New to Air Rifle Hunting

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archedian

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Mar 8, 2016
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Hello Everyone, I'm new to air rifles and I have been looking around at many different kinds. However, with everyone here and the experience that everyone else has, I am sure there isnt, but is there an air rifle for under $300 that can be used for hunting larger game like deer?

I apologize if this is a stupid question, i have just been looking around and since i have never owned an air rifle, and do not know anyone around that has one. I do not want to spend a whole lot of money to buy the best there is without first trying one out.

Thank you all in advance!
 
Thank you all for the quick responses. Very much appreciated and I will look into the Sam Yang. Might just bite the pellet "lol" and go spend the money and get the gun i hear so much about "Benjamin Bulldog .357" and learn with it and have time to get familiar with. Its a bit pricey but im sure with Air Rifles its the same as everything else... "You get what you pay for". Thank you all again!
 
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+1 Trust me you will love it and spend the extra coin to at least get an MROD. If you don't have anybody near you with a tank a high pressure tank or high pressure compressor to fill up PCP airguns are air tanks you're really going to need your own tank it's going to cost you a lot to set up in the beginning the higher-end stuff that you buy will hold its value better. Check around now and see if you can find yourself somewhere that is able to fill up to 220 bar for your gun or 4500 PSI for a tank I have an Omega carbon fiber I love it depending on what caliber you shoot pens on the gun as well. I'm shooting a FX gun and I can get around 80 shots regulated of consistent 25 caliber full power. I'm a Centerfire shooter is well and I still enjoy my air gun as much as my Center fires maybe a little more and I have a lot of Heckler & Koch Firearms so I have things that are fun to shoot but I just really enjoy my PCP Pellet gun. Once you pay the initial set-up cost of getting set up it doesn't cost you much at all to operate!!
 
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Every break barrel I have ever owned I'm not going to say that they're all like this because I've never owned any of the really high-end r-wis and stuff like that but I've never been able to get consistent accuracy you shoot it properly not like I can with my FX Bobcat or Impact. I can take confident 100-yard shots no problem with those I'm sure there's other people out there that are much better than I am I'm just stating that the gun is that good not me.
 
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My experience has been similar to FX Shooter. Yes, if you get lucky, find a pellet that works well, and master the hold, NP2 rifles will shoot decent groups. I've never mastered it either.

As for PCP, you got to bite the bullet (pellet?), and spend some big bucks. You might not need to have a compressor if you have someone close who can fill a portable tank. If not, that'll be around $1,000 or so. The smallest portable tank is about 18 cubic feet, and with what it needs to fill you specific PCP choice, might be as much as $600. 

There are a few PCPs coming which sell for about $200, but fair ones cost about ± $600. Really good ones START at triple this. Oh, and there there is the scope, and about $200 worth a pellets until you find the ones which shoot best. 
 
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The OP specified "larger game like deer", that's why I steered clear of recommendations like Marauder or any break barrel. Large game like that would make even the bulldog or Sam Yang the lightest of possibles. 

But if you really want to get used to airguns in general, I would recommend the first gun to be a .25 or smaller. They are much cheaper to buy and shoot, and would cover many more game species than a big bore. if you can hit a sparrow, you can hit a deer. :)
 
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Has anyone taken a fresh deer skull that's been skinned out or either both ways skinned out and not skinned out and shot it from 25 yards in the sweet spots to see if it would penetrate the brain cavity with the 25 caliber? Mind you I have no intentions of doing this I would never hunt deer with anything less than a BIG BORE but I was just curious if it would penetrate the brain? I know people are using them on Hogs and they are penetrating butt I just can't bring myself to do something as such if you can then hey that's your own thing and I'm glad for you if you do it and you get clean kills I just would need much more practice and to see somebody do it and testing to really make me comfortable with the idea, Hog's I consider a nuisance like coyotes I would like a clean kill, but as long as I kill him and he is not killing multiple Fawns a day that's really what I care about with them they're such a nuisance we don't have many hogs up here in Michigan I know there's a few spots that have them so don't come flying at me with there is none and you have a bunch around you I don't have any near me I'm also new to it so I have used airguns since I was 15 and headshot small game on my life and have been very proficient with the I started off with the Crosman 2200 Magnum. I loved that gun at that time 1987 or so!! It was pretty dam accurate and with iron insights, but the ones that I've bought recently as mine finally capped out after 20 years (about 5 years ago) now they we're obviously some of the last ones produce right after Crossman announced they would be discontinued just don't seem to be as accurate as the the sights are just not put on properly for them to be as accurate as the one that I had when I was fifteen and you're talking twenty-five years ago also its has been a long time!!
 
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Can you kill a deer with a 40 - 60 ft. lb. air gun? Yes, IF everything is perfect and we do not live in a perfect world. You would have to shoot for the brain and not miss and horribly wound the animal. As an ethical hunter you owe a quick and sure kill to the game animal. If you want to go deer hunting get your centerfire and do it correctly.
 
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IMHO, it is irresponsible and unethical to hunt deer with a 40 (or even 80) fpe rile unless it's the last step between you and starving to death. You are pretty much guaranteed to injure the deer, but with pretty low likelihood of killing it. Even a headshot isn't guaranteed. It's about the same thing as hunting with a .22CB cartridge, or maybe a short.
 
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mobilemailIMHO, it is irresponsible and unethical to hunt deer with a 40 (or even 80) fpe rile unless it's the last step between you and starving to death. You are pretty much guaranteed to injure the deer, but with pretty low likelihood of killing it. Even a headshot isn't guaranteed. It's about the same thing as hunting with a .22CB cartridge, or maybe a short.
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I agree 100% I could never do it unless in an emergency. .
 
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I bought a magnum springer for hunting and I'm about ready to give up on it. I can't get any consistency out of it even with an artillery hold. And I'm no slouch with a rifle. In boot camp I was the second best shooter in my entire company.

I think manufacturers have pushed beyond the practical limits of springers. The fpe number on a magnum springer may be akin to the fps numbers on lightweight alloy pellets... impressive on paper but not really a good idea. At the range, the ~35 lb cocking effort gets tiring fast, and fatigue doesn't help your shooting. I'm debating whether to sell my springer, try to install a weaker gas ram to drop it down around 15 fpe, or build some crazy spring-loaded stock to try to get it to shoot straight.
 
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