Iguana decimation

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Flpanhandler

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Mar 5, 2024
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Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

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Flpanhandler said:
Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

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What was your typical distance? What muzzle fps?
 
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Flpanhandler said:
Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

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Good hunt!
 
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frankie said:
30. Cal what ammo? I wonder if the JSB hades or predator polymags would help prevent passthrough?
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No, it would not. Not unless you were shooting the .30 with about 30fpe. Even with vital shots .22 goes through usually if you use domed pellets. .22 polymags help in reducing over penetration for headshots but even thode go through most times. There's just a lot less energy after it comes out for it to even matter.
 
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Flpanhandler said:
Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

View attachment 448164
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A.177 or .22 max is all you need
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
No, it would not. Not unless you were shooting the .30 with about 30fpe. Even with vital shots .22 goes through usually if you use domed pellets. .22 polymags help in reducing over penetration for headshots but even thode go through most times. There's just a lot less energy after it comes out for it to even matter.
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100% confirmed. I just got a tree rat at 15 yards in my chicken feed. Left shoulder hit with 25 cal 38 fpe, stayed just under the skin on the right side.

This one had a pellet scar on its back right leg, and you could tell the bone had broken and healed crooked. Tough fuggers. Wasn't me who had previously shot him either, guess my neighbors are getting sick of them too!
 
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Dr. Kralenstein said:
100% confirmed. I just got a tree rat at 15 yards in my chicken feed. Left shoulder hit with 25 cal 38 fpe, stayed just under the skin on the right side.

This one had a pellet scar on its back right leg, and you could tell the bone had broken and healed crooked. Tough fuggers. Wasn't me who had previously shot him either, guess my neighbors are getting sick of them too!
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See, I'm not sure why that's not usually my case when I got shooting iguanas. I always figured due to iguanas having thougher skin than almost every small game animal you could think off, the pellets must stay inside, but even in 3-4 foot iguanas which usually have a 3-4" width shoulder to shoulder. Pellets zip right through, domed pellets ofcourse. The only time I've had pellets remain inside is if I go for a frontal heart shot, then I usually find the pellet about 6 or 7 inches down the iguanas body near the spine under skin.

Which is why I rarely use pellets anymore, I just use high expansion slugs, specially since I shoot then as close as a few feet away and as far as 180yds out. But I also carry didnt rufles for different distances and locations.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
See, I'm not sure why that's not usually my case when I got shooting iguanas. I always figured due to iguanas having thougher skin than almost every small game animal you could think off, the pellets must stay inside, but even in 3-4 foot iguanas which usually have a 3-4" width shoulder to shoulder. Pellets zip right through, domed pellets ofcourse. The only time I've had pellets remain inside is if I go for a frontal heart shot, then I usually find the pellet about 6 or 7 inches down the iguanas body near the spine under skin.

Which is why I rarely use pellets anymore, I just use high expansion slugs, specially since I shoot then as close as a few feet away and as far as 180yds out. But I also carry didnt rufles for different distances and locations.
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You had pass thru with the polymags as well? I will get pass thru if I crank them up into the 45-50 fpe range. That's on squirrels only. Rabbits and birds they just go on thru and usually leave a large hole on the exit side.

Squirrel fur is very dense, might be why they stop inside them. I'd guess iguana scales don't clog up the hollow point on the polymag.
 
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Dr. Kralenstein said:
You had pass thru with the polymags as well? I will get pass thru if I crank them up into the 45-50 fpe range. That's on squirrels only. Rabbits and birds they just go on thru and usually leave a large hole on the exit side.

Squirrel fur is very dense, might be why they stop inside them. I'd guess iguana scales don't clog up the hollow point on the polymag.
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With body shots the polymags for sure stay inside, my issue with them is that I've never gotten then to be as accurate as any other pellet or slug beyond 45yds so they're not part of my inventory and to get decent accuracy I've had to shoot them around 800fps.

And I guess you would be right, iguana skin is hard to tear, but quiet easy to puncture. It's literally very thin leather, and they have almost no fat.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
With body shots the polymags for sure stay inside, my issue with them is that I've never gotten then to be as accurate as any other pellet or slug beyond 45yds so they're not part of my inventory and to get decent accuracy I've had to shoot them around 800fps.

And I guess you would be right, iguana skin is hard to tear, but quiet easy to puncture. It's literally very thin leather, and they have almost no fat.
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Makes sense. Polymags for tend to open up, and unpredictably, past 40 or so yards. I do get some hits out to 50 with them on starlings, but I wouldn't trust long shots with them on squirrels. I wish I had iguanas too shoot here, but I'd never go to work then!
 
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Flpanhandler said:
Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

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Darn that looks like great fun. Well Done👍👍
 
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Dr. Kralenstein said:
Makes sense. Polymags for tend to open up, and unpredictably, past 40 or so yards. I do get some hits out to 50 with them on starlings, but I wouldn't trust long shots with them on squirrels. I wish I had iguanas too shoot here, but I'd never go to work then!
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Luckily for me that is my Monday through Friday job! With the occasional iguana tours on the weekends.
 
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Flpanhandler said:
Went out and dispatched 31 iguanas the other day with my buddy in about 4-1/2 hours. Probably had another 5 that took head shots and ran into residential areas. Lots of pregnant females in this bunch.
Took most of them down with an avenger .25 and a few with an FX impact .30 which is overkill for these dragons because most shots are through and through with .30. Guess I could turn it down a bit and see but .25 is a really great pellet for them.

View attachment 448164
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Where in the panhandle are you hunting these? I am in south Alabama and that looks like a lot of fun if I don't have to travel to the bottom of Florida to get to them.
 
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