Use enough gun!

[ZVP]

It really disturbs me that airgun companies Gamo of Spain in particular is promoting hunting Wild Pigs with airrifles! Will they take the game humanely? well that is up to you to see for yourself.
I have viewed the videos and others by other hunters and it appears that with certain alloy ammo, the airguns will drop a pig with a brain shot!
Frankilly, I look at some Hogs as too large to be taken with my ,357 Magnum handgun and it makea a bunch more power than any spring airgun! Frankilly I size my quarry to my equipment.
The tenacity of certain animals even the smaller ones negates using an airgun to take them.
I aman avid airgunner since 1971 and own many rifles but "I" wouldn't try a crazy shot like that at a hog! I have hunted rabbit, squirrels and pest fowl over the years but never considered pushing the dun/ammo combination on too large a game animal.
Maybe I am being over ethical and like powerfull hunting guns?
JMHO,
BPDave

 

[Mauser lover]

Have you taken a look at some of the big bore pre-charged pneumatics? Many of them rival 9mm/.38 special. A rifle is usually easier to hit with, so a brain shot isn't as hard.

There are a few that "blow" away the 9mm/.38 special too.

 

[PabloJ]

It really disturbs me that airgun companies Gamo of Spain in particular is promoting hunting Wild Pigs with airrifles! Will they take the game humanely? well that is up to you to see for yourself.
I have viewed the videos and others by other hunters and it appears that with certain alloy ammo, the airguns will drop a pig with a brain shot!
Frankilly, I look at some Hogs as too large to be taken with my ,357 Magnum handgun and it makea a bunch more power than any spring airgun! Frankilly I size my quarry to my equipment.
The tenacity of certain animals even the smaller ones negates using an airgun to take them.
I aman avid airgunner since 1971 and own many rifles but "I" wouldn't try a crazy shot like that at a hog! I have hunted rabbit, squirrels and pest fowl over the years but never considered pushing the dun/ammo combination on too large a game animal.
Maybe I am being over ethical and like powerfull hunting guns?
JMHO,
BPDave

It's been done in central Europe long ago with large bore pellet guns. Not sure what bore diameter these were but they were very powerful capable of taking wild boar.

 

[Buck Kramer]

Look into what #2 said. I've destroyed cement blocks in a single shot with those things. It was not a Gamo, but a South Korean company that made the one I used.

 

[Coyote3855]

Old news. Lewis and Clark took an air gun on their travels in 1803 and killed big game with it.

 

[r1derbike]

Crosman/Benjamin

Take a look at the Crosman/Benjamin Rogue .357 air rifle, and watch some youtube videos. There are larger foreign calibers that are up to the task as well. .50 caliber and larger.

 

[ChaoSS]

Think this belongs in Hunting, not general, but whatever.

If you can make a head shot from the right angle with your .357 and you think that it is not enough gun, then yes, you just want too much gun. On the other hand, hunting pigs with a .177, no matter the velocity, is going to be a matter of getting just the right shot lined up. I certainly wouldn't want to try it, and I wonder how long that guy sat there waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself.

Hunting with airguns is perfectly acceptable, but it is important to make sure you can make your shots humanely. There are airguns capable of punching a pellet through a pig end to end.

 

[arizona98tj]

BPDave....time to update your avid airgunner status with new information. Just do a Google for "large bore air rifle" or something like that. I saw from big game photos (big as in buffalo big) taken with modern big bore air rifles a couple of minutes ago when I was searching. I've no doubt you can find the same information. Shooting a wild hog shouldn't be all that difficult.

 

[ChaoSS]

To those who don't know, the OP is referring to a video made by GAMO showing a guy killing a pig with a .177 air rifle. Granted, it's pushing 1650 fps (they claim) but it's still a very light weight .177 pellet. He isn't talking about a big bore.

 

[ngnrd]

Whoa, there... Before you start accusing somebody of being 'unethical', let's think about this for a minute. Ethics are a personal thing. You have yours. I have mine. And Joe Schmoe from Wichita Falls has his. There are those that believe it's not ethical to take deer with a 223, and others that actually do it - and do it humanely - on a regular basis. Hunting over bait? Same thing. Hunting behind high fences? Yup. How 'bout hunting with any kind of a firearm instead of a more primitive weapon like a bow? Or hunting with a handgun? Or how about simply hunting in general? Yeah. All of these actions can be - and have been - singled out and their proponents accused of being unethical.

But the thing is, freedom is a great, yet curious thing. As long as an individual acts within the confines of the applicable laws, they are free to decide for themselves what methods and means are appropriate to harvest their game, with their personal ethics guiding their decisions. And those decisions may not be the same as yours or mine. But the great thing about freedom is that we do have choices, even though there isn't necessarily one 'right' choice, and even though you may not make the same choice as me, or as Joe Schmoe from Wichita Falls.

Now, personally, I wouldn't attempt to take anything bigger than a squirrel with my air rifle. But then, I have a pretty low powered unit that I bought specifically to eliminate nuisance squirrels, and not one of the big, powerful hunting units. So, there's that.

