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Beginner Hunter questions

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xmgsumnerx

Member
Mar 17, 2021
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Indiana, United States
Good afternoon.

I have been a hunter my whole life, but always with standard shotguns, rifles, and pistols. I am very interested in getting into a nice PCP airgun for prairie dogs, possible coyotes, and other smaller game. I really like the .25 cal, as it seems to generally be subsonic, thus quieter, yet still hitting with some authority on small critters and also the cost of ammo is cheaper than the .30 cal.

I'm currently considering an FX Wildcat Mk3 sniper, as it seems to be a great do-all air rifle that should last for a long time. I would definitely buy a regulator/silencer, as I am a huge fan of those on my current rifles, and think part of the appeal of the airgun is that you can suppress them without the tax stamp and paperwork.

I would just like to know people's experiences and thoughts on what caliber/rifle combo I should be looking into, how far away ethical shots can be taken (obviously shot placement taken into consideration), and what other bits of knowledge would be useful before I make a purchase.

I appreciate your help and consideration.
 
OK well I am about to get alot of people telling me I'm an idiot but here is my 2 cents. If you want to kill coyote and prairie dogs perhaps an airforce condor would be a better choice. When you do the plastic washer or oring behind the tophat it gets very close to regulated numbers. Plus when you want to kill coyote you can put a 49g slug in there and push it past 900 fps. That will kill yotes like you wouldn't believe. The fx is a great gun and will do fine but the condor is cheaper and more powerful. No reg is a plus because less stuff to go wrong and more power. Ultimately get whatever you want the most. I love my condor and would take heart lung shots at up to 60 yards or more even. 
 
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In Montana, I have been using a BSA Lonestar .25 cal for prairie dogs, skunks, rabbits, etc., since 2010. At subsonic velocities, the .25 cal kills small animals better than .22LR subsonic and tends to be more accurate. Except for true match grade rimfire ammo, which tends to be much more expensive than pellets, and is unobtainium these days, the .25 cal heavy pellet from a really accurate gun like the BSA Lonestar has much less velocity variation and is more likely to score a hit out to 100 yards, which is about the limit for subsonic projectiles on small animals. Don't expect a .25 cal airgun to equal a rimfire which is shooting Stingers and Velocitors. Unless you find an airgun that can shoot 1400-1600 FPS with heavy pellets or slugs, that is. However, you get into a serious ballistic crack situation which sends PD's running all around. A suppressed airgun or subsonic rimfire works extremely well on a PD town that has never been hunted in a long time. I save the CZ 527 Kevlar Varmint .223 Rem rifle for when the PD's have been hunted a lot and the only shots available are well beyond 100 yards and on out to 300 yards. The muzzle blast and ballistic crack of the bullet puts everything down within a few hundred yards every time you shoot it. Subsonic airguns and rimfires don't do that as much, so many more close targets stay available. The kill rate is much higher with an airgun at a new PD town where the varmints are not so skittish.

Shooting PD's with centerfire ammo will break the bank, even if you are a reloader like I am. The reloading component and ammo situation this year is such that I will do almost no PD shooting with firearms and use the BSA Lonestar .25 almost exclusively on PD's, as I have an ample supply of pellets. Even pellets are getting hard to find. A few stores I checked were almost out of .22 cal pellets, and completely out of rimfire ammo. I would check on getting an ample supply of pellets before committing to an expensive airgun purchase for shooting PD's, as I can shoot a couple of hundred pellets a day at a PD town. .25 cal pellets are not available locally so they are a mailorder purchase for me, and that is true in most locations for most people.
 
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Ghost1066,

I appreciate the advice. I've been looking into the laws, and definitely want to be on the right side of the law when I go hunting, which is one reason I picked the .25. It seemed like a good middle of the road caliber. I AM looking into a 45 (457?) for larger game though as well, but would want to start with the .25 to see if I enjoy it enough to buy something with less potential utility.
 
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There is no problem in Montana in using airguns for nongame varmint species. Few people are doing it here, so the possibilities are huge. None of the local stores sell powerful PCP airguns as it would cut into their firearms sales and ammo sales which are more lucrative. The problem is, ammo sales are way down. Most of what shows up is instantly sold out. Reloading components have been unobtainium for some time. It began to dry up last spring. I haven't bought any reloading components since last summer. I can still mailorder pellets......so far. There are not even enough primers to fully supply the small ammo producers. Hornady had a three year backlog of orders by the end of 2020, and the situation is even worse by now. The last time we had an ammo shortage, the quality of the big USA manufacturers ammo took a big dive. I saw a velocity spread of nearly 200 FPS in cheap 9mm Luger ammo. I suspect that high powered PCP rifles will be selling as fast as they can make them for quite some time.
 
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TeOh1776,

The Wildcat because I've seen some impressive videos on it on YouTube, and have done a bit a of reading and it seems to be accurate enough for prairie dogs. As for coyotes, I typically take a 300 blackout and suppress it right now, but would like to use an air rifle, if it would work. Ammo is much cheaper. =)

I honestly don't know what distance. I've heard I'd want to keep it to head shots within 50 yards, but that's something I'm trying to get more information on. I am also considering getting an Airforce Texan in 45 (457?) for deer, etc...if I like the .25 and can get used to shooting and maintaining an air rifle. I assume that would be much better for coyotes and if .25 isn't humane, I wouldn't take it, but again, that's why I'm here, to try and get some info from people who might have the experience and data. As a lifelong hunter, the last thing I want to do is have the animal suffer from my ignorance.

