Interesting Article about Projectile Size in Hunting

Actually the physics become quite different when harvesting deer sized game with an air gun. The study was more focused broadly on recovery of shot deer and effectiveness of using dogs and seems really incomplete in the findings for the effectiveness of different calibers, for me at least. I would have rather seen a comparison of calibers with the same shot placement at same distances to get a better read on that. Aside from that, half the deer taken ind the study were all dropped on the spot and were taken with a neck, spine or shoulder shot. I am assuming the shoulder shot was a high double shoulder shot snapping the spine as well. These shots would only work with a high power centerfire. The guns used ranged from (guessing on the loads and speeds but these are avg) the 200gr nosler .300 mag humming along at 3100 fps with 4000fpe down to the meager .243 which was sending a 95gr out the muzzle at 3100fps for 2100fpe. It is the concussion that is doing the damage in these instances severely damaging the spinal column rendering the animal instantly immobile. With those kinds of energies the bullet is basically creating a small explosion on impact just under the surface, about the size of an soft ball and radiating out. You can see the energy ripple out from the poi in hd vids of deer hunts. 
Most of the big bore air guns that would be used for deer hunting are generating 10-20 times less energy, and that means the target reacts completely different on impact and it becomes more about accurately taking out vital organs or circulatory system components. A nice visual and diy experiment would be to find a pudding like mud puddle next time it rains. Lay a string on top of the mud. There's the spine or vein. Now take 2 small rocks as similar as you can find and one simply hold out above the puddle and drop it. It should make a nice hole and 'sluuuup' sound. Did you hit the string? Close but didn't bother it right? Now take the second rock and rare back and throw it as hard as you can in the mud. The puddle will be a bit more animated and you will uncontrollably grin, and that is only around 5 times the energy if you have a killer arm. The string probably moved. So big game air rifle hunting is more akin to drilling a hole your bore size thru the animal. You wanna make sure you are cutting a hole in the heart, lungs, and as many veins and arteries as possible, just like bow hunting. You also want to have enough penetration to exit the animal. You are just drilling a hole remember. You get more blood flowing out of two holes than one and you know with a pass thru that you definitely made it to the organs giving a quicker cleaner kill. With a centerfire, yes you would want the bullet to stop just under the skin because its killing power is the in energy it is carrying and you want that to be dumped in the animal. The killing power of an air rifle is its wound channel size. So you want bigger diameter with enough penetration to pass thru whatever you are shooting.

btw.. Kudos on taking the initiative and doing something about your state's hunting regs

Nice to see someone taking the initiative to help make hunting better. From what I recall from my hunter safety course archery started out as not seen as a very lethal and ethical harvesting method. It wasn't until they proved that the low speed arrows had the penetration power. I recall the video had a bucket of sand and a mirror behind it. The powder burner did not go through the bucket but the arrow went through bucket continued through mirror and beyond. Best of luck on your endeavor.

"ztirffritz"My only concern is that these are the same people who created I-594, Washington's background check requirement law. If they realize that airguns are effective for hunting, they may re-write the wording for I-594 to include airguns. I figure that will happen eventually anyway so I'm not going to worry about it.

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Ha, I wanted to do the same some time ago, but re-considered for the reason quoted. Would not want to accelerate the process. There is not much I would want to hunt with a sub 40ft lb airgun (I am not into big bores), except perhaps turkey, which are rare as hens teeth anyway in our state. Squirrels (non native species) are already legal to take with an airgun.

Out of curiosity, what would you hunt with an AG in WA if regulations were to be changed?