 

[medalguy]

I've seen the pigs around Wichita Falls pushing more than 300 pounds, and I can tell you I'm not using ANY air rifle to bring one of those beasts down. I almost hit one last year on Highway 70 north of Roby Texas (look THAT one up) and he looked like a decent sized cow standing on the shoulder as I whizzed past him.

 

[JohnKSa]

Use the right TACTICS.

An airgun is not a firearm just like a bow isn't a firearm. Hunting with a bow and using the same tactics as if it is a firearm would be foolish and unethical. Hunting with a conventional airgun as if it is a firearm is similarly foolish and unethical.

Hunting with a conventional airgun (as opposed to one of the large caliber PCP airguns which operate at blackpowder firearm power levels) requires an entirely different set of tactics than hunting with a firearm and therefore it's not productive to attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of conventional airguns by comparing them or their power levels to firearms.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

There's more to hunting than simply blowing away your target with the highest powered weapon you can get. There's the skill of the hunt to consider, as well.

For thousands of years, man has shown himself to be perfectly capable of taking all kinds of game through a combination of various tactics and weapons, none of which involved firearms of any kind until very recently in human history. Rocks, snares, sticks, spears, arrows, slings, knives, and even bare hands.

Part of the thrill of the hunt, for many people, isn't the ability to take game with a high-powered rifle and a four figure scope. It's the ability to track and take game with skill using what they have. Some game require more or different skills than others.

Is the air rifle capable of poking holes deep enough into a hog to reach vital organs? If the answer is "yes", then it's fully capable of being used to take down hogs in a hunt. The rest depends upon the skill of the hunter.

There are some truly awesome air rifles out there...air rifles capable of reaching 2,000 fps or more. .357, .45, and .50 caliber air rifles are capable of pushing bullets at 800 fps...sometimes more. That's plenty to poke a hole in a hog.

A 30-06 is quite capable of reliably reaching out well beyond 100 yards to take game. However, the bow hunter most certainly won't attempt such ranges. Likewise, one who hunts with an air-rifle should do so within the limitations of the rifle and his own skills.

 

[plumberroy]

the videos the o.p. is refering to shows large hogs taken with 177 to 25 cal air rifles . and at least the one by benjiman suggest their gun could be a quiet solution for hog problems . My concern which I have voiced before is, Yes it can be done by an expert hunter with self discipline and rock solid nerves . gamo and crosman lead you to think it isn't difficult to kill hogs with standard air rifles. Hogs are about the only animal in the lower 48 that don't have a problem spending their last few minute on earth chewing on you if you hurt but don't kill them . Some one is going to try to take a hog with an air rifle and end up hurt bad. ethics are a personal choice ethics base on bad adice from a proffesional hunter in this case could get you killed
Roy

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

This is both the risk and the challenge that some people willingly accept.

I've never been on a wild hog hunt...and I'd LOVE to go on one using a pistol for the challenge. And I'm not talking about some monster pistol, either.

 

[plumberroy]

This is both the risk and the challenge that some people willingly accept.

I've never been on a wild hog hunt...and I'd LOVE to go on one using a pistol for the challenge. And I'm not talking about some monster pistol, either.

Hunting hogs with a 177 to 25 cal air rifle is akin to taking a brown or polar bear with a bow It can be done by people highy disciplined and seasoned hunters. It is not something a newbie that just bought a bow 2 weeks ago needs to be trying . These videos made by airgun manufacturers or people who represent them suggest a air rifle with alloy pellets (which in my humble opinion are junk) is a good weapon to hunt hogs one video the shooter says this might be a good solution for hog problems . I am sure the lawyers kept him from saying it was a good solution .
A hog will flat eat you if he is hurting and thinks you did it
I would not have a problem with the videos if they told people in the video this is doable by a highly skilled hunter and if you mess up you have a good chance of getting hurt
Aslo I would bet money there is a back up gunner with a hammer gun off camera
Roy

 

[ZVP]

Small caliber airguns!

The Gamo video was shot with a .177 caliber rifle!
As I said i am a longtime airgunner and am familiar with the big bores but this was done with a Springer I .177 cal.
I suppose that my Ericsson require that the quarry be given a quick, positive kill not an experiment to see if a tiny pellet can kill. Just the way I was taught to respect the right to hunt...
O apologize if my ethics offended anyone.
ZVP

 

[JohnKSa]

I suppose that my Ericsson require that the quarry be given a quick, positive kill not an experiment to see if a tiny pellet can kill.

It was not an experiment. It is certainly possible to ascertain ahead of time if the penetration is sufficient to reach the brain. Then it's just a matter of being careful to pick the right aiming point and shot angle and only shooting when within the effective range.

If you do some more searching, you will find other similar videos where big game is killed "quickly and positively" with conventional airguns. It does require a very specific technique and special tactics. Trying to hunt with a conventional airgun as if it is a firearm would be disastrous.

O apologize if my ethics offended anyone.

