I am very lucky in that I get to use a lot of different gun and hunt in a lot of different places. I was down in Arizona on a prairie dog and rabbit hunt in the northern desert recently, and got in some serious field time with the Weihrauch HW 100. This is a handy little carbine in .22 caliber that is a light, compact tackdriving example of what’s right in German engineering. The HW 100 is a 14 round multishot, that is ergonomic, intelligently designed, and impossible to double load (a great feature for me). The sidelever action is smooth, takes little effort to cycle, and indexes the simple yet efficient magazine that in my experience fed flawlessly. This gun comes quickly to the shoulder and is easy to maneuver through the heavy brush. I’ve got a real bias towards more compact guns for hunting, especially in those situations where I’ll be carrying the gun more than shooting it, or crawling through dense brush and the HW 100 is one of the most compact full power PCPs I’ve hunted with!

The stock is an ambidextrous thumbhole design, shaped from a nicely figured piece of walnut.  I have an affinity for thumbhole stocks, and this one offers an instinctive and natural hold, with a well shaped pistol grip that features a sharp checkering. The raised comb provided a good sight alignment, and I found that I shot this rifle well from any position. I was shooting the rifle off of the tripod rest for prairie dogs out to 100 yards, and knocking them over left and right. The trigger is a 2 stage adjustable match sporting trigger that was tuned to about 20 oz and broke crisply on the second stage, which further facilitated my field success. I was told that Weihrauch used the Rekord trigger as a benchmark when designing the trigger for this rifle, which set the mark very high…. I think the trigger on this rifle has lived up to that standard, one of the better ones I’ve used on an out of the box gun.

Offhand or off sticks, a very shootable gun

I can shoot and cycle this gun without coming of the sticks, a big plus for fast shooting situations presented when walking into a prairie dog town!

But where the HW 100 really came into its own was when I took off stalking cottontails along the fence lines and in the thick brush. I could maneuver easily and was able to get the rifle on point quickly, not to mention shoot accurately offhand. I went on one of my best stalks of the trip with this gun, which started when I accidently kicked up a fat cottontail while jumping out of the truck. He took me over a winding half mile stop and go course before I could line up the 40 yards headshot as he paused behind a cactus. The shot rolled him, and with the 16 grain JSB roundnose pellets doing in the 850’s (around 23 fpe), he didn’t move afterwards.

Is there anything I didn’t like about the gun? Not really, it is not the quietest and the shot count isn’t extremely high, however I feel this is nitpicking. For the way I would use a fast carbine like this, neither of these were issues that would stop me from selecting this gun. I know they are gaining popularity in the UK, I recently read it was one the best selling PCPs in British airgun shops, but it is not as widely known here. I think if more people had exposure to the gun here that would change!

I found this gun a solid performer on small game, and took many prairie dogs and rabbits at 45 – 65 yards.

I had a great few days hunting the HW 100, and in the course of my hunts took a lot feathered and furred game with it. If I was to pick a fast action compact carbine for small game hunting, this gun would certainly make my short list.

I was down in Tucson for the Etreme Benchrest Competition last week, great event by the way, and had the opportunity to shoot the new FX Boss .303 rifle on Friday before the competition got started. I really enjoyed shooting the gun, finding it exceedingly accurate and atypically for a big bore airgun….. quiet! It Also had a pretty high shot count (around 40 shots in the 850 fps range), another anomaly in the world of big bores.

While I was busy shooting, a gentleman walked up that had heard about the gun and asked me what purpose a gun in this caliber generating about 75 fpe could possibly serve? I wasn’t really surprised by the question, after shooting the Daystate Wolverine, another .303 which had similar performance and writing something about it, I had the same question come up.

Fredrik Axelsson used the .303 Boss to sweep through the Extreme Benchrest event in Tucson recently. Fred is a great shot, but I think the .303 was a great caliber for the very windy conditions we encountered.

The Wolverine is another .303, which is a storied caliber for British shooters.

