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RodN

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Everything posted by RodN

  1. RodN
    Reminds me of the day of my son's stag party. We all had a day's trout fishing on a farmer friend's private lake with a BBQ going all day. As the experienced fisherman it was down to me to do the fish gutting and preparation..... surrounded by interested onlookers. After pulling the guts of one trout I reached in and plucked out the heart and placed it on a rock to show them what it looked like. Much to everyone's fascination the heart sat on the rock and continued to beat for a minute. Nerves are strange things.
  2. RodN
    Hint.... on the drive to your perm, always look for roadkill. Just about anything will do to attract the corvids.
  3. RodN
    Absolutely nothing wrong with going for an HW97KT in my opinion. Buying one with the synthetic stock brings the price down quite a bit. Cheers Rod
  4. RodN
    A single pigeon can make for a nice meal. That's why they all count.
  5. RodN
    yes.... I have seen the odd one in the past, but never a group of them.
  6. RodN
    Spotted in the Forest of Dean today
  7. RodN
    That is the perfect answer. In my mind long gone are the days when an air rifle should be just left sitting around the house. I treat mine as if they were firearms. I don't own FAC rifles or shotguns, but I still have a proper gun cabinet bolted to a solid wall inside a built in wardrobe. Peace of mind. And I know I have done everything resonable to prevent access by an unauthorised person. The fact that it isn't "necessary" under current legislation doesn't mean that I can't use it as good practice. Rod "So, what is the point in NOT having good gun security?Preempt any future
  8. RodN
    Yes! I know that my HW97KT is a great rifle. I have owned it for a few years, and it has accounted for quite a lot of vermin. In fact I am now 70 years old, and have been shooting with a springer since I was a teenager. It was only 15 years ago that I used a scope for the first time! That suddenly felt like cheating. True... I can't argue with that! (Especially a springer with iron sights). Indeed... the rats pigeons and magpies, etc. still fall over the same. Dead is dead. However.... The main reason that I bought the HW100T a couple of months ago is to have
  9. RodN
    I look at it this way..... I have a HW97KT..... which has never been used since I bought a HW100T in January. And the HW100T, even in full length, is lighter than the HW97 too. A joy to use. Rod
  10. RodN
    Your own garden can be productive. If you have a bird table or bird feeders, then there is a very high probability that you have rats. Site the bird table where you know you can get a shot from the house. Above is the view from the door of my den. The yellow arrow points to what I call the "superbowl". It is only 15 yards from the door. They even made a burrow under a rockery stone at the back of the superbowl. and the next day... two shot within minutes.. Last week I noticed that the fat ball feeder had been dislodged from its nail on the bird table and was lying
  11. RodN
    If you are rat shooting, and kill a rat..... leave it where it lies. You can collect them at the end of the session, and there is no sense in disturbing the area by moving to pick them up. Dead rats don't spook other rats. In fact, they seem to have more confidence if there are other rats around, and are not in a hurry to scurry from one hiding place to another. It isn't uncommon to see a new rat in the scene trying to drag a dead one away, which gives plenty of time for a shot. Where they fell.
  12. RodN
    I'd hate to shoot by a hot tub! Too scared I'd pop something and have to replace it. Have you tried bait to lure them out? Shooting at a sensitive background.... sight parallel with it instead of using it as the backstop! Oh yes... I baited up with runny nutella several hours earlier. There were (old) holes and runs but no rats there any longer. If there had been then I would have seen them with the NV when it was dark. I sat there for three hours. The farmer took that as good news when I reported it to him this morning. I had told him not to disturb the area or change anythin
  13. RodN
    Not my perm unfortunately. I was just fortunate to get an invite over there, and it was a 160 mile round trip for me! Worth it though. Back down to earth tonight.... I spent three hours in the dark on one of my farm perms where the farmer's wife wanted the rats gone from under her hot tub in the garden. Didn't see a single rat!
