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Good day all! I'm planning to use an air gun to hunt small game with in the prairie provinces of Canada.



I plan to use a Crosman .22 Nitro Piston powered air rifle and I believe I'm going to be hunting these things called 'sandhill cranes.'



I'm super excited, except--



I've never been hunting before, I've never even shot a gun EXCEPT for a pellet rifle, but that was over two decades ago (super fun memory!) 



It's kind of embarrassing because I'm now a thirty year old male. I have no idea what I'm doing or what to expect. 



Would someone be able to give me a brief overview of where to go to educate myself on shooting? A good research guide? I literally don't know anything, I'm slowly figuring things out one step at a time. I don't want to go out into the wilderness and make a mistake and hurt myself or someone else. Any advice is appreciated, because as I've said, I'm a newb and I literally don't know anything. Thanks 
 
Welcome to a great forum, lots of great folks here totally willing to help you get through any airgun issues. You are going to have a lot of fun that’s for sure. As far as the hunting goes my advice is to make a few cardboard sand hill cranes and then practice headshots. That way you will know ahead of time how close you need to be. In my opinion a headshot is the only option for a bird that large. You will probably need a blind or a ghillie suit to get close enough. Sandhills with a spring airgun is a huge challenge that’s for sure!
 
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YES, by all means don't go out after a bird that size unless you know you can make a clean and humane kill. I'm no expert but I'd be hard pressed to believe any normal springer airgun 22 cal or below would make a clean quick kill on a bird like that with anything less than a head shot. Yeah, you'll kill them with a lung/body shot, but it will take a while and the bird will fly away and you'll likely never find it.

You've never been hunting before and you seem to not even know anything about these "things". I really don't think you should just jump into this like that. Start with small game like a squirrel or something. Learn how to HUNT and don't kill just for the sake of killing.

Hunting is a fine sport and I hope you do get involved with it. But do it the right way.
 
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There is no SHORT CUT around the learning curve involved with airguns. It takes time, practice & research to become a proficient shooter & HUNTING ETHICS demand that we make ethical & humane kills on living things or there are no ethics involved! Welcome to airguns but IMHO you're getting WAY ahead of yourself by not taking it one step at a time! Mike Bricker (Centercut) & I were discussing last week how too many people see videos of incredible shots made with incredible airguns & then, falsely believe that if they buy that gun then, they too, can make the same shots IMMEDIATELY! It takes practice, practice & then more practice, getting to know your gun, getting to know your abilities, learning to read the wind & your surroundings, etc. Sometimes these kind of posts worry me. Don't get me wrong, I love going out hunting but DID NOT start doing it for a year after I got my 1st gun & had learned a whole lot more than I'd known a year earlier. Don't worry too much about your planned "destination" but learn to enjoy the "journey"! Welcome aboard! 

Edited because I never addressed your questions. I personally took an online firearms safety course & got a hunting license here in the States (California to be specific). Don't know how Canada does it. Just do it one (correct) step at a time! 
 
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I am pretty jealous that you can hunt Sandhills with an airgun. That is definitely my favorite waterfowl of all! By far the best tasting! As has been said, your choice of weapons is definitely not ideal... Make sure you practice a ton before you get out after them. Make up some targets about the size of the head and practice at all yardages you will be hunting at. And once you find a range that can hit it in the head every single shot then stick with that range and don't be tempted to take a longer shot. If you find that you cannot hit it consistently in the head every single time, hold off hunting them until you can find a better weapon and practice a ton with that one before you head out! Once you get to that point, I really look forward to hearing stories about your hunt! 👊
 
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I agree and would follow all the advice that was already given. I was lucky enough to learn when I was really young. Actually too young to hunt yet. My grandfather used to let me go along with him when he went rabbit hunting. He had Beagles that would run the rabbits.He always told me to stay behind him while he was walking through the woods.And there was things that he would tell me about gun safety and when he was done hunting he would take me out and let me shoot his shotgun. Then later on I got my first BB gun. And my uncle was also a lot of help and taught me gun safety and how to shoot. He didn’t hunt too much though. He was more into collecting and target shooting. But that was my hunter safety course.I also did a lot of reading of hunting magazines that taught me certain things.But not everybody has those same options and should take a hunter safety course. And even after taking a hunter safety course, it would help if you knew somebody that was very experienced in hunting to take you and teach you things.Although I have never taken a hunter safety course ,Some of the idiots that I encountered in the woods and seeing some of the things they did makes me believe it definitely should be mandatory.And like was already said don’t just jump right into it. 
 
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In Canada even airguns of moderate power are considered firearms and require a license to purchase, which requires that you first take a firearms safety course. In most provinces you also need to pass a hunter safety course before obtaining a hunting license. Finally, sandhill cranes are a migratory species and must be hunted with a shotgun using non-toxic shot in USA and Canada.

So no escaping the training you are looking for, and you won't be hunting sandhills with your airgun. But squirrels and rabbits might be fair game. Check your local laws and good luck.
 
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Absolutely! Please, allow me to ease everyone's concern here. I'm not here to kill just for the sake of killing something, or worse, maiming and/or wounding. I do NOT want to cause an animal unnecessary pain or hardship, so I would prefer to ONLY take headshots, if at all possible. I want to put the animal out instantly. I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself if I ended up maiming an animal and pursued it only to have to hurt it again to put it out of its misery. 

