Daylight rodentry

Mat Manning sets up his air rifle with digital optics and heads out for some round-the-clock pest control on squirrels, rats and rabbits

I consider myself a traditionalist and will always believe that fieldcraft is the most important tool I possess when it comes to filling the bag. But I will concede that modern digital night-vision gear has made a big difference to my success rate when targeting nocturnal pests. But it’s not just about after-dark forays; some of this equipment has a role to play during daylight sessions.

I use an ATN X-Sight 4K Pro scope for most of my night-vision shooting, pursuing either rabbits or rats. Apart from producing a very sharp monochrome picture after dark, it also offers full-colour viewing by day. While checking zero during a practice session on my backyard range, it occurred to me that this scope’s daytime image quality is more than good enough for tackling live quarry. So I decided to take it out on my next grey squirrel cull to prove the point.

The best way to ensure straightforward shots at grey squirrels at this time of year is to set up a feeding station using a hopper loaded with peanuts; the second best way is to lurk around the pheasant feeders. Both of these food sources offer the greedy rodents easy pickings and they struggle to resist them.

I chose the pheasant feeder option and headed out to a wood that has suffered a great deal of squirrel damage over recent years. Apart from stealing grain from feeders, the invasive rodents have destroyed acres of newly planted saplings by stripping the trees’ bark.

I dread to think what impact they have had on populations of songbirds and dormice that have been recorded in this wood. We have managed to hit their numbers back quite considerably but it’s an ongoing battle and they soon bounce back if you take off the pressure.