Camouflage.....How effective?

I recently got my hands on the latest camouflage pattern from Jack Pyke. Called 'Wild Trees Grassland' it's mainly designed for use around the waters edge, in amongst reeds and rushes. Being a wetlands pattern will probably put alot of Airguners off, we don't often have a need to hunt in that sort of environment, and, apart from the edge of golden crop fields even I couldn't see much of a use for it. I stubbornly wore it however, mainly because I think it looks really good in all of it's high definition glory, and boy am I glad I did.

I noticed right away that, while it looks like it stands out massively in green areas, rabbits seemed totally fooled by it. That's nothing too impressive really, rabbits aren't the wisest of quarry but it did get me thinking. Then I went over to visit my pals, the 'Red Squirrel Rangers' in Cumbria and I again noticed just how much it seemed to stand out in certain areas, yet the squirrels, both Red and Grey, couldn't seem to see it at all.
The reason is very simple, both rabbits and squirrels are monochromats, that is, they don't see colours, instead they see in greyscale. It's estimated that humans can see 1 million different hues, and monochromats can only see 100, and because they cannot see actual colours, their vision is made up of 100 different shades of grey, from practically pitch black, to white.

I decided to experiment with the pattern by simply taking a picture and then using editing software to make it appear greyscale. That way we'd be able to see exactly, or as close as possible, what they can see when they look at a hunter wearing it. I added a slight blur to the image in an effort to show what the pattern might look like if the animal was scanning around looking for danger, instead of focused directly on you.

 As you can see, in the first picture the pattern doesn't do a particularly good job, at least to our eyes, which can distinguish the colour differences and make it impossible for the lines and shades of the pattern to effectively break up my outline.

In the second picture, however, the tones and hues look very similar and suddenly the patterns disruptive lines do an excellent job of tricking the brain, which usually relies on recognisable shapes and patterns to spot objects in a highly detailed environments. In greyscale at least, it blends very well.

Unfortunatly non of this applies to avian species because they not only see in colour, but they can actually see far into the UV end of the spectrum. This means that not only do we need a good colour match, but washing our clothes in UV reflective soap powder (added to make colours seem brighter and clothes cleaner) could actually make us glow!!

Now, how do you take pictures in UV..............

Woodpigeon Decoying

Decoying Woodpigeons is, for me, the absolute pinnacle of our sport. It encapsulates every one of the skills needed to be a successful hunter and throws them all together into one single session where the outcome relies on a lot more than just being able to find your target and make a successful shot. Fieldcraft, knowledge of the crops and your quarry, positioning, hide building and reconnaissance all play a vital role. The end result relies more on the hours you put in before hand than it does your actual performance on the day, get it wrong and you might well spend a frustrating afternoon wishing you hadn’t bothered, but get it right and you will be rewarded with some of the finest shooting an airgunner could have, with bags of 20 to 30 not uncommon. My personal best came last summer while decoying over wheat stubble on flight line that lead to an uncut Bean field, between me and my shooting partner we managed 66 kills in a single session, that’s not bad going for a shotgunner never mind 2 blokes with legal limit airguns.

For those of you who have never tried decoying Woodpigeons let me explain a little bit about it. In it’s rawest sense, decoying is simply the tactic of using plastic ‘decoy’ birds to lure passing pigeons into your kill zone. When a bird see’s what it believes to be a flock of its fellow kind it assumes 2 things, number one, that there must be good food in that area, and secondly that it must be a safe area to land. On that assumption the bird usually has enough confidence to drop in and join its plastic friends, swooping down into your kill zone where you are hidden and ready for it. That’s the theory anyway.

The reality is that Woodpigeons are very wary birds and are not easily fooled. Setting up your decoy pattern just anywhere will not work. First you must find an area that the birds are already using, and the way to do that is by going out and looking. By far the most productive areas are crop fields, and for an air gunner freshly cut stubble is usually the easiest because, unlike a shotgunner who can take birds in the air, we must wait until they land and any long crops will make shooting them all but impossible. The best time to begin planning your trip is just before harvest, the crops to look for are Wheat, Rape and Barley and you’ll know when they are almost ready to be cut because they will turn a golden brown. It’s around this time that the Pigeons really begin to pay attention to them and they can easily be seen amassing in large numbers on any trees, telephone lines or power cables that border the field. Beans are also an excellent crop for attracting pigeons, these are usually harvested slightly later in the year and can provide some of the biggest bags but it’s upto you to find out what is growing on your shoot and at what time of year it’s attracting pigeons.

