cricket .35 rabbit hunt

[wyshadow]

I just got back on my first time jack rabbit hunt with the .35 cricket. This gun is a hard hitting pellet gun. The farthest rabbit I got was 50 yards and I noticed I messed three jack rabbits over 60 yards. Still learning how the gun shoots but anything under 50 yards is a for sure kill.Their is a definite learn curve to shooting bullpups but the shear power and compact design, compared to the mrod, makes it a winner in my book. The gun's compact design makes it so much easier to maneuver inside a vehicle and easier to carry when you are stocking prey which makes a long day out hunting that more enjoyable. I could carry the cricket several hours longer then I could carry the mrod because I could keep my arms strait down as I'm walking which equals less work on your part. When I carry the mrod, I would carry the gun like a baby or I would put it over my shoulder. With being inside a vehicle, I don't work as hard and I'm able to cover a lot more ground which in turn I'm able to see more rabbits. In real world hunting, not out back target shooting, I'm starting to like this gun more and more.

48 yard neck shot
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50 yard head shot
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30 yard head shot. Just behind the eye
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[FearnLoading]

Good choice on the cricket my friend. it's a superb gun. The 357 is also a super powerful pellet. For longer range shots, you will have to get your holdover estimated correctly. Given the weight of the pellet, it will drop significantly over longer distances but will retain a huge amount of its power. I think you will easily be able to stretch this baby out to 100-150 yards and still get clean ethical kills. Suggest you use Sterlok. It's pretty darn accurate with its estimation on holdover and windage.

You may also want to get your hands on some adjustable scope rings from Burris. Given the drop in pellets over longer distances, it's pretty likely your scope could run out of clicks if you plan to shoot at 100-150 yards. . The Burris scope rings allows you to use shims which will help you to really stretch out your shots to 100 or 150 yards or even more without having to run out of scope clicks. I would have recommended the FX no limits rings as well. But I ain't sure whether fx makes those rings for picatinny rails which is what you have fixed on the cricket. 

Shoot well, have fun.  

 

[wyshadow]

Thank you for the advice FearnLoading. Going to look in to the adjustable scope rings from Burris. I think it will help out the cricket for longer shots. I haven't really tried to practice longer shots past 75 yards with the gun but if I can put on the adjustable rings and still have the gun zeroed at 50, this will definitely make the gun more versatile. I'm really interested how this gun does at 100 yards and beyond. I'm wondering if making short shots will become more difficult. Like shots under 30 yards. When I zero my scope on a gun, I never touch the turrets. I thought about having two zeroed scope ranges on the gun, like 50 yards and 75 yards, but having to remember four different holdovers on four different guns is hard enough and I also don't trust the turrents to return back to zero. As for Sterlok, I have Sterlok Pro and I find this app essential when you have four different guns. As you grab one gun, just pull up the drop table on Sterlok, and you are good to go.

 

[FearnLoading]

"wyshadow"Thank you for the advice FearnLoading. Going to look in to the adjustable scope rings from Burris. I think it will help out the cricket for longer shots. I haven't really tried to practice longer shots past 75 yards with the gun but if I can put on the adjustable rings and still have the gun zeroed at 50, this will definitely make the gun more versatile. I'm really interested how this gun does at 100 yards and beyond. I'm wondering if making short shots will become more difficult. Like shots under 30 yards. When I zero my scope on a gun, I never touch the turrets. I thought about having two zeroed scope ranges on the gun, like 50 yards and 75 yards, but having to remember four different holdovers on four different guns is hard enough and I also don't trust the turrents to return back to zero. As for Sterlok, I have Sterlok Pro and I find this app essential when you have four different guns. As you grab one gun, just pull up the drop table on Sterlok, and you are good to go.

I see your point here. Remembering that many holdover points is difficult. I also don't prefer to touch the turrets once I get the gun zeroed at what I want. I faced the same problem which you spoke of.

What helped is that I created reticle cards for my gun using Sterlok. Once you plug in the data into Sterlok, it gives you holdover points on the reticle view. I printed the reticle snapshot and laminated it into an easy to carry reference card. Zeroed my gun at 70 yards. I use the SCB 2 reticle. On Sterlok by zeroing at 70 yards, I get one zero at 15 and the second zero at 70 yards.

You could do this for each of your guns and carry the reticle printout in each gun case. While shooting, just keep the card as a ref point. That way you don't need to refer to the Sterlok app all the time. Unlocking the phone and bringing up Sterlok takes time. It's easier to keep the card near the gun and quickly steal a view. Also for me personally, having a visual reference point helps memorize the holdovers very quickly rather than remembering numbers on a drop down table in Sterlok. 

This is one is at 10x and gives me holdover till 173 yards. The reticle snapshot has hold under points starting at 35 (yellow target in pic), 42, 50 and reading all the way till 173 yards. 
 

In case I want to shoot longer distances I dial down my magnification from 10X to 6X which gives me holdover till 204 yards. This other card is laminated exactly behind the first one. So I just flip the card when I bring down the scope magnification to 6X. Makes like easier than re-plugging data into Sterlok.