Airgunning is a surprisingly addictive behavior that can cause a disruption in your normal way of life. Yes, you too can develop a chronic dependency on all things air-powered. Stay tuned as we flesh out some signs of this tragic condition.
Sign No. 1: You Order Consumables in Bulk
Your delivery driver knows you well. Yours is the smaller, but deceptively heavy box that comes regularly to your doorstep. Full of pellets, BBs, or CO2, this box brings a smile to your face and pain to the lower back of your delivery driver. The least you could do is switch carriers periodically to spread the misery around to the various carriers’ employees. The frequency of this delivery only varies depending on whether or not the supplier has stock of your favorite gear and ammo. And given the brisk pace of commerce in the last year, this may have led to more and heavier orders. You know who you are!!!
Sign No. 2: Airgun? You Mean Airguns!
Addiction means the law of diminishing returns is fully in play. One airgun? The dark alley air gun vendor has got you hooked and left you craving more power, capacity, range, caliber, types, etcetera, etcetera. Once the airgunning needle has found your vein you’ll compile a collection of various calibers, various power platforms, not to mention shooting paraphernalia, tables, bags, targets-- chances are you’ve got your own backyard range complete with wind flags and permanent steel targets like those from RX Targets stashed at various ranges. Not only this, but your favorite airgun changes from day to day. You prowl forums and press releases looking for hints of upcoming models and how to make your existing airguns even better. Lynyrd Skynyrd should write a song about you.
Sign No. 3: You’ve Got Airguns On TV
It wasn’t all that long ago that there wasn’t any airgun content on TV. Only in the dusty, unswept corners of YouTube were you able to find any video reviews or commentary on airguns. Today, that is a different story. Not only are there shows like American Airgunner and Real Air Gun Hunting on TV, mainstream hunting shows like Innerloc’s Out There TV with Corey Brossman and Relentless Pursuit with Tim Wells are featuring airgun hunting content. The social media video world has exploded with content creators like The Dollar Sportsman, Shooter 1721 hunting, plinking reviewing, and showing off with airguns-- there’s never been a better time to be an airgunner as Rick at AirgunWeb likes to say. When you can’t find it on the tube, you can find it on the computer or your mobile device and you can find it whenever you want.
Sign No. 4: Knowledge is... Air Power!
Knowledge has always been a key factor for optimal living. It can keep your neck out of the noose, it can keep you on the straight and narrow, and it can keep you informed of all the goings on in the things you are interested in. And as an airgun junkie, you have an email inbox that is filled daily with the latest news and best deals around. These emails are coming from manufacturers, retailers, and even some social platforms. And this is how you stay in the know. It feeds your unquenchable thirst for more airgun content, even if you aren’t in the market to buy anything at that moment. You’ll at least know about it. In this current climate of buying craziness, sometimes the finding an item in stock means paying close attention to these emails. If you wait around and just check a website every so often, well, you aren’t really an airgun addict. Stay tuned to the latest news from Umarex Airguns by signing up for the Umarex Club newsletter!
Sign No. 5: You Work Airgunning into Your Vacations
Really, if the truth were to be broadcast about, you work airgunning into every aspect of your life, including vacations. As a matter of fact, you might just make events like the Pyramyd Cup or the Rocky Mountian Airgun Challenge your vacation destination. On a lower key, you might just pack along your favorite air pistol or pellet rifle and some air gun targets for an early morning shooting session while the family is sleeping in. There’s also the airgun hunting vacation. A growing number of states have opened up seasons or included airguns as legal tackle for hunting. And some of these places are notorious for trophy game or even exotics. You could even end up in an airgun record book! Hunting with air used to only be the realm of preppers and kids but not these days. Air rifles are serious tools with serious power. If hunting is your thing, you might look at getting a tag filled out of state. And if hunting is not your tin of pellets, heading out to Pennsylvania or Arizona for some extreme pellet paper punching might be.
Mark Davis, avid outdoorsman, family man, and outdoors writer is the social media specialist for Umarex USA.