I've heard the feds like shooting dogs so there may be some good data that can be utilized for hunting coyotes.Until the feds do a technical study on the game I hunt, I'll pass on that report.
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Minimum amount of energy required
- Thread starter Corvid_hunter
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i had couple scene when hunting. the squirrel face to face with me. mostly right up my head stick in the tree facing down to me. i take a shot. they fell when i check my poi. pellet just pass the head shaving the head hair. just can see the white skin.1 line. no hole. no blood. but died. how about that? any same experience? .177 cal
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About 5 months ago I started doing professional pest control, over the last few months I’ve shot over 2000 rabbits.
I can’t tell you what the minimum FPE required is to kill a rabbit, but I can tell you what I use.
I have used .25 at 30fpe, I have used .22 at 25FPE, I have used .22 at 13fpe.
They all kill rabbits, head shots drop them on the spot but over penetrate (a rabbits head is 6cm wide, u can’t expect it to stop a pellet or slug with that much energy), chest shots go stright through, but if it’s a slug or a pellet like a hades that can expand, it might expand and not exit. The energy dump usually drops them where they stand.
Here’s where it gets interesting…
Most of my work I do with a .177, shooting a 8.44gr JSB exact. At 813fps at the muzzle they are carrying just 12.3FPE as the head off down range.
They don’t expand, so why do I use them? Because they are the most accurate, not at 30 or at 50yards, but out at 80yards.
95% of my shots are head shots, and the majority are at 30 to 40yards, but on calm nights I do take head shots at 60, 70 and 80 yards. I don’t know how much energy a 8.44gr pellet is still carrying at those distances, but I can tell you that if u shoot a rabbit in the head with 12.3FPE muzzle energy, it will still pass through the head at 60yards, and a rabbit will still drop stone dead from 12.3FPE, if u hit it in the head at 96yards.
Because I sometimes work around peoples houses and cars, ricochet's are a big concern, so I turn the rifles power down to 4.7FPE (at the muzzle) I use this setting to head shot rabbits out to 25y, and a head shot from 4.7FPE at 25y will STILL exit a rabbits head. I suspect that a rabbit head shot at that distance with as little as 3FPE might not exit, but will still kill.
I also do pigeon control. 4.7FPE head or neck/spine shot will drop it on the spot (obviously). But a chest shot (into the breast mussels, pigeons are exceptionally strong flyers and have huge breast musscles) will not drop it. It will fly away, and die of its injury’s at a later date. This is lethal, but is neither desirable or humane. However 7FPE at the muzzle, out to 20yards, will drop a pigeon from just about any angle.
I can’t tell you what the minimum FPE required is to kill a rabbit, but I can tell you what I use.
I have used .25 at 30fpe, I have used .22 at 25FPE, I have used .22 at 13fpe.
They all kill rabbits, head shots drop them on the spot but over penetrate (a rabbits head is 6cm wide, u can’t expect it to stop a pellet or slug with that much energy), chest shots go stright through, but if it’s a slug or a pellet like a hades that can expand, it might expand and not exit. The energy dump usually drops them where they stand.
Here’s where it gets interesting…
Most of my work I do with a .177, shooting a 8.44gr JSB exact. At 813fps at the muzzle they are carrying just 12.3FPE as the head off down range.
They don’t expand, so why do I use them? Because they are the most accurate, not at 30 or at 50yards, but out at 80yards.
95% of my shots are head shots, and the majority are at 30 to 40yards, but on calm nights I do take head shots at 60, 70 and 80 yards. I don’t know how much energy a 8.44gr pellet is still carrying at those distances, but I can tell you that if u shoot a rabbit in the head with 12.3FPE muzzle energy, it will still pass through the head at 60yards, and a rabbit will still drop stone dead from 12.3FPE, if u hit it in the head at 96yards.
Because I sometimes work around peoples houses and cars, ricochet's are a big concern, so I turn the rifles power down to 4.7FPE (at the muzzle) I use this setting to head shot rabbits out to 25y, and a head shot from 4.7FPE at 25y will STILL exit a rabbits head. I suspect that a rabbit head shot at that distance with as little as 3FPE might not exit, but will still kill.
I also do pigeon control. 4.7FPE head or neck/spine shot will drop it on the spot (obviously). But a chest shot (into the breast mussels, pigeons are exceptionally strong flyers and have huge breast musscles) will not drop it. It will fly away, and die of its injury’s at a later date. This is lethal, but is neither desirable or humane. However 7FPE at the muzzle, out to 20yards, will drop a pigeon from just about any angle.