Let me start by saying that I have two .308s, three 357s, a .452, three .457s, and two .50 calibers in my gun room. Most of these guns fall into the 175 – 600 fpe range. So where does a modest power .303 fit into my hunting armament? I use the bigger calibers for big game hunting, and find the .308 and .357s are great for predator hunting. I’ll also use the more powerful 30’s for the smaller antelopes, pigs, and large birds (such as (Guinea fowl). But primarily I use them for sport hunting coyote, bobcat, and fox. Note the “sport hunting” designation, in this type of hunting I am using an airgun because I want to increase the challenge (a common motivation for bow hunters)….. basically I like hunting with an airgun and am not concerned with how far the projectile will travel or how loud the gun is. A 175 fpe gun shooting a medium or heavy weight cast bullet is flat shooting and is capable of reaching out well over 100 yards, and it smacks the target with authority.

But I also use an airgun for hunting coyote in built up areas where the carrying range of the projectile needs to be limited and the noise level kept low. In areas such as this, not only are high power and long range characteristics not needed, they are contraindicated. A 30 caliber pellet moving at around 850 fps is going to effectively punch a big hole through a coyote. But in case of a miss a Diobolo pellet is going to shed velocity rapidly whereas a heavy cast bullet is going to travel on increasing the risk of collateral damage. Another thing I like about this particular rifle is that it’s quiet, which fits my needs when hunting in built up areas. Sport hunting generally takes place where I  could use one of my centerfires, carrying range and sound are not major issues. However, when coyote hunting in suburban areas safety and sound levels become critical, and this is the primary application that steers an increasing number of predator hunters towards an airgun rather than their normal small caliber centerfire.

The .303 guns are built around the pellets, which are Diabolo style. I expect to see more of a selection optimized for specific guns, as more guns get out into shooters hands.

A lower power .303 will also serve very well for hunting mid sized game such as turkey, jackrabbit and woodchuck,but isn’t too much gun for longer range small game either. So if a predator hunter is looking for a tool to use in built up areas where the risk of collateral damage and need to keep the noise levels down, this caliber/power combination might be the right choice. For this reason I believe that a mid caliber lower power gun gives me more flexibility once I take the larger game or long range shooting out of the equation.

I don’t think this gun fills the niche for a big game airgun ….. or even a long range predator gun for all hunters. As with any gun the shooter has to think about how they are going to use it, if one gun was right for all shooters there would only need to be one gun. I’m going to do most of my predator and small game hunting with the 30’s this year, I have a couple new .303s and a few new .357s to use that generate between 75-175 fpe, and will keep the blog updated with my results.

The .303 in a lower powered gun is excellent for long range pest control on medium sized quarry. I hit these two jackrabbits at 104 and 122 yards respectively, and bowled them over using the Wolverine at about 90 fpe.

For me there is a pretty clear and compelling reason for these guns, less tangible is that they are fun to shoot! I would advise that before you make your mind up about a lower power mid bore, think about what you want it for. Are you going to hunt predators in the wide open spaces or in suburbia? Are you going to use it for small game in addition to predators? Will you use it on hogs in the brush with the occassional coyote, but never on small game? The use case will help you decide where/if it fits for you, and only you can decide. For me it’s a no brainer, I love these guns andwould have a use for them in my predator hunting line up even if I didn’t use an airgun for any other reason!

The feral pigeon are the number one urban pest bird, though they can also be found in great numbers in the country as well. They exist in every city across the country, and in fact around the world. I’ve traveled throughout Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia, and have seen feral pigeons in each and every one. Not indigenous to North America, feral pigeons are descendants of domestic homing pigeons brought over from Europe and released here in the 1600s. They were domesticated from the wild rock doves in Europ eover two thousand years ago. These birds are well suited to thrive in proximity to man, they are not afraid of people (until you want to shoot them), and they roost and nest readily in man-made structures. And they will eat just about anything they find.

Had a great pigeon shoot with Robert Buchanan and Kip Perow from AoA outside of Phoenix a couple months back, and we used some great guns!

Feral pigeons cause many millions of dollars of damage each year in urban areas. The uric acid in their droppings is highly corrosive. Also, debris from roosting flocks can build up, backing up gutters and drains causing structural damage to buildings and other structures. These nesting birds cause extensive damage to air conditioning units and other roof top machinery. In addition to physical damage, the bacteria, fungal agents and ectoparasites found in pigeon droppings represent a health risk.

