Small game w/airguns - which states get their reg's right?

[Kragman1]

Hi all

My state is doing a review of all of their hunting & fishing regulations.  The current rules for airgun are very sparse - basically squirrel & rabbit with a .177 or .22 cal only, 7.5 grain minimum pellet and 750 feet per second minimum velocity.  That does not mean a 9.4 fpe minimum muzzle energy either, at least as currently written.
So a .22 air rifle shooting an 18.13 grain pellet at 700 fps (19+ fpe) would be illegal to hunt with today.  Even my Hatsan .30 would be 200 fps too slow to hunt squirrels with.  Sheesh!

They are, however, soliciting input from sportsmen and I will be attending a sort of town hall on this shortly.  They have proposed calibers up to .30 and game up to coyote now which is great, but I get the feeling that our game department isn't savvy about airguns.  Its a niche sport after all. 
Hopefully, they are truly open to input/guidance from airgunners and this can be a great learning opportunity for them as well.

So, I'd like to look at the regs from states that are more "airgun advanced" than mine. Other states in New England would be especially interesting, but all input is good input.

If your state "does it right" please let me know the details.

Thanks all!

[Blowpipe Sam]

Florida is still finding its way with air rifle regulations.  The rules change every season.  Right now only PCP airbows shooting broadhead equipped bolts are legal for wild turkey.  PCP’s of .30 cal or greater were legal for deer but that has changed and I’m not sure what it is now.  Apparently small game and varmints may be legally taken with a Red Ryder!    At least there’s no rule against it.

[HOSPassassin]

Ohio's regs are very simple. Small game, furbearers, or invasive pests only, no caliber, weight, velocity, or muzzle energy stipulations. The main invasive pest species is feral swine in extreme southern OH.

Technically, this means I could legally hunt a coyote with my Daisy 901. Unwise, to be sure. I would rather have regs like this than really restrictive ones, however.

[longislandhunter]

New York air gun regulations are pretty straight forward.  We are permitted to hunt any small game or furbearer  that can legally be taken with a .22 rifle and the air gun
can be rifled or smooth bore, must be .177 cal or larger and must propel the pellet at least 600 FPS.  Air guns cannot be used to hunt or take big game in NY at the present time although they are supposedly  looking into that in the future. 

Jeff

[Berserkeley Mike]

Someone who actually hunts in CA with airguns should chime in, but last I looked at the regulations it was airguns for small game only, not for large, and kind of haphazard, when mentioned at all. 

How about something based on that long standing thread about minimum fpe, starting here:
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=27855.0
?

There are 9 pages of posts so far, and some interesting discussion.
One proposed rule of thumb that seemed neat and handy was one FPE (on target, not at the muzzle) per pound of animal weight, with 5 fpe being a minimum.
There was some discussion about that rule maybe being overkill at higher weights, but then some other discussion about more penetration being needed with bigger animals, so in the end that rule of thumb should at least offer enough for humane kills.  In order to get higher fpe one would generally need a larger caliber so caliber might take care of itself.

[HOSPassassin]

Someone who actually hunts in CA with airguns should chime in, but last I looked at the regulations it was airguns for small game only, not for large, and kind of haphazard, when mentioned at all. 

How about something based on that long standing thread about minimum fpe, starting here:
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=27855.0
?

There are 9 pages of posts so far, and some interesting discussion.
One proposed rule of thumb that seemed neat and handy was one FPE (on target, not at the muzzle) per pound of animal weight, with 5 fpe being a minimum.
There was some discussion about that rule maybe being overkill at higher weights, but then some other discussion about more penetration being needed with bigger animals, so in the end that rule of thumb should at least offer enough for humane kills.  In order to get higher fpe one would generally need a larger caliber so caliber might take care of itself.

It seems neat and handy but it can be very misleading. There's no allowance for the well-documented difference in toughness between a squirrel and a cottontail rabbit, for example. There's also no recognition that for different reasons some animals really ought to be shot in the CNS if at all possible (groundhog, turkey), while others really ought to be shot in the vitals (whitetail deer).

FPE on target is way overrated as a metric of killing power, IMHO. It's much too simplistic.

These nuances are the reason why I prefer very clear and minimal regs. More details means more opportunities for truly strange and nonsensical outcomes. No, we don't get to hunt deer with airguns here but there are a multitude of other tools for that purpose. Others might wish for that but I don't. Maybe someday if OH permits it we will come up with an elegantly simple reg for it, like >.45 caliber or something.

[Kragman1]

Well, I'd like to keep it simple also.
Basically, my state is considering expanding airgun hunting up to .30 cal and up to coyote.  They don't use energy as a metric (yet) though I wish they would, again for simplicity.
A sensible minimum energy and list of acceptable calibers would be a logical way to set up the regs for real world use.  If that is too broad for the game department, then I will suggest a minimum energy for squirrel & rabbit, and a higher minimum energy for woodchuck & coyote.

[Berserkeley Mike]

HOSPassassin, you are right, but the regs (CA anyway), don't specify shot placement or fpe, just caliber and general type of gun (rim vs. center fire, black powder). 

If one were to keep it at caliber for simplicity, then what would be a guideline based on experience for small and large game?  Say, assume the projectile is hitting target at least at 671fps so the energy folks can convert from grains, and the others can put species up or down in caliber based on experience. 

