From Target To Hunting

[Jed_Sanders 0]

Hi all, first post here.

 

I have been target shooting on and off for a few years now and have recently changed jobs where there are some fields surrounding the office.

The land owner has said I can shoot at any time in the field and asked me to have a pop at the bunnies.

 

I have a HW100 and BSA Ultra in .22 which both are very accurate and my 50m grouping is less than rabbit head sized, so I'm confident enough for clean kill, especially at closer ranges.

However, I have only ever shot targets and these rabbits are flighty little buggers. So I'm looking for any advice you guys can give me with regards to how to's for bunny hunting.

 

I've added a pic of the permission land with some details:

The rabbits are located along the yellow line with their warrens in the 9ft earth bank north/above of that line (great backstop). I enter the field top right of the picture and I find that once I get round the corner I only have one shot and after that they disappear for over an hour.

The field to the left contains ponies so shooting along the bank (right to left along the yellow line) is too risky.

 

Basically any hints or tips for shooting this land would be gratefully received.

 

[ghillies 209]

ok, now your paper hot, forget the paper and get stuff like bottle tops, cans..extra strong mints etc, anythingthat will blow up or ping around (golf balls arny bad as far as fun goes)

 

forget the distance markers and range set outs... and strew odd bits of wood twigs any thing about at any old ranges, but dont forget the near stuff..(not the golf ball near too mind lol)

 

walk off from your usual sit, turn aroud pic a target and wack it.. walk away again and turn and hit another object..your looking to keep your eye on it through the scope to see what the pellet does to it.. watch how things ping sde ways etc or clip or with cans and bigger stuff pic a corner or the 'O' coke or the rim.

 

this is the 3-D effect you'll be setting up in your head.

 

reason? you want to hit a 'shape' now.. the bunny the woody what ever it is, this sets your hunting eye to ID what your shooting, e.g. if you dont know what it is it probably aint on the shoot it list..

secondly when you know what it is you should be a step closer to seeing where in the shap.. hense the coke can and the other stuff to the way itpings about.. it all builds an 'edge' when it comes to hitting heart liver/lund brain...and on birds i prefer to know the bone at the kneck and upper shoulders..

 

when to know your ready? when you walk about and just hit that there..this here....but, its a hit hit the top right in the middle in your head and you do it..

 

in 'ultimate' timing turms, unless your in a hide every shot is fom a walk/stalk to the shot... the timing is from when you see it to after youve hit (follow through..keeping your eye on 'to see the pellet hit' and a fraction after that)

if your in a barn with rats as an example, from day one when nothing knows or is the wiser for it you'll have a timer, the time untill they get wise to you, in that time there'll be opertunaties of a shot, every missed shot is 3-5 things you now want see at the other end of the year..

when your stood thinking is it 5 yard? might be 6...oops lost another one, then in the time your holding breeth gripping rong locating targets..oops theres 3 more you misse (in the long turm picture)..

 

theres a learning curve in there, but as its in the 'years of learning' its best be a good plenker first.. the paper work now becomes a sight up and tragectory checker, them bits of what ever are 'live 3-D objects that have only one thing left to add to them, 'they dont see hear smell nd feel you first then run off, hop about, twitch heads left right forward..bob weave,, suprise fight scene, take a dump etc etc etc etc :laugh:

 

its good if you can get out with some one and gut a couple to give you another starter edge of 'ahhhhhh sothats where the heart is on these things..etc, or feck! didnt realise how big the woody crop was etc.

 

head shots are best/easiest when you hit them. a rabbits heart is like a hazel nut, while its brain is like a wall nut..(heres where the headgames come in if your unlucky enough to go that route) sooo.. a head shot is about 4 times easier on a rabbit..

on a woody..do you want the breast meat or not? in the right place a bod shots faster 'easier'..if you can hit that spot you could of course hit the head? (witch is back to the plenking and wonging the can rim or bottle center etc)

on paper...if you can hit the pellet hole at 20 yards, how bigs a rabbits head at 50 yards? about the same as hitting the pellet hole...bar windfactors lol..but the thoughts there isnt it..

the smaller fragments from the plenking are the same issue..your placing shots to a specifick area of a top.. that 'specifick area' can be put onto the smaller bits, the smaller the bits the further you can actualy hit other things.. its curcular cycle of reality with only one thing tto bite you in the bum..truth and reality! can you do it? du dahh... :laugh:

 

with that think i'll shut up, folks think i'm weird as it is :laugh:

 

 

 

edit!! sh..i..t!! forgot to say..recoche........pellets bounce, golfballs can be ermmm. a bit noisey lol.......safety..SAFETY.

