.25 enough for humane body shots on squirrels?

I’m in suburbia also and don’t want any reason to have any issues with neighbors and HOA. At 600FPS .25 pellets is the most effective squirrel setup especially if you want body shots. However it’s not good for target shooting because 25 pellets hitting paper even at that speed is really loud snapping sound. Plus .25 pellets are 6 cents a pop vs 1 cent a pop with the cheap Crosman pellets. The gun usually will be very quiet at that power with descent moderator. 



I haven’t seen a squirrel in 3 months so I’ve switched to .177 for target shooting and sparrow killing mostly because it’s MUCH quieter when it hits paper. Now that’s I’m a better shot I will try 177 on squirrels with headshots. Baiting them down with feed station will get them into exact spot you want them and zero your rifle accordingly then you will have no problem hitting them in the head plus they will hold still when eating peanuts. Don’t shoot squirrels in trees unless you are 100 confident of the back drop, just check out U.K. squirrel video and edgunleshiy videos on YouTube to setup feed stations for squirrels. I even have WiFi security camera on my bait/feed station so I know when they show up. Also don’t shoot them right away, let them have their fill and tell all their friends! Hahaha 


I know a lot of PCP threads are about power but a lot of time power goes against what you want. In back yard setup less power is actually more! Less chance of damage and injury, you simply can’t afford accidents now and days. Even with 7.9 grain .177 pellets in only shooting them at 750 FPS or 9.5 FPE, Still plenty for little critters in the back yard. In fact I probably could go a lot lower. 

Good luck on the hunt! It’s great fun trying to figure out how to trick those tree rats and nails them in the head. 

A double lung shot always results in a dead animal. I read a study that said a deer sized animal on average expires in 18 seconds when a double lung shot occurs with a firearm. The animal is essentially stunned from the energy dump then dies from asphyxiation. Similar thing happens when a deer is double lunged with an arrow but there is no energy transfer..just cutting. .My experience is that the arrow takes less than 18 seconds because there is a lot of hemorrhaging that causes the animal to pass out prior to it running out of air. How an animal reacts to a double lung pellet hit depends on the pellet design and how much energy is transferred.

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great answer! i was thinking of posting a similar comparison. no squrrel can live very long with a hole through both lungs! its all part of the hunt. most deer i shoot with my bow involve tracking a blood trail. i have never felt like it died an agonizing death!

A double lung shot always results in a dead animal. I read a study that said a deer sized animal on average expires in 18 seconds when a double lung shot occurs with a firearm. The animal is essentially stunned from the energy dump then dies from asphyxiation. Similar thing happens when a deer is double lunged with an arrow but there is no energy transfer..just cutting. .My experience is that the arrow takes less than 18 seconds because there is a lot of hemorrhaging that causes the animal to pass out prior to it running out of air. How an animal reacts to a double lung pellet hit depends on the pellet design and how much energy is transferred.

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great answer! i was thinking of posting a similar comparison. no squrrel can live very long with a hole through both lungs! its all part of the hunt. most deer i shoot with my bow involve tracking a blood trail. i have never felt like it died an agonizing death!

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only problem for us urban/suburbia folks is the yard is rather small, it’s very easy for them to run off to a different yard in mater of a second or two. Yes they WILL die but if it happens in neighbors yard then things get complicated......especially when you got retired furry critter loving neighbor! I’ve had what I thought was a good vital shot squirrel with 22 limp to another heard and hear about it weeks later.....fortunately no one knows about my shooting habit outside of my height directly behind me who spent 14k repairing his roof from squirrel damage. 


this is damage squirrels have done to a section of my neighbor’s roof. Needless to say he doesn’t have any problems with me reducing local invasive fox squirrel population. 
Consider yourself warned especially if you have curved Spanish tile roof.....which I also have. Airguns are heck a lot cheaper than 14k and all the hassles that goes along.

Good post. I should show that picture to my mother, who is appalled that I have started shooting squirrels. I think I'll save it.

I worry about misses or pass-throughs shattering roof tiles or tearing up shingles. Your thoughts?

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yeah the damage is shocking extensive, that’s not even a quarter of his roof! On the west coast we have been invaded by these aggressive orange fox squirrels who comply loves roofs and attics, incredibly difficult to deal with and massive damage. People think they are cute but they always change their mind when they got them in their attic and shown the roof repair bills, in most cases they are in the thousands and 10s of thousands. Kill all the orange invaders! 