California defines "big game" as certain deer, elk, antelope, black bear and sheep.  Pigs are "exotic game" but fall under the same regs.  They say muzzleloaders must use .40 or bigger.  They currently say airguns cannot be used for big game.  Thinking about it, perhaps the muzzleloading regs would work for big bore airguns too, but maybe up one caliber is more realistic, .45 or bigger, as airguns tend to shoot slower? 

Furbearers include things like fox, beaver and raccoon.  We're not supposed to use airguns for those, which is kinda dumb as the mid-calibers would be as ethical as firearms, and arguably moreso than traps and snares. 

CA defines small game as certain doves, quail, partridge types, turkeys, jackrabbits and hares and rabbits, and tree squirrels.  We can use airguns .177 or larger.  I don't know about the ethics of .177 on a turkey, especially since the instructions for firearms is to target the vitals and so that is where the unenlightened may aim.

And then there are "nongame" animals: sparrow, starling, pigeon, coyote, weasels, skunks, opossum, moles and rodents, and crows. 
These can be taken with an airgun as above.  No, I don't think that .177 would be at all humane for coyote, and iffy for some others, regardless of fpe.  There are also some small deer and non-native goats that are "nongame" but they can't be taken with airguns, only the "big game" firearms or muzzle loaders, which again is kinda dumb.

Kragman, I haven't heard of an "airgun advanced" state or country.

 

[HOSPassassin]

Mike,

That's kind of difficult for me to answer as an Ohioan. The only "big game" we have here is whitetail deer. Neither I nor the vast majority of other hunters in this state have any experience with other big game species. I do think your idea of thinking in terms of muzzleloader effectiveness is a good start. The damage caused by a round ball from a muzzleloader is going to be far more similar to an airgun projectile than an expanding CF bullet. That's why I suggested .45 and up for deer.

As for small game, I think .177 is sufficient for all of it as long as you can place it accurately and penetrate deeply enough. Weight, velocity, and projectile type all affect that, so match those to the species in question.

I know some people will swear up and down that .177 is not a reliable killer and .22 is so much better, etc. It's a free country. They have their reasons and I have mine. Let's just go shoot something together.

[Back_Roads]

Wisconsin is vague as far as FPE, just must be .22 or greater. This is across the board for big game also, but they say to be sure you can make an ethical kill, with the equipment used.

[smythsg]

The state of Georgia is quite airgun hunt friendly. Small game can be taken with any airgun, no caliber or fpe/fps restrictions. Deer, Bear, Turkey require .30 cal or larger airguns but no fpe or fps requirements are listed. Air bows are allowed for any game species, but must utilize broadheads for big game. Pigs can be hunted with any airgun, as can yotes. Hopefully Georgia will retain this "keep it simple" airgun strategy into the future.

[KevinJBrown]

Illinois Hunting and Trapping Regs as I have found them:

Airgun = gun

You cannot legally:
• use an airgun to harvest game birds or migratory game birds.
• discharge an airgun on, over or into water or ice.
• have or carry an airgun in or on any vehicle, conveyance or aircraft
unless the airgun is unloaded and completely enclosed in a case.
• harvest beaver, badger, river otter, weasel, mink or muskrat except by
trapping. However, beaver, river otter, weasel, mink, and muskrat can
be shot with an airgun of a caliber not larger than a
.22 long rifle to remove the animal from the trap.

In the case of upland/small game:
An air rifle can only be used to take rabbits and squirrels.

There was a bill to allow taking of white tail deer, but I don't know that it ever passed.
If a person is going to go on public lands, each land may have individual (typically these will be more restrictive if they are different) rules.

Basically like all laws the individual need to be aware.

[splitbeing]

This thread reminded me of a philosophical one with lots of interesting ethical approaches.

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=167796.msg156587260#new

[Hoosier Daddy]

Anyone mention this from Pryamyd Air?
 If so, I missed it.

https://www.pyramydair.com/airgun-map/?srsltid=AfmBOooi97JzpF1c_uBCVb1qnkPSRv0JhEslDbWhIwypasYnIjaZsJD7

If you click on the state it shows the game you can hunt... If you then click on a certain animal listed, it shows you the states it is legal to be hunted.

[maraudinglizard]

Here is the Florida small game law from FWC website.

Gray Squirrels, Rabbits, Wild Hogs, Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks, Nutrias, Beaver, & Coyotes
may be taken year round by rifle, shotgun, pistol, muzzleloader, air gun, crossbow or bow.

Daily bag limits: 12 gray squirrels; 12 rabbits. No limits on other species.

Possession limits: 24 gray squirrels; 24 rabbits. No limits on other species.

The bigger game.

Resident game birds and game mammals

Rifles, shotguns, pistols, air guns, longbows, compound bows, recurve bows, crossbows and birds of prey (falcons, hawks and great horned owls) may be used. Hand-held releases may be used. Arrows or bolts used to take deer or wild turkeys must be equipped with broadheads having a minimum width of 7/8 inch. Only pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air guns firing single bullets or bolts/arrows of at least .30-caliber to take deer and at least .20-caliber to take wild turkey. PCP air guns are commercially manufactured air guns that are charged from an external high compression source, such as an air compressor, air tank or external hand pump and are specifically designed to propel a bolt, arrow or other projectile commonly used for hunting.