GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => PCP/CO2/HPA Air Gun Gates "The Darkside" => Big Bore AirGun Gate => Topic started by: pkedu on March 05, 2019, 02:50:12 PM
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I want to get into hunting Dear and Hogs (maybe Turkey) in Florida with my 12 year old son. We do not have any other PCP Air riffles so we will need to get all of the gear from the ground up. I cant really afford to be wrong on my first purchase.
All I know is the state regulation requires a Single Shot PCP .30 cal minimum for dear and a Single Shot PCP .20 cal minimum for Turkey and they do not have any restrictions for hogs. I know that the requirements and what I should be using maybe two different things, but i have no idea what that should be.
Also, I talked to a Florida wildlife officer and he said most of the game you will take in Florida will be within 50 yards.
So I guess I'm looking for at minimum a Single Shot PCP that is at lest .30 cal (most likely need bigger) that can take a dear from 50 yards.
SO, what Airgun and Gear is best suited for this task. I'm also trying to figure out what a realistic amount of money do I need to get into this sport, getting the right gear is more important to me than cost, but i'm not trying to break the bank on our first air riffle. Would be a big plus if the ammo used was a standard size that would not be too hard to get.
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It surprises me other states allow turkey to be taken with boolits. Here you must use #4 shot. In which case I'd have recommended PBBA 20 gauge shotgun that quickly converts to .457 with insert.
You can hand pump but will soon want a 4.5K carbon fiber tank to refill. Being in Florida you've got plenty of access to have that filled at dive shops.
How big are the deer in Florida? If on the smaller side you could use Sam Yang Recluse which is .357 (actually think it's 9mm/.355). If the deer are bigger I'd have a Recluse tuned by Saddle Mountain, Will Piatt, has a website and will take direct shipment from dealer. Or just get a stock Sam Yang Light Hunter, .457, but that would be overkill for turkey.
Their are a lot of nice guns on the market now a days. If you're able to do a little work yourself to open up the port the Benjamin Bulldog is another great gun for your needs. It's a little anemic stock. It's also another .357.
The Sam Yangs shoot round ball very well. Cheap and easy ammo. You can purchase quality light ammo to shoot deer from places like NSA. .457 roundball is just fine for deer but if .357 I'd go with a boolit with meplait and around 120 grain. The Bulldog if port is enlarged will easily send out 140 grain boolit for deer.
Those are my opinions, leaning toward .357 and two inexpensive highly rated guns- Recluse and Bulldog. They just need a power tune, one you send out to do and the Bulldog can be done yourself if your inclined and have the tools.
Then if money is not an object and you want what many consider awesome, no tune needed, look at AAA Slayer. I'd use a gun of that power in .308 to take deer without worry. Just use a good weight slug (120-130 grain) with around 70% meplait.
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Are you sure about the single shot ?
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Are you sure about the single shot ?
You know, now that I look at everything Again i'm not sure.
Two things I found are:
Prohibited methods and equipment for taking game mammals and resident game birds:
* Air guns except when taking deer, turkey, gray squirrel and rabbit
* Air guns that are not pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air guns when taking deer or turkey
* PCP air guns firing single bullets that are less than .30-caliber and less than .20-caliber when taking deer and turkey, respectively.[/li][/list]
and also at one of the places I want to go hunt called Green Swamp their rules say:
* Hunting wildlife (other than migratory birds) with air guns is allowed. See
Florida Hunting Regulations handbook for details on hunting with air
guns.
* Hunting deer with air guns is prohibited, except pre-charged pneumatic
(PCP) air guns propelling a bolt, arrow or bullet .30 caliber or larger are
allowed.
* Hunting turkey with air guns is prohibited, except PCP air guns
propelling a bolt or arrow.
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It surprises me other states allow turkey to be taken with boolits. Here you must use #4 shot. In which case I'd have recommended PBBA 20 gauge shotgun that quickly converts to .457 with insert.
You can hand pump but will soon want a 4.5K carbon fiber tank to refill. Being in Florida you've got plenty of access to have that filled at dive shops.
How big are the deer in Florida? If on the smaller side you could use Sam Yang Recluse which is .357 (actually think it's 9mm/.355). If the deer are bigger I'd have a Recluse tuned by Saddle Mountain, Will Piatt, has a website and will take direct shipment from dealer. Or just get a stock Sam Yang Light Hunter, .457, but that would be overkill for turkey.
Their are a lot of nice guns on the market now a days. If you're able to do a little work yourself to open up the port the Benjamin Bulldog is another great gun for your needs. It's a little anemic stock. It's also another .357.
The Sam Yangs shoot round ball very well. Cheap and easy ammo. You can purchase quality light ammo to shoot deer from places like NSA. .457 roundball is just fine for deer but if .357 I'd go with a boolit with meplait and around 120 grain. The Bulldog if port is enlarged will easily send out 140 grain boolit for deer.
