Not had it conditioned for field use yet, but will on next variation for sure.
Out last night.
- Thread starter finnbear270
- Start date
One maybe stupid question - you don’t eat rabbits?
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Better man than me Gunga Din - not a single word…..Got about halfway through, bit early in the day for me!
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
Bollocks....Reminds me of "Lock time", instead of time of flight.
Smelly will prolly explain for those too young to know what it means.
Being a smokepole user.
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
Doesn't have time...
I cant argue with that, I have read somewhere, all shots could be said to be shooting into the future. Admitidly, the longer the shot the further we are looking.
At 771m/s the bullet took just shy of a second to get there, even at 200m the bullet would take .28 of a second, easily enough time for movement to cause a miss. What should I do? Not take the shot maybe, that's not going to happen.
I practice my shooting skills regularly, I still enjoy rabbiting with sub 12ft lb air rifles, where a long shot is 50 to 60m. A lucky few may be missed and a rare few may run off injured, unfortunately goes with the territory.
All shooting rifle or shotgun, carries the risk of a miss, or injury to the quarry. Wood Pidgeons for example are seen waddling around crop fields sometimes days after a shoot over decoys. This is not what we would want but --it happens. I'm not going to stop decoying woodies, or shooting foxes, farmers, want them gone, and I enjoy it.
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Hmmm.
Your point about wounded birds is well made - how many of us can say with certainty that every time we shoot at a pigeon/pheasant or whatever it will be “dead in the air”? Yet mention the wounding of a four-legged quarry with your rifle and the usual criticism emerges.
For me the golden rule is only taking shots which you are confident in - nobody I know intentionally shoots to wound but anyone who has ever shot a rifle has inevitably pulled a shot resulting in a wounded animal which in the worst case may even have been lost with inevitable prolonged suffering resulting.
This confidence thing varies from shooter to shooter and depends on the holy trinity of Knowledge, Skills and Experience which themselves contain too many strands to mention but IMHO practice is right up there. I regularly shoot at two clubs at ranges from 50 to 600 so consider myself confident of longer-range shots but a tyro used to shooting meadow rabbits at 50 with a .22 then moving straight to a Red at 250 with a .308 for example, is foolish in the extreme. Better by far to acknowledge your own limitations and await that time when after said practice, and lots of it, you may with all confidence in your ability to kill that animal, take that shot.
Your point about wounded birds is well made - how many of us can say with certainty that every time we shoot at a pigeon/pheasant or whatever it will be “dead in the air”? Yet mention the wounding of a four-legged quarry with your rifle and the usual criticism emerges.
For me the golden rule is only taking shots which you are confident in - nobody I know intentionally shoots to wound but anyone who has ever shot a rifle has inevitably pulled a shot resulting in a wounded animal which in the worst case may even have been lost with inevitable prolonged suffering resulting.
This confidence thing varies from shooter to shooter and depends on the holy trinity of Knowledge, Skills and Experience which themselves contain too many strands to mention but IMHO practice is right up there. I regularly shoot at two clubs at ranges from 50 to 600 so consider myself confident of longer-range shots but a tyro used to shooting meadow rabbits at 50 with a .22 then moving straight to a Red at 250 with a .308 for example, is foolish in the extreme. Better by far to acknowledge your own limitations and await that time when after said practice, and lots of it, you may with all confidence in your ability to kill that animal, take that shot.
There is a farm just outside my local town, that I have often practiced on and used to check zero. It is an extremely exposed location.
A local well known rifle and game shooter runs his dogs there.
I was shooting with a friend, at 200m on a windy say, 3 targets were placed as I would normally do. at various angles to the wind, he asked what I was doing and I replied. practicing my shooting.
His response was, you are wasting your time in these conditions.
My response was, so it's never windy when you take a shot.
Often I shoot over ground 500 to 2500ft asl,
even on a generally wind free night there will be catabatic valley winds to deal with.
Practise makes you perfect, is the saying.
While no shooting practice will make you perfect, it will help to minimise errors.
A local well known rifle and game shooter runs his dogs there.
I was shooting with a friend, at 200m on a windy say, 3 targets were placed as I would normally do. at various angles to the wind, he asked what I was doing and I replied. practicing my shooting.
His response was, you are wasting your time in these conditions.
My response was, so it's never windy when you take a shot.
Often I shoot over ground 500 to 2500ft asl,
even on a generally wind free night there will be catabatic valley winds to deal with.
Practise makes you perfect, is the saying.
While no shooting practice will make you perfect, it will help to minimise errors.
Bo Diddley
Well-Known Member
#10.
An attic window special. It looked like a heavy old brute through the NV, my money is on a dog fox.
A nice short range jobbie of 80 yards, even I struggle to miss those.
I'll pick it up in the morning, it will make the two Border terriers very happy with the find.
An attic window special. It looked like a heavy old brute through the NV, my money is on a dog fox.
A nice short range jobbie of 80 yards, even I struggle to miss those.
I'll pick it up in the morning, it will make the two Border terriers very happy with the find.
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
#8.
No picture and no video on account of expressed expletives!
I had a runner tonight that I lost.
Before I looked in earnest I noticed the follower in the next field at 300+ yards.
