Hunting with air rifle, which .177 or .22 ?

[Tampon]

Maxf said:

Probably most effective and humaine would be to gas them. Shooting will only kill the fit rabbit above ground - chances of getting them all are very slim.

Could do but can't eat them after, and that would kill loads of them, I just want to reduce the numbers, and whilst doing it have a day/evening with my mates, learn a new skill ( gutting and cooking the rabbit outdoors ), and help my club keep the ground in good condition. I win, friends win, club wins, rabbits lose but they would if we gassed them anyway. Seems the best way.

Also we would have to pay someone to do the gassing and I might as well spend the money on the rifle and get years of use out of it ( have rats at the warehouse as well ).

[Mutt]

mickken said:

Mutt said:

911motorsport said:

How easily you all discuss the killing (or more likely maming) of innocent creatures

Almost as easily as you mount your high horse on a subject you know nothing about.

What is there to know!!

Big game hunters with hollow points, taking windage into account to shoot Rats and Squirrels. Laughable really.

What's laughable is your patronising attitude. No one was pretending they were romping across the Savannah in Surrey with an elephant gun in search of some trophies. Much in the same way that choice of tyres or brakes is an important minutiae of car ownership, choice of pellets and taking into account wind is relevant to shooting an air rifle.

Attempting to belittle people through your own ignorance. Do you feel better?

[dern]

Tampon said:

The best thing about all of this is any of the rabbits we get we will gut and then freeze in the clubs massive chest freezers and then the chef can use them when we have a big old lunch ( probably have 6-8 of them a season whith about 50-60 people so they won't be wasted )

Yummy. A simple stew of rabbit with veg in cider with mash is what I'd recommend. You'll find a recipe in hugh whathisface's big meat book.

[Tampon]

dern said:

Tampon said:

The best thing about all of this is any of the rabbits we get we will gut and then freeze in the clubs massive chest freezers and then the chef can use them when we have a big old lunch ( probably have 6-8 of them a season whith about 50-60 people so they won't be wasted )

Yummy. A simple stew of rabbit with veg in cider with mash is what I'd recommend. You'll find a recipe in hugh whathisface's big meat book.

I love that book, very sad, i read that as bed time reading.

[Tampon]

mickken said:

Mutt said:

mickken said:

Mutt said:

911motorsport said:

How easily you all discuss the killing (or more likely maming) of innocent creatures

Almost as easily as you mount your high horse on a subject you know nothing about.

What is there to know!!

Big game hunters with hollow points, taking windage into account to shoot Rats and Squirrels. Laughable really.

What's laughable is your patronising attitude. No one was pretending they were romping across the Savannah in Surrey with an elephant gun in search of some trophies. Much in the same way that choice of tyres or brakes is an important minutiae of car ownership, choice of pellets and taking into account wind is relevant to shooting an air rifle.

Attempting to belittle people through your own ignorance. Do you feel better?

Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising.

Just a quick question, do you mount the heads of the Rodents you stalk and kill on the walls of your council flat's hallway?

Yes

[Maxf]

I'd be wary of cooking them for big lunches. Certainly to sell game you need a licence so I would assume that should anybody get food poisoning the chef could get into hot water (pardon the deliberate pun).

I used to sell trout to local restaurants but cant anymore as they wont serve 'non-licenced' trout.

Just something to investigate/think about.

[Mutt]

mickken said:

Mutt said:

mickken said:

Mutt said:

911motorsport said:

How easily you all discuss the killing (or more likely maming) of innocent creatures

Almost as easily as you mount your high horse on a subject you know nothing about.

What is there to know!!

Big game hunters with hollow points, taking windage into account to shoot Rats and Squirrels. Laughable really.

What's laughable is your patronising attitude. No one was pretending they were romping across the Savannah in Surrey with an elephant gun in search of some trophies. Much in the same way that choice of tyres or brakes is an important minutiae of car ownership, choice of pellets and taking into account wind is relevant to shooting an air rifle.

Attempting to belittle people through your own ignorance. Do you feel better?

Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising.

Just a quick question, do you mount the heads of the Rodents you stalk and kill on the walls of your council flat's hallway?

Rabbits aren't rodents, they're lagomorphs. But I guess you know that anyway, seeing as you're so far up you're own arse you've found the font of all knowledge.

[MK4 Slowride]

Yertis said:

MK4 Slowride said:

I'd got for .177 as iirc you get better range although the .22 has a harder punch.

