Terminal FPE for ducks

To be clear, this is for a permitted pest-control operation, not sport hunting. I was contacted by a pest-control operator (PCO) for a consultation on air gun operation logistics. Their trapping operation was sabotaged by someone, and now the ducks are trap shy, raising the requirements for a successful operation. Use of air guns was authorized yesterday, and that’s when he reached out to me. 

Thats about all I know about the situation - I’m not the one legally-liable for the op, so if he breaks the law it’s on him.

I dont know anything about ducks, only vermin.

So I’m putting together a set of recommendations on gun caliber, range, etc for them to use, then based on a map he’s going to design the operation.

@Jim, they are Muscovy ducks - 15 to 20 pounds

Heh, yeah. He’s a legit wildlife / pest contol operator, I’ve known him for quite a while and I trust him to be honest. There’s not a lot written on ducks and airguns, let alone night time operations for ducks with air rifles, but that’s what’s been requested.


He called me up asking how to go about dispatching big ducks at night with air guns without scaring all the other ducks away. Frankly, i think the muzzle report of an air rifle alone might be enough to spook them. Ducks can see red and green, so hunting lights might not work.

He might just need to contract Tim Wells with his blow gun if he needs a silent assassin.

I’ll be using a Benjamin Armada .25. My usual ammo is NSA 26.8gr. Last time I chronographed it was in the neighborhood of 30-35fpe. I’ve taken raccoons without issue.

Yes, they started with exclusions and trapping, and some of the hippie residents of the neighborhood took it upon themselves to sabotage the traps and exclusions, letting the ducks go free. The result then was all the ducks became trap shy, and with the willingness of the residents to interfere with the operation, the county sheriff gave us clearance to use air guns.

It was surreal to have a sheriff’s deputy there with us to discuss what hardware we were using, and what our operation plan consisted of. He was satisfied, told us “happy hunting” and went on his way.

Well, we had our first round of operations last Friday night. Here is the retrospective and lessons learned. 

Duck species: Muscovy Ducks

1. Ducks can see full spectrum light, into the UV bands, and a longer distance than our eyes. They see you before you see them during the day, but at night you see them before they see you.

2. ANY type of light will spook the ducks into the water, even nighttime hunting lights, because see #1. Same with lasers. The moment you light them up, they move

3. Most effective tactic was to first find a duck silhouette, sight it in the scope, quickly illuminate them with the rifle light to ensure correct species, then shoot for the head. Only muskovy ducks were targeted, and we had a completely clean operation, no migratory ducks were wrongfully shot thanks to this strategy.

4. Due to their increasing tendency to flee with time, as the ducks increased distance from us we had to switch from head shots to body shots + followup shots afterwards. Even at 35FPE, body shots often required followup shots. Shoot once, close the distance, then shoot for the head. Muscovy ducks can take more lead than Tupac, it is ill-advised to try to take one down with only body shots from a distance. Shoot once, close the distance, go for the head.

5. The ducks liked to flee to the middle of the pond where it was darkest. Strategic use of a green laser successfully harassed them to the opposite shores, where we followed up with the airguns.

6. As we pushed South then East, the ducks began to fly back to the North pond. Next time we will keep someone positioned to the north with a laser to send them back down South.

7. In all, we got 18 ducks in about an hour’s worth of active operation. There are approximately 80 more to remove.

8. Next operation we plan to position vehicles to shine headlights through the middle of the ponds, for illumination as well as discouraging the ducks from hiding in the dark centers of the pond. Perhaps spot lights or work lights are also called for to keep light on the centers of the ponds.

9. It is best to have night vision hardware for ducks - either IR or thermal - but not a hard requirement. Such hardware can be rented online if needed for $200 - $350.

Yeah, there’s virtually nothing written on the subject, so I figure this might help someone in the future. I know some of my base assumptions were wrong in the beginning (such as 35 FPE being sufficient for body shots).

It is incredibly difficult to find anyone who is both knowledgeable AND willing to talk about such a topic, given it is illegal in so many scenarios. It was truly a unique, surreal experience.

We operate again this friday. I tuned my Armada up to 42 FPE, and this time I’ll use pointed pellets (Eun Jin perhaps) or polymag, instead of NSA slugs. I also stripped down my Armada rails of all the accessories (light, laser, bipod) to make it lighter and more manageable to shoot from standing.