Edited June 6, 2013 by ghillies

[j j m 6,481]

some good advice from above

[goz1960 52]

ok, now your paper hot, forget the paper and get stuff like bottle tops, cans..extra strong mints etc, anythingthat will blow up or ping around (golf balls arny bad as far as fun goes)

 

forget the distance markers and range set outs... and strew odd bits of wood twigs any thing about at any old ranges, but dont forget the near stuff..(not the golf ball near too mind lol)

 

walk off from your usual sit, turn aroud pic a target and wack it.. walk away again and turn and hit another object..your looking to keep your eye on it through the scope to see what the pellet does to it.. watch how things ping sde ways etc or clip or with cans and bigger stuff pic a corner or the 'O' coke or the rim.

 

this is the 3-D effect you'll be setting up in your head.

 

reason? you want to hit a 'shape' now.. the bunny the woody what ever it is, this sets your hunting eye to ID what your shooting, e.g. if you dont know what it is it probably aint on the shoot it list..

secondly when you know what it is you should be a step closer to seeing where in the shap.. hense the coke can and the other stuff to the way itpings about.. it all builds an 'edge' when it comes to hitting heart liver/lund brain...and on birds i prefer to know the bone at the kneck and upper shoulders..

 

when to know your ready? when you walk about and just hit that there..this here....but, its a hit hit the top right in the middle in your head and you do it..

 

in 'ultimate' timing turms, unless your in a hide every shot is fom a walk/stalk to the shot... the timing is from when you see it to after youve hit (follow through..keeping your eye on 'to see the pellet hit' and a fraction after that)

if your in a barn with rats as an example, from day one when nothing knows or is the wiser for it you'll have a timer, the time untill they get wise to you, in that time there'll be opertunaties of a shot, every missed shot is 3-5 things you now want see at the other end of the year..

when your stood thinking is it 5 yard? might be 6...oops lost another one, then in the time your holding breeth gripping rong locating targets..oops theres 3 more you misse (in the long turm picture)..

 

theres a learning curve in there, but as its in the 'years of learning' its best be a good plenker first.. the paper work now becomes a sight up and tragectory checker, them bits of what ever are 'live 3-D objects that have only one thing left to add to them, 'they dont see hear smell nd feel you first then run off, hop about, twitch heads left right forward..bob weave,, suprise fight scene, take a dump etc etc etc etc :laugh:

 

its good if you can get out with some one and gut a couple to give you another starter edge of 'ahhhhhh sothats where the heart is on these things..etc, or feck! didnt realise how big the woody crop was etc.

 

head shots are best/easiest when you hit them. a rabbits heart is like a hazel nut, while its brain is like a wall nut..(heres where the headgames come in if your unlucky enough to go that route) sooo.. a head shot is about 4 times easier on a rabbit..

on a woody..do you want the breast meat or not? in the right place a bod shots faster 'easier'..if you can hit that spot you could of course hit the head? (witch is back to the plenking and wonging the can rim or bottle center etc)

on paper...if you can hit the pellet hole at 20 yards, how bigs a rabbits head at 50 yards? about the same as hitting the pellet hole...bar windfactors lol..but the thoughts there isnt it..

the smaller fragments from the plenking are the same issue..your placing shots to a specifick area of a top.. that 'specifick area' can be put onto the smaller bits, the smaller the bits the further you can actualy hit other things.. its curcular cycle of reality with only one thing tto bite you in the bum..truth and reality! can you do it? du dahh... :laugh:

 

with that think i'll shut up, folks think i'm weird as it is :laugh:

 

 

 

edit!! sh..i..t!! forgot to say..recoche........pellets bounce, golfballs can be ermmm. a bit noisey lol.......safety..SAFETY.

 

 

Very detailed reply some good stuff in there.

[The one 8,398]

As above it made some good reading mate and if your going home with one rabbit a outing its better than going home with none

[ghillies 209]

only the best for my lads :laugh:

[Jed_Sanders 0]

Thanks ghillies for the tips and advice.

 

I've been out getting my eye in for ranges and with chairgun I now have both the Hw100 and Ultra sighted the same, resulting in some rather tired looking golf balls.

