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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
