Shout out to the Air Hunters!

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Bob_O

Bob_O

Member
Dec 19, 2017
5,132
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MICHIGAN, United States
It may not come as a surprise to some, but I'm a big fan of Air Hunters Roelf and Gerhard.

When I watch their videos, all I can think of is pushing the limits with my own rifle and making long shots on pest birds like they do. Although I have made longer shots than I've ever dreamed possible since shooting slugs, I still have a ways to go to catch up to them.

They've been extremely helpful to me, providing advice and encouragement, and I just wanted to show my appreciation by making this short video.

I'll be busy over the weekend but I got enough good footage today for my next video - Long range Starlings!

Also a shout out to Dale (D-RIG) for making some wicked slugs that work extremely well in my rifle!

https://youtu.be/FQlH38P2cZc

:)
 
What is that white stuff all over the place in your videos Bob? We don't see any of that stuff where I live....I've been talking to Dale about slugs for the 25 Tiapan Veteran and really need to meet up with him. Dale lives maybe 20-25 minutes away and what a nice guy over the phone....I am itching to get out and hunt with the rifle and his slugs..

Tony P.
 
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I too love the Air Hunters videos. I've probably watched their "Starling Smackdown" video a dozen times most of it on the 75" TV with the sound turned up. POP! BobO, I enjoy your videos too. You guys have motivated me to order some slugs and I'm in the very beginning stages of testing them out. In fact I'm going over to my neighbor's this afternoon to sit in my truck and smack some pigeons off the roof of their barn at about 30 yards. It should be interesting to see how they do.

The problem I have with the Air Hunters videos is they seem to be taking some very risky shots. One of the rules of hunter safety is knowing what is beyond your target. They shoot INTO buildings, shoot birds on fence railings well in front of cattle, shoot over the peaks of roofs, etc. At any given moment a cow could lift it's head and get a 26g slug in the eye, or temple. Or the pellet can/will ricochet out the back of the bird at an unpredictable angle and hit something. They have shot birds on the ground that appear to be 5-10 yards in front of cattle. a 26g slug at 930fps is a dangerous projectile. Numerous times in their videos there are farm workers going about their business. I'd sure hate to see one of them walk into that shed from the back side while the Air Hunters are reloading or BS'ing and then shoot into the building. A good recipe for a disaster.

Besides that they are excellent shots with excellent equipment. 
 
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The last thing Roelf and Gerhard are going to do is take unnecessary risks. Most of the time when one is shooting, the other is spotting.....as in watching out for cows between them and the target, as well as watching for other activity and identifying hazards. They even have one video from early on when you could see this very thing. Those of us who shoot on farms know that one injured animal could cost thousands of dollars and loss of permission to shoot. None of us are going to risk doing that for a pest bird.
 
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Mark T. Your $0.02 is more like no sense. You are the kind of guy we hear about in the news shooting some hunter in a bush because you thought it was a safe shot. Maybe I'm "mis-remembering" hunters safety about knowing what's beyond your target. If so, disregard the following.

#1. These are not 20-30fps pellets, they are 50fpe pointed projectiles.

#2. I work for a utility company and have lots of friends and family who work for other types of utilities so I'll provide a little education. Utility wires can be a lot of different things. In the electric utility world bare copper and aluminum are what 99.9% of OH power wires are made of. #6 hard drawn copper most likely won't be affected by these slugs, neither will aluminum. A powder burner will. But there are a lot of other utility wires, such as TV, phone, or fiber optic, that are not nearly as tough and a slug with this energy will likely pierce them and could even sever them if the wire is small enough. Then the utility company, such as mine, will investigate and go after the perp. This gets expensive VERY quickly and may cost as much as purchasing 2-3 FX Impacts. 

#3. As far as they "DON'T take risky shots". BS. How about YOU stand where these cows are in some of these shots and let me take these same exact shots. Something tells me you wouldn't do that. We've all watched some of Ted's videos where pellets veer way off course after going through the bird. Slugs will do the same thing. Maybe you've always worked in a cubicle where people rarely move around. This is not the concrete jungle, this is a farm where the workers have a hundred different tasks to do in a day and many times don't check in to anyone before switching tasks. That shed they were shooting sparrows in front of looks like a vet shed or scalehouse where people could go in and out of frequently. Who know if the cattle have access to the shed on their own, maybe you do but I don't. The pigeons on the ground in front of the cattle is one of the riskiest shots I've ever seen. All it will take is a pellet/slug whizzing by someone's head or wounded/dead livestock to put a screeching halt to this. It's not what in FRONT of the target, it's what is BEHIND the target that gets me.

I don't want to be to harsh but you're the kind of shooter that gets the rest of us kicked out of places.


 
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Just to be clear: I really enjoy watching the Air Hunter's videos. They are great shots and I've learned a lot from them. But, here's what I'm seeing.



These appear to be TV and phone conductors. Soft plastic outer sheathing, easily penetrated with a high power slug.

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Slugs ricocheting off at an unpredictable angle after contacting the birds.

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Shooting a pigeon off the top of the roof and you cannot see what's on the other side. It appears to be just Gerhart and Roelf doing the shooting/video work so that doesn't leave anyone else to spot around the backside of these buildings.

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Again, shooting off of a roof without seeing what's downrange.

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I'm sure you noticed the cow moving in the lower, left corner of this frame. Miss, ricochet, clank off of the fence rail. All possibly bad.

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Same thing.

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Now, let's go to another of their videos. This cow is definitely behind the bird.

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Another shot I'd pass up.

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Shooting INTO a house/yard area. Mom, can I go play in the yard? Whop...….

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And my favorite. A forest of legs to stop any pass-through.

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