How much FPE do you actually need to harvest a deer with a big bore airgun? I've been wanting to do this 200 FPE ballistics gel test for a LOOOOONG time! Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id4t6FJKpEo&fbclid=IwAR1pCIxUjtinnY2i7FE0EqvFTH7jrEmAJVnIYL4zjbr7esOIRT1Qf6PsiA4
On my channel you will typically find me running the most powerful big bore airgun rifles available for the most ethical method of take for Deer hunting. But.... If you wanted to really challenge yourself and have the ultimate airgun hunting adventure up close and personal in that 10-40 yard shot range, a big bore airgun pistol could be up to the task.
Before you go into the woods all Dirty Harry style with a big bore airgun pistol, there are some things you need to know about about these big bore airguns and their lethality potential on big game.
I have taken Deer with big bore airguns exclusively since 2017 during the regular deer season here in Michigan and have learned a TON. From a terminal ballistics view point, big bore airgun hunting falls in this weird range between archery and firearm terminal ballistics.
This past hunting season I went over the 20 Deer mark since I got into this and I firmly now believe hollow point expansion is great, but penetration is 100% necessary. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing NSAs and Mr. Hollow Point lead spread out into beautiful flowers of vension catchin' awesome-ness. But if that pill is just a meat parachute dumping all of its energy into the chest cavity with little penetration. You could have a long hard track ahead of you.
Out of the 20 deer I have dispatched with my big bore airguns, I have had 1 drop in it's tracks half of them go 20-50 yards and the other half go 50 to 1/4 mile and have lost a few. Before you pound on your keyboard about shot placement. Tap your brakes you wanna be Fred Bears...
My shot placement selection has ran the entire region of the vital zone from high shoulder to vital V to slightly back hard quartering to and hard quartering away to direct frontal and from elevated positions. The #1 thing I have found that makes them go down the fastest and best blood trails is a full pass through. Period. Full stop.
So do you need 1000+ FPE of the .72 cal Zues or a massive AirForce Texan to accomplish this? Trust me - it helps. But what matters most is the penetration you are getting and if you get massive expansion to turn that .35 cal into a .50 hole or .50 cal into a .75 hole that is just extra ventilation. But you better have the penetration! So can you get the penetration you need with a 200 FPE big bore? Maybe. Let's find out.
In this test, we teamed up with Rich Dudeck from Airgun Revisions to demonstrate the lethal effects of a .457 Don Cothran Stainless Steel Big Bore Airgun Pistol to see if we can hit the power and penetration needed to harvest a North American White Tail Deer ethically and under what conditions this tool could be used.
After months of testing, I can tell you this could be a tool to use, but it is much like how in the archery sector we look at crossbows, vs. compound bows, vs. traditional bow hunting and at what ranges and orientation of the deer that would I take a shot. In the right situation, like tree saddle hunting or hunting from an elevated blind in bow hunting ranges at very close ranges, this thing would be a blast to take a deer with! Check it out!
On my channel you will typically find me running the most powerful big bore airgun rifles available for the most ethical method of take for Deer hunting. But.... If you wanted to really challenge yourself and have the ultimate airgun hunting adventure up close and personal in that 10-40 yard shot range, a big bore airgun pistol could be up to the task.
Before you go into the woods all Dirty Harry style with a big bore airgun pistol, there are some things you need to know about about these big bore airguns and their lethality potential on big game.
I have taken Deer with big bore airguns exclusively since 2017 during the regular deer season here in Michigan and have learned a TON. From a terminal ballistics view point, big bore airgun hunting falls in this weird range between archery and firearm terminal ballistics.
This past hunting season I went over the 20 Deer mark since I got into this and I firmly now believe hollow point expansion is great, but penetration is 100% necessary. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing NSAs and Mr. Hollow Point lead spread out into beautiful flowers of vension catchin' awesome-ness. But if that pill is just a meat parachute dumping all of its energy into the chest cavity with little penetration. You could have a long hard track ahead of you.
Out of the 20 deer I have dispatched with my big bore airguns, I have had 1 drop in it's tracks half of them go 20-50 yards and the other half go 50 to 1/4 mile and have lost a few. Before you pound on your keyboard about shot placement. Tap your brakes you wanna be Fred Bears...
My shot placement selection has ran the entire region of the vital zone from high shoulder to vital V to slightly back hard quartering to and hard quartering away to direct frontal and from elevated positions. The #1 thing I have found that makes them go down the fastest and best blood trails is a full pass through. Period. Full stop.
So do you need 1000+ FPE of the .72 cal Zues or a massive AirForce Texan to accomplish this? Trust me - it helps. But what matters most is the penetration you are getting and if you get massive expansion to turn that .35 cal into a .50 hole or .50 cal into a .75 hole that is just extra ventilation. But you better have the penetration! So can you get the penetration you need with a 200 FPE big bore? Maybe. Let's find out.
In this test, we teamed up with Rich Dudeck from Airgun Revisions to demonstrate the lethal effects of a .457 Don Cothran Stainless Steel Big Bore Airgun Pistol to see if we can hit the power and penetration needed to harvest a North American White Tail Deer ethically and under what conditions this tool could be used.
After months of testing, I can tell you this could be a tool to use, but it is much like how in the archery sector we look at crossbows, vs. compound bows, vs. traditional bow hunting and at what ranges and orientation of the deer that would I take a shot. In the right situation, like tree saddle hunting or hunting from an elevated blind in bow hunting ranges at very close ranges, this thing would be a blast to take a deer with! Check it out!
