{"id":2611,"date":"2019-01-31T13:46:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregg57.sg-host.com\/hunting\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2019-02-02T09:07:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T16:07:06","slug":"pest-control-with-the-bantam-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2019\/01\/pest-control-with-the-bantam-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pest Control with the Bantam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For this pest control session there were several\nrequirements for the rifle I\u2019d use: it had to be light and compact in anticipation\nof shooting in confined spaces, it had to have a high shot count as there would\nbe many shot opportunities in such a target rich environment, and for the same\nreason I wanted a multi-shot magazine with an action that could be rapidly\ncycled. Because there would be workers in the area and I\u2019d be shooting inside\nas well as out, a low report and adjustable power setting were also deemed\nimportant features. Selecting my small game gun for the trip, and knowing that\nthis pest shoot was a possibility, my eyes settled on a newer arrival in my gun\nroom that had been doing well for me in the squirrel woods, the Brocock Bantam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Brocock Bantam and Compatto are two great little hunting rifles: compact, lightweight, accurate, powerful, ergonomic… what I look for in a small game gun!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Bantam has all the attributes of my much loved Compatto,\nand though I personally prefer the looks and balance of the Compatto, it was\nthe high shot count from the bottle up-front configuration that cinched the\ndecision for me. So, function won out over form, and the Bantam it was! I\u2019d\nshot at this facility in the past, and in preparation sighted the Axion scope\nat 50 yards, making note of the aim points at 20 yards at a lower power setting\nin preparation for indoor shooting. The pellets selected were the 15.3 grain\nJSB Exacts, because they shoot accurately in this rifle and because I\u2019ve had\ngood experience with their terminal performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So with my cased rifle in the back of the truck, I left the\nranch and headed to the feedlot about 10:00 am. There were birds everywhere as\nI drove in:  pigeons, cowbirds, and doves\nin quantity, but pigeons were to be my primary focus. You can shoot the\ninvasive Eurasian doves, but morning and white wing doves (which are similar in\nappearance) are game birds and not on the ticket at this time of year (or with\nan Airgun). If hunting in an area where there are similar species with\ndifferent game laws applicable, you need to do a little homework and be able to\ntell them apart. Penalties can be steep for shooting the games species out of\nseason with prohibited method of take!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I shot several 50 yard groups with JSB Exacts, and was really happy with the results.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019d been here only once before, and that was several\nmonths earlier, I did a walk about to get the lay of the land. I wanted to note\nwhere the workers were, check if there were \u201cno-shoot\u201d zones, and see where the\nbirds were congregating. It was interesting to note that there were areas\naround the buildings where the pigeons were thick, areas in the feedlot where\ndoves constituted the avian majority, and grassy areas blanketed in blackbirds,\ncowbirds, and grackles. I decided to stick to the buildings and and adjacent\nsheds where the pigeons were creating the biggest problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The feedlot offered varied and ever changing shooting conditions….. and lots of birds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A lot of birds dropped to the Bantam!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I found one area in the back of the complex where as wall\npanel was missing, and the birds were flying in and out, using nearby roofs and\npipes as staging areas. I could keep shooting here with very little\nrepositioning, the birds would fly off after one was hit, but would be replaced\nby a new flight a few minutes later. In the first hour I\u2019d dropped 20 birds,\nwith several falling onto the roof and out of reach for body retrieval. But I\nsoon found that I needn\u2019t worry, as I watched a feral cat run out and snag one\nof the fallen birds and carry it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the morning rolled along, the birds slowed down at this\nlocation and I noticed more flying inside a shed where feed was being shoveled\ninto piles before being scooped onto conveyor belts. I walked over to the\nequipment operator and asked if I could shoot at the other end of the shed\nwhile he worked, saying that I\u2019d be aiming away from his work space. He seemed\nto appreciate the heads up and said \u201csure thing buddy, clean those flying rats\nout! And I did, a half hour latter I had several more birds down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bantam was a well behaved and enjoyable rifle to shoot.\nThe semi-bull pup configuration is really a very clever design. It is compact\nand well balanced like the best of the carbines, but with a full-length barrel.\nThis is anecdotal, but it seems to me that barrel length becomes more important\nin high power guns with respect to efficiency, power, and to a lesser degree\naccuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At any rate, the Bantam performed very well for me (again);\nthe adjustable power let me dial it in for specific shooting situations, and\nthe accuracy was dead on. I could cycle the action rapidly, and the magazine\nindexed and fed flawlessly. The compact and ergonomic design let me shoot well\nfrom any position I found myself in and using the architectural structures I\nfound along the way, never missed my shooting sticks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For this pest control session there were several requirements for the rifle I\u2019d use: it had to be light and compact in anticipation of shooting in confined spaces, it had to have a high shot count as there would be many shot opportunities in such a target rich environment, and for the same reason I … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,182,70,91,181,102,74,26,7,1],"tags":[6,208,207,160,209],"class_list":["post-2611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airgun-expedition","category-bantam","category-brocock","category-bullpup","category-compatto","category-daystate","category-pest-birds","category-pest-control","category-smallgamehunting","category-uncategorized","tag-airgun-hunting","tag-brocock-airguns","tag-brocock-bantam","tag-compatto","tag-pest-control-with-an-airgun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2611"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2697,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611\/revisions\/2697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}