Air Powered | Hunting with Air Guns

Hunting with Air Power

Q:Can you hunt with Airguns? A=Yes, but you always check local hunting laws and regulations for game hunting.

Hunting with air power takes a certain amount of skill and accuracy. Depending on the choice of ammunition and power of the weapon being used, air-gun hunting becomes a lethal combination of stalking and weapon knowledge.

Understanding your own skill set and the power of your weapon in the hunting field, greatly increases the size of game you can hunt. If you are just starting out, start out with small game. If you are an experienced air gun hunter, you know well enough the shots you can make, thus your lethal enough to take on larger classed game, like wild pig and deer. 

Although .177 cal is the smallest pellet size, a well placed shot can make all the difference. While higher caliber weapons are available and range from the .22 cal all the way to .50 cal, the smart hunter knows what suits him or her the best.

HOG HUNTING WITH AIR RIFLES.

HUNTING RABBIT WITH AIR RIFLES.

Many of my hunting buddies give me a hard time with my choice of weaponry. Using an air rifle is in my opinion the cheapest and most reliable hunting system around. Ammo is cheaper and the quietness of the hunt drives one to become as stealthy as possible. In the end, you become a better hunter. Skills are grown by the challenge and overall you become more accurate and your shots are more dependable.

Choosing the right Airgun & Ammo for your Hunting Needs.

Let's say you are looking to hunt bigger game, wild hogs and deer deserve a caliber and ammo best suited for the type of shots you'll be making. While some people swear by .177 cal as the most well rounded hunting caliber, others stipulate using higher calibers.

While just like regular guns, the type of ammo and power is what really matters. Most people don't go hunting deer with a .22 cal live round rifle, and choosing to use .177 caliber means using more skill and a better shot placement.

Some pellet ammo are more proficient for small game, while others can be used for bigger game. With different ballistics for ammo in the marketplace, finding the right ammo can be difficult. So lets look at .177 caliber ammo for a .177 caliber rifle.

Small Game .177 cal. Ammo: Lets assume you have good accuracy and know your gun well enough to make well placed shots into the head of rabbits and other small game. You would want to use a heavier, more devastating round. 

Lead rounds, like the Gamo Rocket .177 Cal, 9.6 Grains, Ballistic Tip, 150ct does make decent kills on small to medium sized game. The heavier 9.6 grains delivers a stunning effect and drives deep with tremendous damage. The heavier the pellets the slower it should fly through the air, but with the right rifle, the 9.6 grains can move at 900-1200+ fps. 

Ballistic Alloys, or PBA ammo like the New Raptor Performance Ballistic Alloy, the first non-lead ballistic Alloy Airgun Ammunition that increases terminal velocity up to 25%-30% over regular lead rounds, while still maintaining that “superior match grade” dead-on accuracy is available for larger game. 

Designed by GAMO primarily as a hunting pellet, the new P.B.A.™ enables high powered airguns that shoot @1000 f.p.s. to shoot up to and beyond 1200 f.p.s., with tremendous devastating penetration. The fact is, the ammunition is 51% harder than lead and that causes penetration to be greatly enhanced, by up to 100%+. At 5.4 Grains, it is much lighter than traditional lead, but demonstrates lethal kill accuracy on larger game.

Gamo Raptor P.B.A. tests have shown that the ballistic holds it's stability at super-sonic speeds and hits their targets with up to 90% weight retention. The video below shows how PBA ammo can drop a 200 pound pig with the right shot.