I'm of metis origin, and as such we have harvesting privileges here in Canada. I am allowed to fish and harvest small game. I never got a chance to go harvesting last year when sandhill cranes were on the table, it might be something different this year. I'll leave a link to the organization that permits us to harvest and what type of animals we are allowed to harvest if anyone is interested in taking a look https://www.rupertsland.org

I feel an obligation to be as responsible as I can possibly be, not only to Rupertsland and my ancestors, but to you guys as well. I can only imagine the stories you must've heard throughout the years of irresponsible people that have tarnished the image of airgun users. I do not plan to be one of those people. I know these things are dangerous. 

I can only obtain an air rifle that has a max FPS velocity of 500 unless I tried to obtain a PAL. But from the reviews I've read about this Crosman .22 it should be enough to do the job IF I make my shot. (Which I'm going to put the work into to make happen) It has 495 FPS and 18 FPE. I also plan to use Predator PolyMag or Predator MetalMag, depending on the circumstance of what I'm allowed to harvest. I'm open to suggestions about obtaining a different rifle without requiring a PAL if you have any. I haven't researched extensively but this rifle seems to be one of the most powerful options I've found that is readily available to me. I might be granted permission to harvest larger game (if that's possible) somewhere down the line, so I would like to have an option that is powerful enough to take down my game as quickly and as humanely as possible. And to assist me with that, I plan to equip my rifle with a bipod and utilize the prone position to take my shot. Air cadets taught me this haha!

I know the road ahead of me is long, but I feel like I've got a good head on my shoulders and from the looks of things, a great forum with great people to look to to resolve any doubts I might have. I have a LOT of work to do still, lots of planning and research, but I feel like it can be done. Thanks again to everyone who is willing to offer tips and advice, you people are awesome. I will keep everyone updated on my journey to becoming the best and most responsible harvester that I can be!
 
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Okay, I understand now. Here are some further thoughts.

If you hunt small game long enough you will wound an animal and not recover it. Your only responsibility is to do the best you can to avoid that outcome.

Most places indicate that Canada also requires a firearm license for airguns in excess of 5.7 J (4.2 ft-lb). You may still need a firearms license to buy any type of rifle able to take something the size of a sandhill. For reference, Georgia does allow hunting of turkeys with an air rifle, but only of .30 caliber or larger.

Head shots with a rifle are often risky because animals seldom hold their head still for long. And the brain is a very small target. All too often just as you pull the trigger the animal moves its head, and you either miss or have a wounded animal to deal with. It can be done if you are very close and are sure the animal is not likely to move, but it would not be my first choice.

The most humane and effective weapons for sandhill in my opinion would be a shotgun, shooting for the head and neck, or a .22 magnum if going for body shots. Check out the many sites on turkey hunting for advice on equipment and techniques.

Many states and provinces have copies of their gun safety and hunter safety literature on line. I would look those up and read them for general background information on guns and hunting.

I applaude your desire to go about hunting the right way, and hope this helps.
 
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It definitely helps.

See, this is the thing that confuses me. I called my local auto store that sells pellet rifles and the rifle that I'm trying to acquire can be sold to me by just providing a driver's license to prove that I'm 18. I do not need to provide proof of a PAL (Prohibited Acquisition License) to purchase it. Several of the other 'high powered air rifles' that they sell are marketed as needing a PAL to purchase. 

HOWEVER, that same rifle does exceed the allowable joules of energy by a significant amount. It falls within the allowable velocity (495FPS) but the FPE is like, 18, iirc. So I just don't know. 

I got into a fight when I was 23 and I received a minor criminal record as a result, so unfortunately I'm not allowed to use anything with gunpowder. They will NOT grant me a PAL so I have to stick to using anything that falls under the parameter of a non-restricted firearm, which includes air rifles and bows. And that will actually be my next step, to inquire on the bow hunting forums on how to use arrows to hunt these things with if possible, if air rifles aren't as viable as I hope they will be. 





I need to explain something. I might be misunderstanding something, so please pardon my ignorance if this sounds outlandish or farfetched. When I hear the term 'game' I visualize making that PERFECT shot. When I say perfect, I mean perfect and NOT settling for anything less. It's about being proud of your ability and efficacy to do something that takes skill. I'm probably naive and immature, but I've played plenty of shooters on PC and I have an almost unhealthy obsession of only going for headshots. It feels SO good to successfully make those skill shots in the heat of the moment and I'm hoping that passion would help me in the hunt. I'm willing to practice extensively before going into the wild so that I KNOW how to shoot, I don't plan on just buying a rifle and walking into the wild somewhere before even taking it out of the box. I want to make good, clean shots that I can feel good about. Does that make sense? I don't wanna find some animals and just begin firing because "oh look, MEAT!" like some people might do. I want to work for my reward. I don't want things that are easy. 
 
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Sandhills, wish we could hunt them here! Ribeye in the sky, so they say. We can't touch them. They are everywhere down here, and about the dumbest birds you will find. They cause problems at local parks sometimes, taking food out of people's hands and getting aggressive. Not talking about being fed, talking about attacking people and taking their food.

Go for it, you can do it. Just put the time and effort into becoming a great marksman. Anything realistic is possible with enough effort.
 
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