Humane kill advice please

[jdh2550]

I live in a town. Houses within feet of other houses. At 11 PM any air rifle would sound loud to me as the shooter. I suggest you have a friend fire your gun with you only as far away as the closest house. Hear it for yourself.

If your a good shot, one shot is very difficult to determine location ( due to sound bouncing off of buildings ). It’s a second or subsequent shot that helps determine where the sound is coming from.

 

[davelarson]

I’d say if you can consistently hit a sugar cube sized target at 30 yards you would be fine with the .177 mrod.
But the Veteran .22 turned down in power would be quiet and deliver lots of thump. But it would also not shoot as flat as the .177, that wouldn’t matter in the least as long as you were sighted in perfectly.
Best of luck with the pesting!
If you can hit a little target at 30 yards with the .22
I’d use the rifle that I could hit a sugar cube almost every time at 30 yards.

 

[kingsqueak]

My very first air gun was a Diana break barrel springer target pistol in .177 and I worked a job doing security on a compound that was overrun with rabbits. I would just take head shots and pile them up. One shot *pop* they jump up and they are dead. Very low power. A string of them and some Shake N Bake (do they even make that now?) and it was a decent meal.

 

[SHOMER]

I add a short story years ago I had a PEACE, LOVE, and GRANOLA couple that seem to come with every neighborhood, no matter how rural. One day her sheepish husband approached me in town and surprised me by informing that his wife was suffering great distress. The cause was the on going destruction to her prized ROSE beds by some cute rabbits and squirrels. Asking for any help that I might chose to render, now these neighbors I've never spoken to before. Anyway that Christmas there was a very nice surprise delivery from Hickory farms. I humbly submit we are all ambassadors for this sport that we love so, let us always endeavor to display it in the best ways possible. Thanks Jim81 for your thoughts and some very fine points to consider.

 

[Fig]

The quietest air gun that I have is the daisy 880 with a moderator from a guy named Patrick. It is very quiet, its equivalent to dropping a pen on hardwood floor from 6 feet. That’s at 4 pumps. For feathers thats more than enough to meet the needs. It’s also accurate. At 20 yard I hit a penny all day

 

[Removed]

I think the key is to get within a reasonable range for any given caliber and power level. Guys over the pond take rabbits on the regular with sub 12 fpe but shot placement is critical. A good way of practicing in my own experience is with plastic spoons plugged into the ground at various yardages, this gives a realistic killzone. Rabbits are as others have mentioned kind of delicate but a proper headshot within reasonable range will end things everytime.

 

[Richmeister]

YES, YES,YES!!!! Thank you AirNGasman!! / Nothing makes my skin crawl as to watch these jack wagons on youtube post "head shots" on squirrels. Eyes blowing out, twitching etc.. Hit the brain!!

With a high amount of fpe the energy dump inside a small head like a squirrel tends to cause a hydraulic effect on the brain and eyes causing them to "blow out" as you mention. Impacting the eyes will also cause this .
There are also "Warning sentences" before most videos start, sensitive people should NOT watch them just to comment something negative as they have been told the type of content in the video.

 

[JimD]

I've only shot one rabbit with an air rifle. I hit it in the front of the chest with a H&N copper plated FTT going about 750 fps out of my Prod. It ran about 50 feet before it piled up dead. I found the pellet in front of a rear leg. It traveled completely through the chest and the abdomen. Still ran a bit. I think a brain shot would have dropped it quicker. I expected the rabbit to be more tender than squirrels I cooked at the same time in the pressure cooker. It was not but it wasn't bad.