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I've shot 7 more squirrels with my 18-19 fpe 177 (at the muzzle) since my post 2 years ago on this topic. I haven't taken a shot past 35 yards with it so fpe at impact was 12 or more. My conclusion is still the same. It works fine but doesn't kill quite as quickly as my 30-40 fpe 22s and 25s. The only one I lost was a shot I shouldn't have taken. All I could see was the rear end. I think I parallized the back legs (it dropped quickly) but it crawled off where I couldn't find it. It might have gone better with one of my 25s but I still shouldn't take that sort of shot.
If all you have is a 12 fpe airgun and you want to hunt with it I agree you can kill things and you can even get clean kills. But you better place your shots well. With 2 or 3 times as much fpe there is more margin for a little worse shot placement and a better chance of a quick DRT result. With only 12 fpe (at the muzzle) I'd go for a head shot. I also have noticed that seems to be what our British friends do most of the time with their airguns at this level of power. But I've dropped several squirrels very quickly, they took only a step or two, with my 19 fpe 177. One was a placement that was virtually identical to one with my 32 fpe 22. The difference was about two steps by the squirrel. Shots went diagonally through the chest.
A factor in favor of the 177 is also true of wadcutters. Their projectiles have pretty bad bcs so they will not travel as far. Like maybe half as far as my more powerful guns. So it is preferable for shots up in trees in populated areas.
If all you have is a 12 fpe airgun and you want to hunt with it I agree you can kill things and you can even get clean kills. But you better place your shots well. With 2 or 3 times as much fpe there is more margin for a little worse shot placement and a better chance of a quick DRT result. With only 12 fpe (at the muzzle) I'd go for a head shot. I also have noticed that seems to be what our British friends do most of the time with their airguns at this level of power. But I've dropped several squirrels very quickly, they took only a step or two, with my 19 fpe 177. One was a placement that was virtually identical to one with my 32 fpe 22. The difference was about two steps by the squirrel. Shots went diagonally through the chest.
A factor in favor of the 177 is also true of wadcutters. Their projectiles have pretty bad bcs so they will not travel as far. Like maybe half as far as my more powerful guns. So it is preferable for shots up in trees in populated areas.
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I think its about 3 FPE. That would be minimum FPE.
I have taken lots of Columbian ground squirrels with my 10 FPE .177 BSA S10. The longest shot was 35 yds and they are all head shots. I get a few pass thru at 25 - 30 yds even at that power.
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Sometimes I can get that close. Depends if its a colony I have hit recently. most shots take place from 60 yds - 100 yds. Thats when I use my .22, .25 or .30.
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When the stars are aligned I use my .22 with 22gr Slugs out to 125 yards, good results if I do my part, otherwise my .25 Maverick with either 33.95's or 26gr RMR/FX slugs, again my part seems to come into play, weird on that.
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My 2 cents are simple: shot placement vs animal. Period. I killed my first coyote with a .22 springer. It was a gut shot but he circled back and died. My first ever kill was a cottontail from about 15 feet away when I was six with a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. Hit him in the head. He started flopping around so I ran over and stomped his widdle head. FPE is nice, but I never look or consider that stuff; I simply know what my gun will do on what critters. Don't get me wrong but good shot placement with the right pellet will do it every time.
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The HP2's with 62 ft/lbs behind them really tears their butts up
Yes it does but they still manage to crow back into their hole, it’s just not as satisfying if I can retrieve the body and take a picture with it.
Sound of a hollow point slug hitting them is something else!
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You never get tired of that sound! And they don't make in back in unless I place a bad shot. Just nerves twitching. Toast.Yes it does but they still manage to crow back into their hole, it’s just not as satisfying if I can retrieve the body and take a picture with it.
Sound of a hollow point slug hitting them is something else!
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Hard to get headshots, couldn't get closer than 150 yards to these guys. some of our shots are up to 250 yards, plenty of energy on vital shots but their holes are mere inches away.
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Or if you leave them out long enough, their buddies will drag them in. Then there's the turkey vultures.
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I'm not hitting them that far, most up to maybe 100 yards. I got a lot of brush to clear, then I can stretch that out further.
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At least around me, they will leave their hole and look for food. Had them come in on our car port.
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That's what happened to me last week, two solid THUNKS and, gone, both of them,. The last one was a neck shot, it didn't have enough blood to go anywhere.
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Of course shot placement is key. But the reality is if you hunt long enough and often enough sometimes you miss your aim point. Anyone who says they never miss.............well..................ok then. LOL
The key is to have a bit of built in insurance for those shots that aren't quite perfect.
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