to hook up with Kip for a dairy farm pest shoot and then maybe a quick outing for jackrabbit. Next it’s Texas for predators and blackbuck, then get serious about deer for a few weeks. The blackbuck is something I look forward to, I’m not typically a big exotic hunter preferring hogs and predators when down Texas way. But there are certain species that are no longer found in huntable populations in their indigenous lands, such as bushbuck and oryx, that are free range in the Lonestar State. I think the blackbuck is one of the most beautiful antelope in the world, and one I want in my trophy room!

Also on my roadmap, will be traveling out to Tucson for the Extreme Benchrest again this year. As mentioned, plan on taking my Boss this year, but might bring a couple of other guns as well. I look forward to seeing all my old friends and many of the guys I met at last years shoot. Last time around I had to fly in and out leaving only as day, but this year come hell or high water I’m staying the course!

Kip at AOA is helping me get my tags in for the javalina season in February for which I hope we get the draw! I’ve wanted a javalina with an airgun for years and this will be the first legal opportunity ever. Arizona will supplant Texas as the destination spot for airgunners with their revised hunting regulations.

Anyways, that’s it for me this week … as you tuck into the hunting season, commit to the one shot kill!

9/5 13:30 – Got my guns checked without a hitch, have the Dragon Claw .50, Rainstorm, .357, and FX Boss .303 in an armor plated three gun case. Had to pay and extra $75.00 for overweight (beware delta gold members, free overweight bags no longer applies to international flights). TSA was very efficient, checked the bag, looked at the guns open loading ports, and I was done and on my way in 5 minutes.

Have a forty minute transfer in Atlanta, where I’ll meet up with Kip, David, and Chris, then we have a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, check in guns with South African Police, then board next flight to PE before the drive north. At 27 hours this will be one of my fastest trips over.

We have a mountain of gear going along, many other guns and lots of camera stuff. I’ll shoot some big game, but really want to focus on predators and small game as well. Look forward to hunting with guys that have never been over here before, love to see the looks on their faces when they get their heads around what’s in store. Not many other airgun experiences like this..

One of the common questions discussed/debated amongst airgunners is how much power is optimal for hunting? The short answer in my opinion, is as much as you can get while maintaining the accuracy required for whatever ranges you’ll be shooting at. I’ve read articles with guys saying “12 fpe is all you need” or implying there is something inherently better in using a lower power gun. I think there are three or four good reasons for opting for less power; a) it is all you are legally allowed to use, b) you are hunting in an area where you need to limit range or potential damage to property or wildlife with missed shots, c) you are in a situation such as culling pigeons in a barn, where high shot count is more important than power.

A low power gun, like this Gamo Stutzen .177 12fpe, can be used to effectively take small game. But you need to be more selective, with respect to shot placement and range, for the shots you take.

I’ll opt for a higher power gun even when shooting small pests like these N. Dakota ground squirrels. Not for the terminal energy delivered, it doesn’t take much energy to kill these diminutive critters, but rather because I’ll often reach out to 100 yards.

But all things being equal, if I have a choice between a 12 fpe gun and a 20 fpe gun that provide equivalent accuracy, I’ll opt for more power. The higher power option will allow you more latitude in shot placement, especially with respect to broadside and quartering shots, will allow you to reach out a bit further, and allow you to use heavier pellets without giving up too much in velocity.. therefore maintaining a flatter trajectory. I again stress that accuracy is the most important aspect, without accuracy a powerful gun is useless. The main reason I’ll grab a lower power gun, as mentioned, are the isolated situations where less power is a specific criteria for a specific use case.

This isn’t to say a low power gun isn’t effective, gajillions of rabbits, squirrels, and other small game have been taken in the UK where there is a legal limit is 12 fpe. This limit is arbitrary, and was a result of the British airgunning industry lobbying lawmakers in a misguided effort to protect their market from foreign competition, which were entering their markets with higher power models and putting pressure on the local manufacturers ability to compete. So there is now a limit, unless the shooters wants to apply, and justify their need, for a higher power gun. This permission is called an FAC, and is the same certification required for a firearm, and the applicant has to demonstrate a need and show they have a place to use it.. Unlike the USA where we can use any power airgun we desire, many of our shooting cousins across the pond buy airguns because it is their only option. I think that because of this, there is a tendency to rationalize that low power is a better option….. it isn’t… at least in most cases.

I used a 150 fpe DAQ .308 to drop this springbok at 80 yards. Next month I’ll use a new 80 fpe .303 and 125 fpe .357 on my airgunning safari, but will stick to closer ranges and probably head shots. But I’ll use the same guns for jackals and Guinea fowl as well.