Pigeons are pretty sloppy in their nest building habbits; it is very simple and often consists of a few stiff twigs. They prefer small flat areas away from the ground. Look for nests along building ledges, bridge supports, air conditioning units, window sills, in fact almost any ledge off the ground and out of reach of predators. In crowded flocks, pigeons will blow off nest building and lay eggs directly on a protected ledge! A mating pair will typically have three or four broods a year, with two or sometimes three eggs at a time. The eggs take roughly 18 days to hatch and 35 more days before the fledglings leave the nest. Pigeons are not migratory. Their natural behavior is to stay near their birth site. This trait gives the pigeon a very strong inclination to roost at a particular site. The daily cycle of a pigeon is to roost at night, feed in the morning and courting, interacting with the rest of the flock throughout the balance of the day. Where I live now it is a colder climate and courtship is in the early winter, nest building in late winter and breeding in the spring. However, growing up hunting pigeons in the warm climes ofSouthern California I’ve noted that breeding occurred year round.

I had a shoot in South Africa a while back where I shoot literally hundreds of pigeons on my downtime between big game hunts … these were wild country pigeons and we ate them…. tasted great!

Pigeons will feed in nearby agricultural fields, parks, and anywhere they can find food during the day. They return to their roost in the evening, and individuals can be found at the roost during the day in especially hot or wet weather. I have done most of my roost shooting either early in the morning or in the evening just before nightfall. Using a scope helps shooting in this low light setting. Many hunters feel that the optimal time to hunt is a night using spotlights, but this is not legal in some venues. I barns pigeons can be found hiding up in the rafters and can be difficult to find as they wedge themselves well back into crevices.

I do much of my pigeon shooting these days with PCPs, and I like guns that have adjustable power. When shooting around building, under bridges, or near livestock I’ll dial it down to about 10-12 fpe, but for long range there’s noth at all wrong with a high power gun.  Some of the guns I’ve used recently include the FX Verminator .22, the Daystate Airwolf .25 (what a gun!!), the HW 100 .22 and the Benjamin Discovery .22, and the Benjamin Marauder .22 and .25. Just about any gun works so long as the accuracy is there, but I do like a multishot that allows for fast cycling. The gun that really impressed me was the Daystate AirWolf, which I was using to dump these flying pigeons at 100 yards with head shots. With the Huggett sound suppressor this rifle was less than whisper quiet, I could watch the pellet hit and the bird smack the ground.

Usiung a craddle made of wire, I proped up dead birds to turn them into decoys. They pulled in birds from far and wide. A flight would come in and see them, making a beeline to the ground.

When shooting indoors or around equipment and stock Ill go with either hollowpoint or flat head pellets as they offer good terminal performance on these birds, and do not over penetrate. You want to put the bird down quickly and cleanly and these pellets do it well. I like a roundnose Diabolo for long range shooting when going for long range or shooting in the wide open spaces, but don’t use them as often for the closer shots, as they can over penetrate.

On another note, I’m counting down the days until the Extreme Benchrest competition down in Tuscon ….. it’s going to be a blast! Looking forward to meeting a lot of fellow airgunners, it’s going to be a good time. See you there!

I had a great 2012 season hunting prairie dogs this summer, and went after them in several states hitting them in Arizona, Texas, Kansas, South Dakota on several trips. I also got to use several guns ranging from the low end of the price spectrum to the elite models.What I really like about prairie dogging with airguns is that you get a lot of opportunity to shoot, it lets you shoot at distances from a few yards to over a hundred depending on your guns, the conditions, and you marksmanship….. and there is a lot of land in a vast expanses of western land. It’s also getting expensive to hunt these days, and while you can spend a small chunk of change for guided hunts, there are still lots of places on public land to shoot…. or on private land for a small tresspass fee.

Kansas in spring is a beautiful time to be in the field, providing cover for both you and the pdogs.

Prairie dogs are fairly tenacious critters, and headshots are the best way to ensure that they are anchored. A body shot is likely to let the varmint make it to it burrow, where it will die and be eaten by its denmates. Caliber doesn’t matter as much as the ability to place the pellet exactly where you want it it to go, and for the most part I opt for either a .22 or .25 in an 850 -950 fps rifle as the best tradeoff between energy retention, accuracy, and trajectory. A medium weight round nose Diabolo pellet has been the best when ranges get stretched out in my experience, and I like the JSB, H&N, and Crosman/Benjamin pellets. If the ranges will be kept closer the polymer tipped Predators are very effective. My preference is a variable scope that will let me set the magnification between 6x-12X which I find c0vers the prairie dog shooting application pretty well. I don’t typically carry a spotting scope, especially when hunting alone, however a good set of binoculars can be a big help. I’m using a couple of different models in the Hawke line and have been very happy with them.

