Airgun Hunting in Some of the Hotter Days of Summer

[Ezana4CE]

Here’s a photo of the gear I’m using. It’s an older photo, but the only thing that’s changed is that I ditched the moderator and upgraded to a newer generation ScanPro headlamp.

 

[Dogowski]

Great setup man. I would love to own one myself someday. I just need to sell a few others first. Christmas is coming!

 

[Ezana4CE]

Great setup man. I would love to own one myself someday. I just need to sell a few others first. Christmas is coming!

@Dogowski Thank you. Save up and grab one when you can. I think I’ve had this one for 2-3 years now. I didn’t shoot it much the first year. This is a nice gun to have for pest work. I find semi-autos useful in that regard. For hunting a lot of the time I enjoy running a bolt. I don’t mind a side lever either, especially for squirrel hunting, but the Hubens are fun for squirrel hunting as well and they make pest work more convenient for me.

 

[Billm]

Here’s a photo of the gear I’m using. It’s an older photo, but the only thing that’s changed is that I ditched the moderator and upgraded to a newer generation ScanPro headlamp.
View attachment 15538

Nice setup. Are you doing it just for fun?

 

[Ezana4CE]

Nice setup. Are you doing it just for fun?

@Billm I enjoy this, but it is somewhat of a necessity out here. If the damage these animals cause to property gets out of hand, the problems can compound greatly. I’ve seen and documented armadillos causing structural damage. Some of these property owners are older and no longer able to keep up with all of their work as they used to. Why let them shell out cash to someone for something I can do that I enjoy doing when I have time?

 

[Billm]

@Billm I enjoy this, but it is somewhat of a necessity out here. If the damage these animals cause to property gets out of hand, the problems can compound greatly. I’ve seen and documented armadillos causing structural damage. Some of these property owners are older and no longer able to keep up with all of their work as they used to. Why let them shell out cash to someone for something I can do that I enjoy doing when I have time?

Awesome. Having fun while doing a community service - win-win. I fully understand the damage issue.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Definitely large amounts of water to stay hydrated to which is a given!

Good point. I went out early this morning for a few hours. I was slow getting out and waited until temps dropped to around 75ºF. It just wasn't the same as being out when it's a bit warmer. Once I got there and got everything out of the truck and set off, I'd stopped sweating and most of it dried up. I made it a point to start hydrating about an hour before leaving home. I didn't see any hogs, but did observe some deer and other animals. We did stalk up on a deer for about 75 yards over about 30 minutes. My dog next to and behind me. He did ok except for when he started barking at something in a perpendicular treeline. I thought she'd run off but we started around 100 yards out and there were other dogs barking in the distance so maybe it wasn't so alarming because of that. I think we made it within 30 yards before she busted us, wheezed, and ran off.. It took her a while. She went through all of the typical behaviors between "what was that?" to "oh crap! Gotta go!". I heard a lot of yotes too. Something is dead out there that I could smell. Unless I see a large number of them or a lot of deer remains, I don't think I'll get after the yotes.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Another thing I noticed the other night, albeit the air was cooler once the sunset, is that the ground was very dry. Consequently everything cracks, crunches, and crackles - the grass, clay, rocks, leaves, twigs, weeds, etc. This makes it necessary to take a different approach to stalking. Also, when the temps drop 20 degrees or more, I find it necessary to cross reference DOPE from both temperature ranges to validate my holds. This is often done before leaving home by taking a few quick shots at a target. Once on site, I often use the light of my vehicle and usually set my parallax knob between 25 yards and 50 yards before I depart to go into the environment. This is particularly important when using a traditional rifle scope and rifle mounted light. I’m generally estimating range by using landmarks and eyeballing it. So utilizing valid DOPE is extremely important. This may not be your style or your process, but validating your DOPE when there are large temp swings is definitely necessary.