  14. RodN
    I find that the AA Fields work best in my HW100 .22.... it would probably be different for another air rifle though! As a matter of interest, before I went on that trip I had a try with JSB Exacts under the same conditions and setup in my garden, at night and using the night vision. Knowing that I would be shooting the rats at 15 to 23 yards I zero'd my rifle at 23 yards.... and then set up a paper target at 15 yards to establish my hold under for that distance. I was pretty surprised at the results! I expected the JSB Exacts to be the same as the AA Field, as they are a virtually identica
  15. RodN
    They were all pretty big well fed rats. I only shot one small one all evening. There really must be thousands of them there!
  16. RodN
    Yes.... I sat myself down on the chair in front of five piglet pens... I didn't move all evening. There was no need to! Range from 15 to 23 yards Once it got dark, the rats came out from under the pens where they live, to eat the spilled piglet pellets.
  17. RodN
    An evening's rat shooting. Sit down on a fold up chair and get comfy and well wrapped up against the cold..... flask of tea.... HW100T (full length .22).... tripod, and NS Viper night vision. AA Field pellets. Didn't move all evening, except to go collect the rats at the end of the session. (6.30pm until 10.30pm) 72 rats killed. 2 missed. I have never ever seen so many rats in one place!
  18. RodN
    I describe that sound with my HW100 as "click-clunk" Best of luck with that! Get them in really close... and even then be prepared for a lot of "tumblers" (They are the rats that roll up into a furry ball and tumble off at high speed into the scenery due to a non-fatal shot). Unless you are a heck of a lot better at pistol shooting than I am.
  19. RodN
    See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SY0iDOW-O8
  20. RodN
    There is a trade-off. I have two scopes that are 4-16 x50, but I tend not to use them on full magnification. Up to 12x is my norm. The larger magnification will magnify YOUR movement! Learn to control your movement by using that extra magnification to see it, and therefore your rifle's movement, and yes, then you will obtain better groups. (All else being equal). Rod
  21. RodN
    Oh yes... a couple of things I forgot in my post above Join BASC as an airgun member. That gives you insurance! a) let the farmer know that you are fully insured display the BASC sticker in the windscreen of your car. On the second visit, go prepared with a permission form to shoot. (You will find suitable forms here on the forum or from BASC). On the back of the sheet have a Google satellite plan and ask him to mark on the boundaries. Leave a copy of the completed form with the farmer, and keep one for yourself. (Some farmers may prefer not to use a permissions form, but most w
  22. RodN
    In my experience obtaining permission to shoot is mainly a matter of "networking".... getting to know farmers in your area. Once you have one, then the others follow because you can get other contacts through him. To get that first one, look on google maps first, and then have a drive around your area. Slowly, and stopping often... so that you can see for yourself if there is an abundance of rabbits, pigeon, or crows. Take note of the places that have lots of poultry.... or pig farms, as those in particular will have lots of rats. Having said that, for best success with rats you need some nigh
  23. RodN
    I recently bought a Hawke Airmax scope (the 4-16 x 50), and having used the Hawke Nite-Eye for quite some time, the difference was very marked indeed. I thought that the Nite-Eye was good (its the older version without the buttons for the reticle illumination), but the Airmax is so much more clear! A joy to use. The side focus is a big advantage too, and reading off the distances from the scale and comparing it with my range finder it is surpisingly accurate. (To within less than 2 meters at 30 metres plus). One question though... are you really sure that you need to go up to 8-32 x50 for
  24. RodN
    Hi... my name is Rod. I have been shooting for 50 years.... mainly air rifle but with a foray into shotguns knocking down a few clays but with more rough shooting. Nowadays my sport is all air rifle hunting and have a few farm permissions to have a go at pest control, where the rats are numerous, rabbits are scarce, pigeons occasional, magpies get 10 points (the maximum on the scale), and the hundreds of crows on the latest perm are incredibly clever. (But I'm working on that! ) Cheers Rod
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