airgun for coons

VARMINT_SLAYER

VARMINT_SLAYER

New member
I'm going coon calling tonight. I'm going to try using my air rifle. It's .177 and velocity is 1000 fps. What would be the maximum range to kill one. It will probably be a head shot.
I know that .177 is a little small for coon but I'll be too close to houses to use a firearm. The only reason I'm going there is because I'm trying out my new call and this place has a bunch of coons.
 
The only thing i got accomplished with my airgun was fallin out of a tree cause the thing jumped from one tree to my tree madder than hell. But thats cause i was just poppin him on the butt to get him to my dogs....
Goodhuntin,steve
 
I've had good luck with my modified 2250 (.22) at around 50 feet. I now use a career 707 in .22 and have no problem out to past 100' with 29gr hollow points.

I have a tri rail mount on these guns, with a scope and pressure switch light, just shoot between the glowing dots (eyes) and the coon goes down, more of a pop-flop, then a bang-flop.

I'd keep it to
 
Quote:
I'm in the market for a good pellet gun and not sure which one to chose.



what price range you looking at?

for 50.00 - $100.00 you can't beat the .22 cal Crosman 2250 or 2260, lots of mods available to boost power.
there's the Gamo Shadow 1000 or 1250 in .177
and then you can get into the Compressed air guns, starting at around $350.00 - $500.00 for a Career 707, they've got these guns in .22, .25, 9mm and .45 the .22, .25 and 9mm are 6 shot lever action.
 
Varmint Slayer,

The pellet you use is very important of coarse.I have a gamo cfx royal,it's a fixed barrel .177 @ 1000fps.
Initially i used some 8.? grain pellets and they shot ok.
I did some reading on high velocity guns,the sound barrier is somewhere over 1000fps and as the pellet nears it ,it becomes unstable creating odd wobbles thus inaccuracy.
I bought some heavy pellets 9.5 rws match[flat nose],they shoot like a dream!
Also 2 types of dome round nose pellets both 10.5 ish [crosman premier & beeman kodiak]shoot like a dream!
Lastly some 11.5 beeman silver arrows,again shoot like a dream !!
I have so many pellets that i laugh when i look at them.
I use the 9.5 gr match rws pellets for no real reason other than they destroy starlings,pidgeons,sparrows so nicely.
We take a pellet rifle to work daily and kill feral birds.County subdivisions varmint safari>>way fun!I have killed so many dumpster diving crows i couldn't count them.

Freeloader,get a gamo cfx w/the 2x7 bsa scope just over $240 and some of the pellets mentioned above you'll be amazed.Try midsouth they have the best prices i know of.
DO NOT USE A REGULAR SCOPE,it must be made for a spring air gun !
Mine will shoot 3/4" 20 shot groups at 37yds< the distance to the fence.Magnum spring air guns don't shoot well off a rifle rest it must be kept in your hands to let the spring piston recoil the way it wants to.They jump inconsistantly off of rests.
For bigger animals like a coon i'd use the beeman 11.5 silver arrows and keep the distance very close 50-60ft. of coarse that's just my opinion.Good luck with the coons! Mike
 
I just went out there and called for about 3 hours. The coons are thick out there; I called in five. I didn't get a shot, though. It's really tough to get a good shot with an airgun, especially when it's dark. I was calling out of some one's homemade tree stand. After playing a bird distress, a great-horned owl swooped at me three times. Almost knocked me out of the tree. On the third swoop, I knocked him a good one with the spotlight and he left me alone. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I've had owls swoop me before, but not one that big. I'm going to go back and try tomorrow. I wish I could shoot my .17 or .22 out there.
 
Varmint Slayer

Are you using a scope?
Open sights are very hard to line up at night.
I know trying to shoot at night without a scope/rifle mounted light can be hard.
Keep us posted.Mike
 
I should have said it was tough to get a clear shot. I was hunting in brush that was really thick.
I have fiber-optic sights on it. I didn't have any problems lining it up when I shot a cat out of the garbage a half-hour ago. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
huh...?

