Can you kill a groundhog with a Pellet?
- Thread starter r2t2
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Field tips are NOT fine! I've shot squirrels with field tips, and it didn't kill them. I only tried it once, and won't ever again. I hit it at about 20 yards as it sat upright on a 4x4. Aimed for the chest, but hit about an inch low, smack in the middle of the body. The thing ran around for a half hour while I scurried around trying to find a gun to finish it off. Climbing about 10 feet up a tree, then it'd fall down again as the arrow it was impaled on scraped against the tree. From then onwards, I used blunts while they were treed. As their bodies were pressed against the tree, a blunt in the upper-mid body would crush them and they'd flop to the ground, dead, with just a drop of blood on the tip of it's snout. Blunts didn't work when they weren't against a tree though, when they were free standing, it seemed to just knock them down and stun them temporarily, and they'd get up again. I'd use only broadheads for a groundhog.
PinnedAndRecessed
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When I was living in western Ky (college), a neighbor came over and said he found a dying ground hog in his yard and wanted to know if I had a gun so he could put it out of it's misery.
He said he already tried to beat it to death with a board but it was still alive. Then he tried stabbing it with a pitchfork. Still alive. Then he put it in a metal trashcan and doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. Still alive.
I think the neighbor was nuts, or something.
He said he already tried to beat it to death with a board but it was still alive. Then he tried stabbing it with a pitchfork. Still alive. Then he put it in a metal trashcan and doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. Still alive.
I think the neighbor was nuts, or something.
savetheclaypigeons
Member
I was under the impression you couldn't kill them with even a chainsaw!
Thought about a crossbow?
A good one costs as much as a good centerfire rifle, but this could be the excuse you're looking for to buy it.
I mean, who doesn't want a crossbow? But who can really justify $600+ for one if he doesn't have a reason to buy it?
Well, here's your reason.
I'm thinking 400 fps, pinpoint accuracy, and a broadhead should take care of even a groundhog.
A good one costs as much as a good centerfire rifle, but this could be the excuse you're looking for to buy it.
I mean, who doesn't want a crossbow? But who can really justify $600+ for one if he doesn't have a reason to buy it?
Well, here's your reason.
I'm thinking 400 fps, pinpoint accuracy, and a broadhead should take care of even a groundhog.
Conventional pellet guns poke very small holes. They lack even the small amount of "shock" value that might be provided by rimfires.
Airgun hunting (or using an airgun for pest elimination) is therefore somewhat different from hunting with a rimfire or firearm. It is about extreme precision and usually very careful brain shots.
You can kill a groundhog with a pellet gun, but not from 100 yards away, and not even up close with a COM shot. Just because conventional airguns don't offer firearm performance doesn't make them useless. If that were true, bowhunting would be extinct.
If you want to get into the pre-charged pneumatics, that's a different story. You can get muzzle-loading performance from them. But you lose all the normal benefits of airguns--they become noisy, are dangerous at extended ranges, can have significant recoil, etc.
Airgun hunting (or using an airgun for pest elimination) is therefore somewhat different from hunting with a rimfire or firearm. It is about extreme precision and usually very careful brain shots.
You can kill a groundhog with a pellet gun, but not from 100 yards away, and not even up close with a COM shot. Just because conventional airguns don't offer firearm performance doesn't make them useless. If that were true, bowhunting would be extinct.
If you want to get into the pre-charged pneumatics, that's a different story. You can get muzzle-loading performance from them. But you lose all the normal benefits of airguns--they become noisy, are dangerous at extended ranges, can have significant recoil, etc.
1911 guy
Member
When I was a teenager...
I got a groundhog trapped in our barn. There was a cinder block handy, so I raised it (the block, not the whistle pig) high above my head and hurled it down upon the poor little groundhogs head.
The thing chased me out of the barn. I grabbed a .22 and shot it later the same day.
I got a groundhog trapped in our barn. There was a cinder block handy, so I raised it (the block, not the whistle pig) high above my head and hurled it down upon the poor little groundhogs head.
The thing chased me out of the barn. I grabbed a .22 and shot it later the same day.
BigRedBowtie
Member
I've taken 2 woodchucks on my parents land. One with a .22lr at about 35 yards, and another with a .45 at about 15 yards. The .22 shot left a pretty good blood trail, but the 'chuck managed to scurry up under the foundation of the barn before he expired... he made a pretty healthy stank for a couple weeks.
The one I shot with my 1911 was a body shot. He dropped on the spot, but managed to twitch for a minute or so. Tough little critters.
..."whistle pigs"... that's good- I'll have to remember that.
The one I shot with my 1911 was a body shot. He dropped on the spot, but managed to twitch for a minute or so. Tough little critters.
..."whistle pigs"... that's good- I'll have to remember that.
Long time ago I shot an Oregon rockchuck in the head with a daisy .177 pumped to the hilt from about 15 feet that was tearing up my back yard. Like everyone has said, it did not produce a humane kill. Gave him enough of a headache that he ran behind my woodpile instead of diving in his hole. I was able to climb the woodpile and put the gun to his head which closed the deal. Sometimes you gotta do the best you can do with the tools available, and it was a lot quicker than poison.
Well, bows cut rather than crush, so it takes a lot less energy to push that 2" wide broadhead through something and leave a 2" diameter hole. A crushing thing like a pellet gun coupled with even lower energy than a bow, isn't going to be nearly as effective.
mustang_gt_350
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funny this post came up.
