Atomic XR Cottontail & Tree Squirrel Hunt (pictorial)

As the weather had been cooling down a bit I decided to head away from home for a quick overnight into a remote permission several hours to the North. It's been a busy few months and haven't been able to get out as often as I'm used to so it was nice to slip away. We had just received some rain that thankfully wet everything down enough to settle the dust as well as to freshen up all the trees and plants. 

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I set up a pretty nice camp in one of my usual spots and was really enjoying the cooler weather that I expected to drop even further that evening and into the night. This is a canvas tent that I have wanted for a long time and is set up to allow a wood burning stove to be installed. Last year I spent close to 200 days in the wilderness and needed something a bit more winter worthy. This area is a hotspot and near the perfect habitat for small game such as Cottontail, Jackrabbit, tree squirrels, quail and a large abundance of ground squirrels. For this trip I would be using the New Brocock Atomic XR in .22 caliber, a great choice for close quarter type hunting in thick brush as well as being light enough to carry all day and shoot offhand. 

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After getting camp setup it was already fairly late in the afternoon so Marley and I headed out with a loaded pack where I hoped to have some opportunities with the Cottontails. 

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We hiked along a very old and overgrown road that ultimately heads up into the foothills where I usually see some good activity with the rabbits.

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Marley and I sat for awhile overlooking the hillsides where I had hoped to encounter some movement as we came into the evening hours. I was surprised we didn't see anything other than some Quail and a few other types of birds, usually the place is loaded with Cottontails. After sitting and enjoying the amazing view Marley and I continued up into the hills and into the thicker brush. 

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Hunting in terrain like this can be extremely difficult as the animals obviously have so much cover it can sometimes be impossible to get a clear shot. In areas like this a compact type airgun really comes in handy as sometimes a longer barrel gun can get snagged and I find myself taking a bit longer to shoulder and acquisition my target. The Atomic XR carries close to my body and is built tough and not sensitive to bumps and bruises. Moving along we came up over a hill where I had a fairly good view of a flatter area that had a few spots that were open enough to take shots from. Sure enough as I looked closely I was able to faintly spot a Cottontail sitting just at the edge of a large bush at 40 yards.
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Marley and I were very pleased to have some luck in such a difficult place to hunt, you can see from the Tactacam images how well these rabbits blend in to the terrain. After taking a short water break I bagged up the Cottontail and continued our loop through the area. 

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We didn't spot any other Cottontails although I did see a Jackrabbit several hundred yards in the distance, well out of range for the Atomic. The area really is pretty but it was starting to get fairly cold making me just want to get back to camp to get a fire started. 

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I really enjoy this type of camping and have been blessed with so many wonderful locations to use for my adventures. This is somewhat glamping as I generally bring a ton of gear and supplies to be as comfortable as possible for the given amount of time. 

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After cooking up our daily prize and sharing it with Marley she went to bed while I cleaned the dishes and secured all the food away in the Jeep as to not attract the bears. I have not encountered one here in many years although I have seen tracks and fresh scatt from time to time. 

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I put everything away, filmed for a few segments of video and moved into the tent to fire up the wood stove that has proven to work very well in this tent. I can't wait to get this out into the snow for some real camping here in the next few months. 

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I stayed up for a bit and just enjoyed the silence away from the typical vehicle noise, dogs barking and sirens I'm used to at home. 



The following morning was beautiful but still a bit cold, I was thankful to have the stove to make my morning coffee before starting the day. I had not planned to stay very long but still wanted to give Marley and I few hours to hunt before packing up. This particular area does have tree squirrels so I was excited to get out and try for one that I could bring home with me to cook. 

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I had a fair idea of where to find the squirrels but have very little experience hunting them only a handful of times over the years. This area has several thousand acers of Ponderosa pines but I was limited to a small area that ran parallel with a dry creek. Marley and I moved along the bank of this dry creek where I hoped to spot a few of these bushy tailed squirrels moving about in the branches. I normally would listen for the chatter but the area had an extreme amount of woodpeckers that overtakes any other noises. 

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Marley and I sat for a bit to see if we could spot any moving around in and around the trees, Marley ended up spotting the first one that was just above us at 40 yards. 

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These squirrels are near impossible to spot unless they move and once you take a shot good luck finding them because they're GONE in a flash haha Marley was having much better luck than I was spotting them and after a few failed attempts I finally braced myself against one of the trees and was able to connect a shot on one.

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Hunting these tree squirrels is no easy task and definitely something I will plan to do more often as we both enjoyed it. The Atomic performed very well, especially in these conditions where we may be spending lots of time with the gun shouldered and aiming upwards, a heavier and longer gun might have been more difficult. After bagging up our squirrel we proceeded back to camp to pack up and head home.

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We ended up field dressing the squirrel and I plan to document the cooking part here really soon. Next time I will field dress them right away, I think the fact that I waited a few hours the skin was really tough to get off. We had a beautiful trip and I really want to thank Airguns Of Arizona for providing us with the kit to use on this adventure. Enclosed is this adventure that I have documented in video form, hope some may enjoy! Cheers

https://youtu.be/CZFsTrTaIg4






 
Dana,
Another great write up and video. Again, I enjoyed the drone shots, especially the reveal shot of the forest. I don’t know which other types of coniferous trees there are. Watching on a phone I saw and heard you mention some pines while squirrel hunting. One thing I really appreciate is just being able to view the California forests. After reading about all of the fires, each time you film you are also documenting the recovery of the forest(s). You took that squirrel from an estimated 35-40 yards up. I saw charring in the tree at the elevation of your quarry as well as around the base of the trunks of others. The trees in that place survived some kind of fire. Listening to the woodpeckers was kinda cool, although I could see what you meant about them overtaking other noises. 