I have hunted both with a gun, and a bow, I also know a person who hunts with a black powder muzzle loader.
A bow or crossbow doesn't kill with KE nor hydrostatic shock. It kills in the same manner a knife or spear would that is to say it cuts vital organs and blood vessels and when a proper shot placement is made causes dramatic blood pressure loss stopping the heart. The only part KE plays in an arrows killing potential is its ability to pass through bone and depth of the cut
A black powder weapons does cause some hydrostatic shock but nothing near that of todays firearms it too primarily kills by piercing vital organs. Black powder slugs also tend to tumble on entering a body causing a tearing effect.
A firearm has three effects punching the hole, the bullet tumbling and fragmentation. And the hydrostatic shock, I am sure you all have seen some old war submarine movies when depth charges are dropped and you see how the water sucks in then blows out then back in. A mammals body is mostly water and very close to that very same effect happens when a very fast bullet passes through tissue and more so through blood bearing organs.
I would compare an air rifle closest to a black powder rifle in its effect to tissue. That is to say when a slug or pellet impacts tissue it will tumble to some degree and pierce but it will not in most cases have the speed to produce hydrostatic shock. This means most lethal body shots will be a result of blood loss. I am talking about larger game not rabbits and such.
One side note and this is an issue that bow hunters find themselves in all the time. The fact is when a hunter is using a weapon that primarily kills by blood loss it is important the Hunter understands the vital kill areas at the different angles. They will also need to be prepared to track the game they shoot because it will most likely not just drop and die and while head shots might look cool on a bird at a 100 yards a miss on a deer is more likely result in a non fatal injury

A couple of thoughts .First I have killed more than a few deer by rifle,black powder,bow cross bow and hopefully this year with an air gun .I agree with the fact that a small cal.will cause death in a deer .But from personal experience lack of knock down by ft.lbs..and small projectiles hitting bone prevents pass through in many cases .A lot of times such animals.Even with heart shots deer running hundreds of yards are more common than not .I would get a big bore black powder and shoot it .Chrony it .Shoot ballistic gel with it and record the results .Then I would do the same thing with a big bore air gun .I would contact the DNR with My documented findings .Also state the benefits of air gun hunting .Quite so that they could be used to harvest problem deer in the more populated areas .Less chance of ricochet .and so on .I would Leave the small caliber issue out as many hunters Myself would not seek to encourage small caliber big game hunting due to wounding and not finding deer due to being mortally wounded but unable to recover due to distance ran and lack of blood trail .Be nice,have patience .You will run into resistance .People do like change . They will not want somebody coming in and killing their deer .It took us many many years to get cross bow hunting in NC.The main resistance the NC bow hunters .Find like minded hunters .Form clubs .Invite wildlife agents to Your shoots and meetings.There is power in numbers .I wish You the best of luck . Stan

I feel it might be worth mentioning that Washington already has a bit more restrictions on deer hunting. As far as I know at least. I grew up in northwest Washington, and have traveled a little bit. Most other states that I know of have a minimum caliber for deer at any centerfire .22. Where as Washington has a minimum caliber of a 243 with a 100 grain bullet. We all know you can kill a deer with good shot placement and a rimfire .22, but the key word is shot placement. I have seen guys that will shoot at movement in the bushes!! Or unload there 4 round magazine in the butt of a fleeing deer. And as you sort of stated already. The voting majority lives west of the mountains, and they are fairly anti hunting and anti gun rights. 

Really, the only reason I felt the need to say anything is that you are already in a state where they want more than what is needed to humanly take down a deer. They already know the minimum it takes but still choose to have a law that states you need more than the minimum.

Texas actually has bylaws that makes it a crime to shoot an animal and not track it.
The only game animal allowed to be taken with an air rifle is squirrel and no rimfire at all.
I agree with a previous post test and prove, but I would take it to another step. Talk to your local game warden and explain what you are doing. Then take a deer by legal means and before you dress it out test the air rifle out with a double lung shot at 50-60 yards.
You might even find the game warden will want to witness the test, or provide you with a recently illegal killed deer to test with.

The high velocity of centerfire rifles cannot be compared with the low velocity of pellet guns. Look into hydrostatic shock. That's why a .22 cal AR 15 can kill and a Marauder in 22 does not compare. I think the energy formula is one half mass times velocity squared, and with air guns we just don't have the velocity. A general rule is that you need about 1000 ft. pounds at point of impact to quickly put down a deer. That's why we see big game air gunners taking head shots.

And good luck getting anything pro gun done in the peoples democratic republik of Washington.