So I closed the gap but was exposed to a blustery wind. The laser said 160 and I took a shot at the lying down fox with it's head to my right and tail left.
The wind had me all over the place and I missed!
The playback shows me left and right from the blustery wind. The shot just missed its head and it was gone
.
So I returned to look for the first fox that I was sure had made it to a thick blackthorn hedge with a deep gully and fast flowing water. Not having any joy I went back to the van and got Jess. She picked up a line and ended up looking down into said hedge.
I stopped her going in and could just make out something cooling off in the gully.
I came away annoyed with myself.
Earlier today I did some plinking at a large rock at 190 yards and all was good.
Even with a different bullet and different brass of three types of variants on the same powder charge, every shot was a good result!
So tonight was purely my errors. I distinctly remember snatching the trigger on the first shot.
Bugger.
The dog fox was later barking regularly. Probably wondering where his partner has gone.
I was on scene for nearly two hours with the searching.
No picture and no video on account of expressed expletives!
I had a runner tonight that I lost.
Before I looked in earnest I noticed the follower in the next field at 300+ yards.
So I closed the gap but was exposed to a blustery wind. The laser said 160 and I took a shot at the lying down fox with it's head to my right and tail left.
The wind had me all over the place and I missed!
The playback shows me left and right from the blustery wind. The shot just missed its head and it was gone
.So I returned to look for the first fox that I was sure had made it to a thick blackthorn hedge with a deep gully and fast flowing water. Not having any joy I went back to the van and got Jess. She picked up a line and ended up looking down into said hedge.
I stopped her going in and could just make out something cooling off in the gully.
I came away annoyed with myself.
Earlier today I did some plinking at a large rock at 190 yards and all was good.
Even with a different bullet and different brass of three types of variants on the same powder charge, every shot was a good result!
So tonight was purely my errors. I distinctly remember snatching the trigger on the first shot.
Bugger.
The dog fox was later barking regularly. Probably wondering where his partner has gone.
I was on scene for nearly two hours with the searching.
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Don’t beat yourself up Smelly - any right-thinking man hates losing a wounded animal. The man who says he hasn’t pulled a shot is a liar. Sometimes putting something a quarter of an inch in diameter in to a five or six inch circle at distance doesn’t quite work as you hoped it would. However your searching for that length of time is a testament to your determination not to have an animal suffer - so well done you.#8.
No picture and no video on account of expressed expletives!
I had a runner tonight that I lost.
Before I looked in earnest I noticed the follower in the next field at 300+ yards.
So I closed the gap but was exposed to a blustery wind. The laser said 160 and I took a shot at the lying down fox with it's head to my right and tail left.
The wind had me all over the place and I missed!
The playback shows me left and right from the blustery wind. The shot just missed its head and it was gone
So I returned to look for the first fox that I was sure had made it to a thick blackthorn hedge with a deep gully and fast flowing water. Not having any joy I went back to the van and got Jess. She picked up a line and ended up looking down into said hedge.
I stopped her going in and could just make out something cooling off in the gully.
I came away annoyed with myself.
Earlier today I did some plinking at a large rock at 190 yards and all was good.
Even with a different bullet and different brass of three types of variants on the same powder charge, every shot was a good result!
So tonight was purely my errors. I distinctly remember snatching the trigger on the first shot.
Bugger.
The dog fox was later barking regularly. Probably wondering where his partner has gone.
I was on scene for nearly two hours with the searching.
If it was the triple deuce it probably didn’t last long - hopefully the runner expired soon after and you will find it tomorrow…
Bo Diddley
Well-Known Member
I had the same experience a few nights ago
.... I'm still not really over it, but I do wonder why I'm beating myself up...Spotted at about 100, working a thin hedge straight towards me with the wind perfectly in my favour, but my brain was telling me it must be the Muntac that is always lying up in that exact spot.
As soon as I dropped the IR onto it off it went like a greyhound out of the traps... bounced to a stop at 210 and I sort of snatched a shot whilst screwed up on the sticks and missed, I wondered after why I had pulled the trigger instead of just raising my cap to Charlie
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
Cheers FB. Jess has found it but I wasn't going to risk a retrieve. Will try to visit tomorrow though.Don’t beat yourself up Smelly - any right-thinking man hates losing a wounded animal. The man who says he hasn’t pulled a shot is a liar. Sometimes putting something a quarter of an inch in diameter in to a five or six inch circle at distance doesn’t quite work as you hoped it would. However your searching for that length of time is a testament to your determination not to have an animal suffer - so well done you.
If it was the triple deuce it probably didn’t last long - hopefully the runner expired soon after and you will find it tomorrow…
I had another bedroom special last night and it was a runner. Head good impact but it ran out into an open field. I picked up the thermal to confirm its demise. Nothing. Heart sinks.
Went and got my wellies on for a proper look. Full scan of the field and still nothing. Found it 5 yards from the shot site - turns out it had spun and gone left back into the hedge. Massive hole in its chest so shot was definitely good but I hate that feeling.
Went and got my wellies on for a proper look. Full scan of the field and still nothing. Found it 5 yards from the shot site - turns out it had spun and gone left back into the hedge. Massive hole in its chest so shot was definitely good but I hate that feeling.
Len the dog
Well-Known Member
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Similar threads
