Hunting with pellet gun

A

AL45

New member
Due to the scarcity of .22 LR ammunition, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has made pellet guns legal for hunting Grouse. If I run into a bear or mountain lion, should I take a head shot, heart shot or try to break it;s shoulder? I'll be carrying an old Daisy pump capable of sending a .177 pellet about 800 FPS down range. Should I carry my son's CO2 pellet handgun for backup?
 
In TX, due to a quirk of the law, it's not legal to hunt any game birds (or squirrels) with a pellet gun but it is legal to hunt mountain lions and hogs with airguns since they are non-game animals.

I suppose if you want to go up against large animals with an airgun, something like this would be better than a Daisy pump-up.

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Sam_Yang_Big_Bore_909S/516/1360

It will propel a 200 grain, 45 caliber bullet at about 730fps. It is a single shot, you'll have to manually load a bullet for each shot, but it will provide 3 shots before the tank needs to be refilled. Quite powerful for an airgun and significantly more powerful than a .22LR but still not ideal for self-defense against bear or mountain lion. ;)
 
AL45...carry a sidearm.....in a serious caliber like 357 mag.

Last season in So. Cal. deer hunting I busted a Mt. Lion looking at me. The first time I had him in the scope of my 30-06. The second time was in the sights of my GP100. Wanna guess why there were no mulies found where I was hunting???? And guesswhat... shooting Mt. Lions is against the law in Kali.
 
Highly unlikely that the scarcity of .22 LR ammunition is the reason, but our MNR(same as your Department of Game and Fish) deemed air pistols as suitable for grouse years ago. Usually for guys out deer/bear/moose hunting. Don't know of any who specifically use 'em any other time.
"...Wanna guess why there were no mulies found..." Nothing to do with Snagglepuss. Other than him scaring 'em away. Snagglepuss doesn't run around killing Bambi for laughs. Mind you, if there were no deer, Snagglepuss wouldn't be there either. A guy's gotta eat.
Oh and you nor anybody else would ever be fast enough if Kitty thought you might be tasty. Kitty comes from above and behind. You'd never know it.
 
There are pellet guns out there now with bores up to .50 caliber that use muzzle loading bullets and can push them to very high speeds (around 1,000 FPS I believe at the top of the line). They've been used to take hogs and deer. I've heard they're popular in Germany due to their relatively short range where hunting close to cities or other populated areas.
 
Oh and you nor anybody else would ever be fast enough if Kitty thought you might be tasty. Kitty comes from above and behind. You'd never know it.
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Wrongo Red Rider....I heard him first. If you aren't making a ton of noise, you can hear them moving. It was just at the beginning of grey light and he went up a tree scouting for prey. I know it was a he because I had my crosshairs on him. Some of us city folks do actually know how to hunt.

And puspus eats more than just deer; just ask the idiots that live in the foothills around here that leave their little fluff dogs out and wonder why they go missing.
 
I was looking into the high powered air rifles a few years ago. You can take down a buffalo with the more powerful ones. The best way to fill them up is with a scuba tank.
 
If I run into a bear or mountain lion, should I take a head shot, heart shot or try to break it;s shoulder? I'll be carrying an old Daisy pump capable of sending a .177 pellet about 800 FPS down range.
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Try to hit him in the funny bone.
 
I think the OP's not asking where to shoot the bear/mountain lion with his pellet gun. I hope.

Assuming you will be carrying something aside from pellet guns, bear spray for bears first. And some kind of center fire firearm - see what equipment is allowed in your local hunting manual.

If you shoot out of self defense because a charging predator, I doubt a heart/lung shot will be available.
 
I've never hunted Grouse but would like to. Apparently, the reason many people use a .22 is because of their tendency to not fly. Also, their habitat is in the woods and they are difficult to see once they take flight. I just thought it was interesting that you could use a pellet gun to hunt them.
 
An air gun might be an interesting way to try hunting birds, but if you encounter something that can EAT you, I suggest trying to mount a bayonet - with a seriously strong mount.

Of course bear spray is even better.
 
I use a Sheridan 5mm pneumatic for chippies, which are of late, the bane of my property. You need to be a good marksman for these, as they are tiny and don't stand still for long. The Sheridan is great for this, but I doubt I'd use it against a PO'd cougar, except as maybe a club. They're .20 caliber at roughly 800fps. For the chippies, I generally do about 450.
 
"I'll be carrying an old Daisy pump capable of sending a .177 pellet about 800 FPS down range."

I hope you're kidding us.
If not here's a personal experience that will help you. The campground where we worked in 2010 had lots of picket pin gophers. This easy prey and the leftovers campers generated attracted a bobcat. The local wildlife officer and myself decided this critter was not compatible with small children and pets that might stay at the campground and he OK'd me to "persuade the cat to leave". Three hits from a pump-up .177 pellet rifle similar to the one you mentioned at less than 10 yards didn't break the skin and barely caused the animal to move away. One last shot that must have hit something tender(shooting him in the butt) sent Mr. Kitty(by this time I'd determined it was most likely a tom)out of the area.
Based on the fact that the cat didn't move away when approached and didn't seem inclined to leave after being stung 3 times, I feel certain a bad situation was averted. NO, a .177 pellet rifle won't deter a predator big enough to be a threat to a human.

On the other hand, this rifle was just right for the gophers as long as the wind was calm.
 
Good luck with the grouse, AL45.
I take a 9 or 40 on my hip for any predator encounters. And I try not to look like a deer... :)
 
Get a newer PCP air rifle in .25 or .35 caliber then you don't have to worry about things. That is if the OP was actually being serious about bears and lions in NM.
 
If the OP's question about big-tooth critters was serious, odds are that he should just stay home. Seems to me that it's evidence of a lack of knowledge which is beyond the scope of this forum to solve.
 
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