Can't buy fieldcraft

Mat Manning swaps hi-tech hardware for a basic break-barrel and fieldcraft during a refreshingly uncluttered walk through the woods

- Mat Manning

As nice as it is to be able to use fancy modern gear, I do enjoy paring down my airgunning kit and travelling light from time to time. Late summer, with all its changes, is a great time to do just that, and I spent a lovely morning wandering the woods with a simple break-barrel air rifle and not much else.

I do sometimes feel sorry for present-day airgun shooters because it is all too easy for them to get bogged down with sophisticated and expensive gear. While most hi-tech shooting kit does an excellent job of putting more pests in the bag, you don’t need it to be successful in the field. What you do need, though, is an understanding of your quarry and its behaviour.

And I believe that is one of the biggest problems with modern airgun shooting; fieldcraft is being overlooked as a result of the misguided opinion that you can buy your way out of the skills deficit. The fact is that state-of-the-art guns, hitech optics and all the paraphernalia you can buy to go with them only really make a difference once you have acquired the basic know-how to get the most from them.

Put too much faith in gimmicky gear and it is more likely to hinder your shooting than enhance it.

Finding myself with a couple of hours to spare before breakfast, I decided to take a wander around a nearby wood where I carry out grey squirrel and rabbit control. Rather than go to the trouble of filling up a precharged airgun, I opted instead to take the Weihrauch HW95 break-barrel that I had been tinkering with in the garden the previous evening.