High Desert Quail and a Beeman R9

[Eric Mayer]

Went out this morning for a bit with my daughter for some quail hunting up in the high desert. I took my Beeman R9 (.20 caliber) and JSP Exacts. The wind was howling most places around there, but it wasn't so bad in our spot.

We kicked up literally 100's of quail, but shooting was very tough as they did not want to stay still for long. After a while I figured out the ticket. Sneak up on them, take what shots you can, but split the covey. After I did that, the two halves would call to eachother and try to meet up in the middle, where we were setup for an ambush.

It seemed to work out okay and I ended up with 5 after 2 hours of hunting. It's not that I took alot of shots and missed, they were just out of range. I tried for head/neck/shoulder shots on everything and this seemed to work. Check out the perfect breasts below!! No holes!!

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif

[HiiidyHoHunters]

That is awesome!

[horsecranium]

Your plate of quail looks a bit under cooked. j/k Nice pics and good read.

[chukarlover]

That is great going. Sounds like you had a fun time

[GB Jack]

IMPRESSIVE TAKE! You can probably do the sam ething in your backyard in CA right?

[Eric Mayer]

Being that I live less than 5 minutes away from the Los Angeles International Airport, there is nothing I can shoot in my backyard. The city has zero game-birds. The rural folks have all the fun...

Oh well. I went out this morning and got a limit, had to shotgun 9 of them though!!

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif

[GB Jack]

I commend you on your pellet acheivenments as well as your shotgun!, i "PERSONALLY" would find the flight and shotgun way a little more fun for me, but thast the beaty of AMERICA! If you have a dream to shoot quail with a pellet gun, MORE POWER TO YA!

[Eric Mayer]

I enjoy shotgun shooting for upland game, but the pellet rifle has really brought back the challenge I used to feel when I was a kid. Lots of folks are doing it here in California, since they legalized the take of upland game with pellet rifles .20 caliber and over (even turkey).

Here&#39;s a few shots from today.

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif

[JPShelton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Eric Mayer @ Nov 5 2006, 07:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=773838)</div>
I enjoy shotgun shooting for upland game, but the pellet rifle has really brought back the challenge I used to feel when I was a kid. Lots of folks are doing it here in California, since they legalized the take of upland game with pellet rifles .20 caliber and over (even turkey).

Here&#39;s a few shots from today.

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif[/b]

I also hunt quail and other upland game with air rifles in addition to hunting them shotguns. I also use a Beeman R-9 in .20 as my main hunting air rifle. Later in the season, I use either my tuned 15 ft/lb .177 R-9 or a .177 Gamo Shadow with Charlie&#39;s Springer Works GTX Trigger, because these rifles have an additional 10 yard advantage in maximum point blank range on a 1" kill zone over the R-9, assuming 7.9 grain pellets with a ballistic coeffecient of .026 or higher.

For those who don&#39;t know, all resident small game defined in Section 257 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (exept for doves, which have no "general season") can be hunted legally with air rifles here in the Golden State, thanks to an ammendment of Section 311(f) made operative in 2000.

Section 311(f) of the same title and code: "Air rifles, firing lead pellets and powered by compressed air or gas (0.20 caliber or over for wild turkey); and rifles and pistols, for the take of rabbits and squirrels only, except in Los Angeles County." Restrictive language placed before the semi-colon applies to air rifles, while restrictive language placed after it applies to firearm rifles and pistols. So you can hunt rabbits, squirrels, quail, chukar, and so on with .177 air rifles but if you hunt turkey with an air rifle, you have to use a .20 caliber or larger. You can&#39;t use an air pistol, since the regulation doesn&#39;t specifically state you can. If you shoot a firearm rifle or pistol, you can only shoot rabbits or squirrels with it, except in Los Angeles County, where you can&#39;t use a firearm rifle of pistol to take rabbit or squirrel legally. A spring-piston air rifle like Eric&#39;s R-9 meets the requirement that the pellet be powered by compressed air or gas, since the spring-powered piston compresses air upon firing, with the compressed air then pushing the pellet down the bore. The regulation isn&#39;t concerned with WHEN the air is compressed.

If you chose to use an air rifle for quail hunting in California, you DO NOT have to use a .20 caliber. The caliber restriction of .20 or larger applies to wild turkey only. Section 311(f) has been ammended 3 times in the last ten years. One of those ammendments did restrict the use of air rifles on resident small game to air rifles of .20 caliber or larger, but it also restricted their use to the take of rabbit and squirrel. That ammendment was superceeded in 2000 by the section as currently operative, which requires air rifles used for the take of wild turkey to be .20 or larger, but DOES NOT place a caliber restriction on air rifles used to take other species listed in Section 257, Title 14, CCR.

The original intent of the .20 caliber restriction was to preclude the use of low-powered B.B. guns, which aren&#39;t made in .20 caliber or larger. The current language serves the same purpose, since guns like the Daisy Red Ryder shoot steel B.B. and not lead pellets and since many B.B. guns aren&#39;t powered by compressed air or gas, but by a spring-powered ram which wacks the B.B. like billiard cue hitting a cue ball.


