Cold weather Hunt and Campout

Crosman999

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2015
358
459
63
Ventura, CA
Several weeks ago I received the New LCS Air Arms SK-19 in .25 courtesy of Airguns Of Arizona. They outfitted me with this rifle to take into the field and show what the rifles capable of. The SK-19 came in a very nice hard case that was perfect for traveling rough terrain in the Jeep. This was a rifle that I had some previous interaction with at the last Extreme Benchrest so was very excited to field use it.

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Marley and I wasted no time packing the Jeep for several days in the remote wilderness where I had planned to film this entire review. The area had recently received a good amount of rain and snow so I wasn’t expecting much hunting action.

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The road heading into our camping area was rough and washed out in several places, thankfully the LCS came with a pretty sturdy hard case.

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I spent some time setting up all my gear and proceeded to film as much as I could that can be found in the enclosed video at bottom.

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I first wanted to get the MTC Optics Cobra F1 4-16×50 FFP scope zeroed at 100 yards as well as to test the speed of both pellets and slugs. The LCS is a select fire rifle that has a fixed 19 shot rotary magazine that takes some time to load.
Marley and I headed back to the Jeep where I set up a tent and built a fire pit to keep us warm into the evening.

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After some time getting the camp situated we headed out and away from camp several miles following the riverbed. I spotted a Ground Squirrel sunning in a bush at 98 yards and put it down with some full auto action. The SK-19 makes quick work at getting rid of varmints in a flash with 3 solid hits in a second. THWAAACK, THWAAACK, THWAAACK!!!

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Marley and I continued on our loop where I was soon able to spot a few Jackrabbits well out of range. The sagebrush is fairly thick in these areas so getting a clear shot would prove to be difficult.

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Many times I have taken shots only to have the pellets get deflected by a branch so I rarely take shots through brush unless it’s very close. The sun was coming towards me so I was able to spot the Jackrabbits “amber ears” that stand out very distinctly against the sagebrush.

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We made our way to a bluff where I spotted a very large Jackrabbit at 142 yards, I set up the camera as quietly as possible and took the shot. The first shot landed in the shoulder and the second made way into its hind leg as it ran.

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Marley sprinted out where she was able to recover it about ten feet from where I hit it.

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The SK-19 has tremendous power to reach out to long range and is in fact an extreme airgun. The semi auto is perfect for “running” game animals, something other airguns just can’t hang with. I was so happy I was able to get some luck in this very difficult hunting area. The Jackrabbit made it’s way into my pack and Marley and I continued in our long loop back to camp. We made our way through a big open field where I stopped to do some filming and to take some photographs of the rifle.

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The SK-19 is a joy to carry and would benefit well from a single point sling to carry it with. The short length makes maneuvering the rifle through thick brush much easier than that of a long rifle. By this time it was later in the evening and I was seeing little activity on our hike back to camp. The colder weather makes the animals much less active and most are held up in the thick brush trying to stay warm.

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After we arrived back at camp I made a nice fire that I would use to cook the jackrabbit later that evening for dinner. The temperature was dropping quickly as the sun went down so having a well built fire was a necessity into the night. I cleaned the Jackrabbit and packed half of it into the cooler to take home for the freezer. I don’t normally cook Jackrabbits in the field but on this occasion I felt it apply well to our evenings dinner. Jackrabbit is a very lean meat and have found boiling it is the best way to cook in the field. To do this I made sure the fire had a good bed of coals to place the pot in for about 20 minutes.

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Just one of the large legs had a good amount of meat for me to share with Marley, after 20 minutes the meat falls right off the bone. I made some Mac&Cheese to go along with the jackrabbit, not the most ideal combination but still good.

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It was really nice to have a hot meal that night with the temperatures down into the low 20’s. Marley was happy to share our fresh kill that night and was eager to get snuggled in the tent after dinner.

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That night was bone chilling cold, around 2:00am the next morning I woke up to throw some more wood on the fire. The temperature got down to 17 degrees by this time, brrrrrr

The following morning I was happy to get up and have some fresh coals to build up another fire. What a brutal night that was tough to get through.

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The plan for the day was to wait for the sun to come up a bit and then hike to a higher elevation to look for both Cottontails and jackrabbits. Marley and I headed about a mile away from camp up a ridgeline that offered a good view over the sagebrush.

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This was a great area because it’s not accessible to vehicles, this keeps many other hunters away and is pretty much untouched by man. We sat on the hill as the sun came up, soon I was able to spot several Cottontail moving on the valley floor. These rabbits are busy and don’t stay still very long, I missed several opportunities due to setting up my camera. After several failed attempts we headed back to camp where I planned to start packing up.

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I was really happy that I had the opportunity to get out in the field with the SK-19 and put it through it’s paces away from the bench. The SK-19 is a wonderful rifle and one of the most innovative rifles I’ve reviewed in many years. My opinion of the SK-19 is that it’s no doubt the rifle of the year, well build with performance that’s hard to beat. This rifle fits very well with the type of hunting I do, rugged, compact and reliable. I really appreciate Airguns Of Arizona sponsoring Marley and I to get out and be able to bring this review to the public, we had a great time.

 

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