My boss just sent me this link last night. I have never been on this forum before and i know nothing about anyone on here so take it with a salt shaker, or a grain whatever.
http://www.grizzlygary.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2699
My boss just sent me this link last night. I have never been on this forum before and i know nothing about anyone on here so take it with a salt shaker, or a grain whatever.
http://www.grizzlygary.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2699
koja48
member
Depends on what the groundhog is doing with the pellet . . . if he's loading it in an airgun, duck . . . they could put an eye out with one of those. Pellets are best used for humane kills on small, thin-skinned pests such as starlings or rats. Use a .17 rimfire if such can be done safely, otherwise trap the varmints.
WolfMansDad
Member
If you do try it, whistle first. That will make the groundhog stand up and give you a better shot. If you can spine them (up high, near the brain stem), that is usually the most effective. Head shots can lead to a lot of noise and thrashing. Shoot them in the heart or lungs, and they will run to ground and die in their burrow.
I have tried a variety of .22 rounds on groundhogs, and most did not produce clean kills, even with good shot placement. Only with CCI stingers were they consistently dead-right-there. Even ordinary hollow points were iffy. I would be leery of using a pellet gun.
I have tried a variety of .22 rounds on groundhogs, and most did not produce clean kills, even with good shot placement. Only with CCI stingers were they consistently dead-right-there. Even ordinary hollow points were iffy. I would be leery of using a pellet gun.
Yeah you can do it.......
Most people think air-guns are toys. Let me tell you some of the decent high-power adult air-guns on the market are far from toys. In some states it is even legal to hunt deer with an air-gun. Some custom air-guns shoot .50 cal lead round balls
. I myself have never actually shot one like that but i do use air-guns to small game hunt near homes or hiking trails on state land where one might run into other people a guy with a pellet gun looks a lot less threatening
than a guy with a rifle or shotgun.
http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/
Here is a website to check out. some people take air-gun hunting really seriously . I guess its all about personal preference.
You may also want to take a look airforce air-guns the make high powered pcps precharged penumatic air-guns in .22 cal very much capable of the task.
http://www.airforceairguns.com/
Most people think air-guns are toys. Let me tell you some of the decent high-power adult air-guns on the market are far from toys. In some states it is even legal to hunt deer with an air-gun. Some custom air-guns shoot .50 cal lead round balls
. I myself have never actually shot one like that but i do use air-guns to small game hunt near homes or hiking trails on state land where one might run into other people a guy with a pellet gun looks a lot less threateningthan a guy with a rifle or shotgun.
http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/
Here is a website to check out. some people take air-gun hunting really seriously . I guess its all about personal preference.
You may also want to take a look airforce air-guns the make high powered pcps precharged penumatic air-guns in .22 cal very much capable of the task.
http://www.airforceairguns.com/
Troutman
member
I never tried it. But it can be done, if done right.
Some time ago, in another lifetime, I used a 30/30 Winchester for chucks.
I posted about this. Some time ago.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=2654545#post2654545
Some time ago, in another lifetime, I used a 30/30 Winchester for chucks.
I posted about this. Some time ago.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=2654545#post2654545
T.R.
Member
Groundhogs can be trapped easily. Simply bait your trap with lettuce and carrots but wire it so the door does not drop. Get 'em used to the trap. Pretty soon they'll be in there regularily. Take your wire out and suprise.
All you need next is a pair of welding gloves and a ball peen hammer. Lights out.
Young ones are real good roasted. The old ones can be tossed into a meadow or field. Hey, crows gotta eat, too!
TR
All you need next is a pair of welding gloves and a ball peen hammer. Lights out.
Young ones are real good roasted. The old ones can be tossed into a meadow or field. Hey, crows gotta eat, too!
TR
EricTheBarbarian
Member
+1 , old groundhogs can get really tough, the young ones are the good eatin. But anything in a slow cooker will tender up after about 12 hours. I have doubts about your average airgun from wal mart ever killing one. I have a hard enough time killing squirrels with those. A .22 lr will work fine for those. However, i did kill a small one in my barn with a shovel one time that the dog cornered. if you just toss them in a field, maybe try for coyote bait?
Sniper X
Member
Buy a Marlin model 60 from Walmart for 100 bucks and buy a brick on Colibri .60gr subsonic rounds because they are quieter than a 1000fps pellet gun and way more powerful, even powerful enoug to kill Coyotes at close range. I even dispatch rabbits with the .30gr SSS Colibris, but the .60gr might even cycle the action and is more powerful yet than the .30gr.
killed one Last week with a crosman 2100
I took one out with one shot with a.177 pointed lead pellet from 30 yards with a crosman 2100 air rifle bought @ Dicks for $69.00. It came with a cheesy scope but it dropped that Groundhog from 30 yards first shot. (10 pumps)She was around a 12 lb. groundhog. I never saw one up close....those things have some big ass teeth!!!!!!! It poked its head around the corner of the shed and pop!! new sheriff in town!!
I took one out with one shot with a.177 pointed lead pellet from 30 yards with a crosman 2100 air rifle bought @ Dicks for $69.00. It came with a cheesy scope but it dropped that Groundhog from 30 yards first shot. (10 pumps)She was around a 12 lb. groundhog. I never saw one up close....those things have some big ass teeth!!!!!!! It poked its head around the corner of the shed and pop!! new sheriff in town!!
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