[bassplaya]

Does anyone else do any squirrel hunting or other small game with a pellet gun? I use a .22 pellet gun for squirrels and such and just built a pellet trap for target practice. Thanks for the input, I really enjoy this forum .

[dkBrandon]

Yep i recently bought a Crosman Pellet Gun (Don't remember the full name) and it does a great job of taking out the local squirrels and birds.

[TekGreg]

Nothing says you have to have gunpowder to hunt! Pellet guns have become quite efficient in the past couple of decades and are more than capable of humanely taking small animals and rodents at decent ranges. I was surprised to find out how accurate they could be, even to the point of effectively using full-sized hunting scopes.

[treehugger49]

Originally Posted by TekGreg

Nothing says you have to have gunpowder to hunt! Pellet guns have become quite efficient in the past couple of decades and are more than capable of humanely taking small animals and rodents at decent ranges. I was surprised to find out how accurate they could be, even to the point of effectively using full-sized hunting scopes.

In fact, the success of Lewis and Clark's exploration of the West might have turned out differently without their air gun:


http://www.nrablog.com/post/2011/02/23/the-girandoni-air-rifle-lewis-and-clarks-secret-weapon.aspx

[sniper762]

i have a s&w m71g .22 cal. co2 pellet pistol that i carried with me on my early morning in city paper route. i shot and killed many rabbits from the window of my vehicle during the pre dawn hours.

[tri70]

I have been thinking about getting one, I have been to the Daisy Museum and they have many of the first air rifles like what Lewis & Clark would have used. I can see we're early frontier folks would need these without a store to restock gun powder.

[sniper762]

http://www.pyramydair.com/article/_50_Caliber_Dragon_Slayer_Air_Rifle_December_2007/45

[UKShootist]

Air rifles are popular in UK, mainly because if the muzzle energy is below 12 ft/lb then no licence is needed. Hunting ranges are limited for these rifles, usually to 30 yards or so for .22, and a bit longer for .177. One of the 'great debates' is the .177 or .22 debate.

I have, on licence, a Falcon .22 running at around 25 ft/lb, muzzle velocity about 850 fps. I can nail rabbits at 50 yards using a digital night sight, or daytime scope.

[Rick1967]

I saw an article about a year ago that was talking about a air rifle that shoots a 9mm pellet that is powerful enough for pig hunting. I thought is was a joke at first. But it is real.

[unclebear]

yes sir they now have a .50 cal pellet rifle with enough power behind it to hunt deer with (sh*t you not), but I use a crossman XT storm to hunt things it's a .177 spring single pump. I've used to hunt everything from snakes to rabbits and it still hasn't failed me yet.