Bobcat Down w/ .177

Years ago I took a good-sized bobcat with my new .177 pellet gun.

After school I would throw on my boots and jeans, grab my pellet gun and take off into the hillside until I could hear momma’s whistling echoing up through the hills, signaling that dinner was ready. This was the usual after school routine if we weren’t roping and riding or working with the horses.

This particular evening I was in my favorite squirrel and rabbit honey-hole. Oddly enough I did not see any this afternoon so I knew that something was going on. As I was walking up the trail I noticed something moving in the brush. It was big… and the consequent adrenaline rush filled my ears with the pounding of my heartbeat! I quickly raised my rifle, using the scope to better see what was staring at me about 35 yards out through the thick brush. It blended in so well… I struggled to discern what it was…. all of a sudden it moved and the figure became clear… a massive, man-eating bobcat was tracking me down! Instinctually I placed the crosshairs on its chest and squeezed the trigger. Click… Bang! The cat jumped 10 feet into the air as the pellet struck its chest. By the time the cat hit the ground I was already home! I took off screamin’ and hollerin’ for mom and dad as I thought the cat was after me. I tore through a barbed wire fence to get back on our property, the adrenaline keeping me from feeling the scrapes and cuts.

“Dad I just killed a bobcat!!! I got him with my pellet gun!”
“YOU DID WHAT!?”

As a family we went back to look for it… The cat was 10 yards from where he was standing when I shot him. The little .177 was well placed and put him down quickly. My dad had him mounted holding a quail in his mouth, and the skull placed on a plaque with the pellet underneath it.

The taxidermist later explained that the pellet entered where I aimed… it went through the chest, then through the top portion of the heart, which lead to a very quick death. It is a moment of my childhood I will never forget. I shot purely out of self defense as I was young, and I truly feared it was after me. In the same situation nowadays I would not have pulled the trigger.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I wanted to post this to share that story and to stimulate a discussion on .177 vs. .22 and the FPE needed for certain applications. Obviously as my other posts show, I have been very, very effective taking pigeons, ground hogs, raccoons etc. with my .22 Condor at only 12-13 FPE as I rely on headshots 99% of the time. I am confident in low FPE and .177 pellets as shot placement is #1 for me. My bell curve/ FPS fluctuation gives a little more vertical stringing than I’d like. I am really considering going to .177 but I wanted to know if this would be better or worse using the same air output. I am around 550+/- FPS in .22. Would the same air output provide less stringing in .177? Thinking about it I would say yes because I would see a flatter trajectory with a lighter projectile/ less drop over distance… I really want to see some smaller groups and I know I can put a lot of critters down with a .177 headshot. I have so much drop in .22 out of my Condor past 30 yards, and as I shoot down from 2700 to 2000 PSI I see the POI go up and down more than I want it to.
I am trying to find my point of equilibrium with my Condor and need some sage advice on which route to take. Should I tweak and tune my .22 more, or should I try .177 and go for a flatter trajectory and less drop? If you say stick with the .22 and tune it…. What exactly would you try first? I am sick of seeing my POI go up and down so much! 10 shots @ 50 yards go in one hole, then the next 10 go an inch up in another hole, then the next 10 shift down a little and all go in their own hole!

If you read all this… Thank you! Hopefully you can share some knowledge, as I am new to the PCP world, bell curves, this kind of tuning, and everything that goes with it.

Cheers guys!

PS: Also… Please ignore the stupid bowl cut my mom made me have. I hated my haircut every day of my life but she insisted my hair looked too pretty to cut. Barf!!! :’(

Advertised FPS for this pellet gun was 1,200. I now realize it was probably no more than 6-700!

You can see the “gold” plated pellet below the skull. I remember when Cabelas or Bass Pro first put those pellets in the catalog! I had to get some to try out! While I took this bobcat with one, I did not use them much. They weren’t that consistent.