Rat Hunting with Airguns

So you have a rat problem what do you do? Poison? Trap? Or shoot them?

Poison will work but I have never been comfortable with the use of poison in or around animal feed.

Also dead rats found in the fields surrounding the area can be fatal to unsuspecting birds of prey looking for a quick and easy meal. 

Trapping is an option that can work but it is not as a effective as a lead pellet injection and if you look at the permission in the videos below you will see that you would need a bloody huge bag of traps too.

The Air Rifle is the perfect tool for quick and effective control of this less than savoury visitor. 

Breeding

Rattus Norvegicus (the Brown Rat) is a tenacious tenant and once established is almost impossible to completely eradicate. In addition to his incredible ability to survive he is a prolific breeder. The female of the species comes in to heat every 4-5 days and will have up to 7 litters per year. Each litter will have an average of 7 in it but this number can be as high as 14. These young will reach sexual maturity in just 5 weeks! 

So just imagine.... a female has 4 female young and just five weeks later they are able to breed, with a gestation period of just 21 days you could have 20 or more female young. If you do the figures on this it is easy to see just how a colony can grow to thousands in a very short time if unchecked. 

Diseases 

Similar to other rodents, brown rats may carry a number of pathogens, which can result in disease, including Weil's disease, rat bite fever, cryptosoridiosis, viral hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Many of these can be very unpleasant and in lots of cases every year fatal. 

Creating a safe working environment

It is important to control the numbers of rats and if you have a population in your work place or home you are at risk of disease. Prevention is the best form of attack but in some cases that is no longer an option.

In this series of videos I share with you tips I use to shoot these vermin with Air Rifles.

I will run you through the gear I use and the bait I make to help dictate where I shoot the rat.

Cant Error

I recently got this question from one of the Country Pursuits TV subscribers

 Malc got a doubt I mounted a scope with spirit level and a string with a weight for the vertical line evrything was aligned properly but whn I kept the gun on the shoulder it's tilted to the right n rechecked again on a rest with spirit level n string but it spot on the line. Y is it different whn I hold the gun. Will that make changes in accuracy ? Thx

 Here is the answer I gave....

 Hi Matthew this is a common fault. Perceived correct gun alignment and actual correct gun alignment are hard to spot unless you know how. Often a correctly aligned scope will feel wrong when shouldered. It is very important that you learn to shoot with it upright though or you will get "cant error"

 This link has some great info and good diagrams to show you what that is and how it affects poi (point of impact) http://www.riflescopelevel.com/cant_tests.html

I used to use a scope level to watch out for "cant" when shooting. I was surprised just how often I would be canting the rifle. When it felt wrong it was mainly right and visa versa. I hope this helps. 

ATB Malc CPTV

SHOTGUN SLOW MOTION Clips from Ronnie Sunshines caravan carnage

In this clip I am sharing some of the content shot at the recent fundraiser and fun shoot sponsored by Ronnie Sunshines. Please click on the thumbnails to navigate to the videos. When you have finished watching the clip click the return to hub link and the end of the video and you will return here to select your next video. I hope you all enjoy watching as much as we did shooting them. 

The video Caravan Carnage can be found below

 

We decided to do some fun videos for Dave's (Ronnie Sunshines owner) channel a while back. This is just the first in a series of cool videos involving grown men with shotguns having fun. The videos are shot with trained professionals using all the relevant safety equipment and procedures. The camera used to film these cool clips was the awesome Sony FS700 which we rented from Hire-A-Camera http://www.hireacamera.com 

We have some real cool ideas for videos in the New Year so don't forget to subscribe to Country Pursuits TV and Ronnie Sunshines YouTube pages for more cool slow motion carnage. 

Ronnie Sunshines Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ronnie-Sunshines/137539183676?fref=ts 

Website http://www.ronniesunshines.com 

Join Country Pursuits TV Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/CountryPursuitsTV/?fref=ts

Fiat Panda 4x4 test drive

As CPTV subscribers will know I am currently looking for a 4x4 vehicle. I have looked at the Dacia Duster and will be looking at the Suzuki Jimny and some other budget and compact 4x4's. Next on the list and a welcome return is the Fiat Panda 4x4. I was quite surprised just how good this little car really is. Comfortable and fun to drive the Panda could well be the car I was looking for. I am not going to make up my mind until I have seen all the possibles. But for now the Panda is firmly through to the next round.

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Hot to fit a scope cam to your airgun

This video shows the slickest way I have ever seen to connect a camera to a scope.

I have been using scope cams for a good few years now and I have tried just about every way there is to attach them to my airguns. However when shooting recently with my friend Paul I came across a new method of mounting that I had not seen before.

You will need to order the adapter rings from Ebay

1 x 52 - 52 Male to Male
1 x 52 - 38 Male to Female
and 1 x 52 - your camera's filter size Male to Female

Simples =)

I have not been able to afford a 4x4 vehicle for sometime now but always owned one in the past. With current fuel prices and the cost of a well known all singing and dancing 4x4 being out of my reach I went on the look for something that would not break the bank.
The Dacia Duster is the UK's cheapest 4x4 with prices starting around £9k for the 2x4 petrol and £12k for the 4X4 it really does seem like a bargain. Recently awarded the Top Gear Bargain Car of the year award I thought it had to be worth a look. Looking at the spec sheet seems just too god to be true for the money they are asking but after driving it I am definitely interested in seeing a little more of what they car can do. It is the 2nd fastest selling car in Europe and with it being designed to cope with the less than perfect roads over there the ride excellent. Fuel consumption figures are my main worry when looking at this kind of vehicle. Gone are the days when I can afford to run two cars so this will be my shooting vehicle and the one I used daily for everything else. If I was running pretty much any of the vehicles out there in it's class I would be getting a fair bit less in terms of economy. I would love a Land Rover Defender or a Mitsubishi Shogun but to be honest I do not think I could afford to run one. This on the other hand will be more like running a well set up road car. I am not jumping in to buying anything yet but the Duster is definitely on my radar.