Do you have a rifle preference I should look into? I'm certainly not 100% decided on the Wildcat yet.


 
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Beezer,

I feel ya...my brother reloads and I have a wide variety of gun calibers. I'm just glad I stocked up in prior years to still have enough ammo for current hunting trips. It's just the re-stocking that worries me.

I shot a lot of prairie dogs in Montana in the late 90s with my Ruger No. 1 in 22 hornet. Was good times. That's one of my favorite states...might be able to convince the wife to move there when we retire.
 
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Raden1942,

I have definitely looked into the Condor. It is an awesome looking gun. From what I've seen, it's not as accurate at the 75 yard range, and that is the one thing which worries me the most, as I would probably need head shots on varmints/prairie dogs to get kills at that range. Maybe I'm wrong. What's your experience with the accuracy?

Also, how do you fill up your gun? I was thinking about just getting a pump initially, but might get one of the portable electric fill machines...thoughts?
 
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If you're going to be hitting at 75 - 100 yards you're gonna want consistency and power. A regulated gun is going to give you a better chance at having both of those. So I hunt Javelina and Coyotes, I have an Impact and my longest kill rn is 125 yards on the small pig with a .25 caliber. I think from what I know about the Dreamlines or wildcats they can perform similarly at least 175. and Prairie dogs, they are in packs, right? If so like the Javelinas the Regulator is going to be necessary probably a Power plenum too. If I were you I would also consider a Crown or Impact. 


 
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if i was heading to my moms place in colorado near mesa verde theres plenty of jackrabbits and pararie dogs around there .. it would be a tough choice on what would be the best .. i used to take a compound bow out after them but that, although extremely fun, wasnt effective percentage-wise and under 30 or so .. but i could get shots with some stalking, so depends where you have access to ... but only one gun at this point, all things considered, the bulldog 357 ... im sure it would be highly effective out to 70 or so ... but a .25 at 900fps yeah that would work to .. id rather take the bulldog ... as far as a handpump, if thats all i had yeah, be sure, im near shade with plenty of gatorade, but that kind of physical output would suck when im trying to get into popping critters .. a pony bottle in the backpack would be worlds better ...
 
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I can speak from experience with the Wildcat mk3. I have one as well as .22 and .30 cal barrel kits. I also have used the Wildcat for prarie dogs and it is definitely capable of consistent accuracy out to 200 yards if you can do your part behind the trigger. With a silencer on it you can definitely get multiple shots with out spooking the animals. I have added a power plenum and a huma transfer port and in .25 cal I can push the 34 gr JSB MK2 heavy pellet at 970fps and get 71 FPE and it is very accurate out to 100 yards. With that much power on tap and using slugs you will definitely be able to take headshots on coyotes out to 100 yards. Another great thing about the Wildcat is that you can fill it with a hand pump much easier and quicker than a rifle that has a bottle for an air tank. I have some prairie dog shooting videos on my YouTube channel, just look up Dang.Ol.Winner 👍🏻
 
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@xmgsumnerx

You don't need a head shot on a PD at 75 yards to put them down. A body shot will always put them down with a .25 cal pellet. Always a pass through from any angle, with a JSB 25.4 grain Exact King or a 31 grain H&N Baracuda. I only go for a head shot when only the head is sticking out of the hole. In other words, for the "guard dog" shots when the others are in their holes and those are usually inside of 75 yards. As for needing a regulator on the rifle, I find that my self regulated BSA Lonestar rifle works OK as long as I keep it in the center of the bell curve. I recorded a string of 10 shots with my new JSB Exact King Heavy MkII pellets and they chronographed at 745, 741, 742, 745, 753, 747, 747, 741, 738, 734 FPS. Only a 19 FPS spread and if eliminating the highest and lowest, it is a 9 FPS spread. Far better than most subsonic rimfire ammo. The spread would have been less if I had selected the pellets, but they were straight out of the tin. Don't overlook a Lonestar .25 on the used market, and the power can be increased far above my factory tune. You will use somewhere between 4 to 6 Bar per shot depending on pellet weight and tune, so it gets to be a lot of pumping at a PD town. I would go for a portable compressor that runs on 12V like the Umarex if PD's are the main focus, but if huntings Jacks, Porcupines, Skunks, Fluffy Butt, etc., then the 10-shot string is more than enough and no need to pump in the field, so the FX hand pump has worked OK for me. I recently ordered 4 o-rings from FX for the pump, and with shipping charges it came to under $10, so fairly cheap to repair. While a full rebuild kit cost $40, the first thing to go is the little 2.5x1.5mm o-ring at the output of the pump, and it is a 5-minute fix if you know what you're doing. 4 o-rings with postage for under $10, so not too bad. The FX pump costs $200 and it runs on Sweat Equity.
 
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