An American Hero

My introduction to shooting came at an early age: rabbiting with my dad, keeping football pitches clear of damage from quite a healthy population of bunnies. I remember the enjoyment and even privileged feeling of joining the hunting foray. It has fuelled my own passion for hunting, and the memory is still very clear despite some 44 years passing.

Skip forward to my first solo hunting foray: armed with a BSA Meteor topped with the simplest 4x20 scope with integral mounts. Crude, but fairly accurate to 20 yards or so, the name of the game was getting within range of securing a clean headshot. After honing my skills, patience and perseverance started to yield its rewards, with the first brace of bunnies causing plenty of surprise to both my dad and elder brother.

Years of airgun hunting, using good old spring-powered weapons, eventually moving onto PCP – which I still hunt with today, even the spring guns – there is a purity to getting up close and personal with your quarry. It’s a great leveller for hunters trying to get within 30 yards of airgun quarry like bunnies, woodies and if you are very sneaky, magpies and crows.