I keep a Daisy 880 as my bird feeder cleaner. It’s mostly for starlings and Hosp, but it will get a few squirrels that are ballsy enough to hang on the feeders while im on my deck. Twenty yards is the max range for that gun.
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Anybody hunting squirrels with .177?
- Thread starter LSS152
- Start date
I used this HW97K to pest squirrels at my old house.
.177 cal with a 4-12x40 Swift Premier on top.
Bestuned to 13.5 FPE with 10.5gr CPH domes.
Feeder was right at 20 yards.
Took about 1200 of them over an 8 year period with this rig.
There was quite an infestation in that neighborhood!
After the first 50 or so I switched from head shots to heart shots and I've been a heart shooter ever since.
The twitching and the blood squirting all over the place got old pretty quick.
Bottom line: this gun will do what you need it to do
Matt
.177 cal with a 4-12x40 Swift Premier on top.
Bestuned to 13.5 FPE with 10.5gr CPH domes.
Feeder was right at 20 yards.
Took about 1200 of them over an 8 year period with this rig.
There was quite an infestation in that neighborhood!
After the first 50 or so I switched from head shots to heart shots and I've been a heart shooter ever since.
The twitching and the blood squirting all over the place got old pretty quick.
Bottom line: this gun will do what you need it to do
Matt
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I keep an old beat up Gamo Whisper 177 cal break barrel at my rear window to keep the tree rats out of my garden and off the bird feeders. The gun has the same cheap scope that came with it as a package...Poor at best. I did put a trigger fix in the rifle that increased accuracy but the biggest change was going to a really heavy JSB 16.2 gr pellet. That pellet slows the gun down from mid 1200 fps to 890 fps on the chronograph. Deadly out to about 30 yards. I normally shoot inside of 25 yards with the combination and have had great success in ridding our neighborhood and the associated back yards of my willing participant neighbors of 106 squirrels in the past 2 years....
The squirrels had become a real problem in several of my neighbors homes with lots of attic damage...Gardens destroyed and wiring harnesses in two of my vehicles costing almost $5000 dollars to repair. No plastic planters or pots are spared as the little vandals chew up anything made of soy based plastic including bumpers of vehicles and mud flaps...
When I do need to reach out further I go to a 25 cal FX Bobcat MK2. Very Quiet and powerful accuracy. So with the Gamo Whisper, the Heavy 16.2 gr JSB's I have finally thinned the population of squirrels....They still return in smaller groups but if they don't create damage I leave them alone.....
The squirrels had become a real problem in several of my neighbors homes with lots of attic damage...Gardens destroyed and wiring harnesses in two of my vehicles costing almost $5000 dollars to repair. No plastic planters or pots are spared as the little vandals chew up anything made of soy based plastic including bumpers of vehicles and mud flaps...
When I do need to reach out further I go to a 25 cal FX Bobcat MK2. Very Quiet and powerful accuracy. So with the Gamo Whisper, the Heavy 16.2 gr JSB's I have finally thinned the population of squirrels....They still return in smaller groups but if they don't create damage I leave them alone.....
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I've taken several squirrels with a 7fpe HW30 shooting Gamo Redfires. All under 30 yards, but all head shots and clean kills. Also taken squirrels with a 13 fpe 2260 out to 40 yards. (squirrels season opens august 1st here so co2 is a viable option)
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Here in the uk power is restricted to below 12 fpe, .177 is the most popular calibre here, each years there must be hundreds and thousands of rabbits, pigeons, rats and squirrels that meet their maker courtesy of a .177 pellet.
Personally I prefer .20,in sub 12fpe it’s a little heavier and a little slower but the one I own is clinically accurate at normal hunting ranges (out to 65yards in perfect conditions) my highest tally on feral pigeons in one afternoon was 208 taken from the top of a grain silo, and in a few hours one night I cleared 108 rabbits from garden that had become over run with the little blighters.
so yes, sub 12fpe.177 is more than capable but shot placement is critical, head shots behind the eye below the ears is the sweet spot.
check out notts pest control uk on YouTube, he does good videos.
Bb
Personally I prefer .20,in sub 12fpe it’s a little heavier and a little slower but the one I own is clinically accurate at normal hunting ranges (out to 65yards in perfect conditions) my highest tally on feral pigeons in one afternoon was 208 taken from the top of a grain silo, and in a few hours one night I cleared 108 rabbits from garden that had become over run with the little blighters.
so yes, sub 12fpe.177 is more than capable but shot placement is critical, head shots behind the eye below the ears is the sweet spot.
check out notts pest control uk on YouTube, he does good videos.
Bb
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I use my old Gamo Hunter 440 in .177 for squirrels all the time. I'd just make sure you're getting a headshot on em!
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I know this is an old thread .I'd like to re start it!
HW 30 in .177 has not let me down hunting grey squirrels and rabbits in my garden out to about 35yds with AA Falcons 7.33gr.
Headshots stop them cold where they stand.
I've considered a ~12fpe .177 but after shooting my 10m match rifles, the '30 recoil is more than I want!
Keep your shots to a distance you can hit a nickel and you're prob good to go.
HW 30 in .177 has not let me down hunting grey squirrels and rabbits in my garden out to about 35yds with AA Falcons 7.33gr.
Headshots stop them cold where they stand.
I've considered a ~12fpe .177 but after shooting my 10m match rifles, the '30 recoil is more than I want!
Keep your shots to a distance you can hit a nickel and you're prob good to go.
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I do all of my squirrel, rabbit and quail hunting with .177 sub-12fpe spring guns. Very capable out to 35 yards. Even with a sling, the hw97k is a bit of a porker to lug around in the woods, so I often grab my hw30s or R7 too. For me, the R7 is a great hunter out to around 25 yards.
R
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I do not use spring guns but I like my P35-177 shooting 10.6 grain pellets almost 900 fps for squirrels in my yard. It will not carry as far on a miss but kills squirrels well. It shoots through the body or skull unless I hit big bones. I've taken 20 so far in less than 2 years using it. My longest kill was 37 yards.
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