A red letter start on the road

[hutch6 550]

I'd borrowed my cousin's reasonably old Daystate PH6 and had done various target shooting around the garden but with the garden only been 15yrds long I had to do some make shift space inventing. The sofas were switched about and the dining room table cleared so with the patio doors opne I had a clear 25yrds from the back of the lounge to the back of the garden. It stood me well for a while despite me looking like I was playing quite a serious game of toy soldiers to anybody walking past as I knelt behind the sofa as cover and lined up my shots.

 

A bit of tweaking of my positioning etc and I was comfortably firing ten to fifteen rounds through three or four holes in the centre of the target. The target shooting was a good confidence builder but I needed a longer range to play with.

 

I read a few articles and took some advice before heading out and asking around for permission. With guys stating they were mailshotting land up to 80miles away from their homes without luck I was apprehensive.

 

A regular dog walk takes me through an area that holds large numbers of rabbits so I figured they must know of the issue. I entered the yard and was spoken to by a voice that wasn't at all aggressive. I explained my reason for the visit and enquired if they wanted any free pest control. The guy was delighted in my offer of help and within a few minutes I had a signature on my permission slip. I left and headed home with a smile as wide as my face.

 

I sat in a mixture of excitement and apprehension for what seemed like an age before snapping back to reality. I figured I'd best get started so I headed off to the local rozzer hangout and informed them of my intentions and what the protocol was. "Just call 101 and let us know when and where you'll be out so we have a reference if anyone calls in" I figured this was a wise move as they had boys with semi-automatics and helicopters against my little plinker and a fast pair of legs, that and I didn't want to have to carry around a white handkerchief - I'm not French.

 

A phone call to the landowner and 101 and I was off on my first hunt. The place is only 2mins from me but I must have smoked a full pack before I go there.

I called at the house as agreed and then set off into the killing fields.

 

Within a minute of leaving the car I had the crosshairs between the eye and ear of a rabbit. A deep breath and a squeeze of the trigger - chack! The rabbit never moved. A quick reload. Chack! The rabbit happily tootled off. What heck was happening? Was I twitching at the final moment as it felt different to shooting a bit of paper? I spied an empty carrier bag dancing on the breeze as it was anchored to a stub of a branch. I lined up on it and chack! Nothing again. I walked over to it, reloaded, pointed the barrel right on it and chack! Nothing.

A deep sinking feeling welled up inside and I bemusedly dragged my feet back the car.

 

I'd filled it up before I left. The barrel was well leaded with the correct calibre of pellet and I had only been firing ten minutes before I had left a couple of times.

 

I offered the filling nozzle up to the air tank and filled it to the top again. I released the pressure and then had to ensure I had closed off all of the valves as there was still air leaking out. Sod it!!!! The cylinder was my very own Titanic which had sprung a leak on its maiden voyage.

 

A day booked off work and I was down the gun shop with the Daystate for repair and as it was bonus month with work I figured I now had the permission (the hardest thing to get) so why not treat myself to my own rifle so I can get used to it and really make it my own.

 

Saturday just gone I was back to the shop. It was like Christmas morning only better because now I was getting a proper toy. After two hours of selecting, debating, tinkering and purchasing I left with my very first rifle. It is a very nice BSA R10 MK2 0.177 with a Hawke Sport 4x12x50 HD Mil Dot AO scope, Tracer Tactical 400 light kit, Weihrauch silencer, bag and a tin of pellets in exchange for decent amount of sterling.

 

The scope was zeroed at the store's range to about 32yrds and tested a fair few times to ensure everything was how I wanted it all.

 

Home it was.

 

A target was placed on a new piece of wood and put against the large conifer trunk in the back garden. 15 pellets later and there wasn't much left of the bulls eye and the back of the wood to be honest. The phone was picked up, the numbers dialled, my rozzer reference written down and I was out the door.

 

The excitement was high and caused me to catch the gate on the latch to the field I was starting in. All I saw, as I muttered a brief lesson to myself, was a rush of white tails dashing for the brush. The other opportunities were on open spaces with little cover but where I was had burrows on all sides so I figured something had to show if I just waited long enough. I found a nice covered spot with around 240degree views and the wind blowing my scent away from 90% of the target area. If I am honest I was laughing to myself because it felt like I was fly fishing all over again.

There are four distinct types of fishermen:

1 - Catch a fish.

2 - Catch as many fish as possible.

3 - Catch the biggest fish.

4 - Catch that fish, just there.

 

I was starting out at level 1 on shooting - shoot something.

 

Then something moved. I slowly turned my head to the right and saw a squirrel daintily prancing along a large oak branch. I shifted my right hip and brought the gun around towards him. Slowly I tilted and lowered my head and became personal with him through the scope. I watched as he flicked his tail, rummaged through the leaf litter he had dropped down into and followed him along a fallen log. It took a while for it to sink in what my actual purpose of being there was but eventually everything in me tightened up. The grip on the gun tightened, my left eyelid closed tighter to eliminate any leaking sight, my shoulders tightened and my trigger finger came to rest on the trigger.