I can kill a jackrabbit at thirty yards with a headshot from a 12 fpe gun every time. At fifty yards there might be enough residual energy to make a kill, but the loopy trajectory makes the consistent shot placement less certain. And even at thirty yards the chest shot is less effective, it can work but won’t be as consistent. The other point is that I like .22 and .25 caliber hunting guns, and a rifle in this caliber doing 12 fpe is like chucking a brick underhand with respect to the trajectory. For this reason my lower power guns tend to be .177 and have a very specific use in my hunting/pest control applications.

While I generally opt for powerful guns, that doesn’t mean I’ll dial them up to maximum power (for adjustable power guns) or tune them up for the highest possible power. It depends on the balance between power, accuracy, and what the intended application might be. That is one of the reasons I like guns with adjustable power, such as the Airforce Condor or the FX Verminator, because I can make those choices and optimize the gun to match my specific situation or ammunition selection.

My (very general) rule of thumb, is that I like a 15-20 fpe gun for squirrel and cottontail, crows and smaller game, a 30-40 fpe gun for turkey, fox, raccoons, a 100-150 fpe gun for small antelope, coyote, bobcat, and a 200 – 400 fpe gun for deer, hogs, warthog, larger antelope, etc. But depending on the situation; such as the need to limit range, penetration, or noise I may go to a lower power or smaller caliber. When the situation does call for a lower power gun, a 40 fpe .22 for killing a coyote in an urban setting, the very important criteria for accuracy becomes absolutely critical as the importance of perfect shot placement is a primary requirement.

If you have purchased a lower power (12 fpe) gun for indoor pest control and decide to use it out in the woods on a squirrel hunt, there’s nothing wrong with doing so. But I’d stay with head shots and keep the range inside of 30-35 yards. You can also try out some different pellet types, alloy pellets or polymer tipped in these guns when you want to step up the performance, they will give enhanced penetration over standard lead round nose pellets. Just make sure before you start shooting at live quarry that the gun/ammo selection provides the accuracy you require.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can have too much power, or at least more than you need. A 150 fpe .357 doesn’t make sense for squirrel or rabbit hunting as it will blow right through and keep on going, but an 80 fpe .303 works fine on the smaller stuff while giving you an option if an opportunity for a bobcat or coyote comes up. It doesn’t hurt to have a 600 fpe gun when hunting deer but you don’t need it for a 75 yard shot. However if you’re going to have to stretch out to 150 yards the extra power is a plus. And that’s the point with a powerful gun, it’s not that the high power is always needed, but having it on reserve if something bigger comes along, if a less than perfect shot presents (chest instead of head), or you need to reach out, more power on tap is a plus. Now there is another side to this that I’ll mention; I have friends that are all about getting the highest possible power out of their big bore guns, even if it means utilizing a barrel that exceeds some of my fly fishing rods in length. I like guns that are compact and are handy to handle, so will opt for a shorter 20″ barrel even if I could obtain higher velocities with a 38″ barrel.

I was out shooting two of my favorite guns today, the Daystate Wolverine and the Daystate Huntsman Classic. I believe they are overall the finest airguns made, the performance, the balance, the styling… they are the complete package. Of the two, I like the overall design of the Huntsman better, but the .303 is a caliber I’m becoming quite fond of. Every time I go out shooting these guns I’m impressed, however the Wolverine is the gun I’ll be taking to South Africa next month. My reason relates to the discussion above, I can use the .303 to shoot small antelope (up to a springbok), predators, and Guinea fowl, which means I don’t need to carry two guns for a job one (the right one) can do.

So really, the question of what constitutes the optimal power in a hunting gun depends on what you’ll be shooting and under what conditions. There are many variables to consider such as; will you have to use the game for multiple species, is there a possibility you may have to reach out a bit further, or is there a compelling reason to tradeoff power for shot count? Unless one of these conditions exist however, I’ll generally opt for power.

I get to shoot and hunt in a lot of different environments and with lots of different people. Sometimes when going to a new area I am being guided, and sometimes I am doing the guiding. I enjoy both, and when I am the one being guided I do what the guide say, take advice when offered, and use the time as a learning experience.

One of the most common deficiencies I see with those new to airgun hunting, is they sometimes have difficulty getting the accuracy they expected. My read on why this happens is that they do all their practice on a bench, rather than shooting from the typical hunting positions offhand or off sticks. When hunting small game I limit myself to 35-40 yards shooting from a sitting, kneeling, or standing offhand position and practice this a few times a week. I didn’t do this in the past, but then would blow shots in the field when forced to shoot from an infrequently used offhand position. To correct this I made a concerted effort to practice the hard stuff more, rather than avoid or ignore it.

Shooting off sticks, a bipod, a tripod or some other firm and stable rest is preferred. But when you get out in the field this is not always an option. Here my son is lining up the long shot, and is locked in solid. But the prepared hunter needs to get their practice in with offhand shooting from a variety of positions.

