DO YOU HUNT WITH YOUR AIRGUNS?

[Struckat]

My hunting, deer and turkey, is done with powder burners.

So air power is used for pesting. Chipmunks are the main target, home and away. Red squirrels are on the list depending on location and activity. Bunnies during summer, garden defense.
Gray squirrels get a pass, except for the one that thought he was moving with us.

 

[Rob_in_NC]

Plink and hunt. No big game yet but it will happen.
For the people who pest and say they are not hunting, what is the demising line that separates the two activities? I am not arguing but had never thought of pesting as anything but hunting pests. Just curious.

It can be a fine line for sure. For me, hunting involves actively going out in search of game vs pesting often involves targets of opportunity, usually in defense (even if proactive) of property or in some cases, native wildlife. It's subjective so others may have differing criteria.

 

[maxtrouble]

I've not shot a game animal with a firearm in years. Enjoy hunting with airguns, though 95% of what I do is plinking and informal target shooting and probably 4% pesting, which I consider different from hunting.

Same here. I rarely hunt any more, only pesting. Used to hunt birds. Walk ten to twelve miles and maybe get two or three pheasants all day. Now I shoot a couple of rounds of Trap and then eat a roasted chicken and a cold beer. Ambrosia.

 

[Rob_in_NC]

Same here. I rarely hunt any more, only pesting. Used to hunt birds. Walk ten to twelve miles and maybe get two or three pheasants all day. Now I shoot a couple of rounds of Trap and then eat a roasted chicken and a cold beer. Ambrosia.

Going to be trying trap shooting for the first time soon. Going with a buddy in a couple weeks.
Funny how the older we get, the more willing we are to pay for convenience.. had to laugh at 'shoot a couple rounds of trap and eat a roasted chicken'... haha

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

My hunting, deer and turkey, is done with powder burners.

So air power is used for pesting. Chipmunks are the main target, home and away. Red squirrels are on the list depending on location and activity. Bunnies during summer, garden defense.
Gray squirrels get a pass, except for the one that thought he was moving with us.

If I may ask, why pass on the Grays?

 

[Nvr-Enough]

I do both. Squirrel, Crow, Starlings mostly.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Plink and hunt. No big game yet but it will happen.
For the people who pest and say they are not hunting, what is the demising line that separates the two activities? I am not arguing but had never thought of pesting as anything but hunting pests. Just curious.

That's easy, during hunting season I hunt. Out of season, it's called pesting!

 

[maxtrouble]

Going to be trying trap shooting for the first time soon. Going with a buddy in a couple weeks.
Funny how the older we get, the more willing we are to pay for convenience.. had to laugh at 'shoot a couple rounds of trap and eat a roasted chicken'... haha

Trap is like bowling. Easy to do, very hard to master. The easiest way to explain it is this. Have the correct stance at each station. This is very important, otherwise you will miss. Have your barrel pointed BELOW the house so you can see the bird. "See the bird, shoot the bird". As fast as you can. Here is one of the best videos I have found for trap. They cover each stance at each station for left and right handers. Way cool 70's technology but the essence of the video is true. Losers always pay for the chicken and PBR. I buy a lot of chickens and PBR.

 

[Rob_in_NC]

Trap is like bowling. Easy to do, very hard to master. The easiest way to explain it is this. Have the correct stance at each station. This is very important, otherwise you will miss. Have your barrel pointed BELOW the house so you can see the bird. "See the bird, shoot the bird". As fast as you can. Here is one of the best videos I have found for trap. They cover each stance at each station for left and right handers. Way cool 70's technology but the essence of the video is true. Losers always pay for the chicken and PBR. I buy a lot of chickens and PBR.

Will check it out, thanks... I only have two goals with this endeavor... 1. Hit one bird and 2. Dont embarrass myself! If I accomplish those, I'll be happy to pay for food/drinks!

 

[RatAssassin]

Yes. I use mine for work.
But now that I'm starting to really get into PCP's, I can see myself squirrel hunting with one.

 

[Struckat]

If I may ask, why pass on the Grays?

Game animal, no open season in the suburbs.

They have been know to vandalize tomatoes, pass gets revoked.

 

[Lobi]

Going to be trying trap shooting for the first time soon

I'll add my rookie 2 cents to what maxtrouble offered. Don't use a smooth bore with tight choke. Modified or more open. Let those bb's spread. Speaking of spread, don't touch off the trigger too quick. Let the bird get out a bit where your shot has a chance to open up its pattern a bit. Wait too long and the clay is falling however. Almost impossible to catch up to a falling target. Catch it out a ways but still slowly rising or leveling off. Decades ago I shot clay on a weekly basis. Never got great but an enjoyable sport. Satisfaction in watching it turn to dust in the sky.

 

[survivor45]

I plink and pest. I would hunt small game if given the opportunity. The only squirrel we can hunt here in Washington state lives in our backyards and city parks. We can’t legally hunt birds with an air rifle.
I think we could probably hunt hair (snowshoe). Again I believe most rabbits are protected just like our native squirrels.
I think anything coyote or bigger I’d stick with my powder burners.

 

[Lobi]

We can’t legally hunt birds with an air rifle.

As a kid we were told that we can't shoot the Robins, state bird.
It's possible that a few fell to the 760

 

[djna]

Pest and target- mostly. Use Mainly Firearms to hunt with. When I can retire wouldn’t mind trying some big bore airgun hunting though, when got more free time.

 

[Jnine]

Mostly target shooting for me with some occasional pesting.

 

[inverted]

I happen to live in a really backward thinking, third world SE EU country so any air rifle pesting or hunting is prohibited by law. It doesn't matter that crows and pigeons ran off all other "nice" bird species and rats are all over every single farm. One can legally destroy nests or poison rats but humanly dispatch them with air rifle of suitable caliber and power level is still illegal.
Paper punching and plinking only for me.

 

[Gerry52]

Paper to zero in only. Agricultural property varmints 99.9% of time! More pesting than hunting I guess. B'wana stalks the man eating rodents!

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Both

 

[Ranchibi]

Target and pest/hunt small game.