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Seriously taking squirrels with 12ft lb?!

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Lots of good comments offered. As usual, there is not a right or wrong. I think the takeaway might be this, any of the power options discussed can work well, or fail miserably. If we become competent with the rifle we prefer, we will be successful. My 11.5 ft lb .177 is great at the distance to which I'm restricted in the yard, about 35 yards. If I take an air rifle on a legitimate hunt, it will be something else, probably a 30 fpe .22, with which I would limit my shots to about 60 yards. When I was a serious squirrel hunter, I used several match grade .22 rimfire rifles, and I didn't stretch their distance much farther. At the time, I would have considered it inconceivable to kill squirrels at 50 yards with a "pellet gun". The state of the art has certainly advanced!
 
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@elh0102 Exactly right. No two shots react the same so you play a percentage game with shots. I have what I call high percentage shots and low percentage shots. I have developed the knowledge from decades of pesting/hunting small game with airguns from the time I was about 6 years old. What I consider to be the correct shot may not work for another person cause I base that decision on previous shots that I have experienced. I was luck enough to grow up with a dad that hunted big game, waterfowl and small game that taught me early about shot placement and then also be able to go out and put it into practice with my airgun and learn hard lessons in the field when something went wrong. I dont claim to be perfect but I have been luck enough to have the ability to hone my hunting/ shooting skills for a long time and that definitely helps to make better shot decisions in the field. You will always have a shot go wrong if you do enough shooting and it can be from a bad decision or bad luck with an animal moving at the wrong time. Just remember to learn from each experience and try to understand the limits of each shot and try to make the right call.
 
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Feels like it’s not a fpe question but a caliber question. My experience of shooting squirrel with a 12 or 15fpe .177 makes no difference and heat and lung shots hardly ever results in DRT. The damage to the lungs is small enough in my opinion that the squirrel can get a last breath sorta allowing them to run a few yards. I think of the .177 as an arrow. It pokes a hole that bleeds out more than blunt force trauma.
Now for a .22 sub 12 and 30fpe shooting domes to heart lungs result in squirrels dropping in spot dead. I believe it’s the wound to lung/heart tissue ratio that = faster death. But for my fastest death it’s the .30 at 30 fpe it causes so much trauma to the muscle/Skelton that the front legs don’t work and the lungs are jelly that i almost never get a single tail twitch. When brain shooting the sub 12 in .177 has resulted in the pop thud sound effects. Sure their tail flicks a bit but that’s about it.
I do .177 for heads and .22 and up for heart lung. Shooting a few with a sub 12 .25 has been DRT as well but shots with it are 30yd and under.
 
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I've been pesting tree rats for a few years now. This past year (so far) I only took about ~110 and that is about a third of what I was taking in my backyard for the last couple of years when I kept accurate records... it was probably higher than that before I started keeping records!

So, I would say I am a successful pester.

When I started, I read a lot of forums and the consensus was to take head shots. Well, I tried that and even with what seemed to be perfect shots, I still had to make PBR follow up kill shots most of the time. The problem was/is that making a good, clean head shot leaves little room for error.

So, I studied tree rat anatomy with my attention focused on the pump that runs everything... the heart.

Once I understood where the pump was located, I dedicated myself to making pump (heart) shots and guess what?

I haven't had to make those close range follow up kill shots anywhere near so often. And for you naysayers who say I just don't talk about it, you haven't viewed my posts listing my kills... have you?

Anyway, this was ALL done with airguns shooting right around 12fpe at the muzzle. Pass through was common even at 40 yards, but I kept the power at this level for the trajectory that I had become used to.

Also, I use HIGH powered scopes and leave them at the highest setting unless lighting conditions force me to back off/open up the scope.

In any case, if you think you NEED more power or a larger caliber, first look at how accurate/precise you are with your shots.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Haven't heard this in a while here, but it always annoyed me when I read someone saying their gun was "boringly accurate".

Well, if it is, then there is NO excuse for missing a heart shot or even a head shot on a tree rat! (chuckle)

BTW, there are no "Ninja" tree rats, just bad shots behind the gun. (smile)
 
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Bander124 said:
Feels like it’s not a fpe question but a caliber question. My experience of shooting squirrel with a 12 or 15fpe .177 makes no difference and heat and lung shots hardly ever results in DRT. The damage to the lungs is small enough in my opinion that the squirrel can get a last breath sorta allowing them to run a few yards. I think of the .177 as an arrow. It pokes a hole that bleeds out more than blunt force trauma.
Now for a .22 sub 12 and 30fpe shooting domes to heart lungs result in squirrels dropping in spot dead. I believe it’s the wound to lung/heart tissue ratio that = faster death. But for my fastest death it’s the .30 at 30 fpe it causes so much trauma to the muscle/Skelton that the front legs don’t work and the lungs are jelly that i almost never get a single tail twitch. When brain shooting the sub 12 in .177 has resulted in the pop thud sound effects. Sure their tail flicks a bit but that’s about it.
I do .177 for heads and .22 and up for heart lung. Shooting a few with a sub 12 .25 has been DRT as well but shots with it are 30yd and under.
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I can't argue the relative value of caliber or energy, but my experience is very different. Almost without exception, a heart/lung shot with a 12 fpe .177 has resulted in a clean, quick kill. My shots are almost all inside 35 yards, and I don't take a shot unless conditions are good for an accurate hit.
 
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LDP said:
I came late to this post so I didnt even bother reading any replies and I really dont need to for my response. If you have trouble killing squirrels at 20 yds with 12 fpe its you and your ability not the power level. Across the pond they are not even using 12 fpe they are limited to 12 fpe and less. No one wants to get in trouble so the highest most will have a rifle tuned is 11 fpe with allot being around 10 fpe. The 12 fpe law does not state with your pellet. If they get stopped and checked by the local law enforcement which happens regularly in the UK the power level is checked with the pellet of choice the officer/ constable wants to use. If his pellet of choice produces 12.1 fpe you are in big trouble. So no one with a brain will push the limit. They came up with the 12 fpe law based on how much power is needed to humanely kill small game. 12 fpe is plenty to humanely kill small game but the hunter has to be able to shoot accurately and have the rifle setup to shoot accurately. If you are not humanely killing small game at that power level you need more practice and study the animals anatomy and understand where the shot placement needs to be at different angles.
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Well said.
 
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