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Good job I got my eyes tested


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Friday night I was lucky enough to get a couple of hours out after some rats. I was lucky enough to borrow a BSA R10 and a Pulsar NV scope to boot. I was happier than a pig in s*** and set to make the owner proud, so to speak.

Well... things did not go to plan. What began as a night brimming with enthusiasm and drive to get me some rats... turned into a total train wreck. 

the owner pointed out all of the places I should try, round the chicken coops, over in the goose pen, in one of the barns. He even put some bait out for the rats! I spent the first half hour watching the chicken sheds and keeping an eye peeled on the bait. I was also lucky enough to borrow a thermal spotting scope. I spotted a few rats, a couple were out of range but one was nice a close. I flicked on the NV, lined up the shot and took a second to get steady. As I squeezed the trigger the battery in the NV died :rofl: I panicked and grabbed the thermal to see if I had managed to get him and low behold... I'd missed, must have pulled the shot when the scope cut out. 

After sorting a battery pack for the NV,  I headed out again in hopes of a few rats. As keen as mustard I was. I positioned myself in a barn with a good line of sight down the back which had all the tell tale signs of being a rat hot spot. I sat tight for a good 15-20 minutes in dead silence and pitch black, watching through the thermal. NOTHING! By this point I'm getting edgy, don't want to let the land owner down after all. 

I headed back to the chicken sheds and spotted a rat in the thermal looking shifty near the bait that had been set out. I lined up my shot, squeezed the trigger and I watched it hit the thing... I got up, went to collect it. Could I find it? Could I hell as like. I searched for a good 10 minutes! I couldn't even spot it in the thermal. I was absolutely stumped, and a little disheartened too. 

I was sent a text asking me to keep an eye out for any foxes and if I did spot one I was to raise the alarm, I mentioned that i would but hadn't seen any. I also mentioned I'd been caught out a few times with the thermal thinking the rabbits in the field behind the chickens were rats in the bushes haha. I was given permission to go after the and I thought I'd give that a bash as i'd had no luck on the rats. I walked over and spotted about 8 rabbits milling around. I took my time, located them with the thermal and tried to get closer. As I got nearby i checked again and every rabbit in the bloody field had vanished, clearly I am not very stealthy as they probably heard and saw me coming from a mile away. Absolutely shambolic. I watched a muntjac in the thermal whilst it munched away on the grass and then it must have spotted me or smelled me as it barked and made his exit. 

I spent another hour milling around trying to get another rat, I took a shot at one last rat and managed to pull the shot. 

 

Reported back to the land owner to return his kit and tell him how I got on. He had a chuckled at me getting absolutely bugger all.  

All in all it was a fun evening walking around but a crap evening shooting. Brilliant opportunity to get hands on with NV, thermal and the R10. Think I might need to add some stuff to my shopping list haha. 

 

Thank f*ck I had an appointment with the opticians today... maybe i'll actually hit something next time I go out, at least I hope I do or I probably shan't be let back :rofl:

 

 

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It happens to us all at some point pal. Last Sunday I vowed to get some new boots as the wellies I had on might as well have been screaming "HE'S COMING ....HES COMING!!!!!" as I lost count of the rabbits I saw bolting for cover!

Out of interest, what model was the R10 pal and how did you get on with it?

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Matt, I believe it was just a standard, out of the box BSA R10 in .22. It wasn't tuned as far as I am aware. It was one of @Rabids guns so he will be able to tell you more than I can. In comparison to RWS I own, it was a dream. Lovely action on it and lovely trigger break. I much preferred the safety on it to the one on my RWS, which is in an inconvenient location to say the least. 

 

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22 minutes ago, mattwhite said:

It happens to us all at some point pal. Last Sunday I vowed to get some new boots as the wellies I had on might as well have been screaming "HE'S COMING ....HES COMING!!!!!" as I lost count of the rabbits I saw bolting for cover!

Out of interest, what model was the R10 pal and how did you get on with it?

BSA r10 mk2 vc 

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It happens Mark :yes:

 

I've had some right shitters when I've been off my game or not in the right frame of mind.

 

I guess the best tips I can give is, be aware of your shape, shine, silhouette and movement.

Consider how you smell - I wear a DPM smock that hasn't been washed for months.

Also, when stalking in, keep low (even at night) and roll your feet from heel to toe, along the outer edge of your foot.

 

When using NV with IR, I like to keep quarry on the outer edge of the screen until I'm ready to take the shot. That way I'm not pointing the red glow directly at them.

 

Don't underestimate the prey mate - they don't want to be shot.

 

Better luck next time :thumbs:

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11 minutes ago, Rabid said:

You just had an unlucky night, it happens.

the quicker you chill out and stop pressuring yourself the better your results will get.

 

 

but, just to add insult to injury

 

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Cheers for that :rofl: Just bloody typical... I softened them rats up for you. They thought it was me again so they didn't try to hide cause they know I'm a shite shot.

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1 minute ago, Jonjon79 said:

It happens Mark :yes:

 

I've had some right shitters when I've been off my game or not in the right frame of mind.

 

I guess the best tips I can give is, be aware of your shape, shine, silhouette and movement.

Also, when stalking in, keep low (even at night) and roll your feet from heel to toe, along the outer edge of your foot.

 

When using NV with IR, I like to keep quarry on the outer edge of the screen until I'm ready to take the shot. That way I'm not pointing the red glow directly at them.

 

Don't underestimate the prey mate - they don't want to be shot.

 

Better luck next time :thumbs:

I think this is HIGHLY inconsiderate of them:rofl:. But cheers for the tips! I will bear all of that in mind the next time I go scaring shooting pests. 

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You was up against it to start with mark.

 

the night was silent, not a whisper of wind, it was a little on the bright side, and where you was trying to stalk rabbits you had the horizon behind you so would have been spotted a mile off.

although it's Nv, as JonJon said, it still gives a red glow, and don't forget, I'm out shooting virtually every night, they KNOW what that red glow means, hence I told you a lamp would be waste of time, I don't even point the Nv at them until I'm ready to shoot, hence the thermal, they can't see that.

with the rats, you just gotta sit and be patient, did you notice the two chairs, that's where I just sit for an hour or so and knock them off.

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Yeah, still got lots to learn, that's for sure. Just got to work at it, I'll get there eventually just got to keep at it.  After all it was the first time out on my own really. Only ever really shot with others. Good shooting on foxy and the rats though. :thumbs: 

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15 minutes ago, Mark_mjs93 said:

Yeah, still got lots to learn, that's for sure. Just got to work at it, I'll get there eventually just got to keep at it.  After all it was the first time out on my own really. Only ever really shot with others. Good shooting on foxy and the rats though. :thumbs: 

You will get there, takes time to relax into it and build the confidence, you also had all new unknown kit you was unfamiliar with, you are a sensible level headed lad with good safety basics, keep at it.

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Just now, Rabid said:

You will get there, takes time to relax into it and build the confidence, you also had all new unknown kit you was unfamiliar with, you are a sensible level headed lad with good safety basics, keep at it.

Cheers. I will keep at it! 

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