My eyes are not improving with age…. a good set of glass is useful for looking at those low laying dogs peeking at me from over the rim of their burrows.

I hunted a ranch in Western Kansas a few steps away from the border with Colorado in June. In five days I shot over 300 dogs, even though the wind shut me down a few times. I paid a tresspass fee of $100 / day which gave me free range of the ranch, and since I was using air I also got to shoot close to outbuildings and around livestock where firearms were not allowed. My guns on that trip included the FX Royale .25 caliber, the FX Verminator .25, AirArms TC in .22, and the Benjamin Rogue .357…… Quite a difference in hardware! But all did a great job for me, the small calibers let me reach out to a hundred yards consistantly, and I went quite a bit further with the .357. It seem that even if I take the same group of rifles out each time, I pick a different one as my favorite each time. On this trip my favorite was the . 25 caliber verminator…. it was light and compact to carry, dead accurate, and was just all around fun to shoot. Don’t get me wrong, all these guns rock, but this gun just felt right!

I’m fickle, my favorite airgun is often the one I’m holding in my hand when the hunting is good. However, I keep finding my self in the field with the Verminator in hand…. which says something!

A few weeks later I was in South Dakota hunting private land for coyote with a guide. On the downtime from the predators I took my AirForce Condor out for the Pdogs. I was on a few towns that had been getting hammered by the centerfire crowd, but was still piling up the numbers. The guide told me the dogs seemed more relaxed with the low report of the gun. I got one at a 135 yards on a still morning outing, though most shoots were in the 80-100 yard slot. It’s never a bad idea to have an airgun along even if your out on a firearm or bowhunt for big game, it gives you something to do in downtime. The reason I took the Condor is that with an extra air bottle I was set for a lot of shooting!

After that I was going on a  business trip to Dallas, so in advance I’d shipped my AirArms 510 to a friends house out near Midland. I finished up my meeting on Friday, jumped into my car, then flew down the highway to meet up for dinner with a couple friends I’d not seen in a while. Next morning we went out to shoot jackrabbits, but after bagging a few we headed to a small town to rack up some prairie dogs. Didn’t get as many as some of the other places I’d been shooting, but as a diversion from rabbit hunting, it suited me just fine. As a bonus we got a few ground squirrels that were running amongst the pdogs, which I hadn’t seen before. As an extra bonus I got a couple of bobcats on a night hunt before dropping my gun off at UPS and taking off for DFW.

My next trip was one of my best of the year, I flew out to Pheonix to me up with my friends at Airguns of Arizona! We headed to the Northwest desert area….. and man we had a pile of guns lined up for the shoot; I used the HW 100 in .22, the Daystate Huntsman Classic .22, the FX Royale .177, and the FX Gladiator .22….. There was so much fine gear surrounding me I about had a melt down trying to decide what to use! Kip Perow from AoA was with me, and one while he is a great shot and hunter in general, seeing him knock over a couple 100 yards pdogs with the FX Ranchero pistol was really impressive!

Kip had the gun rested on a fence post and was lininbg up another unbelievable shot with the Ranchero.

 Well, winter is coming and my thoughts turn to deer, predators, and birds for now …… but in a few months after these seasons have passed and I’m starting to wonder if there’s more to life than fishing before big game seasons roll round, it will be time for prairie dogs again!! However, my family and I are in the process of relocating from Indianapolis to Minneapolis, so when things start warming up it will be a shorter drive for the Dakota prairie dogs! Not to mention I’ll be doing a series of hunts with my AoA buddies in Arizona as well, which is becoming one of my favorite airgun hunting venues the more I go out there!

BTW: just wanted to mention, we’re only a couple weeks away from the Extreme Bench Rest Competition down in Tuscon (get more info on the AoA website). I’m looking forward to it, and hope I get a chance to meet a lot of the airgunners that have been reading the blog!