Airgun Hunter: Spoiled for Choice

A few issue ago I introduced a good friend of mine to these pages as an example to illustrate why I feel certain ‘firearm’ shooters can make the transition over to airgun hunting easier than others. Those who read that article will remember it was a one-time, die hard shotgunner named Graeme, who having shared a permission with me for quite a while, became a convert to hunting with the air rifle.

SPLIT PERSONALITY

Not wanting to go over old ground, but for those that missed the piece, I detailed why I feel those used to shooting shotgun seem to have the ability to quite quickly become proficient in the use of a 12ft lb air rifle once they decide to try their hand at this challenging discipline. However, little was I to know my friend would soon be teaching me a few tricks to successfully target quarry that I’d previously had little success against. I suppose I could use the excuse it was largely a case of him being in the right place at the right time, but I think he’d agree at certain times of year having a variety of ‘guns’ to use and more species to target, means he can now find himself a tad ‘spoiled for choice’ in the quarry species he can target. That nicely leads me to relate the time he had a few days of good sport shooting rats that had taken up residence in a soil heap, in an area he previously used to build a hide to shoot woodies and crows when they descended to ravage one of the crop fields.

SOIL ’N’ SPOIL

The situation presented itself when the farmer had put up a line of new fencing on the far edge of his land adjacent to the field. While doing so, he’d had to level out part of a corner of the field with the digger and the earth removed had been unceremoniously dumped higher up the hill out of the way, as he intended to also dump spoilt grain on it. It’s common practice to do this as it can attract pest species away from the fields, as the spoilt grain is easier for avian pests such as woodies and crows to pick up and as the area is also quite secluded they feel safe feeding there.

This works for a time but after the crops had been harvested, as he’d left the spoil heap in situ it quickly became overrun with rats, which in turn were attracting more than his usual share of local foxes. So a couple of problems had to be resolved – one, the rats needed evicting and the foxes that didn’t stop mooching around the heap would also need targeting with a suitable firearm. I’ve done some fox control here but the first critter I decided to target were the rats.

THE GAUNTLET!

Being into my Night vision (NV) kit, I decided it’d be a simple job of waiting up within range of the ‘heap’ and target them as they emerged from the mass of holes they’d dug, leading to nests and areas of shelter. First night I watched in amazement through the NV sight as the rats rattled as fast as a speeding bullet from one hole to another or straight out of the heap to disappear into the undergrowth nearby. It wasn’t because they sensed my presence, rather they’d become twitchy due to the foxes regularly patrolling the heap during the night, so they’d ‘run the gauntlet’ to go wherever they did to find food and return back into their holes as fast as they left.

I realised from that first, after hours visit, that I’d never catch them sitting around on the heap or scratching around, so at night a shot was definitely not going to present itself. For once I was at a loss to really think of a plan to target them, so went back to my usual seasonal shooting routine, which at the time was knocking over a few, fat, late season rabbits. However, the farmer walks his dog very early and passes that way on his daily route march and has seen rats aplenty and as bold as brass sitting around on the heap shortly after sunrise. He’d mentioned this to Graeme as he helps out on the farm, so obviously he sees him more often than I, so my friend wisely decided to have a crack at them – especially as he’d devised quite a nifty plan to make inroads into their unwanted presence.

MOBILE HIDE

Already knowing the time of day the rats were most active, Graeme only needed a shooting position within range of the spoil heap! But as there was little cover, and the target area being higher than most of the area surrounding it, he cleverly decided to drive his 4 x 4 onto the field and park up in the corner facing the heap and use it as a ‘mobile hide.’ It’s a trick I’ve used for shooting rabbits near hedge lines because although at times they’re almost impossible to stalk up on – they’ll tolerate a stationary vehicle, as all quarry that inhabits the land around a farm is used to seeing farm machinery, such as tractors and the like.

After arriving just before dawn, he’d even sussed out it’d be a ‘tempter’ to scatter some grain around, so that rats that did intend moving around would stop to pick up the seeds, meaning he’d get a stationary target. In fact, he’d used this ‘baiting up’ tactic for a few days prior to his initial session and bagged 15 rats within an hour and a half on his first visit. The shooting was a cushy number, as he’d simply sit in the comfort of his ‘motor’ and patiently wait for a rat to emerge or return and ‘pick them off’ with a well-placed shot from his BSA SuperTEN MkII in .177 calibre. I suppose the only credit I can ‘scratch’ from this tale is he used 10.7-grain .177 Bisley Magnum pellets. My favoured and recommended ammo for a job such as this, because the heavy little slug placed accurately in the kill-zone always sorts ol’ ratty good style.

NABBED & GRABBED

After he’d shot a few, he’d nip out with his rat grabber to ‘clean the area’ – not because the dead rats lying around put any others off from appearing, more so in case a fox came along and ‘spoiled’ his morning’s shooting session. To digress a moment; I would never pick up dead rats with my bare hands and even with gloves on it can be dodgy. I say this as they carry all sorts of diseases, so a remote ‘rat grabber’ is by far the best and safest method, failing that a shovel, but just be careful! Disposal by burning is also recommended!

I suppose if I have one thing to moan about, it is that I left it far too late to join in the sport, because rats soon wise up to danger. Also, and as you can see from his last session when I accompanied him, which was only his fourth visit, he only saw three, but due to his marksmanship ‘nabbed’ all of the scaly tailed rodents that appeared. In fact, not long afterwards the rats disappeared from the heap almost overnight, obviously to move to ‘safer’ pastures new. We always did wonder (not!) where they went to establish a new home but the farmer did keep mentioning he’d seen a hell of a lot more rats than usual around and inside the main barn for that time of year. Well at least we both had a lot of sport together afterwards!