Why I am Beginning To Change My Mind About Sub12 Hunting

[Barryg]

Well Barry, my sub-12 rifles and I must have been plain old 'lucky' literally thousands of times over the years. Unless the countless hours of training, learning, experience and dedication had anything to do with my successes in the field.

Terry what would you say the odds are of a animal keeping still while someone places their shot, about 50 50?
I suppose that there a are caring hunters but it seem like it's on a sliding scale from really caring to psychopath

[Terry D]

Terry what would you say the odds are of a animal keeping still while someone places their shot, about 50 50?

No, way higher than that, in my 50-plus years of experience, Barry.

I know for a fact that 50% of the success I've had is NOT down to luck. I've trained hard and studied harder for that success, mate. Luck plays a part in pretty much everything we do, but nothing like to the degree you're claiming.

[DEAN C.]

Even if you were a world champion it would only be luck for a humaine quick kill because animals move, so shot placement is unreliable.

You have to be a decent shot, yes! so maybe that's the issue really ………...marksmanship. How do we monitor that?

I very rarely wound a rabbit or Magpie in fact I cannot remember the last time I didn't get a clean kill, but I have been hunting with air rifles for 40 years and shooting HFT for 12 years to a reasonable standard.

sub 12ft/lbs with .177 is my preferred air rifle, but failing that .22 should be FAC in my opinion unless you keep ranges under 30 yards for .22 as a lot of shooters are not experienced enough to know the .22 sub 12 trajectory well enough.
I know lots will stand up and shout how good .22 is, but I used it for 20 years, and reduced my wounded shots dramatically when going to .177 sub 12.Wouldnt think of going back.

Anyone using .22 should try .177 before making a judgement. I certainly don't agree that sub 12 isn't enough though, that's certainly not true.

[Muskett]

I switched from .22 to .177 12ft/lbs from my own experience when a young lad. Shot placement was everything at this power. Nothing else mattered and that I achieved more consistent instant kills with the .177 because it was easier to get perfect pellet placement with them.
John Darling found the same, though later switched back to .22 because he practiced so much and rabbits were his main quarry. He also was fond of the wing root shot on birds, rather than just head. 40m was his maximum range. .22 in the farmyard on say rats also has some benefits. But .177 for perfect shot placement is king.

The 12ft/lbs thing is very UK specific. More power is always helpful if you want to take on longer ranges and bigger critters. But accuracy and shot placement still are the most important factors to deliver a successful outcome. It really doesn't require much "power" to penetrate and destroy a vital organ to be lethal. David and Goliath was just a well placed stone from a sling.

Humans are hunters and if they can't hunt for food will hunt each other, so much do we like it. Thankfully we found farming cereals, potatoes, and animal husbandry, as otherwise we would have hunted everything including ourselves to extinction. Modern man really hasn't evolved much, just requires less meat than he used to. Gets fat if he has too much meat and sugar in his diet, but thats just affluence.

[Pelletpinger]

For years I have been believing that this level of power is fine for taking out the usual airgun quarry as ' humanely ' as possible. Having recently watched a lot of U Tube videos of the more responsible shooters and how increasingly they are trying to get closer to the target to make the one shot kill and quite often failing, I am now beginning to think that this level of power is not really suitable for general hunting of the allowed quarry but for perhaps close range ratting or taking the odd pigeon out. The problem from where I stand is that unless the shot is clinical to the brain the result is a wounded animal . Yes they are often taken out with a follow up shot but still. At 11 or so ft.lbs the pellets used do not impart much ballistic shock if any, even at very close distances, to the imapct area therefore even a very close miss does not do enough damage to kill the quarry cleanly. Perhaps the answer is to go for FAC guns of about 30+ ft.lbs where allowed.

A.G

Having gone over to FAC air 34grn .25 pellets at 54ftlbs I have to agree, as said we all try to dispatch our quarry efficiently as possible with a clean head shot, a sub 12 will do it no problem BUT it’s found wanting if the shot is low or pulled. With the .25 FAC a low shot to the cheek has enough shock and trauma to kill instantly, a sub 12 it would be a runner.

[greenwayjames]

For years I have been believing that this level of power is fine for taking out the usual airgun quarry as ' humanely ' as possible. Having recently watched a lot of U Tube videos of the more responsible shooters and how increasingly they are trying to get closer to the target to make the one shot kill and quite often failing, I am now beginning to think that this level of power is not really suitable for general hunting of the allowed quarry but for perhaps close range ratting or taking the odd pigeon out. The problem from where I stand is that unless the shot is clinical to the brain the result is a wounded animal . Yes they are often taken out with a follow up shot but still. At 11 or so ft.lbs the pellets used do not impart much ballistic shock if any, even at very close distances, to the imapct area therefore even a very close miss does not do enough damage to kill the quarry cleanly. Perhaps the answer is to go for FAC guns of about 30+ ft.lbs where allowed.

A.G

Air rifles depend on accuracy and shot placement rather than "ballistic shock" to be effective at humanely taking out suitable quarry. This takes really good shooting ability in the field to hit a tiny "kill zone". Problems occur because shooters over estimate their ability and shoot at quarry beyond the range they can consistently hit the required tiny spot. Even a sub 12 ft/lbs air rifle puts out enough energy to kill a rabbit beyond 100 yards but it is beyond the ability of any shooter or air rifle to confidently place the shot in a kill zone the size of a thumbnail.