could you live efficiently.. hunting with a..

**artofwoc** · 04-13-2009, 01:13 AM

pellet gun, in the wilderness?

**Rick** · 04-13-2009, 01:22 AM

I guess it depends on what you intend to hunt. But yes, like a .22LR or .22mag you can harvest small game and survive for a short time using a quality pellet rifle that you've spent time practicing with. Like any other tool, you need to practice with it and know how to use it.

**tennecedar** · 04-13-2009, 02:01 AM

With my pellet gun yes. I don't know about some of the slower ones. I just ordered a 36 caliber air rifle that shoots lead round balls over 800 fps. After I get used to it I think my chances would improve.

http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/outlaws.html

**crashdive123** · 04-13-2009, 07:01 AM

I recently picked up a Beeman dual caliber air rifle. I'm quite impressed with it, and have no doubt in its ability to harvest small game.

**vthompson** · 04-13-2009, 08:37 AM

My son owns a real nice pellet rifle, and last fall I took 3 squirrels with it one morning and I came away impressed. So to answer the question, I could use a pellet rifle to survive.

**wildography** · 04-13-2009, 10:31 AM

One very important part of using a pellet gun for hunting is shot placement - which means practice, practice, practice. Another good aspect to master is camouflage and stalking.... using a pellet gun requires being close - much closer than you would need to be with a .22 rifle.

One good thing about using a pellet rifle is the low noise... you can use a pellet gun in areas that you wouldn't want to pop off a round from a .22 or larger gun.

So, yeah... a pellet gun is indeed a good option... that's why I have my Crossman air pistol.

**SARKY** · 04-14-2009, 01:15 AM

Hunting with a pellet gun..... heck yes! I have the dubious distinction of recieving an award from my command for taking out 197 roosting pigions which were pooping all over our aircraft and causing a great deal of damage to the airframes.

**Rick** · 04-14-2009, 07:57 AM

Pigeon dinner?

**FVR** · 04-15-2009, 04:54 AM

Oh yeh. Take my pellet gun and check my traps everyday.

**RobertRogers** · 04-15-2009, 06:14 PM

In a survival situation your most likely and consistent source of meat is going to be small game like squirrels, birds, rabbits, and the like. A good pellet gun would work quite well.

My choice would be a .22lr but that may not be available to you.

**Rick** · 04-15-2009, 08:41 PM

I still have the old Crossman 760 that I used when I was a kid. Forearm pump. It's taken more than one squirrel. Of course that was back when the company was called Crossboy.

**Gray Wolf** · 04-16-2009, 12:24 AM

I think you would still need a knife, to dress your kill, make a fire, make a shelter etc.

**Rick** · 04-16-2009, 07:21 AM

I don't think he wanted to leave the rest of the gear at home. I sure didn't. I think he was just concerned whether or not he could harvest game using a pellet gun. That was my impression anyway.

**sh4d0wm4573ri7** · 04-16-2009, 07:31 AM

I believe a pellet gun is a good option I use a RWS 48 Dianna model its a .177 caliber that throws a pellet at around 1100 fps with a single pump. It is very accurate and I don't believe would have much trouble feeding myself with it.

**Rick** · 04-16-2009, 07:46 AM

So you bring up a good question. What's the best caliber to use? .177 is good and popular but .20 and .22 are out there. You can even get .25, .45 and .50 caliber. So, which is the best survival caliber?

**crashdive123** · 04-16-2009, 07:51 AM

As far as best, I'm a newb to pellet guns (other than my Daisy Red Rider as a kid). I purchased the one I did because of the ability to change barrels and calibers. On mine it shoots at 1000 fps with .177 pellets and 800 fps with .22 pellets. I don't know that there would be too much difference in the size of game that either were able to take.

**erunkiswldrnssurvival** · 04-18-2009, 07:58 AM

My 10 pomp daisy can jam a pellet completly through a rabbit at 50 yards. the pellet rifle is a favored piece of equipment for me. abundantly adequet to hunt small game.

**Alpine_Sapper** · 04-20-2009, 06:56 PM

Ok, so here's the scoop;

My in laws live outside of the city limits, but in a residential enough neighborhood that John Law would try and confiscate my weapons and pass along a nice little fine if I let off any .22lr. Nice, huh?

Anyway, the issue is that there is a pack of feral chickens (yeah, I said chickens) roaming the neighborhood that everyone wants gone, but is either to squeamish, scared, or lazy to do it for themselves.

So they solicited my help, since they know I'm not the type of guy that's going to just leave the carcass laying there or toss it in the dump, at worst I'm going to use them to feed the dogs. Which, I can't really let 'em have at while the birds are still alive since there's all kinds of kids around, and Off-leash Akita's + Wild Chickens = bloody gory feathers everywhere and one helluva show.

So, I'm thinking...Maybe I can use a pellet gun (.177 caliber is what I have, and not willing to go buy a new one just to take out 10-15 chickens)...A scoped head shot while they are roosting in the trees should do it...But maybe not, and then I'm screwed. I've thought about bows and snaring as well, but I'm hesitant, since Johnny Lawdog has already warned me about launching "missiles" in the 'hood, and I'm not sure how they would look on the snares, as the prevelance of domestic cats, etc.

I should be able to get pretty close while they are roosting, 20 ft or so? So whatcha think?

**erunkiswldrnssurvival** · 04-20-2009, 07:07 PM

they may be hard to approach, chickens are lazy but they do fly short distances,(my dominickers did) mabe bait them up and catch them scratching,they wont eat if they are nervous. and good luck, i like ghetto chickens myself.(PIGEON)