Once you have identified an area that is attracting the birds its time to do some serious reconnaissance, Pigeons use invisible highways known as ‘flightlines’ to navigate from place to place. These flightlines are just like our roads, some are major routes, like motorways, while others are lesser used and harder to spot but given enough time spent watching, it becomes pretty easy to see which of these flightlines the birds are using to enter and exit the field. Once you have identified the routes make a note of the wind direction on the day because this can often have a bearing on which flightline they use and if the wind changes they might use a different one. While your doing your recce also make a note of any ‘sitty’ trees the birds are using or hedges they land in before attacking the crops. Some days I end up with just as many kills taken from these trees as I do from my actual decoy pattern. If you can, try to get out on a few different days and at differing times you can really build up a picture of what the birds are doing and when. I usually start this process before the fields are cut so it always gives me a few weeks to gather as much information as I can before the actual day of the shoot, and the more work you put in at this stage, the more successful you’ll be later on.

The next stage is finding a suitable place for your hide, this can either be a purpose built hide, or simply an area of natural cover that you will use on the day, either way it is very important that you get its positioning right. Firstly you want it underneath or as close to, and incoming flight line as you can so that the first thing the birds see as they arrive are your decoys. In the past I’ve used everything from a stack of cleverly placed haybales to a hand built natural hide and on the odd occasion simply lying in long grass with no other cover at all. What you lack in hide, you will have to make up for in fieldcraft, and personal camouflage so if you can, find somewhere that affords you good cover. The better the hide, the more comfortable your day will be. However, do not be tempted chose a place that looks good for a hide at the expense of having it near to a flightline, It’s more important to have poor hide in the right place, than it is to have a magnificent hide in the wrong place. By far the simplest way to construct a hide is to use a piece of ready made camouflage netting, either the army surplus stuff, or the purpose built hide netting that most gun shops sell. A piece of this stretched across a section of hedge or bush with some natural plant material weaved in for added cover should suffice in most cases, just be careful that no light is shining through from behind otherwise the birds might spot you moving inside. On the outside you’ll have a trade off between visibility and concealment, the thicker your cover and the less shooting ports you have, the harder it will be for the incoming birds to see you but it also means it will be harder for you to see them and to get the gun on aim. There are no hard and fast rules and to be honest hide construction could be an article all of it’s own but try to make it look as natural and inconspicuous as you can while affording you some concealment yet still giving you good visibility and the angles needed to get your shots. As with everything, practice makes perfect and it always pays to be adaptable on the day.

Ok, so you’ve studied the birds hard for weeks, you’ve found the best area and its right underneath a good flightline, your hide is built and the field has been cut. All you need to do now is get yourself some decoys and your ready to roll, But which decoys should you buy? These days there are a vast array of decoys on the market ranging from plastic painted shell decoys through to flock coated full bodied versions and even neoprene Fold up types that can be set up in differing poses. I’m yet to try all of the different types but over the years I have had a lot of success from using a mix of full bodied and shell decoys, the full bodied one’s look more realistic but are bulky to carry so I tend use them for half of my pattern and for the other half I use shells. This gives the appearance of some with their heads up alert (sentry birds) while the shell I sit lower to look like they have their heads down feeding, what type you choose will depend on how you plan to transport them and also your budget. I generally use 10-14 deeks in my pattern and on mine I have repainted the white wing and neck bars to make them more visible to incoming birds. The actual pattern depends on the day. If you have a good breeze coming in from one fixed direction then you will need to face them into the wind, Birds do not like the wind blowing up their backside and any facing the wrong way will look unnatural and spook the real birds long before they land. Don’t set them up all facing the exact same way though, have a few slightly at an angle to the wind, just enough to make it appear natural. If there is no wind you can face them in all directions at random. The actual pattern to set them out in is another thing that varies on the day. The easiest pattern to start with is a staggered horseshoe shape with its open end downwind and the deeks space around one or two yards apart. This works well because birds always land into the wind and the open end and clear centre of the horseshoe pattern means most birds will tend to land in the middle of the pattern, right where you want them. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your pattern, I have found over the years by simply watching real birds on the ground feeding I get a ‘feel’ for what makes a realistic looking spread and I’ve had some brilliant days by simply trying to mimic their natural feeding behaviour. You’ll know pretty quickly if the birds do not like the pattern your using because they will jink away at the last minute or fail to land despite a lot of interest, in which case rearranging the pattern usually does the trick. I tend to situate my decoys around 25 yards from my hide with the furthest deek sitting about 35 yards away and the closest around 15. Adding a single decoy to the hedge, tree or fencepost near your hide on a lofting poll or bamboo cane is a good idea because it copies the behaviour of a sentry bird on overwatch and helps to make the incoming birds feel more confident.

All things going to plan your hard work should have paid off and the birds should begin to arrive, now it’s time to start bagging them. I find the best technique to use is this; try to spot the birds early and ready the rifle before they land. When they do touch down they will pause for a few seconds looking for danger before beginning to feed and this is the perfect chance to take your shot. They will be stationary and sat upright presenting an relatively easy target, once they begin feeding they move around constantly which makes for a much more difficult shot. When you do shoot a bird pay particular attention to how it fell, if it slumped forwards resist the urge to retrieve it, there may well be other birds incoming and a shot bird laying belly down only serves to add more realism to your pattern. However, be sure to retrieve any shot birds that land on their backs because a bird lying belly up will send out a huge warning sign to the rest. As the day progress you can gradually replace your plastic decoys with real shot birds, a sharpened stick placed through the birds chin and into the ground ensures a good, realistic pose.

