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I finally have been getting out more to hunt nights. Wouldn’t you know that I picked the warmest part of the year to do so. I happened to see armadillo and hog damage on some properties in the area. I grabbed my dog and a couple of airguns (Benjamin Bulldog M357 and Huben K1 .22), a thermal hand scanner (with a 400 sensor), a couple of rifle mounted torches, my Primos Trigger Stick tripod and a SCBA tank.
Before I left I chronoed some 110 grain slugs and some 140 grain slugs for the M357. I noticed that my reservoir pressure went up about 200 psi after leaving it outside for about an hour before shooting. In high temps your air pressure should be affected when you’re looking at 20 degree or greater temperature shifts. Anyhow, I checked my zero and shot from 25 yards and 50 yards using DOPE. The 110 grains grouped poorly so I didn’t use them. The fact that they were grouping 1” left was a no go for me and I was not going to take time to adjust or try to figure out much in the dark. From 25 yards I sat behind a table with no bipod or rest of any kind. I just sat the bottom of the grip on the table top and steadied the forestock with my hand as comfortably as I could. I needed to have a surface to set the chronograph on close to the rifle. I got two shot strings off in two different fills as the sun was setting. After tending to my animals, I went and grabbed a torch to mount to my Vector Continental atop my M357 so I could see my target at 50 yards. The light is green and I had no problems seeing the target at 50 yards. I shot 140 grain boattail slugs standing behind my Trigger Stick tripod. I pulled one shot. I think I got distracted when my dog tried to walk forward as I was preparing to shoot. He knows better. Anyhow, I think I used the wrong hold taking my shot high.
Here’s some of what the hog did. This is in someone’s yard.
I meant to leave at 9pm and I think we left around 10 after doing gear checks on everything and loading it up. I stayed until around 1am. All I shot was one armadillo from about 40 yards out. I didn’t get a chance to recover it because my dog took off after the first shot and impact. I tried sending a second before my dog crossed my sight line as the dillo turned to run. I saw the pellet go into the grass. Then he came into view a second or two later. After that I tried to keep the light on the dillo until my dog got close to it. They hit the fenceline and went into the woods. I scanned with my thermal scanner and didn’t see anything. I guess it hit a hole when the dog slowed to get under the fence. It was hit, so there’s a good chance it died in its hole. I aim for lungs. BUT I’ve been confident that an armadillo would die in a hole before and didn’t smell anything. When I went back to that spot I think I was shooting dirt that it pushed up as I started digging while I was trying to position myself for the best shot. At this point the best I can hope for is that if it survived, between being shot and chased by a big dog, it will lick its wounds and decide to dine elsewhere. If we cross paths again, it likely won’t fare much better.
I didn’t see anything else that night. However, what I was noticing is how much I was sweating for the first few hours. There’s no hiding scent like this. There wasn’t much wind, but I could smell me loud and clear so I assume everything else could. Thankfully it’s a moderate sized property so I had that working in my favor. I just wasn’t prepared to hit the wooded areas. I’d like to do some scouting to see what the hogs have been doing around the home and yard. Aside from the damage, I saw what appeared to be a good sized hoof print in the dirt it turned over in the grass. This is something I noticed casually and asked about. Thankfully I don’t have issues obtaining permission to do pest work here.
For you summer hunters and pesters, anyone having much success on the ground during these hot and sweaty nights? Are you deterred from going hunting by the heat? How are you dealing with sweat and odor? Are you making any other adjustments if you opt to remain on the ground? Are there particular pieces of gear that you bring or leave home for hot weather airgun hunting?
Before I left I chronoed some 110 grain slugs and some 140 grain slugs for the M357. I noticed that my reservoir pressure went up about 200 psi after leaving it outside for about an hour before shooting. In high temps your air pressure should be affected when you’re looking at 20 degree or greater temperature shifts. Anyhow, I checked my zero and shot from 25 yards and 50 yards using DOPE. The 110 grains grouped poorly so I didn’t use them. The fact that they were grouping 1” left was a no go for me and I was not going to take time to adjust or try to figure out much in the dark. From 25 yards I sat behind a table with no bipod or rest of any kind. I just sat the bottom of the grip on the table top and steadied the forestock with my hand as comfortably as I could. I needed to have a surface to set the chronograph on close to the rifle. I got two shot strings off in two different fills as the sun was setting. After tending to my animals, I went and grabbed a torch to mount to my Vector Continental atop my M357 so I could see my target at 50 yards. The light is green and I had no problems seeing the target at 50 yards. I shot 140 grain boattail slugs standing behind my Trigger Stick tripod. I pulled one shot. I think I got distracted when my dog tried to walk forward as I was preparing to shoot. He knows better. Anyhow, I think I used the wrong hold taking my shot high.
Here’s some of what the hog did. This is in someone’s yard.
I meant to leave at 9pm and I think we left around 10 after doing gear checks on everything and loading it up. I stayed until around 1am. All I shot was one armadillo from about 40 yards out. I didn’t get a chance to recover it because my dog took off after the first shot and impact. I tried sending a second before my dog crossed my sight line as the dillo turned to run. I saw the pellet go into the grass. Then he came into view a second or two later. After that I tried to keep the light on the dillo until my dog got close to it. They hit the fenceline and went into the woods. I scanned with my thermal scanner and didn’t see anything. I guess it hit a hole when the dog slowed to get under the fence. It was hit, so there’s a good chance it died in its hole. I aim for lungs. BUT I’ve been confident that an armadillo would die in a hole before and didn’t smell anything. When I went back to that spot I think I was shooting dirt that it pushed up as I started digging while I was trying to position myself for the best shot. At this point the best I can hope for is that if it survived, between being shot and chased by a big dog, it will lick its wounds and decide to dine elsewhere. If we cross paths again, it likely won’t fare much better.
I didn’t see anything else that night. However, what I was noticing is how much I was sweating for the first few hours. There’s no hiding scent like this. There wasn’t much wind, but I could smell me loud and clear so I assume everything else could. Thankfully it’s a moderate sized property so I had that working in my favor. I just wasn’t prepared to hit the wooded areas. I’d like to do some scouting to see what the hogs have been doing around the home and yard. Aside from the damage, I saw what appeared to be a good sized hoof print in the dirt it turned over in the grass. This is something I noticed casually and asked about. Thankfully I don’t have issues obtaining permission to do pest work here.
For you summer hunters and pesters, anyone having much success on the ground during these hot and sweaty nights? Are you deterred from going hunting by the heat? How are you dealing with sweat and odor? Are you making any other adjustments if you opt to remain on the ground? Are there particular pieces of gear that you bring or leave home for hot weather airgun hunting?
