Is there an estimate of how many foot pounds are needed to diverse hunt?

1 FPE to 1 PBW. So for a standard Texas Size Deer, a 150 fpe .25 caliber will kill it deader than a doorknob but our law requires 215 fpe, 800 fps 30 caliber PCP airgun. Squirrels are regulated to a .177 Caliber and 600 fps which I think is maybe to light but still is around 8 fpe which is over the 1fpe to 1 lb ratio?

I have only taken squirrels in my backyard so far with air rifles. I used my Prod. With the stock tune, the muzzle energy was 13-14 fpe. I changed the tune when I had a couple run off with what I am pretty sure was a solid hit to the vitals. I had no problem when I hit the brain but those shots did not exit either. When I tuned it up to 17-18 fpe at the muzzle, 14-15 fpe at impact, they stopped running. The last six have been dead right there. They did not move more than 3 feet laterally after the impact (most were shot out of trees and fell 15-20 feet vertically). Head shots exit as do shots from the side to the body. Body shots to the front angling back do not exit but end up under the hide after passing through the squirrel diagonally. The trama is enough they expire very quickly.

On the other end of things I hit one squirrel with a pump up 177, a 1377, with about 5 fpe. I hit the front shoulder and it did not make it into the vitals. I found it several days later. That leg was broken so it could not climb and probably got an infection or something. I have not shoot at squirrels with that gun again. It does not have the necessary penetration.

I would read that table as talking about brain shots. Body shots need more fpe to do enough damage the animal does not suffer.

Big bores on big game are most similar to black powder guns, not more modern powder burners.

I am not a fan of expanding pellets or slugs for air rifles. The issue is the limited velocity and energy mean that penetration is quite shallow if the projectile expands. With 70-100 ft lbs on little birds that would be fine. But not if you are trying to take larger animals with limited fpe. Then you want to maximize penetration and you need to pick a large enough caliber it doesn't need to expand to kill the animal cleanly. For body shots on big game I think 357 is the minimum I would consider.

Killing with a any gun is making a large enough hole deep enough to do enough damage. Powder burners have the velocity to have little bullets expand to do more damage. But airguns do not have that kind of velocity and have to depend on projectile diameter and penetration to do the damage.

diverse hunt up to what and in what circumstance distance etc .. my opinion is you need about 50fpe min to start being pretty effective as a all around hunting gun ... so, a .25 at about 900fps is what i consider as getting 'serious' .. it wont take everything with any shot tho, nothing will .. but if you have to in a survival scenario say, yeah you could drop a deer with a clean head shot ... a grizzly, hell no lol ..

..but consider this - i broad sided a large boar one time with 3" 1buck and it took off, after going after it it turned around and charged me out of the palmettos and i 'unloaded' a 357 revolver into it before it finally fell over about 8ft in front of me ... what pellet gun do you think wouldve worked there?

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30 cal Hatsan Blitz would handle that job I think

Think it was a 14 year old boy that shot the first deer with an air rifle in Missouri with a legal license....just sayin.



Here ya go..



jeff Cox, age 14, made history on Oct. 5, 2008, when he bagged a whitetail doe in the west St. Louis County suburb of Wildwood. It was the third day of Missouri’s urban deer hunt, the earliest portion of Missouri’s firearms deer season, and 2008 was the first year in modern times when it was legal to hunt deer with air-powered rifles. As far as anyone knows, Cox was the first Missourian to take a deer with an air rifle.

Think it was a 14 year old boy that shot the first deer with an air rifle in Missouri with a legal license....just sayin.



Here ya go..



jeff Cox, age 14, made history on Oct. 5, 2008, when he bagged a whitetail doe in the west St. Louis County suburb of Wildwood. It was the third day of Missouri’s urban deer hunt, the earliest portion of Missouri’s firearms deer season, and 2008 was the first year in modern times when it was legal to hunt deer with air-powered rifles. As far as anyone knows, Cox was the first Missourian to take a deer with an air rifle.

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Good to mention that minimum legal caliber in Missouri is .40

Think it was a 14 year old boy that shot the first deer with an air rifle in Missouri with a legal license....just sayin.



Here ya go..



jeff Cox, age 14, made history on Oct. 5, 2008, when he bagged a whitetail doe in the west St. Louis County suburb of Wildwood. It was the third day of Missouri’s urban deer hunt, the earliest portion of Missouri’s firearms deer season, and 2008 was the first year in modern times when it was legal to hunt deer with air-powered rifles. As far as anyone knows, Cox was the first Missourian to take a deer with an air rifle.

Click to expand...

Good to mention that minimum legal caliber in Missouri is .40





Very good point...I could not remember from original story. No need for "Gamo" big game stories...lol

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