10 replies to this topic

[StephLuvsHunting]

I'm new to small game and considering going and buying a pellet gun, I think I heard it was legal in California as long as you have a .20 cal or more. I want to go for tree squirrel, rabbit, Wild Turkey and I'd prefer to use a pistol. Is this possible? I live in Contra Costa County. I would be hunting them for eating. I will eat squirrel, rabbit all of them little critters.Stephanie Antioch, California

[ShooterJohn]

Yes it is legal to hunt all of the animals you mentioned with an airgun. They changed the law on the .20 cal or bigger this year but I would suggest a .22 cal. As for a pistol I wouldn't recommend it in an airgun because using an airgun you have to be more accurate due to the lack of energy transferred to the animal with a pellet. The average store purchased airgun pistol just doesn't have enough foot pounds energy to do the job effectively on a regular basis. All you need is a California hunting license and you would be good to go. Turkey being the largest you mentioned take a very good head shot to bring them down immediately.

[StephLuvsHunting]

Awesome thanks Shooter! Yea I went into Big 5 today and all they had were measly 400 fps guns, I guess if I'm looking for something more powerful I need to find a store that specializes in them. I'll look into air rifles for sure, maybe check out online. I'm still not clear on if I need an upland game stamp for quail, rabbit, etc or anything, so I might need to find that out.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Welcome Stephanie! I went through the same questions you are asking now when I was first starting. I am the only person in my family that owns any types of guns or hunts. Therefore, I didn't have anyone to walk me through in the beginning and then I came here, learned alot, researched alot and asked alot of questions. You can take the following as you like, but here's my advice: First get a good or at least a decent air rifle. If you want it to group well and not break in 6 months, don't buy the super "El Cheapo" air rifles. I suggest going to Pyramyd Air Gun Mall and look at what they've got. They list the specs for each gun which lets you know how loud, fast, etc. you can expect the rifle to be. They also have great customer service. Like ShooterJohn mentioned, get at least a .22 caliber for hunting. You can hunt with a .177 for some birds, but I wouldn't recommend it, not at all. If you want to hunt ethically and humanely, get the .22 because it will carry more down range energy for a quick kill. I would recommend a .22 that will shoot at least 800 to 900 FPS (Feet Per Second) with mid-weight pellets (so figure the specs for the rifle to boast around 1000 FPS or better). And don't get suckered into the lightweight, performance ballistic ammo pellets. They usually are extremely inaccurate and do not pattern/group worth beans! And they are usually much higher priced for the quantity you receive. For most .22's sping piston or nitro-piston air guns I would recommend H & N Field Target Trophy, JSB Jumbo Exact or Exact Heavy, Crosman Premier Hollow Points or Domed for most applicationsl. There is also a good hunting pellet called the Predator Polymag that groups well in some air rifles, but it is hit and miss. If you think of using these, test them for how they group in your rifle before going out. If you get a PCP air rifle, you can use the heavier pellets and get more FPE (foot pounds of energy) from the additional weight of the pellet. As far as hunting, I almost exclusively hunt with my air rifles currently. I hunt with a .22 caliber Benjamin Marauder PCP rifle and I just got a .25 caliber Benjamin Marauder PCP rifle for hunting up to medium size game animals (where legal). I like the multi-shot PCP air rifles just in case I need a quick follow up shot. I also own a .22 caliber Benjamin Trail NP XL 1100 which is a good break barrel gun. The trigger isn't the greatest, but it can be replaced with a CDT GRT-III trigger which makes it shoot like butter. Break barrel air rifles give you one shot per cock/load. I still shoot mine, but I love shooting my Marauders more so it doesn't get used as much as it used to. To hunt with an air gun you were correct when you said you will need a California Hunting License. You will also need the Upland Game Bird stamp to take any legal upland game bird quarry that the regulations show you can hunt with an air gun (See List Below). Here are the game animals and upland game birds that you can legally take with an air gun during their respective seasons per CCR, Title 14, section 257:Wild TurkeyDoves (Eurasian Collared, Chinese Spotted and Ringed Turtle)Quail (California, Desert and Mountain)Grouse (Sooty, Ruffed and Sage)Ptarmigan (White-Tailed)ChukarPheasantsTree SquirrelsJack RabbitsRabbits (Cottontails, Brush and Pigmy) If you would like, you can read this thread I started a while back. ShooterJohn posted a link to the DFG question page and it answered some of this also. Here's the link to the post/thread:http://www.californi...showtopic=24240 You can also shoot varmints like Ground Squirrels and Ground Hogs. Other birds I also shoot are the English House Sparrows and European Starlings. I shoot them because they are invasive species and are wreaking havoc on our native bird species and their populations. So any chance I get, I shoot them down to help out the native birds. Make sure to learn the California Hunting Regulations, the limits (daily bag and possession), seasons and the differences in the different birds and mammals so that you are able to know exactly what you are shooting at and able to know that it is legal for you to shoot it with the air rifle. There are also specific methods of hunting that are or aren't legal that you will want to learn about and put to memory. There are certain species of doves/pigeons that you are not allowed to shoot with an air rifle like Mourning Doves, White Winged doves and Banded Tail Pigeons (also ruddy, inca and one other I can't remember so it is important to know your animal species and their size, colorations and distinctive calls/sounds). I always have a pair of binoculars with me to try to identify the animal before ever raising my rifle or looking through my scope. As additional information, crows are not to be hunted with an air gun (unless you are operating under a depredation permit). This is because these are migratory birds and under the laws and regulations are not considered air gun quarry. Also, ravens (which some people mistake for very large crows) are protected by law and are not to be hunted at all. Well, that about does it. If you are not sure about a particular air rifle, I recommend that you check out YouTube and look up AirGunWeb. Rick Eutsler does a pretty nice job of reviewing air guns and giving fair, unbiased and realistic reviews. I'm also willing to answer any questions you might have concerning a potential air rifle purchase and if I know anything about that particular air gun. If you have any additional questions, just post them in the air gun section of the forum here (located down at the bottom of the main directory) and we'll help out where we can. There are quite a few air gun hunters that frequent the CPC forum. Oh, and you mentioned wanting to possibly hunt with an air pistol. The only one I would even remotely recommend for that is the Benjamin Marauder .22 caliber PCP pistol. It's pretty accurate out to 50 yards, shoots around 650 to 700 FPS with 12 to 15 grain pellet weights and can be used as a carbine (the additional stock for that comes with the pistol). Most animals will hear you or spook if you are approaching any closer than that (unless there is a good amount of natural or man made cover an nothing to make alot of noise on the ground where you are stepping (leaves, twigs, dead brush)). That's why I would recommend a rifle instead (like ShooterJohn also mentioned). Sorry for the small novel here, but I wanted to make sure I covered as much as possible and headed off as many questions as I could with one swift typing session on the keyboard. I wish you the best in your air rifle choice and look forward to reading about your hunting adventures in the future.All the Best,Air Rifle Hunter