As for the Atomic, how does it compare to the Mini Evol .22? Or does it even compare? I forget if it has a power knob like other Brococks. If it does, which power setting(s) are you hunting rabbits and squirrels on? How does the Atomic feel shooting offhand? Does it feel heavy? Loved the tent! Is that the same stove you used in last winter? A video in the snow would be fun to see. Looking forward to that one. Thanks for sharing. 
 
Dana,
Another great write up and video. Again, I enjoyed the drone shots, especially the reveal shot of the forest. I don’t know which other types of coniferous trees there are. Watching on a phone I saw and heard you mention some pines while squirrel hunting. One thing I really appreciate is just being able to view the California forests. After reading about all of the fires, each time you film you are also documenting the recovery of the forest(s). You took that squirrel from an estimated 35-40 yards up. I saw charring in the tree at the elevation of your quarry as well as around the base of the trunks of others. The trees in that place survived some kind of fire. Listening to the woodpeckers was kinda cool, although I could see what you meant about them overtaking other noises. 


As for the Atomic, how does it compare to the Mini Evol .22? Or does it even compare? I forget if it has a power knob like other Brococks. If it does, which power setting(s) are you hunting rabbits and squirrels on? How does the Atomic feel shooting offhand? Does it feel heavy? Loved the tent! Is that the same stove you used in last winter? A video in the snow would be fun to see. Looking forward to that one. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for checking it out,I keep telling myself not to bother making these types of post but it keeps me out of trouble being stuck at home. This area did endure a big fire around 15 years ago and has for the most part recovered well. The EVOL makes considerably more power in .22 and has a few other features that set it apart, it's really a semi custom gun and not mass produced with a price that reflects that. The Atomic is a neat little gun, perfect for close quarters hunting out to around 60 yards set to just about 19fpe using the 18gr. It's a tiny little gun that shoots offhand very well and can easily fit into a backpack that comes in handy for longer hiking trips. I have used that Work Tuff stove for awhile now and all through last winter in the underground WW2 bunker, it's a good size for that as well as the tent. Hope some snow will come soon, can't wait to get out for a few days in that. 
 
@crosman999, thanks for the great as usual adventure, your videos I do consider one of the best. Also, I truly believe you are one of the few reviewers who gives an honest opinion and view. I may not always agree with your view, but I respect it.

IF you can when you can. I would love to see if you could get the AirmakArms Katran Compact out into the field. I think many of us would love to hear your views on the Katran C and how you feel it would handle in the field.

P.s. I assume Marley has an agent that negotiates his contracts and pay with you for each video?
 
@crosman999, thanks for the great as usual adventure, your videos I do consider one of the best. Also, I truly believe you are one of the few reviewers who gives an honest opinion and view. I may not always agree with your view, but I respect it.

IF you can when you can. I would love to see if you could get the AirmakArms Katran Compact out into the field. I think many of us would love to hear your views on the Katran C and how you feel it would handle in the field.

P.s. I assume Marley has an agent that negotiates his contracts and pay with you for each video?

Thank you for checking it out, appreciate the support to our work. As far as reviewing goes I generally need the cooperation from either the manufacturer or distributor to cover my cost to produce a review. I believe Utah air already has hired reviewers that handle all the products they distribute here, getting one out of pocket would be my only option. Marley gets plenty of good benefits, she has no complaints. 
 
@crosman999 One other option that would be interesting to see in the field with you and Marley, for me and I am sure some others anyway is the AGT Vixen, short. It falls into the same category as the Katran Compact and few other guns, and is carried by AOA.

Maybe you already have this gun in the review pipeline when you can, yet, just wanted to through it out there. It’s marketed as a hunter. You could prove if it is or isn’t 
 
Nice write up.

thinking about getting this rifle in the Ranger XR version for the folding stock. Can’t legally shoot airguns where I live but have a outdoor rat infestation that needs taking care of. Need something small, low power and somewhat quiet. Shooting distance about 10-20 yards.

Can’t decide between .177 and .22. Don’t want to limit other hunting possibilities with a .177, but don’t need much power.






 
Nicely done again Dana, alway enjoy watching your videos also watching Marley having a great time.

I noticed in your video version you mentioned look for some sort of chair for inside the tents, I wonder if some sort of beach chair in a collapsible bag chair form similar to the chair you were using outdoors? Something like this which it shorter legs would allow you to scooch it closer to the slanted walls of your teepee style tent.It would give you a comfy place to site place to sit while you unwind and work on you laptop doing video editing and such before you head off to sleep. 

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thinking about getting this rifle in the Ranger XR version for the folding stock. Can’t legally shoot airguns where I live but have a outdoor rat infestation that needs taking care of. Need something small, low power and somewhat quiet. Shooting distance about 10-20 yards.

Can’t decide between .177 and .22. Don’t want to limit other hunting possibilities with a .177, but don’t need much power.

At that range you may want to consider the simplicity of a light sprinter like a Weihrauch HW30 or some equivalent, at those ranges it should be a walk in the park for these style rifles and if you want to be really quite you can go for the hw30 urban pro at AOA which is near whisper quite. This way you dont have to deal with all of the extra equipment a pcp requires.... just something to consider.