long ranges.

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

hi all,

i have noticed a lot of pepole on this forum take shots from 35-40. of course if you can accurately hit a kill zone at these distances then why not? but all my shots are taken 25 yards or under. the simple thing is that airgunners in this section are telling newcomers about 30-40 yard shots but i would much rather stalk as close as possible to my quarry as this will make it easier to achieve a cleaner kill than taking shots from these ranges.

just my view.

thanks,

Aaron.

[SEAN3513 7]

its all down to personal choice and confidence.

 

i would say .22 is good out to 35-40 yards

 

and .177 40-45 yards

 

nothing wrong with what your doing aaron, if fact its very good but as you get more experienced and older.......you will be taking longer shots.

 

the one thing you are doing that most people neglect today,is improving your fieldcraft.

 

but, it wont be to long before someone states thay can hit a gnats knacker at 100 yards.

 

cheers

 

sean

[ghillies 209]

time and effert, and need and nesesaty....

 

big assed open feild, apart from sitting tight on one spot only you can get to 40-50 yards even n a lot of wary rabbits(vermin etc), or sometimes after a long period of hunting the same land a gerker would have trouble sneeking up.... sooooo.. you'll only get that one 45 yard shot this side of xmas.... if you can hit it, if not then you dont risk alerting the already weary wabbit... etc etc....

 

 

besides 25 yards is like a fish in a abrel after 25 years...etc etc...

 

and of course just for the learning and knowing your own skill levals, the further you can hit a 24-25mm mint the better you usualy are at 25 yards, that goes on till the problem isnt how far you can hit but how far it can kill....at that point you wont need some airgun mag or novise sprouting irrisponcibilty lol..becuase you alone know what you can or cant do..

 

you'll find there's one thing in life thats real and thats the truth.... a lie robs or doesnt allow, so if your lying to yourself yu cant get far... even worse you cant get far by your fault.

 

 

the numpties i mean are usualy non shooters or fledglings...they think they know but aas to all of us you never stop learning...every time you think 'yu know it all' up pops another little learning lol...

 

 

besides that lot thers a question of engineering and perfecting pellets etc so that the hotter ehooters can exsel a little more, and the not so hot can improve a bit and maybe get enough of a buzz or at least gwt a spurt of inspiration that maywell inspire a good shooter in future..etc etc.....

 

or? why not?...lol ho wgood is the gun, how good are you as a shot, the two go together. one way to see is too shoot further away, always shows a cheapy pellet with hi price tag on lol.

 

 

nar then, who can stalk?......thats a diferent question... so what ticks yu boo and what are you doing when you shoot...(the othe rguy is usualy doing summut different to the same ends).

[SportingShooter 0]

I can kill Rabbits at 200 yards with my HW77

 

In all seriousness, as has been said, its about your confidence to put that pellet where it matters, with enough energy to kill your chosen quarry.

 

25 yards is building your confidence as you are getting used to the gun and to killing your quarry every time. Once you start to shoot beyond that, its going to be a case of missing more, which again will make you tighten up your shooting, so in the end you'll be confident at the longer ranges.

 

Its the same with any rifle. A .22 Centrefire for instance, its bread and butter range is around 100 yards. Most people who are any kind of a shot can hit a target at 100 yards with a degree of accuracy. Whereas when you begin to push that to 150, 200, 250, you have to be more aware of your surroundings and what you and your gun are capable of.

 

Its the old adage, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

i would much rather have fieldcraft to get as close to my quarry as possible than hvae accuracy to take long range shots. but that is all down to opinion, every one has one.