Decoying is often referred to as a ‘black art’ and quite rightly so, it’s not something you can perfect by reading a book but hopefully this will help you with the basics which you can then build upon or modify to suit your own experiences gained out in the field. Get out there and give it a try......

Pulsar Challenger GS 1X20 night vision

I'm a big fan of Nightvision technology, I've used it extensively in the past few years, mainly against Rats and I must admit, I couldn't go back to lamping now. I've had a number of units over the years, both digital, and 1st generation image intensifiers but my latest aquisition has so far, totally blown me away.
I managed to get my hands on Pulsars Challenger GS 1x20 add-on at the Midland gamefair and I wasted no time it getting it out into the field for a real world test, I'm not one for all this scientific mumbo jumbo in my reviews, if it works, it works but only by actually getting out with the item, can you really get a feel for what it's like.

First of all let me say this right now, this isn't a gen 1 unit. Pulsar call it a 'CF supergen' and while I have no idea what that means, I do know that it gives a much superior sight picture to any gen 1 unit that I have previously looked through. The image is pretty much perfect all the way to the edge and there is no 'fish eye' distortion that you'd normally associate with the older first generation units. The resolution seems higher, at least to my eyes and the whole unit screams quality. Using the dayscope adaptor  (DSA) to fit the unit to the back of your rifles telescopic sight is a doddle and once mounted, it's going nowhere so you don't have to worry too much about bumping it in the dark. I was using Pulsars own 200mw IR illuminator which is needed as the built in IR isn't powerful enough for the ranges we need. I could easily see 100 yards with it fitted to the back of my MTC Mamba Lite scope which is more than enough for Airguns.

I had it mounted to my trusty .177 Daystate Airwolf MCT and it only took a few short hours to impress me. I ended the night with 19 Rats and one unlucky Rabbit which is a pretty decent result for a maiden voyage with a new bit of kit. I found the unit easy enough to operate in the dark and I cannot see how they could really improve it in any way, especially considering the Challenger and the accompanying DSA can be picked up for around £280!

The hunting instinct!

Isn't it strange, those of us that can kill, always have to answer to those of us who can't. Yet without it, our survival as a species would be impossible.
I will not apologise for hunting, to do so would mean apologising for being human. It is not a fault of mine, that the skills and instincts I was born with are no longer deemed nessecary during the period of time that I walk the earth. But never forget that it was those exact skills and instincts, possesed by the ancestors of myself, and people like me, that made our species the most succesful that the world has ever seen!

Danner Jackal II GTX Hunting Boots

It was my Birthday a few days ago, and my lovely wife bought me these Danner Jackal II GTX boots. I'd been on the look out for some new hunting footwear for a while because after years of abuse my old Jack Pyke Countryman boots were looking worse for wear and start to feel a little sorry for themselves. They've served me well though, and I was tempted to just get another pair, until I saw the Danners in my local gunshop. Sitting on the shelf, all pretty in their Realtree AP camo finish I was instantly seduced. I've always wanted a pair of camo boots, and on these, even the soles were camouflaged.

Danner label these as 'hunting boots' but to be honest I'd be more tempted to call them 'stalking boots' due to their light weight and extremely soft soles, which enable you to 'feel' the ground, or any twigs, underfoot easily. That means you'll know your about to snap a twig before you actually put any weight on to it, which is vital if your going to try stalking through woodland. This for me is the most important aspect of any hunting footwear and is the reason I often wear trainers when I'm out stalking. I'll sacrifice wet feet for a silent stalk any day! Luckily with the Danners I don't have to, because as well as feeling like a trainer, they are also totally waterproof and more importantly, breathable so your feet stay dry both from the inside, and outside.

As these are so new I won't give my final verdict until I've worn them more, but I will say that so far, the quality of finish has left me more than impressed and I'm confident they will do what good boots are supposed to, and that is let me get on with the job in hand, without me even thinking about them.

And so it begins.......

Hi everyone, and welcome to my Airgun hunting blog. In the coming weeks, months and years I hope to share some of my most memorable hunting trips, aswell as some tips and tricks and the many hunts that don't make it into my articles in Airgun World Magazine. I'll also be showing you some of the kit I use day to day, to get the job done. I've been hunting with Airguns since I was a child and over the years I've built up a vast array of knowledge and skills that I use everytime I venture into the field so if I can pass that on, great. If not, then hopefully you'll leave here at least mildly entertained. When I'm not out in the field, I'm generally thinking about it, always planning my next trip or trying to predict what my quarry will be doing in the future, anything to gain an edge, and I intend to document the weeks of planning that often accompany a succesful days hunting.

That's enough rambling for now. Next we'll start to look at the kit I use, and where I use it......

Till then, happy hunting!

Phil