In pole position

I get excited about the prospect of a day’s drey poking, to the point that sleep can prove elusive the night before an outing. My fondness for this peculiar pursuit is mostly because it is by far the most gratifying way to control destructive grey squirrels — but it isn’t always the most effective.

I shoot hundreds of grey squirrels every year for landowners who want to reduce the damage these rodents cause to trees and lessen their impact on native birds and mammals. By setting up feeding stations loaded with peanuts and sitting quietly with my air rifle in a nearby hide, it is not unusual for me to account for 10 or a dozen greedy greys in a few hours.

The only downside to using an air rifle to