I've had/own a load of air guns and would say my old favourite is the BSA Supersport .177 you could get on for about £100 with a 40x400 telescopic sight.

I'm in the market for one of these with a scope and it's more like £250.

Well it's certainly holding it's value well I assumed it'd be at this price now as the one I last owned was from 10 years ago so thought a bit of depreciation.

[Timmy33]

WBC said:

I'm no expert and I'm sure more knowledgeable people will correct me as necessary but generally .22 would be the preferred calibre for hunting with an air rifle.

It is. .177 for target shooting. .22 for actually shooting things with.

[10 Pence Short]

Mutt said:

mickken said:

Mutt said:

mickken said:

Mutt said:

911motorsport said:

How easily you all discuss the killing (or more likely maming) of innocent creatures

Almost as easily as you mount your high horse on a subject you know nothing about.

What is there to know!!

Big game hunters with hollow points, taking windage into account to shoot Rats and Squirrels. Laughable really.

What's laughable is your patronising attitude. No one was pretending they were romping across the Savannah in Surrey with an elephant gun in search of some trophies. Much in the same way that choice of tyres or brakes is an important minutiae of car ownership, choice of pellets and taking into account wind is relevant to shooting an air rifle.

Attempting to belittle people through your own ignorance. Do you feel better?

Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising.

Just a quick question, do you mount the heads of the Rodents you stalk and kill on the walls of your council flat's hallway?

Rabbits aren't rodents, they're lagomorphs. But I guess you know that anyway, seeing as you're so far up you're own arse you've found the font of all knowledge.

Ah, but what he said was quite funny. So we'll just have to let him off.

[Plotloss]

Alternatively it could just be to get rabbit to eat.

A difficult concept to grasp I'll grant you but it could possibly be it.

[Tampon]

mickken said:

I just find it laugh out loud funny that small game hunters are willing to spend time and money in the pursuit of shooting small animals.

I am trying to understand where the joy comes from?? Is it the fact that you stalked it, approched from downwind etc?? Is it the fact that with your hollow point pellet you, with the aid of a 1000 X 1000000 telescopic sight, managed a head shot, one shot, one kill? Do you wear face paint, camo's and NI gloves? Do you skin/eat the Squirrel there and then?

There's just so many unanswered questions.....

Mickken, to give you an idea of what I personally want to do, I want to cull some rabbits. I have a bit of little boy in me that wants to play with guns and a air rifle seems like a easy way to do it. I asked about what size (.177 or .22 ) to use as I can only buy a low power rifle due to the law. I read that .177 pellets might not be good enough to kill a rabbit straight out, I would consider that to be bad. Thats how the discussion got on to types of pellets, different pellets do different things, some pierce some expand, some are designed for hunting small animals and some are design for shooting paper targets.

Also the low powered gun available mean that they don't have a large range, therefore people telling me to be careful of using a .22 as they dip in flight and need careful aim to make sure you hit the bugger.

I want to ideally bag 20+ if lucky, i will be wearing jeans/shorts, a t-shirt and probably a fleece in the evening, flip flops will be the order of the day, as will telling filthy jokes, throwing a rugby ball around and probably getting pissed. I might attempt to make a fire and cook one of the bad boys.

Not a weekend warrior just a bunny botherer

Hope that helps

[SpydieNut]

mickken said:

I just find it laugh out loud funny that small game hunters are willing to spend time and money in the pursuit of shooting small animals.

I am trying to understand where the joy comes from?? Is it the fact that you stalked it, approched from downwind etc?? Is it the fact that with your hollow point pellet you, with the aid of a 1000 X 1000000 telescopic sight, managed a head shot, one shot, one kill? Do you wear face paint, camo's and NI gloves? Do you skin/eat the Squirrel there and then?

There's just so many unanswered questions.....

ETA...I'm not against it, but find it funny that it would be fun. Each to their own I guess.

Edited by mickken on Tuesday 10th June 13:07

not sure if you're trying to be antagonistic, but anyway

i never said i found it fun - i don't.

i do it because the rabbits need to be controlled (we have a horse farm and rabbits dig holes in our fields - risk of a horse sticking it's leg down one and breaking it - this would need to be put down).

it is, however, challenging. because the range is limited to 50 yards (max and that's sitting, on a still day), you have to stalk. and they are very hard to get that close to. then there's the shot - trying to get good enough that you can group your shots within 1/2" at the distance you shoot.

now i only speak for myself - others do get pleasure in hunting. i do, however, get a lot of pleasure from target shooting and having a good session - good grouping.

i'm also not trying to convert anyone into shooting animals - i was just trying to explain why i do.

