Gun for Squirrels and Rabbits

[Tbar]

Does anyone know if there is an airgun (pellet gun) powerful enough for Rabbits? I'm doubting it, but thought I would ask. Also, if anyone out there hunts squirrels with an air gun, what do they reccomend?

Thanks in advance.

[Canuck44]

I wouldn't shoot rabbits with a pellet gun, that being said some of the 22 cal higher velocity ones would probably do the trick with good shot placement. When I was a kid I was death on all the local squirrels and gophers with my $35 break open 177 cal russian pellet gun, but a 22 rimfire is much more effective.

[bunnyhunter]

sadly, its illegal to shoot squirrels ( i would if I could!). trappers only. pellet guns dont penetrate rabbits, you will only wound them . please use a .22

[Albertadiver]

Howitzer.

[7 REM MAG]

it all depends on how much you want to spend, there are .50 calibre air rifles out that people have used to take deer sized game so for someone to say a "pellet gun" wont kill a rabbit is untrue you just need a more powerful one, there are airrifles that shoot over 1000 fps. if you plan on buying one for use on rabbits then buy a more expensive more powerful one however it may be cheaper to buy a 22

[FishBrain]

Originally Posted by bunnyhunter

sadly, its illegal to shoot squirrels ( i would if I could!). trappers only. pellet guns dont penetrate rabbits, you will only wound them . please use a .22

I have to agree.
to own a pellet gun that WILL have a good chance to kill a rabbit you will need to have a PAL anyways, so you might as well get a .22 and be sure of the kill

[222rem]

Yes you can get pellet gun powerful enough to shoot rabbits providing you want to spend lots of $$$$ and you don't expect to kill a rabbit from 50yds away
You can get pellet guns with 1500ft/sec velocity or more.
Federal .22RF listed velocity is under 1300ft/sec.
If it was me I'd go with .22 rim fire.

[Tbar]

I did not realize that you can't shoot squirrells (I checked the wildlife act, but must have missed that). The reason I prefer to look at air vs the rimfire is that I was thinking I could be looking for squirrel and the odd rabbit when I'm sitting in the tree stand not seeing deer. I figured the air rifle would be less likely to scare deer off.

[u_cant_rope_the_wind]

squirrells are listedas a fur bearing animal in Alberta and to harvest them i believe one must have a trappers or fur lisence. years ago in sundre a couple americans were on their way home from an unsucsessful moose hunt and they shot a squirrell and runtheir moose tag through its head
when they stoped for gas someone asked them if they had gotten anything and they held up this squirrell wth the moose tag and there happened to be a fish cop jst comeing out of the service station , from what i understand he wrote them up for shooting a fur bearing animal out of season and wthout haveing a trappers lisence and a couple other things jst to boot
as far as i know thats a true story ,i was told that when i wuz about 13 or 14 by some one from that area

[7 REM MAG]

both will be loud enough to scare deer out of the immediate area, i myself wouldnt do that as you never know when a big one is going to walk out of the trees, it may be when you have the pellet gun mounted to shoot a rabbit and thats the only opportunity that you have. that being said i do carry a blunt in the quiver on my bow so i dont break/loose anymore broadheads

[mangler]

When I was a kid, my friends and I brought home hundreds of rabbits over the years, all killed with pellet guns. It's a good thing no one told us it couldn't be done, or we'd have missed out on a lot of good rabbit stew.

In those days none of us paid any attention to how many FPS a pellet gun was rated for, so maybe they used to make them more powerful back in the 80's than those sold today (without a PAL). I had a Crossman pump style gun that always resulted in a kill if pumped nine times and aimed at the head.

[flatblack]

my dad bought me this for my first gun as a kid and i took bigger things than rabbits with it

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672319

Originally Posted by mangler

I had a Crossman pump style gun that always resulted in a kill if pumped nine times and aimed at the head.

Damn I loved those guns

[Tbar]

I checked with SRD. They confirmed that Red Squirrel is trap only, but that Grey Squirrels can be hunted year round without a liscence (and not by trapping). In case anyone was wondering.

[moosehunter3-0]

killed one last year with RWS 34 in a .22 rabbits arent a tough animal by any means. Shot it through the shoulder and the pellet exited the opposite leg. When I shot it its hair stood on end then the next one went in the head.

[moosehunter3-0]

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by u_cant_rope_the_wind

squirrells are listedas a fur bearing animal in Alberta and to harvest them i believe one must have a trappers or fur lisence. years ago in sundre a couple americans were on their way home from an unsucsessful moose hunt and they shot a squirrell and runtheir moose tag through its head
when they stoped for gas someone asked them if they had gotten anything and they held up this squirrell wth the moose tag and there happened to be a fish cop jst comeing out of the service station , from what i understand he wrote them up for shooting a fur bearing animal out of season and wthout haveing a trappers lisence and a couple other things jst to boot
as far as i know thats a true story ,i was told that when i wuz about 13 or 14 by some one from that area

I'm thinkin' that's a myth... if you shot a squirrel with the gun you were intending to shoot a moose with, I can't see anyone wanting to keep the remains, or being able to identify it as a squirrel.