-JP

[Eric Mayer]

Thanks for clarifying/correcting my info, JP!

The Beeman R9&#39;s are great guns for the money, but a PCP will always be on my wish list!!

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif

[JPShelton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Eric Mayer @ Nov 6 2006, 06:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=773977)</div>
Thanks for clarifying/correcting my info, JP!

The Beeman R9&#39;s are great guns for the money, but a PCP will always be on my wish list!!

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif[/b]

Eric:

You seem to be getting along just fine with the "springer" and the photo evidence of your results kinda speaks for itself.

PCP might be the way forward in the U.K., but I&#39;m not sure that it is in the arid, DUSTY, California High Desert. They are loud (not an issue in the U.K. because "sound moderators" are legal there). Delicate valves don&#39;t like dust (plenty of that in the High Desert -not a big issue on a Surrey sheep pasture or an Oxfordshire wood). They also don&#39;t seem to like really cold weather, either. (plenty of that late in the season on the desert slopes of our mountain ranges).

Spring-piston rifles work just fine, IMHO.

Kudos to you for taking your kid with you when you hunt. I take mine (daughter age five and son age seven) out with me, too. Our outings are often more like sightseeing walks across the desert, but I can usually manage to get a couple of quail or a rabbit while we&#39;re on our walkabout, so they don&#39;t cramp my style much. I actually enjoy it more with them than I do when I go without them.

-JP

[Redleg1]

Hey that does bring back memories. My first guns were Crossman pump BB and pellet guns. As a kid I had alot of fun with those. I guess when you grow up you don&#39;t have to use a firearm, something for me to think about.

Great pics.

Eric

[EMSFlyer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Eric Mayer @ Nov 4 2006, 06:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=773496)</div>
Went out this morning for a bit with my daughter for some quail hunting up in the high desert. I took my Beeman R9 (.20 caliber) and JSP Exacts. The wind was howling most places around there, but it wasn&#39;t so bad in our spot.

We kicked up literally 100&#39;s of quail, but shooting was very tough as they did not want to stay still for long. After a while I figured out the ticket. Sneak up on them, take what shots you can, but split the covey. After I did that, the two halves would call to eachother and try to meet up in the middle, where we were setup for an ambush.

It seemed to work out okay and I ended up with 5 after 2 hours of hunting. It&#39;s not that I took alot of shots and missed, they were just out of range. I tried for head/neck/shoulder shots on everything and this seemed to work. Check out the perfect breasts below!! No holes!!

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif[/b]


Eric,
Great job, man! I&#39;ve been taking my air rifle with me out on our bird hunts, but have pretty much stuck with the scattergun during the actual hunts--its my dog&#39;s fault, she won&#39;t let me switch (yeah, that&#39;s it). I&#39;ve smacked quite a few jacks, cottons, and ground squirrels though, but have yet to connect with an upland bird. Will give it a good go next chance I get. It is nice to not have the meat full of shot. Again, great job!!!

As for getting a PCP, I have one and highly recommend them. I live and hunt in the high desert and have found no problems with it--and I&#39;ll even shoot prone periodically. My gun has a shrouded barrel and is pretty quiet--more so than my springer, CO2, and multi-pump guns. It also has a 16-shot magazine for when the action gets hot. As for the cold, I&#39;ve had no problems. Its gotten into the 30s where I live and have not had any noticeable power loss. PCPs get a bit of a boost the higher your elevation, actually--and I only live at around 4500&#39;. So if you are wanting one, I say go for it. Your&#39;re already doing great with a springer, just imagine your potential with a nice PCP. Mine is 30-35 fpe in .22 cal--what&#39;s NOT to love? It will speak for itself when you finally get one--believe me!!! (See the airgun section for more info on my gun, as well as some hunt pics.) http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-shootin-green.gif

Anyway, keep us posted of more airgun action. You&#39;ve inspired me--hope I can smack a few birds of my own.

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

[baboltin]

nicely doen and i like your gun. what model is it?

[Whoadog]

Eric,
Is the Red Label a 20 gauge? If so how much?

Brian

[Eric Mayer]

Yep, it&#39;s a first year production Red Label in 20 gauge. They really used some nice wood back then! Beats shooting my Benelli too! I just have to remember to bring shells other than high-base 6 shot!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-oops-yellow.gif The Ruger is one of my favourite guns. I parted with a Ruger 28 gauge a few years ago and have regreted it ever since. That won&#39;t be happening again! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbs-down-little.gif

Eric A. Mayer http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cool-shades-down.gif

[Two Rugers]

Yup my kids do that all the time when we hunt. The birds like to sit on the barbed wire fence around my place and the boys get to pick a few off with the .22 air rifles. More than one hunting trip they got way more than me and my shotgun did.