I’ve written a lot about taking long shots when after prairie dogs, where I often shoot off sticks from a sitting position. With several of my .22 and .25 rifles and Rhino bipod sticks, I can hit a fifty cent piece at 75-100 yards all day long if the wind isn’t blowing. Actually what’s difficult is knowing how to make the incremental hits along the trajectory, and besides utilizing field positions when practicing this is a key element…… figuring out where your gun is going to impact at all the ranges at which you’ll be shooting.

When shooting prairie dogs I almost always uses shooting sticks from a sitting position. When stalking squirrels in spring or early fall, I often have to make standing offhand shots almost straight up into the canopy. Later in winter longer shots are often called for, and sitting with my back against a tree and the gun up on sticks works best. When still hunting in the woods and coming up on a squirrel feeding on the ground, sitting or kneeling shots are often required. For stalking deer and hogs it is often necessary to to shoot standing, either offhand or off sticks, because the grass and brush are too high for a sitting or even a kneeling position to be used. In my experience this is almost always the case when hunting Africa, and I really start to step up my practice with the guns I’ll be using on these trips, taking maybe 50 standing shots a week for a couple months leading up to my safari.

Practice from the positions and in the conditions you’ll encounter while hunting. Out on the open grasslands you can’t go prone because the grass is too high. I shot a lot from a sitting position both with and without bipods. Sitting like this is good for a 40-50 yard shot, throw in a solid bipod and I’ll go out to 100 if the wind plays along.

Need more elevation come up on a knee and brace your lead arm on the bended knee. This is my next selection if a sitting shot doesn’t give me clearance over ground cover, not quite as stable as sitting but more than standing offhand!

I like to put up spinners in a field over a large area, and wander about setting up and taking shots randomly. This gives me the opportunity to change up distances, estimate range, shoot from practical positions, and shoot while on the move. This helps with respect to controlling breathing and settling in after some exertion which again, is the type of conditions encountered while hunting. So the bottom line is…. practice, practice, practice …… but make your practice practical. Get the right positions and the right distances worked out before shooting game!

I do a lot of offhand shooting, and really start to ramp it up before my African hunts, because I know I’ll have to take these shots fairly often. I practice with and with out shooting sticks, this provides context and a reality check for when you get into the field!

Other Stuff
As mentioned in the last post, my son and I followed up on our plans and loaded up the Outback with several guns and tanks of air, boxes of pellets, metal spinners, and set off for a scouting trip to South Dakota. We were looking for public land and permissions to hunt on private property for some DIY hunts later this year. While primarily looking for a place to hunt pheasant and a place for me to take a public land antelope this season, it seemed like a great idea to bring a few airguns for fun shooting, and any incidental varmint shooting if we stumbled across an opportunity.

I always enjoy sightseeing along the way, we stayed in a small motel one night right near where supplies left the Missouri river and headed off to Deadwood by ox cart.

On the first day we saw deer, a few rabbits, and lots of birds… but no pdawgs or ground squirrels. However after a day of scouting and hiking, we set up targets and spent a few hours plinking and having a great time …… nice not to have to worry about ammo shortages! We were shooting the Talon P .25 in carbine configuration, the new Hatsan B65 .25, and a collection of Korean big bores ranging from .357 to .50 caliber. We had a late dinner and crashed out with the plan for an early start in the morning, but awoke to a downpour

Day two we saw some deer and antelope as we moved about west of the Missouri river, but didn’t find any active prairie dog towns. Speaking with the owner of the motel we stayed at in Pierre, I was told that the populations were down due to disease…… don’t know if that’s true but surely didn’t see the populations normally encountered out here. So, after two days of hunting the most interesting wildlife we saw were on Harley Davidson’s heading out to Sturgis…. On the upside, I was told about an upcoming predator hunting competition in February, and if I can get my predator hunting buddy Brian Beck to sign on, am going to go compete airguns against the centerfires (the rest of the field I guess). If you’re interested in finding out more shoot me an email and I’ll send along some info.

I have several writing projects that I’m working on right now; for Predator Xtreme an article on black guns, for Fur Fish Game and article on squirrel season springers, for Airgun Hobbyist articles on night hunting gear and a review of the GTL 480, and will be doing an article on African big game airgunning for Airgun Shooter (UK) magazine and footage for American Airgunner TV…. so check it out. I’ve got lots of new guns and gear that I’ll be writing about.

And what I am very excited about is the airgun outfitting services we’re developing for Airguns of Arizona, which I’ll be telling you about in upcoming blogs. We reckon it ‘s about time that airgunners wanting to try out some of the great shooting around the country and further afield, have the opportunity.

Well that’s it for this week, keep the lead flying and get ready for the new season! Speak with you all next week.