Hunting With an Air Rifle Questions

[JW@TRACT]

I have a few questions that seemed too general to pigeonhole into one of the subforums.
Who's hunted with an air rifle? I shot a good number of squirrels when I was a kid but that was with an old 177 cal. Crossman. I'm looking for information on larger-bore air rifles and hunts.
What was the experience like, did you treat it more like an archery hunt? Any gear or tips to recommend? Did you use a scope?
Thank you in advance.

 

[DaleW]

I've never hunted big game with one but my brother told me about a guy who filled his Idaho Shiras moose tag with an air rifle. So there's definitely people out there who get crazy with them haha. There seems to be plenty on the market that would kill deer at close range.

 

[Rich M]

There used to be a guy on the former FL Sportsman forums that uses an airgun for deer and hogs.

If i remember right there is no shock, just a hole punched thru. More like an arrow than a bullet.

Nothing wrong with using em, just diff.

 

[Stalker69]

Many springers and most all pcp air rifles will easily take care of squirrels. If In doubt, go 25 cal pcp. Scoped of course. Pretty much like hunting them with a 22. And no, the pellets and slugs being used now will mushroom just like a bullet.

 

[AntelopeEater]

I had a disappointing experience hunting turkey in California with a .25 cal Benjamin Marauder PCP air rifle.

Treated it like an archery hunt, and was with a guide starting way before sunrise in a blind.

Tom turkey got to within about 35 yards, and having had no problems hitting a 1" target at the range with the scoped airgun at 50 yards previously, I confidently took a shot at its head.

Turkey's head bobbed as the pellet was traveling and cleanly missed.

Then the crappy plastic magazine jammed up when I tried to cycle the bolt to take another shot, I somehow managed to get it to shoot again and took a body shot at the turkey as it ran by that I shouldn't have.

Heard the whack of the pellet into the turkeys feathers and a few feathers did come off the turkey, but it ran off to never be found again despite diligently searching for it.

 

[Stalker69]

So your blaming the air rifle ? For a shot you missed, and another you shouldn't have taken, I guess I don't understand.

 

[AntelopeEater]

So your blaming the air rifle ? For a shot you missed, and another you shouldn't have taken, I guess I don't understand.

If I had been using a shotgun, or even a bow, I believe the turkey would have been successfully harvested on my first shot attempt at 35 yards.

A shotgun blast would have obviously done the deal.

An arrow shot at the center of the body would likely have done well, I can hit a 4" circle pretty consistently to 40 yards with a compound.

That was why I ended up being disappointed I used an air rifle, especially one where the magazine jammed, causing me to miss a chance at taking a second head shot.

It was the commotion inside the blind when I was having trouble cycling the bolt that spooked the turkey and caused it to start running.

 

[Stalker69]

So why didn't you use a shot gun, or bow then ? You have to accept the challenge each weapon presents. An air rifle shooting a single projectile with limited " force" of course is going to need the projectile precisely placed to be effective, and kill humanly. Once you missed its head with the first shot, you should NOT have attempted a running body shot, with any thing but a shot gun, imo. An air rifle is defiantly not the weapon for you. It requires precise shot placement on just about any thing bigger the a mouse. Then again, a mouse requires relatively precise shot placement to even hit the thing. It's just not for you.

 

[fwafwow]

It’s on my list, and will definitely include a scope

 

[wapitibob]

I was in Texas on a pig hunt and an airgun tester for a magazine showed up with a truck load of air rifles. Big bore stuff and the pigs looked like they'd been shot with high caliber rifles.

 

[CorbLand]

I was in Texas on a pig hunt and an airgun tester for a magazine showed up with a truck load of air rifles. Big bore stuff and the pigs looked like they'd been shot with high caliber rifles.

I bet that dude hates going to work every day.