Hog Hunting with Air Rifle

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BigJay

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Sep 8, 2015
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Hey Guys, i am planning to buy an Air Rifle possibly the new Gamo Coyote .25cal air rifle, and use it for hunting purposes. I want your expertise in air rifle to know if a .25 cal with an 900fps muzzle speed, could kill a hog if shot in the right place at 25m range? if i use a heavy pellet 35gr the speed might drop to 700fps maybe less giving me sth around 35 to 38fpe. normal rifles are illegal in my country so i use a shotgun normally in hog hunting, but now that i'm getting an air rifle i want to know what are my options.
Thanks
 
If you can get the Benjamin Dome pellets in your country that is the way to go. They are a metal alloy which is much harder than just lead. I've taken a few wild boars with a .357, a few with a .30, but my biggest hog (dubbed Hogzilla) was with my .25. Here's the story. https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/hogzilla-down/?view=all That being said, my .25 was shooting about 60 FPE & I felt under-gunned. If you're going the .25 route you damn well better be confident in your shot placement and know the animals anatomy really well, because only a near perfect shot will do the job. I wouldn't recommend shooting any hog with less than 60 FPE (of any caliber). If you're heart is set on a .25 you may want to look at a Sumatra, with a little tuning I think you can get it up to around 80 FPE. I also recommend doing a search on this forum: hog, wild pig, wild boar, etc. You should be able to find a bit more on shot placement.
 
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That's one hell of a gun you got there Michael!! Nice hunt. I don't know if you have any idea or experience about The Gamo Coyote rifle but in general is there a way to tune or modify an air gun to get more power from it? like if i got the .25 with a 900fps speed is there any kind of regulators or valves that i van change to get more speed from it?
 
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"BigJay"That's one hell of a gun you got there Michael!! Nice hunt. I don't know if you have any idea or experience about The Gamo Coyote rifle but in general is there a way to tune or modify an air gun to get more power from it? like if i got the .25 with a 900fps speed is there any kind of regulators or valves that i van change to get more speed from it?
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You can pretty much mod any gun to increase its power. The real Question is ----will the increase in power be good for accuracy or not. Here is where multiple variables come in such as the quality of the barrel, the pellet size, pellet weight, BC, regulator, hammer spring, valve assembly etc. Keeping all the specifics aside, If you want to hunt hogs at 25 meters and want to use a 25 cal only, look at the Hatsan .25 (relatively lower cost) , Evanix, or the Sumatra or the Cricket. All these guns can be modded to increase their power and are very accurate guns both at short and longer ranges. The 25 cal will offer you power, ability to take game with the right shot placement and usage for target practice at short and long ranges.

If you get the hog behind the ear, it will go down. Or the soft spot below the eyes. 
 
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 I once upon a time shot afew Hog's with an old Career 707II .25, all head shots , all dropped in place. It was a fairly hot shooting rifle ( about 90fpe) only the first 5 shots could be counted on but I never shot more than one in a day so that was fine.
WITH proper shot placement ( and I certainly scoped in a LOT more Hogs that I got a shot at and all were shot just below the eye) no worries. You DO need to know what proper shot placement is for any given animal.
Can "it" be turned up in power, why certainly. It only cost time and or money. It will also cost you shot count.
"I" haven't had the chance to shoot the BSA Coyote yet. I have heard the trigger may not be the very best? Getting the trigger on the old Career 707 "usable" was a bit of a challenge, luckily they were being used in Field Target back then so springs & such were available.
To me the 909 .45 is NOT a good out of the box hunting rig as the trigger is VERY bad. Again this likely can be overcome with money.
Is there any chance you can get your hands on one and test fire it before buying? Power is certainly not the only consideration in hunting and you may find it is the perfect rig for you, or, discover just the opposite.


John
 
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"spysir" I once upon a time shot afew Hog's with an old Career 707II .25, all head shots , all dropped in place. It was a fairly hot shooting rifle ( about 90fpe) only the first 5 shots could be counted on but I never shot more than one in a day so that was fine.
WITH proper shot placement ( and I certainly scoped in a LOT more Hogs that I got a shot at and all were shot just below the eye) no worries. You DO need to know what proper shot placement is for any given animal.
Can "it" be turned up in power, why certainly. It only cost time and or money. It will also cost you shot count.
"I" haven't had the chance to shoot the BSA Coyote yet. I have heard the trigger may not be the very best? Getting the trigger on the old Career 707 "usable" was a bit of a challenge, luckily they were being used in Field Target back then so springs & such were available.
To me the 909 .45 is NOT a good out of the box hunting rig as the trigger is VERY bad. Again this likely can be overcome with money.
Is there any chance you can get your hands on one and test fire it before buying? Power is certainly not the only consideration in hunting and you may find it is the perfect rig for you, or, discover just the opposite.


John
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yeah i think it's the best way to know what this rifle is capable of but i dont think it will get anything near that fpe. I have seen several videos on youtube testing the .25 cal and once you get to 25gr pellets the speed drops to an average of 705fps so in general it has an average of 30fpe. Concerning the trigger, yes it has some bad reviews from the pro shooters but (as they said) for a beginner like me it will not be a problem.

now from what i understand from all your replies that with an fpe like that, hog hunting will not be an option with the Coyote unless i modify it. So i think i should stick to the shotgun when shooting hogs and use the airgun for smaller games or pests and maybe get the .22cal instead and use it for wider range of target shooting and small animals hunting?
 
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My thoughts are that if you plan to hunt bigger animals with small caliber airguns you should get a Sumatra or Career. The reason being you can get almost 100 fpe (43gr EJ pellets) from the 25 cal and mid 80s fpe (32gr EJ pellets) with the 22 cal out of the box without mods. Most other guns you will have to modify or pay for modifications to accomplish this.
 
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"blackdiesel"My thoughts are that if you plan to hunt bigger animals with small caliber airguns you should get a Sumatra or Career. The reason being you can get almost 100 fpe (43gr EJ pellets) from the 25 cal and mid 80s fpe (32gr EJ pellets) with the 22 cal out of the box without mods. Most other guns you will have to modify or pay for modifications to accomplish this.
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The problem i'm from Lebanon, it's a small country and we don't have a big choice of air rifles brands. You can't find the Sumatra or Career here, my choice is limited to benjamin and gamo as beginner rifles and you can get edgun or cricket or daystate but these are a high budget guns. 
 
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yes i know the Marauder has more power and it could be adjusted for more power but believe it or not the marauder costs 300$ more than the gamo. Online u can find it for 500$ just like the gamo but here it costs 900$+ i have no idea why. I have set my mind for now i will be getting a coyote .22cal and stick to target shooting, pests and small games and i will get a bigger cal later for hunting big games maybe a .30cal or sth. Thanks guys u've been a great help.
happy hunting.
 
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"SuburbanMe"Would a .25 Wildcat take out a hog? and if so, at what maximum distance?

Also, I know it'll take out a fox, but at what maximum distance?

The wildcats come in .30 cal right?
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The wildcats come in at .177, .22, and .25 versions. The bobcat and the fx boss come in .30 cal. The 25 cal is enough to take a hog down within 50 -70 yards. 
 
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