Great method for getting used to the various ranges and where they lie in the reticle.

 

Whilst I was down on the land, once again the first sight of me sent the bunnies diving for their warrens with no sight of them for the whole day.

Will my presence and shooting on the land get them more comfortable?

My concern is that to get a safe angle to shoot, I have to walk past them. So I'm either looking at a hide and a lot of patience or a friend has suggested lamping. I'll look into it further.

 

Unfortunately the BSA has developed a leak (seems like the main valve assembly) and I'm struggling to find spares or info on it. Any suggestions?

[kanny 19,429]

I can only echo what ghilllies has already said spot on advise there to become a natural shooter ... plastic toy soldiers were my favoured plinking thing when I was a kid as said I would put them out every where up trees and allsorts you will only learn so much from range shooting sadly its nothing like being in the field where opportunity seldom present its self in straight 5 yrd stages .

 

atb

 

kanny

[ghillies 209]

i never actualy took count, but on a regular shoot you'll find sort of 30 types of shot ish as a bare minimum, like down a gully, up a tree at that angle etc etc for all told a bit a 100 diferent types covers enough to talk about lol.

 

one of my favour ever heard ones was 'how can you miss its on a post' the second i heard it i knew exactly what he meant, but as i learnt on my todd i had no words for anything lol. other than a perverbial 'its there' or 'howed you miss that??' lol.

 

edit..its on a post..its a sitter.. a sitting duck, theyre all similar but one of them '30 type shots'

i'll go one further, on rabbits out to 30-32 yards theres this angled broad side veiw that is the untimate shot of any kind.. 'heart shot' if you want words for it lol, but, it thwups the pellet silently, gently..the rabit just finish's over quietly and rolls out flat, no fuss no nothing.. i just need several lined up for the perfect text book 'line'.

 

at the mo with these heavies they crack skulls like a rimmies hit it. i have yet to find one like it but in sort of 8 to 8.2 grain ish..i think that'd be the alrounder tbh..well, out to the 50 mark any way.

 

damn...reminissing now and getting the erge to go live in the woods again :laugh:

Edited June 9, 2013 by ghillies

[ghillies 209]

Hi all, first post here.

 

I have been target shooting on and off for a few years now and have recently changed jobs where there are some fields surrounding the office.

The land owner has said I can shoot at any time in the field and asked me to have a pop at the bunnies.

 

I have a HW100 and BSA Ultra in .22 which both are very accurate and my 50m grouping is less than rabbit head sized, so I'm confident enough for clean kill, especially at closer ranges.

However, I have only ever shot targets and these rabbits are flighty little buggers. So I'm looking for any advice you guys can give me with regards to how to's for bunny hunting.

 

I've added a pic of the permission land with some details:

The rabbits are located along the yellow line with their warrens in the 9ft earth bank north/above of that line (great backstop). I enter the field top right of the picture and I find that once I get round the corner I only have one shot and after that they disappear for over an hour.

The field to the left contains ponies so shooting along the bank (right to left along the yellow line) is too risky.

 

Basically any hints or tips for shooting this land would be gratefully received.

 

 

 

think i'd use the bank to cover your scent with the wind for the poney feild..spose you could leave some scrim nett or something to cover you head as you peep over.. it'll eather work or they suss you before you peep over the top.

 

if they run on impact..heart shots are quieter but they take some learning tbh. maybe try the kneck just atthe base of the brain, or turn your power down in an effert to quiten the impact..again, you'll need some practice and figures to know how low.

[villaman 9,980]

Thanks ghillies for the tips and advice.

 

I've been out getting my eye in for ranges and with chairgun I now have both the Hw100 and Ultra sighted the same, resulting in some rather tired looking golf balls.

Great method for getting used to the various ranges and where they lie in the reticle.

 

Whilst I was down on the land, once again the first sight of me sent the bunnies diving for their warrens with no sight of them for the whole day.

Will my presence and shooting on the land get them more comfortable?

My concern is that to get a safe angle to shoot, I have to walk past them. So I'm either looking at a hide and a lot of patience or a friend has suggested lamping. I'll look into it further.

 

Unfortunately the BSA has developed a leak (seems like the main valve assembly) and I'm struggling to find spares or info on it. Any suggestions?

Have a look on XTX AIR (Darrin) web site and phone up Darrin if you cant find any thing or Phil 8282 on this forum