[StephLuvsHunting]

Awesome thanks SJ!

[StephLuvsHunting]

Thanks Air! That's a wealth of good info you mentioned. So I ended up going with a Crossman 2240 .22 cal. Since Im a bit on a budget I decided to do more research, this gun unfortunately can only go up to 460 fps I believe, but with a ton of aftermarket mods it can go up to 600+fps, so as a first air gun I will try it out. I want to get an Air Rifle , but at this time I'm thinkin pistol to take with me while I go hog hunting, that way I can pull it as a sidearm if I see any yummy critters. Do you know what I can take legally with an air pistol at .22 cal?

[CBR400RR]

If you ran into Bigfoot could you shoot it and if so what gun would you have to use? would you need tags for it?.....LOL

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Thanks Air! That's a wealth of good info you mentioned. So I ended up going with a Crossman 2240 .22 cal. Since Im a bit on a budget I decided to do more research, this gun unfortunately can only go up to 460 fps I believe, but with a ton of aftermarket mods it can go up to 600+fps, so as a first air gun I will try it out. I want to get an Air Rifle , but at this time I'm thinkin pistol to take with me while I go hog hunting, that way I can pull it as a sidearm if I see any yummy critters. Do you know what I can take legally with an air pistol at .22 cal?

You are quite welcome for the information. I know what it's like to search all over for information regarding hunting with air guns so I enjoy helping others when I can. We need more air gunners out there hunting! As far as hunting with a pistol you might save yourself some potential trouble with the CDFG Wardens if you give your local DFG a call and just ask them if it's legal to hunt with an air pistol. One thing I am sure of is, since the pistol has a shorter barrel it is therefore typically less accurate the further out your target is . One of the most important things that does matter with any air gun is the amount of FPE (foot pounds of energy) that it hits your intended target with. If that pistol can shoot a 14.3 grain Crosman Premier or Premier Hollow Point at around 460 FPS then I wouldn't shoot at anything past about 20 to 25 yards away. The reason I say that is that you want a minimum of 4 FPE on your target if it is a small animal like a rabbit, squirrel, etc. (more FPE is required if the animal is larger or more robust). At 20 Yards a CPHP traveling at 460 FPS would carry 5.2 FPE and at 25 yards would carry 4.8 FPE. Max distance would probably be 30 yards. At that distance you would get approximately 4.5 FPE with the CPHP pellet at 460 FPS. It is also important that you can be consistantly accurate at those ranges with that pistol. Just like any other animal you would hunt (like a hog), you don't want to take a bad shot, wounding the animal and then have the animal run off, not being able to recover it. I would make sure to practice alot with that pistol with the pellet type you intend to use until you can consistantly hit the kill zone of a still target. Until that time, I wouldn't attempt hunting with the pistol (but that's my personal opinion). I'd also chronograph how fast the pellets are traveling (if you know someone who has one you can borrow it) because that will tell you how far you can shoot and still get a clean kill (as long as you hit the kill zone ). If you have a smart phone I would recommend downloading Hawke Optics "Chairgun Pro". It is a free app for the phone (or you can also download it for your computer free) and it will help you to know the FPE that certain pellets are delivering once you know the velocity (FPS) they are going. I use the iPhone app constantly while testing, tuning and even while out hunting. It is an invaluable app to have. I wish you the best hunting with that pistol but as mentioned above, give DFG a call and ask. It could save you some headaches. Also remember that rabbits and squirrels are quick and spook easily. Most I've encountered haven't allowed me to get within 25 to 30 yards of them and if they did that was very rare. Most like to be around 30 to 40 yards minimum from you and still they don't sit still for but a second before bolting off for cover. Anytime you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer what I can and if I don't know I'll let you know or try finding something out.

[Racink6]

Check out Airguns of Arizona. Just google the name its a big air gun store and they have a ton of info on pistols and rifles. They also have a hughe selection. They even break down the difference of the style of air guns that are out on the market today.

[acourvil]

IIRC, the CA hunting regs specify air _rifles_ so hunting with a pellet pistol may be questionable.

[StephLuvsHunting]

Cool thanks again for the wealth of info! I just got a Crosman 2240 .22 cal pellet air pistol. For its price and the great reviews it seems like a pretty decent gun. It goes about 460 or so fps and so I def will need to shoot at 20-25 yards. I'm hoping to take it out next weekend and try it out on some bml land, still gotta check with DFG and see if its legal in my area. So crosses fingers, would be nice to find some private around here with wabbits.