A little heresy . . . .
I know I’m going to catch it for this one, but I’ve settled on .22 caliber barrel as my standard airgun hunting tool, not the .25. I’ve been playing around in the grouse and rabbit fields with both.
This is totally personal, but my reasons are as follows:
1) I eat about everything I shoot. The .25 caliber damages too much meat with heart/lung shots, or base of neck shots on grouse.
2) the .22 kills as effectively within my self-imposed 40 yard limit for airguns, with less bloodshot meat and tissue damage.
I seldom use headshots unless the conditions are perfect, and I have a good rest.
I now revel in a good kill on a rabbit, and take as much pride in a good shot as if I had shot a deer. My season with an airgun rather than larger stuff has been super – a whole new world. I took a lot less game this year, but enjoyed it a lot more.
The .25 is harder hitting, for sure. If I’m pesting, no contest. But for edible stuff within 40 yards or so, and how I hunt, it offers no real advantage.
Is my .25 caliber barrel for sale? No way!!!!! For pests gophers it can’t be beat.
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Molto, it seems we have hijacked your thread. Sorry. Whichever gun/pellet/distance you choose, that works for you, sounds like a winner to me. I don’t consider it heresy at all. I consider it a wise and prudent choice. Good for you!
Actually, the hijacking was way more interesting than what I originally put up!! 😀 Let’s hear more! Now I REALLY want rats! 😈
Chickens? That would be fun to watch! 😆
Molto, it seems we have hijacked your thread. Sorry. Whichever gun/pellet/distance you choose, that works for you, sounds like a winner to me. I don’t consider it heresy at all. I consider it a wise and prudent choice. Good for you!
And no Adam a cat would not help, the car is parked outside and I would have to be the cat lady to have enough cats to make a dent in the mouse population, and having a cat in the car is just not a feasable situation.
Regards,
Roachcreek
We know you wont own a cat, but have you ever had chickens?
They actually are great mousers.
Just a thought.
I put red cayan pepper and curry powder where thay had been chewing. I also stepped up my rat eradication efforts. I’ve bagged 12 more in the last 10 days.
One of the many reasons the Germans were defeated at Stalingrad according to the newest history eaters, was that the rats chewed up the wiring in the tanks.
I used to get them in the heater fan, it would wump wump when you turned it on, and you better turn it off fast to save the motor.
Every car I have had they get inside but one model, Ford pu, toyota landcrusers, Audi Allroad and now the Ford Explorer.
My Toyota Tundras have remained intact.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Steve
all sorts of points where rodents can get in a car
what I have most commonly seen is chewing around wiring harness grommets where they pass through the firewall. Another point on newer vehicles is to chew through plastic heater boxes and ducts in the engine bay
usually these problems surface in cars that have been stored
worst case I saw was a very clean 1965 Jaguar XKE roadster with the detachable hardtop. Car had been stored for 8 years in a barn on concrete blocks while the owner was in prison
externally it was primo
inside mice had destroyed it
leather seats were shredded, wiring harness chewed, heck even the door panels were knawed around the edges and the interior smelled like acid from the rodent piss and shit
got it pretty cheap, resold it…heard the resto shop had to strip the bucket out and sandblast it to remove the stink
real bad
Hi RC, I understand how they get into the engine bay…and why. I’s warm and sheltered. But how do they get inside the cabin?
Where I live it is the damn mice, what was the creator thinkng of when he made mice??? They destroy millions a year chewing on shit.
This month I have to take my Explorer in to get the heater,airconditioner fixed. They have to pull the dash to do it, $1000.00 minum to fix it. The day it quit, I found mouse nest material and mouse shit on the floor under the fan.
And no Adam a cat would not help, the car is parked outside and I would have to be the cat lady to have enough cats to make a dent in the mouse population, and having a cat in the car is just not a feasable situation.
Regards,
Roachcreek
Lucky to have rats? I suppose. Except for when they chew on the wiring of your car and cost big$$$ to repair. I’m fortunate that they have only chewed the insulation on my battery so far.
Oh, I do know my limitations and I don’t exceed them. Dirty Harry is quite right! 😆
I’m capable of holding 1/4″ groups at 100 yards with my .222 benchrest gun any given day, and the same sized groups with my Talon at 25 yards seated, but field conditions are not ideal, and that’s what I’m actually talking about. I’ve never been too fond of crippling game, so I play a conservative hand.
I’ll use any rest I can in the field – sticks, too, although I find them a pain in the butt to carry in the field.
We don’t have vermin where I live (Northern British Columbia) – no rats, no gophers, starlings, pigeons, nothing like that. It’s just too cold. If we did, I’d be blasting them at 70 yards with my .25 Talon or at 350 with my .22-250 What we have here is strictly edible and has a season, or are furbearers and illegal to shoot. Trapping is still viable and common here.
You guys who have those pests are lucky. I’ve noticed that since I’ve been into airguns, I’d just love to have mice, rats and cockroaches! 😀 😆 😈
And yes, I’d seriously recommend the .25 for pesting!
“A man’s got to know his limitations.” Dirty Harry Calahan
I don’t eat what I shoot…rats, ground squirrels. I just don’t want them to get into my tree hugging neighbor’s yard shot full of holes.
Have you tried shooting sticks for stabillity?
You’re quite right that the argument doesn’t need to take place.
I mostly posted as a hint to guys that are considering a .25 caliber barrel for hunting. Yes, but for edible game I don’t think it’s an advantage.
As I’ve said before, though, in my neck of the woods, and with snowshoe hares, anchoring quickly is important. They are tougher than the cottontails I took in Manitoba this summer. A lot tougher. And they live in gnarly territory which you don’t want to lose them in. And I don’t have a dog. The .25 cal kills I’ve made have been like hitting a deer in the shoulder with a .243 or .270. You’re gonna lose that front quarter unless you want a lot of blood sausage. Doesn’t leave much on a rabbit saddle.
And I like to take a dozen or so for the freezer for the winter. They’re amongst the tastiest meat in the forest.
The .177 barrel was great on cottontails. But on the hares, the .22 anchors the critters a lot better.
The .25 cal just blows too much meat off them with Predators, and the round noses are just like .22 rimfire solids – they’ll get away too frequently.
I like to think of my Talon and the pills it shoots in terms of a shotgun pellet. They work a lot alike, and 40 yards for me is comfortable.
Longer, well . . . I hate to admit it but I’m only a mediocre shot.
😆
Wanna sell your logun? Heheheh. Actually, we can’t get them easily in Canada – repairs would be a problem. Some of the guys in FT in Ontario have them. Beautiful guns.
It s funny as the 22 vs 25 argument really needs to never take place. Just like the 408 Cheytec vs 50 BMG doesnt. The point is, the 22 is a killer just like the .25. They both have enough JUICE to properly dispatch game especially at your distances. I agree with you on your choice as 40 yards with a 25 is OVERKILL and not necessary.
Some folks just need to see OVERDEATH…lol
Hell, if i only took shots at 40-45 or even 50 yards, my logun solo .20 is plenty
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you want to deal with rodents, forget cats, muchless chickens and just get a couple ferrets
out at my cabin I have Ermine everywhere
never seen a rat and even mice are scarce
funny as hell watching the Ermine diving through the snow crusts to fetch a mouse tunneling underneath
the Weasels would get into my place every so often, never caused any trouble…they were after the mice that took refuge there