Air rifles and air pistols function much differently than tradition firearms, so hunters must understand these difference when they choose to use an air gun for hunting. Understanding the limitations of your air gun is critical to minimize the chance of just wounding the animal, allowing it escaping to suffer.
Many states have set requirements for caliber, pellet weight and muzzle velocity for certain game animals, especially for larger game animals, so it is very important to check if your state has requirements regulating air guns and hunting.
Airgunlaws.com has put together a list of the what game can be hunted with an air gun for each state which you can find here.
Practicing with Your Air Gun Beforehand
The flight path of a pellet is much different than a typical firearm. Pellet fired from an air gun will drop much more aggressively than a bullet propelled by gunpowder, so it’s important to practice with your weapon so you can take this drop into account. From this reason, air gun hunter will use special scopes that include mil-dot reticles so your can calculate the pellet drop at longer distances.
To get an idea of how much your pellet will drop, you can use the calculator from airguns.net. We have compiled a list of pellet ballistic coefficient for popular .177 and .22 calibers which you will need in addition to your guns velocity to calculate pellet drop.
Finally you will want to scope your air gun at various distances so you can determine exactly how much drop you will have to account for when hunting. I like to place a piece of tap on the butt of my gun and mark down how many mil-dots I need to aim at set distances so I can easily determine proper aiming when in the field.
Bonus Tip – Aiming an Air Gun Upwards
This tip applies when you are hunting for animals like squirrel, which will very likely be located above you in a tree. Generally when you sight your scope, you do so aiming at a target that is straight out in front out you, meaning your body and the air gun form a 90 degree angle. However when an inexperienced shooter tries to shoot at a target in a tree, they are shooting at say a 45 degree angle, they find that their pellet goes over the top of their intended target.
Because the angle we are shooting at has changed, so has our pellet’s drop trajectory. When aiming at a target that is up higher than you, you will want to take this into account and adjust your aim point by 1 mil-dot up what you would normally aim at.
Example: I have my air gun scope set so that at 20 yards, my aim point is where the crosshairs meet. but if I was shot up in a tree and my target is 20 yards away, instead of aiming where my crosshairs meet, I would aim 1 mil-dot higher than my cross hairs as shown below.
This is something that you will learn with practice the more you shoot, just be aware that shooting upwards (and downwards) will change the rate at which your pellet will drop.
Air Gun Recommendations For Small Game
When hunting small game such as squirrel, rabbit and small birds, smaller caliber air guns like .177 and .22 are acceptable given they produce at least 8 foot pound of energy at the muzzle and are taken at distances of less that 15 yards. Headshots with these low powered air guns are a must.
Ideally, a .22 caliber air gun tend to “hit” harder and produce more energy which can lead to instant kills. The larger caliber pellet also does not penetrate quite as much as a .177 which can sometime pass straight through the animal without transferring all its energy into the target, allowing it to escape.
The more velocity your air gun can produce can also help you to extend your target range out even further. Air guns that produce 20 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle can allow you to extend your range out to 35 to 50 yards or even further. Air rifles will produce more energy than an air pistol, so they are more suited for hunting.
When it comes to pellet choice, go with a heavier lead pellet with a hollow point like the Crosman Premier Hollow Points pellets or dome tip like the Crosman Premier Ultra Heavy Domed pellet.
For small game hunting, we recommend air rifles like the Benjamin 392, Gamo Swarm or the Hatsan Mod 95.
Air Gun Recommendations For Large Game
When hunting large game like coyote, deer, hogs and rams a larger caliber airgun like a .30, .357 and .45 is recommended. Air guns in these calibers will often be pre-charged pneumatics and should be capale from producing 215 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle with a pellet weighing 150 grains or more.
While these air guns are extremely powerful and are capable of taking game at distances greater than 150 yards, their most effective range is around 75 yards. Shot placement is also critical, so you will need to aim for vital organs like the heart or lungs.
After the animal has been shoot, the hunter should wait an hour before retrieving the animal to allow sufficient time to pass for the animal to expire to reduce the chance that the hunter is injured.
For hunting large game, we recommend and air rifle like the Benjamin Bulldog or the Seneca Recluse.