The Dawn Of A Better Day

Phil Hardman achieves success in the hunting field - in more ways than one

- Phil Hardman

Those of you who read last month’s issue will be aware that this piece was supposed to see me continue with part two of my pigeon decoying article. With all of the hard work done, I was simply going to rock up and enjoy some of the finest hunting an air gunner can have; huge bag, busy day, perfect! Unfortunately, real life isn’t like that, and whilst I’m fairly confident that the field work and reconnaissance I’d done was spot on, so probably would have seen me make a decent job of it, I was instead beaten by a different, much more human obstacle, that I couldn’t overcome.

I’ve made no secret over the years of my battle with bipolar disorder, and talked at length about the benefits airgun shooting can have on all manner of mental health issues. I believe it’s something that isn’t discussed enough inside of shooting, mainly for fear of stigma, as a gun owner who also has mental health issues, I can see why. So I decided a decade ago, when I first started writing, to use my platform in the magazine to raise some awareness, to show that owning airguns and suffering from mental health issues can work, and that it can be a huge benefit, therapeutic even.