Please. The fact is that you jumped to conclusions about the video. The only thing remotely unethical about the video was that the author should have made it perfectly clear how different hunting with an airgun is vs. hunting with a firearm.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

The Gamo video was shot with a .177 caliber rifle!
As I said i am a longtime airgunner and am familiar with the big bores but this was done with a Springer I .177 cal.
I suppose that my Ericsson require that the quarry be given a quick, positive kill not an experiment to see if a tiny pellet can kill. Just the way I was taught to respect the right to hunt...
O apologize if my ethics offended anyone.
ZVP

The fact that you're concerned about making an ethical kill and safety means that you're heart (and ethics) are in the right place. Certainly one should hunt with the skill required to complete the job properly, regardless of what one uses.

To that end, no apologies necessary.

 

[ZVP]

Over the past decades I have hunted quite a bit with airguns and I realise the need for precise shot placement for a clean kill however these videos prokote dangerous situations, unsportsmanlke and irresponsible choices of gun/ammo and couls get someone injured badly plus causing a game animal a lingering and uneccary death,
Sorry I just can't go alongwith that progrem!
ZVP

 

[Mike1234567]

I'll just express my opinion by mangling and old cliche'... "Just because we CAN do a thing it doesn't mean we SHOULD do that thing."

I'll put it another way: If I'm guaranteed to be killed by someone then I don't want them to use a .177 pellet gun to do the job. I'd much rather take a 12ga shotgun blast to the base of the skull at point-blank range. If you're going to kill me then please be kind enough to use overkill rather than underkill... do it quickly.

 

[JohnKSa]

... these videos prokote dangerous situations, unsportsmanlke and irresponsible choices of gun/ammo and couls get someone injured badly plus causing a game animal a lingering and uneccary death...

I've seen exactly the same things said about bow hunting and handgun hunting.

Irresponsible/uninformed people certainly could take the information in the video and make all your predictions come true. They could also do it even if hunting with a firearm.

The bottom line is that a responsible hunter makes the effort to insure that he uses his chosen equipment ethically and in a sportsmanlike manner.

If you're going to kill me then please be kind enough to use overkill rather than underkill... do it quickly.

First of all, the idea that hunters should always use overkill results in a slippery slope. Basically, there's no top limit to overkill, and someone can always come up with a failure story or express a concern about potential failures until the gun involved tops out the limit of what can be legally employed against game.

There are any number of reasons for using a hunting weapon with limitations compared to a modern scoped hunting rifle. That's why people hunt with iron sighted rifles, handguns, muzzle loaders, crossbows, compound bows, long bows, spears and airguns. Any of those weapons can be used irresponsibly or responsibly, the issue isn't the weapon, it's how the hunter employs it.

Taking your argument to its logical conclusion, using any hunting weapon other than a modern scoped hunting rifle is something we shouldn't do because it's not overkill.

Second, did you actually watch the video? The kill was instant. The pellet went directly into the brain and the hog was poleaxed--it fell directly in place. It fell just as it would have been if the pellet had been a bullet instead. There was nothing about the video that suggested underkill or that the kill could have been quicker.

It all comes down to the basic rules of hunting. Know your quarry, know your equipment and know your capabilities and then make responsible decisions based on that information. If you know your weapon will reliably put a pellet through the skull (has adequate penetration) and you know where to aim to hit the brain (know the killzone and required shot angle) and you know the range that you can reliably make the shot (hit the killzone) then there is nothing irresponsible about taking the shot. It's EXACTLY the same decision process that any responsible hunter goes through (or SHOULD go through) before taking a shot, regardless of the weapon involved.

 

[blindhari]

In the late half of the 18th century Austria adopted Giordiani's(?) air rifle for military use. 30 years later it was replaced.
Pros:
multi shot repeater (over 20 I think)
.46 caliber ball
no smoke
reloaded with out getting up (try that with muzzle loader)
150 yds useful range
Cons:
easy to break
needed highly trained troops
technology for high pressure air primitive
150 yds useful range
There you go a milsurplus rifle, .46 caliber, 150 yds useful (lethal) range, 20 shot fast load repeater, more than capable of an ethical kill on hogs available roughly 300 years ago. Wonder if it would be legal in California.

blindhari

 

[Mike1234567]

I'll repeat... if you're going to kill me then please don't use a .177 cal pellet gun. I don't trust your aim to be that perfect. Please use something that causes far more damage and is far more forgiving of imprecision than a .177 cal pellet. How many of us can state with full certainty that we can be perfectly precise each and every time? IMO, it's silly and on the verge of cruelty that's fueled by arrogance and sociopathy.

 

[ChaoSS]

I wouldn't say Cruelty and sociopathy. I mean, some people will say that about any type of hunting, as some people will miss no matter the weapon. There are people who might be able to more consistently kill a pig with that .177 break barrel than I could with, say, a .308 at 100 yards. I don't know. I certainly wouldn't try to take a large animal with a small bore pellet rifle. But I'm not good enough to do that. Others are.


But I'll tell you this, Mike, if I ever try to kill you, I promise to come after you with nothing short of a 105 mm cannon. That, I can guarantee.