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.22 or .25 for crow hunting?
- Thread starter sstaton
- Start date
Rare, but caught an inattentive one few days ago, scolding one of our resident Sandhill Cranes, 25-yard shot, back center body mass with .22 Veteran and JSB 18.1. Flew out of sight with handful of chest feathers floating away. Maybe we grow them tougher in Florida. WM
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And closer to the spine on a side profile. There is a lot of breast muscle on a bird.
FWIW- I prefer 25 cal. If I owned bigger I'd probably prefer bigger.
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Only crows I ever shot with pellet rifle were a group that kept harassing wanted birds on a feeder at home. My RWS 48 22 killed them just fine at 25+ yards.
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Anything I got. But most likely a 22 for me. Not all 25 cal airguns can produce more power than a 22 counterpart. That all boils down to power, ballistics and distance. One of my 25 cal guns is max 40 ft lbs. Theres a lot of 22 airguns that can exceed that.. 
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I have killed several crows with my .22, but always require follow up shots to finish them off. Bigger is better in my opinion!
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I have only .22 caliber guns , so that's what I use . Several at 50 yrds w/ 18.13 JSBs , glide off to the ground. The same shot, the same tree w/ Hades 15.89s give a fold & tumble to the ground. I hope to acquire a .25 some day but ... My longest shot on crow was 60yrds to it's side through the wing as it set on the ground in wheat stubble . It shuddered & bobbed it's head , then just layed down. It was XX when I got to it. So what has worked for me may not work for you. Kinda like the old PB campfire argument about the best deer rifle !!
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Very nicely executed urban hunting!!
The advantage of an airgun over PB....
Silent for the neigbors — but deadly for the critters.
Matthias
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Thank you, Sir, was a win for all, except the crows. Neighbors remain puzzled why the Bird Flu never infected the songbirds, in fact, songbird population thriving. I reminded that sometimes Nature is a mystery, best to just accept and be grateful. WM
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Mostly .22 cal. But I learned that the best shot is straight on at the crows chest.....no wing or side shots. Most I got were with my Discovery .22 around 30 yards or so.
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I use 25 as I only have two fx streamlines. One in 22 and one in 25. The 22 streamline platform just doesn’t produce the power the 25 can so I opt for the 25. If I had a 22 gun that would produce the 45-50 ft lb range I would probably choose that for some more versatility in projectile choices.
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.177 10.34 grain Air Arms always gets the job done for me. Anything bigger for crows is a waste of money imo.
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The crows around here are very wary. They have apparently been shot at before as I can't seem to close range on them more than sixty yards or more. I currently have a .177 Diana 48.
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I could but they are too inconsistent about where they land, so I'd have a hard time figuring out where to put it.
Plus they are very inconsistent about when they show up.
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Decoys and a dead carcass of some pest works great for me. Just gotta be patient and sit for along time sometimes. I also use a crow call as well.I could but they are too inconsistent about where they land, so I'd have a hard time figuring out where to put it.
Plus they are very inconsistent about when they show up.
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Well, that's too bad that they are so weary in your neck of the woods.... 
Last week I took an evening stroll through my parents city and was met by a noisy flock of about a hundred of them, sitting on the ground 10y away from me and on the trees all around.
I walked by one sitting in the street not 3 yards away!
Those were some big bold black birds!!
Matthias
Last week I took an evening stroll through my parents city and was met by a noisy flock of about a hundred of them, sitting on the ground 10y away from me and on the trees all around.
I walked by one sitting in the street not 3 yards away!
Those were some big bold black birds!!
Matthias
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@ WM- what’s the tune on that 30 WC? Just curious on your velocity. I love that platform for sure
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