IMHO, I think its unethical to use an air rifle on an animal that is as tough as a raccoon.
Say what you will about head shots , but in the end its the animal that pays the price when your head shot goes awry.

Ohio_Hunter
 
"IMHO, I think its unethical to use an air rifle on an animal that is as tough as a raccoon.
Say what you will about head shots , but in the end its the animal that pays the price when your head shot goes awry."


Save your breath Ohio Hunter. Some people just have to learn the hard way. I've seen discussions on this forum where folks are adamant that a .223 is'nt undergunned for deer, a .22 mag is'nt undergunned for coyote and by golly, now a pellet gun is'nt undergunned for raccon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Save your breath Ohio Hunter. Some people just have to learn the hard way. I've seen discussions on this forum where folks are adamant that a .223 is'nt undergunned for deer, a .22 mag is'nt undergunned for coyote and by golly, now a pellet gun is'nt undergunned for raccon

Yeah, youre probably right.

O_H
 
Ohio hunter,
I understand what you mean by that. As I stated in my first post, I went to that place to test a new call. Since it is close to town, houses are becoming more numerous. Three years ago, I could have used a firearm, now everything is too close, even for a shotgun. There are too many coons out there. They raid people's garbage, get locked in their garage, and tear the place apart trying to get out. I know some one with a goldfish pond that has lost fish to them.
Even though txagyotebuster said out to thirty yards, I would've still tried to get as close as possible before shooting.
I think the phrase "using enough gun" is overrated. It's all about shot placement. When bow hunting for deer, why spend a month waiting for the right buck to come into range, and present the perfect shot, when you can wait until firearms season and shoot one at 90 yds in a week.
I'm not trying to sound rude because I know this is a topic that will never be agreed upon.
 
Although I get Ohios statement about airguns based in part on the .177 cal for coons, I have to disagree with the statement as a whole. Until you have shot a PCP gun and know they are available in larger calibers then it is hard to believe what they are capable of. The Career I own in .20 & .22 I had is also available in .25 & 9mm. I have also seen Shotguns and rifles up to 50 caliber. I have shot my .20 through a 2x4, and have killed many unmentionables. I do draw the line because I have firearms and they are legal to hunt with, but there are countries where it is not and they kill deer with these airguns. These are true performers that are fun to shoot and are deadly accurate.
 
Ohio hunter and adk ,

Should keep "their" ethics to themselves!

Coues deer or deer in the south east can easily be taken with a 223 w/a big game type bullet and be killed instantly.
I've killed 2 coyotes w/a 17hmr one bang-flop one ran 20yds.
22 centerfires would not be legal if they wouldn't kill a deer.
Are there better choices ? Well that is up to the individual going hunting.
I shot a coyote almost facing me [70-80yd] with a 22-250 and the 55gr v-max nearly took off the front leg and unzippered his belly.Blood ,guts,and fur everywhere i wouldn't have found him without the snow on the ground[1/2 mile runner].But the 17hmr killed two of them much better!!
It's shot placement that counts ,and bullet performance second.
Varmint Slayer didn't even take a shot ,because he wanted the shot to be a kill shot.
Me -i'm an old school varmint hunter [early 70's] -see varmint -have gun -shot safe -pull trigger!!
Tripod3,I have seen the killing power of the pcp's >deer stags ,etc.they gitter done.
Some websites i belong to don't allow people laying their ethics on other people "longrange hunting" has some serious warnings against it right now.It only causes problems with board members when a member talks down to another member!!
Good shooting on that trashcan lion varmint slayer! Mike
 
can someone explain this airgun to me, I am not excatly sure what you all are talking about other than a BB gun and I am 100 % sure the varmit slayer isn't gonna go out and shoot coon with that. Since I don't know anything abou tthis PCP gun, I would like to know a little more about it.

Self edited for being a smartelic and disrespectful!...sorry about that! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif

Varmitslayer, have you concidered a live trap, then take them back to your house and dispatch them in a controled enviornment?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top