Daystate Red Wolf Safari hunting test review
Richard Saunders – Hunting Consultant
Whilst the country is on lock down, opportunities to get out in the field have been put on hold. Daystate hunting consultant, Richard Saunders has been going back through his shooting diary, recalling memorable trips. We thought we’d share a few with you. By all means, feel free to also tell us about your hunting trips.
Here, Richard recounts an outing with his Daystate Red Wolf Safari
Background
I spent this evening after rabbits on a permission in the village, just a few minutes down the lane. While I was lying in the grass, waiting in ambush, it occurred to me that I was being like one of those anteaters you see on the telly. Let me explain…
Most of my time shooting is spent controlling pests; rabbits, pigeons, squirrels and rats. Apart from the rats, which go into the farm incinerator, everything else gets eaten by me, my family and friends. Also, some meat goes to the inmates at my local bird of prey centre!
Pests are a nuisance on just about all of my permissions. They undermine fences and banks with their digging; eat crops and grass meant for livestock; and dig holes in fields full of expensive bloodstock. So, the instruction from my farmer and old school friend, Phil, is quite simple: “Get rid of all of them.”
My permission in the village is a little different – a large, 12-acre field. Rabbits live mainly in some woods on one side. They’re also located in a large warren on a small hill that I’ve christened “the grassy knoll.”
The Hunt
This particular evening was warm and light, so I scanned the field through my binoculars. I could see around six rabbits by the grassy knoll and a few further down by the woods. The southerly breeze was faint, so wouldn’t be an issue. However, from past experience, I knew stalking into range would be difficult.
I wasn’t bothered because the thought of lying down on lush grass to ambush rabbits was what I was really looking forward to. So, if a rabbit popped out, bonus!
Returning to the back of the truck, I took my .22 calibre Daystate Red Wolf Safari out of the bag. With its safety catch ‘on’, I loaded a full 10-shot magazine and once safely traversing the gate, checked on the rabbits again – this time through the scope as I’d left my binos in the truck.
Fortunately, the view through my MTC King Cobra 6-24×50 I have on the Red Wolf is easily capable of spotting bunnies at hundreds of yards. Through it I was able to see that, as was usually the case, they had disappeared.
Stalking
I wasn’t bothered though; I’d rather they hopped into their holes when I’m still a couple of hundred yards away just to be safe than spook them from 50 yards and have them bolt underground for the rest of the day.
I took my time to creep around the edge of the field towards the grassy knoll, heading for a favourite ambushing spot. Located at the top of a slight rise in the ground, it’s lovely and comfortable and allows me to tuck into the hedgerow and shoot parallel to it. What’s more, the rabbits usually appear anywhere from 20 to 35 yards away.
The half-hour bell rang out on the church clock – I could’ve sworn I’d only arrived 10 minutes ago – as I reached my spot and sank down into the soft grass.
I looked through the King Cobra again, tweaked the magnification down to a more than adequate 10x given the range I expected shots to present themselves, and adjusted the scope’s sidewheel parallax.
Gradually things got back to normal following my intrusion. The birds started flitting about and the insects seemed to suddenly multiply in the air. I was watching a bug make its way laboriously through the grass a few feet in front of me when I glanced up and saw that a rabbit had appeared from the hedgerow.
Buck fever
It sat perfectly still 30 yards away looking out into the field and presenting me with a perfect profile of the right side of its head. I’m not sure if it sensed my presence, but clearly it wasn’t fully relaxed and looked like it would bolt at any second. I resisted the urge to move and give the rabbit the tiny bit of encouragement it needed to disappear.
Eventually it put its head down to nibble at the grass so I risked moving the rifle into position. As I did so, the rabbit snatched its head up again, instantly alert. It was too late though, I had him in my scope.
The shot
He looked enormous as I placed the reticle behind his ear. Before I knew it, the pellet was on its way and the rabbit keeled over. Satisfied the rabbit was very dead, I left it where is laid and cycled another pellet with the Red Wolf’s side lever. One was good, but I needed two for dinner the next day. And that’s where the whole ant-eater thing comes in.
Unlike all my other permissions where pest control is the primary objective, I only ever shoot the village field to harvest rabbits for the table. As a result, I never take more than two, despite the many opportunities over the years to shoot many more in a session.
And that made me think I was being like an anteater that takes enough termites from each nest to feed itself but leaves plenty to come back to time and again.
Funny how your mind wanders when you’re lying on the grass on a nice spring evening, isn’t it?
Richard Saunders – Hunting Consultant