I took a deep breath as he paused momentarily. Chack - thunk! He stayed where he was almost in a frozen state. I peered down the scope to see what had happened. I hadn’t seen any leaf litter flap about with the impact so i guess I must have hit the log. Suddenly a crimson drop took my sight and as I focussed fully on it the drop became a slow steady stream down the side of his temple and neck. It seemed like an age but it can only have been a matter of a second or two. Slowly and gracefully he toppled over the back the log in the same fixed expression and state without any real movement. Nothing stirred. Nothing around me or inside me. A seal had been broken inside me and I allowed the feelings of the initial guilt of taking a life and the euphoria of the first success come colliding together between my stomach and the back of my throat.

 

I must have sat there for some time because something else caught my eye and brought me back round. Slowly I shifted and brought the gun round. It lined up on the fresh face of a fluff tail that was enjoying the fruits of the recent weather. Deep breath. Chack - thunk! A flash of white and a kick of a leg and all was still again. I'd promised the GF to be home early to walk the dogs so I decided to call it a day. I slowly rose and turned, spotted another two rabbits in what was my blind spot. They hadn't seen me so I slowly dropped down again, spun so I was in their direction on rising and the gun was already level to my eyes. I rose up and the first came in to my sight. Chack - thunk! Swirp! Tock Swirp Chack - thunk! Two shots two in the bag.

I called that an end, picked up my spoils and placed them in a bin liner. Wandered back to the car, unloaded the rifle, bagged it up, locked the car and called on the owner to let them know I was heading home but I would be back out later.

 

Apologies made, dogs walked, a belly full of warm Rosie Lee, gun back in car and I was heading back out.

 

I won't bore you with the full report as I feel I have taken up too much of your time already. The end bag from the two and half hour night session was another 12 rabbits all thanks to the rifle lamp and red filter. I love my rifle already and we hardly know each other yet. I hope it is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I also love my land owners and their land as it is crawling with the buggers at the minute. The real test will begin when they've wised up a bit and I've thinned them out a bit more but for now I am happy and enjoying it all.

 

Very best wishes,

 

Hutch

[AR177 588]

Great write up & congrats on getting the permission

 

ATB

 

Adam

[StevoSmith 147]

Great write up mate...where's the pics?

[Phantom 631]

Loved the write up

 

Congrats on both gaining the perm and poping two cherries in one sitting (bunny & squizzer)

 

Tony

[milegajo 595]

Hutch! That. Was. AWESOME!

I was there with you...the crushing disappointment when your equipment let's you down. The elation and magic when you see your shot strike home, that godlike power of influencing something from afar. Exacting your will.

Not to mention your choice of equipment! Ohhh baby... the R10 Mk2 another of my pin ups, in my favourite calibre!

 

Bravo Hutch! Bravo.

 

[Mawders 595]

An absolutely bang on awesome read that was, the way you described it all was like Mile said, like being there with you. Keep up the sport and the write ups pal! Awesome!

[milegajo 595]

Here here! Can't wait for the next installment. Quit your job hutch! You ain't got time for that nonsense! We want our stories!

[Smokey 1 56]

Good stuff, another R-10 owner Great read

 

Smokey

[BEARINATOR 2,923]

Good read and 2 top results, permission and first kills

[ftm 3,357]

loved every little bit of it but my best quote was "getting personal" with the intended target bit made me smile to my self -keep it up and get some pics up-billy

[Elliott 436]

Cracking write up Huch! Looking forward to the next edition

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Nice going Hutch! Sounds like you have some good shooting there and well done on contacting PC Plod and the vermin scaring horde first, somehow rabbits do not like the 1 billion candlepower Eurocopter EC135s on low passes, they also never offer to give you a ride and let you play with the FLIR and SLIR cameras either! MIserable swines!

[hutch6 550]

Thanks for the comments. Sorry for not getting any pics. I went out again last night with my cousin (owed him one for wrecking his Daystate and he'll be partnering me a couple of times) and even took the Nikon D40 but in the thrill of it all and the laugh we had trying to skin them (got 8 in total if you count the little one) I forgot again.

 

That's it for outings this week. The GF wasn't best happy when I rolled in at around 02:00, but she'll learn

 

I have next week off work so I'll do you picture vultures some of the shoot and my results, I promise I am hitting them and not just being a keyboard warrior.

[milegajo 595]

8 wow....second outing and you've hit my total! I have a camcorder set up you can borrow, just screws onto your scope with a metal protection band. I ain't getting much use out of it as I can't upload vids...

[Sweeney-Todd 208]

Hi Hutch.

 

Brilliant write up buddy.

 

Congrats on your new R10 Hope you have years of happy hunting with her

Some christening you gave her too well done mate, good shooting.

 

Look forward to your next post.

 

 

 

ATB.

 

 

Bill.