Keeping in mind that the author of this thread asked for the "funnest" air rifle, I'm hard pressed to name anything other than my first rifle. A .177 Slavia, hands down.
I learned to shoot with that rifle. Coming from a home run by my Jehovah's Witness mom, I wasn't even allowed a water pistol. Soon as I had a chance, I got my hands on an old scratched/dinged Slavia. Bought a tin of pellets and had at it. I slowly honed my shooting skills and became darn good, if I do say so myself.
That rifle also taught me other things as well. I once shot a sparrow out of a tree with that rifle. All excited at my first "kill", I slowly approached the now-flopping bird on the ground under the tree. My non-JW dad happened to show up, saw the bird and then the rifle in my hand. He bent down, picked up the by-now lifeless and bloodied little bird and showed it to me.
"Tell me how killing this bird gave you any pleasure", he asked softly. "Are you going to eat it? Was it about to attack you? Other than needlessly taking it's life, tell me how killing this bird has made your life any better."
My dad had suffered the effects of the 2nd World War back in Greece. He knew what it was like to be hungry, he knew how fragile life was. His opinion was important to me.
By now, I was in tears. I felt like crap. He was right, I had no justifiable reason for killing that little bird. I learned alot that day. It helped shape who I am and how I think. I am a hunter (albeit with a dismal track record
), but I refuse to hunt for the sake of bagging game alone. If I can't eat it, I won't hunt it.
That's just my opinion, and I don't judge others who like to trophy hunt. Luckily, we still have the right to choose, though God only knows for how long.
Uhhh, what was the question again?
