Larger caliber, different shaped pellet or different shot placement

[oldsparky]

I have a .177 Daystate Huntsman and am shooting 10.34 JSB heavy’s. I shot 4 pigeons at 18 yards the other day. They were all looking at me and I shot each one just below the neck in the breast. 3 flew away. I have no doubt about the shots. So the question is do I need a heavier pellet or a different shot placement?



thanks

 

[Makoda]

Headshots, or a hollowpoint if you can get one to shoot in your gun. And one that expands, not cphp. I like the h&n Hunter or Hunter extremes both seem to shoot well in most of my rifles.

 

[socaloldman]

That is interesting. You have plenty of gun and power so shot placement is your key now. Cannot tell you how many hundreds of pigeons I have shot with a low power HW55 springer. They almost never flew away. Head shots or chest shots in the heart/ lungs . Neck shots also work. Look up the anatomy of the pigeon and study the location of the vitals. Practice and you will get it. Go here: https://www.google.com/search?q=pigeon+internal+anatomy&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7--m_k-7cAhXLrVQKHUpCCA8Q1QII9QEoAg&biw=1440&bih=662 



Check your pellets as you may be powering straight thru and not getting enough transfer of energy. The Huntsman is a great gun so at that close range if you cannot reduce the power then try using a wadcutter pellet . It does not take a lot of power to kill pigeons. Enjoy!

 

[JohnL57]

A crop full of grain sits right above the breast and can absorb even a solid hit. I've had it happen later in the day after the birds have filled up on grain and seed.

 

[AirNGasman]

I had VERY similar experiences with .177 and .20 calibers powerful enough that I thought they'd way-lay pigeons just fine, but didn't! Conversely, I've dropped a couple other pigeons instantly with single .22 pellets at 450 FPS from a Crosman 150 pistol. 

Assuming good shot placement and adequate penetration, pellet WEIGHT is a non-issue. That leaves shot placement and caliber, or a combination of both. To quote from my first book (The Manic Compressive, copyright 1998)- 

"Crows and pigeons are tough, and in my experience, often able to shrug off reasonably good hits from a .177. However I find the same hits with a .22 will often drop them. I now try to keep .177 shots on crows very high in the chest, while .22 is somewhat more forgiving of mid-chest hits."

By the way, if you hit the spine or backbone, it doesn't matter what caliber; they're coming right down!

 

[AnimalHitman]

Yes, Makota; the Hunter Extremes have a similar BC profile as the JSBs. That's quite remarkable for a hollow-point. They are all I shoot. 

 

[LDP]

Its shot placement. You dont need fancy pellets. If you are shooting straight on at the base of the neck you are most likely hitting above any organs that would cause an incapacitating shot.This is even more of a factor if you are shooting up at the pigeon. If the shot is at an upward angle you are going completely over any vital organs going for a base of the neck shot. Pigeons heart and lungs sit kinda low in the chest so a shot at the base of the neck will most likely completely miss the heart and if you are lucky just clip the top of the lung. If you just clip the top of the lung the birds going to be able to fly off. Just like socaloldman said you should look at a pic of the pigeons organs and lower the shot more into the chest and the pigeons will start dropping.

 

[Bob_O]

Different shot placement. 

Try at the base of the neck but above the breast muscles. If you get them in this area from the front, the pellet will most likely go through and strike the heart and/or lungs.

I have a 25 caliber shooting high velocity, and I still get birds that fly away if my shot placement end up not being good.

 

[Hookster]

I don't have any pigeon opportunities around me but I have shot several woodchucks out to 60ish yards with 10gr .177 and dropped them in their tracks. You have more than enough power, problem is .177 acts like a needle and just penetrates so placement as stated above is key. I have shot crows though and they go straight down with a chest hit. 

 

[oldsparky]

thanks. I plan to shoot a little lower. I am shooting them off a barn. so So the angle is all wrong.





thanks,