The last one was eight months ago and I thought we’d cleared the problem, so it was a surprise to spot a solitary rat mooching around under the bird feeders in the midday sun. We’d had a bit of a cold snap but the day was still and sunny, so she’d obviously come out in search of food. It took me a few minutes to get the Weihrauch HW100S ready: it still had an Anglo Arms trigger lock fitted from its last outing and I struggled to remember where I’d put the key, and then I had to remove the very securely fastened mount for the PARD NV700V night vision scope so I could refocus the sight for normal vision. My shooting position has been taken over this year by a number of chilli plants which needed to be moved aside but I was finally ready to open the window very… very… slowly…
By then Mrs Rat had disappeared but I’m nothing if not patient, so I settled down to watch for a while with the safety off and the illuminated sight reticle set to bright red. About ten minutes later she emerged from the undergrowth and within a couple of seconds I hit her just behind the shoulder with a 9.57 grain H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme hollow cross-point pellet, dropping her instantly. Fifteen inches (38cms) nose to tail.
We’re now on alert for any further activity. Watch this space!
A note on trigger locks
I always fit trigger locks to my guns when I’m travelling, partly in case I have to leave the car for any reason but mainly in case I have to interact with the police and have to prove they’re safe. My preferred style of lock completely surrounds the trigger guard, closes on it tightly (gripping protecting the guard between textured rubber pads) and requires a key to open it. They happen to be Anglo Arms units (currently £13.99 from Amazon); Jack Pyke produce an identical unit at a similar price; and there are a number of similar units on the market including packs of two or three at various per-unit prices. Just look for them on Amazon.
There’s also a version which uses a three-digit combination rather than a physical key, so if you tend to lose keys, this might be a better option. I don’t know which is worse when you’re standing in a field in the dark: fumbling around for a key or trying to solve a combination puzzle. I don’t particularly trust small key-operated locks to keep out a determined thief but I trust combination locks even less. You can find combination lock versions of the trigger lock on Amazon as well.