Those are my opinions, leaning toward .357 and two inexpensive highly rated guns- Recluse and Bulldog. They just need a power tune, one you send out to do and the Bulldog can be done yourself if your inclined and have the tools.
Then if money is not an object and you want what many consider awesome, no tune needed, look at AAA Slayer. I'd use a gun of that power in .308 to take deer without worry. Just use a good weight slug (120-130 grain) with around 70% meplait.
1) Looks like you need an bolt to hunt turkey in the place I want to go.
2) Adult male white-tailed deer in Florida weigh on average 125 pounds
Also, thanks so much for taking the time to post this, I have done a ton of research and its good to see that you and suggesting some of the rifles I have already been looking at.
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Or just get a stock Sam Yang Light Hunter, .457, but that would be overkill for turkey.
So if I did not hunt turkey would this be a more solid air rifle to hunt deer/hogs?
is the Seneca Big Bore 44 909S Light Hunter Air Rifle the same thing?
and is this the same or is the other better? "Seneca Big Bore 44 909 Light Hunter 500cc Tank"
Also, is the .50 cal version any good? because the bolts could be used for turkey. also does the .45 cal version shot bolts?
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Or just get a stock Sam Yang Light Hunter, .457, but that would be overkill for turkey.
So if I did not hunt turkey would this be a more solid air rifle to hunt deer/hogs?
is the Seneca Big Bore 44 909S Light Hunter Air Rifle the same thing?
and is this the same or is the other better? "Seneca Big Bore 44 909 Light Hunter 500cc Tank"
Also, is the .50 cal version any good? because the bolts could be used for turkey. also does the .45 cal version shot bolts?
I also was thinking at one gun for all and .45 and was my though,..........
.45 is not overkill for turkey, perfect caliber for that devastating lower neck shot.
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I am not sure about the game animals in the green swamp area nowadays but I used to hunt hogs there back in the 70s with a buddy that had a hog claim on 450 acres of timber company land in the green swamp area between Cross city and Perry FL off highway 19 out to Horseshoe bend area on the gulf coast. Back then we used a 30-30 Winchester and a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington to take the hogs. There were some monster Russian boars in the swamp that would not be slowed down or stopped by being shot in the normal areas ( head or heart lung ) with the guns we had at the time. We were never chased by any we shot but did not kill but we met an older man that lived and hunted there all his life ( we were in our early 20s and he was in his forties ) and he told us of many times he had been treed overnight by a huge boar that he shot and did not kill. They are one of the few game animals that if shot but not killed will turn and chase you with intent to kill you. I am talking about the boar that are over 4 to 500 pounds and up. The old man told us he has killed boar that were over 1000 pounds and the size of a longhorn bull with tusks over 10 inches long and razor sharp. They would spend all night trying to uproot the tree he was up in till daylight came and they got frustrated and left. These were big 5 and 6 foot diameter trees that would be swaying all night with the boar digging at the roots to get the tree to fall over. We shot about a 600 pound sow three times with the 30-30 hitting it in the mid section to rear hind quarter and found chunks of hair and meat from the hits but it ran off thru a briar patch about 50 yards deep and we never found it. It looked like Moses part the red sea as it disappeared into the briars.
The old man told us after being treed several times when hunting them with a gun and 1 dog and having his dog killed and being treed he started using about 8 to 10 pit bulls and 2 Airedales to track and subdue the boars till he could catch up and would kneel down on their head and shoulder as the dogs held it down and would stick a 10 inch bowie knife into the throat and stir the pot as he put it. the boar will suffocate on their own blood in less than 5 minutes. No more nights in trees but he went thru lots of pit bulls from being killed by boars in the fight to get them off their feet to allow the old man to get to them and stick the knife in the throats.
I am not saying to not go there to hunt just be aware that the big boars are not to be taken lightly and are best left alone if they are over 400 pounds in my opinion to stay safe and enjoy the hunting. I am not sure if they still get that big there now since back in the 70s there was very little hunting pressure on them in the green swamp area. Also back then it was mostly all swamp land with s built up dirt roads gridwork that allowed you to navigate the area. Best to have 4 wheel drive or stay on the solid roadways. Lots of soft sand/muddy patches that will stop non 4 wheel drives in their tracks. Back then there was no real communities or any significant population of people living in the swamp. That may not be the case now.
Hope it works out and enjoy the hunting.
Mike
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Air Venturi makes 35 cal air bolts. Turkey is on the table!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC6b_C5I_-A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC6b_C5I_-A)
Makes the Recluse better and better. Get it power tuned then shoot bolts on low power.
https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/sam-yang-recluse-9mm (https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home/sam-yang-recluse-9mm)
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Hope it works out and enjoy the hunting.
Mike
Awesome story man, thank you so much for sharing.
And yeah I hear you man, we plan to stay away from any trophy size hogs and hunt for smaller meat hogs. If i see one of those big boys I will be sure and pass them by :)
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Air Venturi makes 35 cal air bolts. Turkey is on the table!
