If this were long tem survival (not homesteading) I would choose my traditional recurve or long bows over any air gun.They are very simple and reliable.I can even make my own arrows if I have to.
Quote from: johnbrown on October 25, 2021, 10:51:15 PMIf this were long tem survival (not homesteading) I would choose my traditional recurve or long bows over any air gun.They are very simple and reliable.I can even make my own arrows if I have to.Yup.Imagine having 6 1/2 acres of osage orange, red cedar, honey locust, and persimmon with plenty of deer and turkey with one property line being the James River.I still choose my Leshiy over any springer, and I've got plenty of experience shooting everything from a .20 R-7 to my crazy-accurate CZ-634. My Hatsan Vortek 97 in .25 has taken many squirrels... but when I think homesteading, I want simple, light, easy to pack, reliable, and accurate enough/easy to shoot so anybody can make meat with it. None of my springers click all those boxes. But my mother in law can pick up my Leshiy, put crosshairs on a can at 60 yards and punch a nice hole in it. That makes the Leshiy my first choice, always.And yeah, we get to have choices, so while my wife and I are homesteading on the property as we build, I'll keep grabbing the Lelya, the Forti, my 3 SPA PCPs, and all my springers and pumpers. My 1322 Rear-cocker gets used more than anything here at home, but on the property, it's the Leshiy.side note: ya know what I'd always have close at hand? My slingshots.
Quote from: anti-squirrel on October 28, 2021, 05:09:55 PMQuote from: johnbrown on October 25, 2021, 10:51:15 PMIf this were long tem survival (not homesteading) I would choose my traditional recurve or long bows over any air gun.They are very simple and reliable.I can even make my own arrows if I have to.Yup.Imagine having 6 1/2 acres of osage orange, red cedar, honey locust, and persimmon with plenty of deer and turkey with one property line being the James River.I still choose my Leshiy over any springer, and I've got plenty of experience shooting everything from a .20 R-7 to my crazy-accurate CZ-634. My Hatsan Vortek 97 in .25 has taken many squirrels... but when I think homesteading, I want simple, light, easy to pack, reliable, and accurate enough/easy to shoot so anybody can make meat with it. None of my springers click all those boxes. But my mother in law can pick up my Leshiy, put crosshairs on a can at 60 yards and punch a nice hole in it. That makes the Leshiy my first choice, always.And yeah, we get to have choices, so while my wife and I are homesteading on the property as we build, I'll keep grabbing the Lelya, the Forti, my 3 SPA PCPs, and all my springers and pumpers. My 1322 Rear-cocker gets used more than anything here at home, but on the property, it's the Leshiy.side note: ya know what I'd always have close at hand? My slingshots.You have Osage Orange? I want to be your friend! I’m looking for a nice piece of Osage Orange to make a self bow.I agree about the primitive methods. I put a great deal more reliance in my nets, traps, and snares to put food on the table than airguns or firearms. I just made myself a sling and I’ve been practicing with it. Not much good yet but I’ll get there. There are similarities to casting a fly rod
Just joining now. Only read the first page, so forgive me if the OP has already chosen.I hope he was wise enough to ignore those recommending pumpers. When you start thinking of henhouse predators, they're just not powerful enough, unless you're talking about the fancy one by FX. ;-) Pumpers are just good for nostalgia, plinking, and maybe some light hunting, in the case of the Sheridans. PCP is doable, if it's not a survival scenario. However, I don't feel like they're as reliable, as them being airtight depends on a lot of O-rings, which age out over time.A .22 springer in the 20-25 FPE range is what I'd go with. You don't need match grade accuracy, just reasonable, everyday accuracy and enough power to take out a predator. You might be having to shoot up to coyote size, so .177 is out; you're not always presented with an ear canal shot. Same for foxes and raccoons. A .22 pellet into the lungs at 800 fps will take care of them. It'll be overkill for your pest sparrows and such, but that's OK.
You shot a Bobcat with a Crosman 1400!!!! You are a better man than I. I would have been afraid to make him angry. .
ive lived here at my rural house since 06 and set things up to be pretty sustainable .. taught myself how to garden and what to grow to feed myself and the chickens which are a big part of the scheme .. theres a reason i went to pcp and got rid of the springers lol .. dont kid yourself, theres 'zero' room for jackin around with a single shot toy that likely will miss on the first cold shot in a real scenario .. if it was all i had it would be better than nothing, but not much better ..