Trampilot
Member Extraordinaire
Earlier in the year I responded to an email from the BASC asking for volunteers to help control squirrels on the Duchy estate in Herefordshire. This was the second time they'd sent this out. The first time I didn't get a reply. This time though I got a positive yes, apparently the initial request was a trial. This still is but expanded.
This was all very exciting and I spent a day at the estate HQ meeting the head stalker (ex SAS obviously) and had to have a shooting test. I was bricking it to be honest. I'd selected my .20 97 to do the test - which for me was the easiest handling target rifle I have. However at 20m and a 2 inch circle... frankly I could have used open sights and got 6 shots into the circle. All good. The plan was for us to use feeders to attract the squirrels in rather than stalk through a wood which is all I ever really do. So this was something new.
After signing various forms I was given a tour of my woodland and my feeder to fix to a tree.
This was all brilliant except the day after the tour I noticed a significant fuel leak on my car. £1400 and two months later and I finally managed to get back to the woodland! Unfortuantely the track to the wood isn't suitable for a normal car like my wife's Audi A3 so I had to apologise to the Duchy estate and explain I'd be delayed somewhat.
Fast forward ... car has a new fuel tank. Over the next couple of months or so I sited the feeder in a couple of places but nobody seemed interested. Then I moved it to a spot I kept hearing squizzer noises and I began to see far more action. I was obviously in the right spot as at one point a squirrel ran up the tree a few feet behind me. The majority of the action seemed to be in a dark area of woodland so I decided this would make an ideal spot. There was even some fallen branches which would make a decent natural hide.
So a few weeks past and I still had no scores on the table. I got close a few times and had I been allowed to wander freely I think I'd have reached double figures by now. With the end of year approaching and the light fading earlier and earlier, coupled with the light starved woodland it was also becoming clear my dear .22 HW80 with Tasco 4x32 was getting a little bit outclassed.
This weekend I decided a change was needed. My other .22 80 is also somewhat of a nod to the 1980s flavour HW80, but at the other end of the scale. It sits in a CS500 stock, has a big scope on it (Gameking 4-16x50) and a slimtech silencer. You can get a feel what I was going for. I don't often favour big scopes but I know from testing, the light gathering ability of the Gameking is exceptional. I did the "can you read a paperback in poor light" test some years back and the 50mm Gameking I had then beat some Japanese lensed scopes.
So this Saturday was my window of opportunity and my start was delayed briefly by a hail storm! However this passed and it was sunny from then on in. I settled into my spot and saw or heard nothing for the first hour. Then they appeared. Lots of them. In the canopy above, in the distance where the wood opened out. All out of range or under too much cover.
Finally one appeared in range and settled in the V of a tree. In my eagerness I missed. But as squirrels sometimes do it landed on the ground and stayed still partially hidden behind some fallen branches. There was a small gap for a chest shot. Not my favourite but was worth a go. The Superdome hit home and after a couple of kicks lay still. One in the bag.
Not too long later another appeared but my pellet hit a branch. I figured the curve of the .22 had done this. Had I been using .177 then it would be no. 2. I didn't have much longer to wait though and I tracked one through the trees until it eventually sat in profile on the trunk of a tree about 30m away. I had clear sight of its head. The Superdome hit exactlty in the right place and it dropped without any fuss.
As the light died I got quite a lot of interest around me. I did wonder whether the two corpses by my side were the cause of this. No pictures as by the time I got back to the car the light was almost nil - though the Gameking possibly would have been good for another 20 mins or so. It's very impressive.
It's an interesting spot full of wildlife as you'd expect. I've seen owls shoot through the trees, a large stag bellowing and last week a muntjac walked passed me within a few feet. They bark like a dog which surprised me. Even if I come home with nothing in the bag, spending a couple of hours in silence really does make a difference to your mood.
This was all very exciting and I spent a day at the estate HQ meeting the head stalker (ex SAS obviously) and had to have a shooting test. I was bricking it to be honest. I'd selected my .20 97 to do the test - which for me was the easiest handling target rifle I have. However at 20m and a 2 inch circle... frankly I could have used open sights and got 6 shots into the circle. All good. The plan was for us to use feeders to attract the squirrels in rather than stalk through a wood which is all I ever really do. So this was something new.
After signing various forms I was given a tour of my woodland and my feeder to fix to a tree.
This was all brilliant except the day after the tour I noticed a significant fuel leak on my car. £1400 and two months later and I finally managed to get back to the woodland! Unfortuantely the track to the wood isn't suitable for a normal car like my wife's Audi A3 so I had to apologise to the Duchy estate and explain I'd be delayed somewhat.
Fast forward ... car has a new fuel tank. Over the next couple of months or so I sited the feeder in a couple of places but nobody seemed interested. Then I moved it to a spot I kept hearing squizzer noises and I began to see far more action. I was obviously in the right spot as at one point a squirrel ran up the tree a few feet behind me. The majority of the action seemed to be in a dark area of woodland so I decided this would make an ideal spot. There was even some fallen branches which would make a decent natural hide.
So a few weeks past and I still had no scores on the table. I got close a few times and had I been allowed to wander freely I think I'd have reached double figures by now. With the end of year approaching and the light fading earlier and earlier, coupled with the light starved woodland it was also becoming clear my dear .22 HW80 with Tasco 4x32 was getting a little bit outclassed.
This weekend I decided a change was needed. My other .22 80 is also somewhat of a nod to the 1980s flavour HW80, but at the other end of the scale. It sits in a CS500 stock, has a big scope on it (Gameking 4-16x50) and a slimtech silencer. You can get a feel what I was going for. I don't often favour big scopes but I know from testing, the light gathering ability of the Gameking is exceptional. I did the "can you read a paperback in poor light" test some years back and the 50mm Gameking I had then beat some Japanese lensed scopes.
So this Saturday was my window of opportunity and my start was delayed briefly by a hail storm! However this passed and it was sunny from then on in. I settled into my spot and saw or heard nothing for the first hour. Then they appeared. Lots of them. In the canopy above, in the distance where the wood opened out. All out of range or under too much cover.
Finally one appeared in range and settled in the V of a tree. In my eagerness I missed. But as squirrels sometimes do it landed on the ground and stayed still partially hidden behind some fallen branches. There was a small gap for a chest shot. Not my favourite but was worth a go. The Superdome hit home and after a couple of kicks lay still. One in the bag.
Not too long later another appeared but my pellet hit a branch. I figured the curve of the .22 had done this. Had I been using .177 then it would be no. 2. I didn't have much longer to wait though and I tracked one through the trees until it eventually sat in profile on the trunk of a tree about 30m away. I had clear sight of its head. The Superdome hit exactlty in the right place and it dropped without any fuss.
As the light died I got quite a lot of interest around me. I did wonder whether the two corpses by my side were the cause of this. No pictures as by the time I got back to the car the light was almost nil - though the Gameking possibly would have been good for another 20 mins or so. It's very impressive.
It's an interesting spot full of wildlife as you'd expect. I've seen owls shoot through the trees, a large stag bellowing and last week a muntjac walked passed me within a few feet. They bark like a dog which surprised me. Even if I come home with nothing in the bag, spending a couple of hours in silence really does make a difference to your mood.