[SEAN3513 7]

the ideal would be a combination of both

 

atb

 

sean

[foxon 0]

the ideal would be a combination of both

 

atb

 

sean

 

To take a clean kill at 60 yards or to stalk your prey at 15 yards are both a test of skill & good Marksmanship.

foxon

[gilly-93 31]

the ideal would be a combination of both

 

atb

 

sean

 

To take a clean kill at 60 yards or to stalk your prey at 15 yards are both a test of skill & good Marksmanship.

foxon

[Pastie 0]

Always shoot to the distance where your skill level will allow you to get a clean kill most of the time. I say most of the time because unfortunately you will not always make a fatal shot. I have been shooting rabbits with an airgun for quite some time and prefer to stalk to 25yds or sit in a hedge till they walk past. Last night I went out and pulled the trigger on a 3/4 grown doe at only 15yds. It was sat stock still and side on so should have been an easy shot. It was a bit gusty and unfortunately for the rabbit I put the pellet through its shoulder/neck. I ended up ass deep in brambles and effin stingers to get the thing out of the hedge to neck it. Just goes to prove that no matter how long you do this or even how good a shot you are you will sometimes just miss or make a shot that isn't instantly fatal. If you are not confident above 20-25yds don't take the shot, especially if you are picking bunnies out that are only a few yds from their hole. Respect the animal you are pointing the gun at. If you can't be sure you are going to nail it first shot, at least make sure you will have time to run after the bugger and stretch it before it gets to its hole.

 

Do not leave injured animals in the field - obvious really but I have seen kids taking pot shots at rabbits asses and just leaving them in the hedge.

 

Shooting at your skill range will ensure a much higher percentage of clean kills and in the beginning you will need to learn to stalk to get kills in the first place. As you progress your distances will increase but you will never forget what you learned when you were stalking. You will learn a lot of different ways of doing things and your 'all round' fieldcraft skills will benefit you more than just being able to score a hit at 40+yds.

 

Am I babbling??

 

I just have this thing about being absolutely certain of your skills and your guns capabilities before you even think about pointing it at a living creature.

 

Cheers

 

Mat

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

:clapper: good read

[The one 8,399]

What about the guys that go onto ground to tidy up after somebody else and you find everythings spooky as hell you can get near anything and you have to take longer shots ?

[Pastie 0]

What about the guys that go onto ground to tidy up after somebody else and you find everythings spooky as hell you can get near anything and you have to take longer shots ?

 

Get yourself a flask of tea and a pack of sandwiches and a magazine. Hole yourself up in the bushes and sit tight till they come out. Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. If you can't be sure of your long shots then you will need to learn to be patient which, as far as I am concerned, is one of the more important field skills you will need to aquire. I have a spooky field that's boiling with rabbits but I can only get 2 or 3 at best in one sitting. Quite often I will return home empty handed but remember there's nothing better than a bit of fresh air and a skulk round the countryside. Beats playstation and telly any day.

 

Just enjoy it, be patient and you will become a decent field technician and shooter. Each time you go out you will learn something new even if it's just that rabbits will run if they see you; lesson learned.

 

Cheers

 

Mat

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

nice reads mat, you should post more often.

[Pastie 0]

nice reads mat, you should post more often.

 

 

Cheers mate

 

I've only been on here for a couple of days and I only came here in the first place to look for a dog but I'm finding myself drawn to posting for the benefit of inexperienced hunters and the animals they point guns at.

 

Appreciate your kind comment

 

Cheers

 

Mat

[hughes_jh 0]

Great comments Mat, totally agree.

 

I would never shoot at anything that I wasn't certain I could kill (well, except rats!) and even then I will only shoot them if I'm certain I can retrieve them (no point in shooting a pigeon that will fall into a feed bin/get stuck in a roof truss, etc, etc)

 

I don't think I'm alone in having the opinion that the primary reason why I have an air rifle is for vermin control. When I just want to shoot something for the sake of shooting it I'll sit in my garden and hit paper targets, maybe I might even draw a picture of a rabbit on the target, but i'm not very good at drawing so I don't do that very often.

 

Anyway, the upshot is, my advice to novices would be NEVER shoot anything beyond 30 yards (except a rat, and thats only ok coz they deserve it) until you get extremely competent in killing. One shot, one kill!

 

'nuff said!