[Tundra Monkey]

Originally Posted by bunnyhunter

pellet guns dont penetrate rabbits, you will only wound them

Hey Moosehunter3-0

Apparently you forgot to read this one

Proofs in the pudding there big feller.......perfect for the pot.

tm

[gibbs]

If sound is the main concern, a .22 rimfire loaded with CCI "CB Longs" makes a lot less noise than even your standard crappy-tire 490FPS pellet gun and will definately take rabbit sized game. If youve never tried these rounds, you only hear 2 things, the click of the firing pin hitting and the thwwwapp of the slug hitting its target. They are pretty cool rounds. Remington has introduced a sub-sonic round based on their yellow-jacket slug which is segmented like a quick-shock, I've never tried that one, but it looks like it would be promising as a quiet small game round.

[packhuntr]

I spent near every day of my youth with some sort of weapon in my hands. I started with a homemade sling shot, got good, had afew small game kills and Dad let me move on to a store bought one with an arm/torque brace. Lots of small game kills with that over about a year of 2. Moved to homemade willow bow, got good, had small game kills, then fiberglass bow, got good, more small game kills. I will never forget the pellet guns me and younger brother got for a present when Dad figure it was time to move to a gun. It was not a good time or place to be a small critter. Heck, while trapping, i even took muskrats. Basically everything from porkys to pigeons. And ya, rabbits were on the menu. I used to be able to smoke the educated gophers, (the ones that wouldnt come up while we were there) with just the eye showing out to 50 yards. D.E.A.D. That there is no S*%t. And im not talking lucky, they all paid the price. If they were unusually smart, wed wait em out, sometimes hours for one shot, if that didnt get em, a trap would cure em. We werent shooting 22 cal, we had .177 and nothing was safe. These werent high dollar rigs either. Pellets, tried them all, and killed everything with them all, BB's, they sucked, but guess what, a ton of small game died with them too. A .177 cal is just fine for a small game hunting rig. Anyone that says any different doesnt know what they are talking about. If kids could do that with those kinds of weapons while growing up, there should be no question as to how lethal any under rated tool like that can be.

[Tundra Monkey]

ahhh mannnn....I truly wish I could still shoot like when I was a kid

not sure what happened

tm

[Nait Hadya]

Originally Posted by moosehunter3-0

HEYYYYYYYY! that's my rabbit patch....

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by bunnyhunter

sadly, its illegal to shoot squirrels ( i would if I could!). trappers only. pellet guns dont penetrate rabbits, you will only wound them . please use a .22

head shots in the ear on rabbits are very easy with an air rifle.
I've shot them with a .22 cal Slavia, a 177 Diana, and my son has shot jacks with a 177 air rifle as well , at the neighbour's in Cow Town - I think it was a Webley that he used.
cat

[raised by wolves]

I am not a fan of pellet guns, but I have seen a cool add from a US company. They market some really powerful pllet guns. The add includes a fellow posing with a feral hog and his pellet gun. I recall this add from a few of the gun mags. If they can make a kill on a hog, should be plenty of punch for a rabbit.

My preference is still a 22LR or 17HMR.

[Reeves1]

Originally Posted by moosehunter3-0

They say a picture is worth a thousand words !
In this case I agree 100% !

Very good post Moose !

I shot hundreds of Cotton Tails back in the late 60s and 70s with the old .177 !

[jaylow?]

me and my brothers were always out in the bush getting rabbits and grouse with our pellet guns. the old crack barrel.

[Pioneer2]

I shot many rabbits with a Hungarian .177 rifle as a kid.Now for high quality air rifles get a RWS or like mine a Weihrauch 80k/.22 at an advertised 800fps.The spruce hen was completely penetrated at 30 yards body shot.I never find pellets in the birds and gophers either shot lengthways! The Koreans make a .50 Dragonslayer for deer and boar under 75 yards filled with scuba tank to power it up.Napolean's troops were terrified of the Austrian snipers with their air rifles effective to 100 yards...............not toys..........Harold

[Matt L.]

Hmm, didn't realize that red squirrels were protected , the buggers. I stabilize the population semi-regularly around our bird feeders when it gets too large.

[tracker]

I'll pipe up for pellets taking rabbits. I used to down them by the dozens as a kid with my .22 pump. Your range is limited but I never had a problem. Just know your gun & its ability & range just like any other weapon.

[Okotokian]

Hmmmmmmm got me wondering...

Can you use a pellet gun (the lower fps ones you don't have to register) within most town or city limits??? I might just wander down to the river valley behind my house.