For the last 20 years or so, almost all of my hunting has been done with air rifles. Taking rabbits, squirrels, and pigeons with an air rifle requires a little more marksmanship, patience, and stealth (the latter of which is becoming more and more problematical for me), but it does have its advantages.

For one thing, it becomes a lot easier to get permission to hunt on private land when you're not going to be banging away with high-powered, and loud, rifles. Folks with orchards of fruit or nut trees will be happy to have you rid them of some of the squirrels that steal their harvest.

Back in the olden days when you could still get .22LR for about a penny a round, cost wasn't much of a factor. Now that ammo is ten times as much, it is. And if you're picking off an occasional pigeon or some of those troublesome sparrows at your bird feeder, the neighbors won't know what you're up to.

Onward and upward,
airforce