I’ve Test shot tiles with .25 hades @600fps at 25 yards and it only leaves a little mark but YMMV! At 900 or even 800 FPS I’m sure it will crack tiles, in backyards you want to go as low power as you can get away with. If all your shots are within 25 yards even 550fps would be more than enough and still will have some pass throughs. at lower speed we are talking about quite the lob or arch to the trajectory so not knowing your exact distance means you will miss. This is why I keep on saying to setup bait stations at safe target locations, you will know exact yardage and put a pellet trap next to it or behind it so you know exactly where your pellet will land. Also with them occupied with peanuts they will present the rare chance of a no movement while they eat so you can take your time to shoot and not likely to miss. I highly recommend bait stations, I basically only shoot squirrels at bait stations and sparrows at the bird feeder. 

More then enough..177 will do the job

My squirrel body count this fall is currently 78. About 40 percent of those are body shots. I am shooting 18 ft lbs energy on about 75 of those shots with a .177. It definitely does the job without a question. I never hesitate if the head shot is not available for whatever reason. All pass throughs...



I shot the others with 22 and one with a 25. 





Now if you gut shot one, way back, it might take a while to die. But even when I have made those errors (very few) they are done within 5-10 seconds. I have a squirrel infestation so if anyone wants to talk about humane to me, their words goes into one ear, gains speed and shoots out the other. These rodents have caused a lot of damage and angst. If it's legal, I am shooting. If lead is not flying, squirrels are not dying.

A .25 has plenty of oomph for a humane body shot. With room to spare, which a .22 may or may not have. 

I read the headline question of this post and laughed out loud! With a .25 caliber using JSB 34gr pellets I decided to take a body shot at a full grown woodchuck so I wouldn't have to worry about a ricochet...spoiler alert, I still had to worry! He was 25 yards away when he heard me and stood right up and I shot fast and immediately heard the hit and the pellet ricocheting away. Yeah, I wouldn't worry about body shots on a squirrel with a .25. I was showing my sister another .25 a while back and she asked how powerful it was and I picked it up and shot through an old hard 2" thick hemlock staging plank like butter at 15 yards. Power isn't and never has been the issue anyway, it's all about shot placement. I have shot scores of squirrels with body shots, using a 12fpe FWB 124, way up at the top of oak trees. If your wondering what is inhumane, I would say one thing, a lack of practice and not knowing if you can pull off the shot and taking it anyway. All of this equipment these days is up to the task, it's really up to the shooter.

I shoot .177 exclusively. Head shots on pests like tree rats, chipmunks and rats used to be my mantra.

However, I switched to heart shots because they provided more consistent DRT kills.

Larger kill zone (not a lot larger, but larger) and when done properly, there is usually no blood. Stop the heart, the blood does not flow.

Yes, the target/pest does sometimes manage to run/climb a few feet before expiring, but then drops DRT.

To each their own... know your limitations.

Bait them in- put food out there positioned exactly in the safe firing line of where your shots can be taken in case of miss.

Baited caged traps work too- shoot them while stuck in the traps guaranteed no runaways to die next door.

Of course you SHOOT THEM while they are stuck inside the trap. Problems never going away if you release them ALIVE.

https://youtu.be/LIlY5QsqNq8

https://youtu.be/gw9lGnto_7g

https://youtu.be/wav9rVJ_Bo0

https://youtu.be/BEJ2Va5Ebcg

If you run out of air or pellets to shoot-

https://youtu.be/TL1HvJfID-4

https://youtu.be/lr0TVShiAC4

Rats and mice-

https://youtu.be/QzQ9KFClq0o

https://youtu.be/8OuCMJDpJJg

Check your local Home Depot and Lowe's and Ace Hardware too. Something like this or larger. Choose the ones with bigger holes in the cage to minimize the chance of pellet clippage.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074MDZN53/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&th=1

Pretty cool trick I heard about a while back.

Take some chestnuts (peanuts will probably work as well) and soak them in vodka or similar alcoholic beverage. Place them as bait. Squirrels will stuff their chubby little faces with the alcohol infused nuts and gat a buzz on, throwing them a tad off kilter. A lot slower and considerably easier to get in the crosshairs.

I personally use a .25 flash with a reg, tuned to right about 34fpe and take head shots on squirrels with 100% pass through.

Dingfelder said:

The A18 and 24 look fantastic, but unfortunately they do not ship to the U.S.

Most of the ones on Amazon are too small for anything but ground squirrels. There are a couple varieties of ones that look like tubes, and I might try those. It gets rainy in the PNW and stalking squirrels, even just hanging around with a window open from inside a house or RV, gets less and less appealing in the cold and rain.

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I'm in the PNW and I bought an A24 to try on nuisance jobs. I've found it to be completely worthless as a rat/squirrel trap. Somewhere around here I have a lot of video of rats almost getting in there far enough and then walking away. The A24 was set in a cage to exclude other critters and allow the rats in.

I would very much like to purchase the larger A18 for nuisance squirrel jobs. Almost all of those jobs are in attics. The company that produces/imports won't sell the A18 in the USA regardless of application.

The smaller A24 will stack mice in a neat pile. It resides in the corner of the garage next to the pet food.