[dern]

mickken said:

I just find it laugh out loud funny that small game hunters are willing to spend time and money in the pursuit of shooting small animals.

I am trying to understand where the joy comes from?? Is it the fact that you stalked it, approched from downwind etc?? Is it the fact that with your hollow point pellet you, with the aid of a 1000 X 1000000 telescopic sight, managed a head shot, one shot, one kill? Do you wear face paint, camo's and NI gloves? Do you skin/eat the Squirrel there and then?

There's just so many unanswered questions.....

ETA...I'm not against it, but find it funny that it would be fun. Each to their own I guess.

It does sound like you're trying to write a comedy routine rather than participate in a conversation or trying to understand anything to be honest.

[Plotloss]

That being the case, dont give up the day job.

[jshell]

MK4 Slowride said:

I'd got for .177 as iirc you get better range although the .22 has a harder punch.

I've had/own a load of air guns and would say my old favourite is the BSA Supersport .177 you could get on for about £100 with a 40x400 telescopic sight.

You do mean 4 x 40? Not trying to be patronising, but I use a 6.5 - 20 x 40 for my 7.62mm rifle at mucho-100's of metres. 4x is perfect for an air rifle.

I'd use a .22" air rifle for bunnies.

[SpydieNut]

jshell said:

MK4 Slowride said:

I'd got for .177 as iirc you get better range although the .22 has a harder punch.

I've had/own a load of air guns and would say my old favourite is the BSA Supersport .177 you could get on for about £100 with a 40x400 telescopic sight.

You do mean 4 x 40? Not trying to be patronising, but I use a 6.5 - 20 x 40 for my 7.62mm rifle at mucho-100's of metres. 4x is perfect for an air rifle.

I'd use a .22" air rifle for bunnies.

i've got a 10-50x60 on my daystate Mk3 (.177) - we use it at 15x for hunting.

ETA - i realise you don't *need* this much mag for hunting - and sometimes the less mag the better (less shake etc and usually a brighter, clearer image (not to mention the fact that the higher mags are more expensive )

i got mine for target shooting, but find it does very well at 10-15x for hunting.

Edited by SpydieNut on Tuesday 10th June 13:39

[dern]

mickken said:

Nope, generally interested in people's mindset with regards to hunting vermin.

I can understand clearing Rugby fields of Rabbits/holes etc....

I haven't hunted rabbits with mine yet because I'm not good enough to kill them with the first shot but when I am I will under certain circumstances. A mate or a mate has an organic veg farm and would help him control the rabbits in that but would always make sure that gutting the rabbits ready for freezing is possible (by that I mean I don't know how to do it so would need to be taught).

Once you've got your head around the fact that someone is killing stuff for you to eat (I only started eating meat last year) killing it yourself isn't a huge step. I see no reason why you then can't subsequently enjoy the process with the proviso that you aren't introducing suffering to the animal in the process.

I would never simply go out shooting stuff just for fun. There would have to be a reason for it be that pest control or for food and I'd have to be good enough not to leave the countryside strewn with disabled rabbits which die slowly.

[Le TVR]

mickken said:

hunting vermin.....

Which is exactly what it is. Cant poison them because of other livestock. There was always the good old mixi but I could be that cruel to a living animal. You only get 1 shot with a shotgun and they have all disappeared (and back again the next morning)

I have only praise for the Anschutz 335 but IIRC there was something odd about the bore and only German 22 pellets would work properly.

[Mutt]

Everyone has said it pretty much. It is necessary as rabbits are a bad pest and it is challenging, but of course you get people, as in every sport, with the "all the gear no idea" attitude wearing the camo gear etc.

As I said in my first reply to you mickken, you can't effectively criticise what you don't know anything about, no matter how much of a comedy genius you think you are and how condescending you can be.

And, if I'm honest, I looked at your profile, saw what you drive and have immediately dismissed you as a hybrid driving Guardianista who wafts along on a carpet of smugness thinking that the countryside starts at Enfield and ends at the M25. Anything further north is too scary to think about. It's probably not true, but it just shows how silly assumptions can be doesn't it?