Can I hunt with my
airgun? This question, or some variant of it, is one of the most common
airgun questions on Yahoo! Answers. It is also one of the more
difficult questions since there are several factors that have to be
considered. The answer really depends on the power of the airgun
in question, the accuracy of the airgun in question, the animal you
want to hunt, and the hunting regulations of your state. Answering this
question completely would require a fairly substantial book. To keep
this manageable I'm going to approach the topic in a fairly general
manner and try to create a framework that will guide new airgun
shooters in answering this question.
Ensuring that your
airgun produces enough power to hunt a given animal is a key
consideration. This is because sufficient impact energy, combined with
the destruction of vital internal organs and blood loss, is what
quickly and humanely kills animals when using an airgun. And the
absence of sufficient impact energy causes unnecessary suffering for
animals when using an airgun. For this reason, it is extremely
important to know the power level of an airgun and the minimum amount
of impact energy needed for an animal.
I generally defer to
Robert Beeman and Jim Chapman's greater experience when it comes to
answering questions about the minimum amount of impact energy needed
for a given species.(1)(2) This has led to my general reply that 3 ft-lbs of
impact energy is needed for squirrels, 5 ft-lbs of impact energy is
needed for rabbits, 8 ft-lbs of impact energy is needed for
jackrabbits, and at least 25 ft-lbs of impact energy is needed for
raccoons. For larger animals such as coyote, feral hogs, and deer
extremely powerful, big-bore airguns that produce in excess of 100
ft-lbs of impact energy are needed.
Now that I've raised
the issue of sufficient energy levels, it would probably be a good idea
to talk about how to determine your gun's energy level. Ideally, you
would simply be able to plug the muzzle velocity from your gun's manual
and the weight of the pellet you're shooting into one of the on-line
kinetic energy calculators and be done with it. However due to the
emphasis marketing departments put on velocity, that is no longer
possible since companies now test their guns with extremely light
pellets to get the highest velocities possible. This leads to people
over-estimating the power of their airguns. As a result you either need
to use a chronograph to determine the actual velocity you're getting or
find a review written by someone who has already used a chronograph to
determine the actual velocity with a given pellet to determine the
approximate power of your airgun. If you intend to hunt only squirrel
or rabbit there is a third alternative, which I'll call the can test.
If you can shoot a pellet through both sides of a Campbell's soup can
at the maximum distance you will attempt a shot at then your gun has
sufficient energy for rabbit or squirrel, provided you limit yourself
to head-shots.
Even if your airgun
produces sufficient energy to hunt the animal you wish to hunt, you
must also be able to place a pellet either in the brain or the
heart-lung cavity of the animal. And that presupposes a certain level
of accuracy. For squirrel and rabbit, the area you must be able to hit
consistently is approximately the size of a quarter. For larger animals
the target area may be a bit larger, but it will rarely be much bigger
than a US fifty-cent piece. So even if your airgun produces sufficient
energy you should not use it for hunting at distances beyond which you
can reliably deliver acceptable hunting accuracy. For most people
shooting the vast majority of “hunting” airguns, that means they are
limited to 20-30 yards. With some of the better quality airguns this
may go up to 40-50 yards, but with a few exceptions hunting accuracy is usually difficult for most people to achieve
much further than that.
The final factor, and probably the most important factor really, in whether you can use an airgun for hunting is what your state's hunting regulations say. Some states like Ohio allow airguns to be used on squirrels, rabbits, coyotes, feral pigs, ground-hogs, raccoons, and the like. Some states, like Missouri, add white-tail deer to that list provided your airgun meets specific requirements. Other states, such as Pennsylvania, don't allow people to hunt any animals with airguns. And others only allow people to hunt non-game animals with airguns. And finally some states don't specifically address the issue one way or another at all. The patchwork nature of hunting regulations in the United States means that before you go hunting with an airgun, you must first check your state's hunting regulations to make sure you are legally allowed to do so. That may be as easy as a quick trip to your state's game management agency's website or a phone-call to the local game warden to ask. It may also turn out to be more involved if you live in a state where the regulations are unclear. However it is your responsibility to check your state's hunting regulations before you go afield.
This is not intended to be the last word on this topic. As previously mentioned that would require a substantial book to explore all the complexities. Instead this is intended to provide a framework through which someone new to airguns can approach the topic and begin to answer that common question, "Can I use my airgun for hunting?".
1. http://www.airguns.net/general_field_use.php
2. http://www.airgunarena.com/index.php/Power_in_the_Hunting_Airgun