Makes the Recluse better and better. Get it power tuned then shoot bolts on low power.
very cool, thank you. So i figure they must have bolts for the .45 version as well then.
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Hope it works out and enjoy the hunting.
Mike
Awesome story man, thank you so much for sharing.
And yeah I hear you man, we plan to stay away from any trophy size hogs and hunt for smaller meat hogs. If i see one of those big boys I will be sure and pass them by :)
To be honest the smaller ones ( 300 pound range ) are better tasting and much more tender compared to the big boys. The bigger they are the older they are so been thru a lot more surviving to get that big and tough. It sure opened our eyes to just how lucky we had been with that sow we shot. If it had been a boar we likely would have been the ones being hunted by a very angry pig.
Mike
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Air Venturi makes 35 cal air bolts. Turkey is on the table!
Makes the Recluse better and better. Get it power tuned then shoot bolts on low power.
very cool, thank you. So i figure they must have bolts for the .45 version as well then.
Yes they do.
I would get a Seneca .45 double tube, shoot the arrows at low power and shoot lead at full power,
I used to have the .50 version and was shooting arrows at low power with more then enough juice
this is a hunt I did
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=119373.0 (https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=119373.0)
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The airgun does not need to be single shot. The requirement you're looking at is meant to prohibit air shotguns shooting something like buckshot or multiple BBs. In other words, it has to shoot a single projectile, not multiple, per shot. A magazine-fed airgun is just fine.
On public land, the airgun may only shoot arrows when turkey hunting. This is for human safety, as there is no hunter orange requirement on public land during turkey season and hunters are walking around with decoys. They don't want hunters shooting rifle projectiles 100 yards across a cut at movement they think is a turkey.
On private land, you can use pellets and bullets for turkeys.
Have you ever deer hunted in Florida before, or is the hunting aspect new to you as well? I see the wildlife officer told you what to expect in terms of shot range, so I presume that hunting here is new to you. Hunting deer is Florida is different than anywhere else in the US. Florida whitetails superficially look like traditional whitetails in all but the size but they might as well be a separate species in terms of habits. You'll have to hunt harder than you've ever hunted in your life to see a Florida buck with any spread to him, and its hard to have access to areas to legally shoot does, especially in south Florida.
I'm going to respectfully disagree with Manny about a .45 and turkeys. Often high-powered firearm rifles are overkill on turkeys at close range because the projectile will punch thru their thin little bodies without expanding. Then you'll get a turkey that will run off. I've only ever lost one turkey of the many I have killed with a firearm rifle (actually it was my wife's turkey that got lost), but there's been many I've had to spend hours searching for because I used too much gun. The best rifles for turkeys are light little rounds like a .22 magnum with a ballistic tip like you'd shoot prairie dogs with. You want something that will go inside the turkey and "blow up" for lack of a better word. Smaller, faster, longer, projectiles will accomplish that. Maybe if you can find a .45 round that's flimsy and likely to fragment on little resistance that might be ok. If you want to err on the side of caution in terms of caliber, you might look instead at a .357 that you can hunt ballistic tip pellets with on turkeys (Predator Polymags).
I'd rather shoot a turkey with a .25 or .30/.308 airgun over a larger caliber so long as my projectile has enough velocity and is so built to go "poof" when it goes into the body. You want to shoot a turkey where the wing connects to the body. Its a natural target marked on their chests in the triangle of where the body connects to the neck. The feathers grow in a line there and make an intention right where you want to aim. You'll break the wing every time, stoping them from flying off. If a turkey flies after a rifle hit, you've hit him too low. I have never hit one too low. Its not hard being precise on a turkey so long as you're a good shot and have a good way to keep your gun still.
I'd say a .308 airgun would be a good all-purpose airgun for Florida. I've seen .308 airgun rounds devastate whitetails this past season and also a fall gobbler on a body shot. I like the .308 Texan SS. It also shoot pellets well, so that's a plus if you want to also walk the woods with it and use it as a squirrel gun. A gun that gets you near 200fpe will be fine for deer out to 100 yards. And I've cleanly killed deer with much less power than that.
In terms of how you hunt with an airgun, you really need to think of them as bows. You take the same shot and put in the same practice with an airgun as you would a bow. You can't rely on the shock of an airgun hit to cause hydrostatic shock to happen. You have to rely on the mechanical wound channel of the projectile itself to kill your target. So you need to make sure you hit the vitals from any angle you shoot, and that you pick angles that take you straight to the vitals and avoid unnecessary chances of deflection or meat shielding as much as possible.
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And you will really need to get to know Green Swamp. That's hard core and it gets a lot of hunting pressure. You won't be able to just walk out and hunt and be successful.
Go over to Florida Sportsman and check out the hunting section. Do a search for Green Swamp, there will be hours worth of reading material. I also have a long Airgun FAQ there for my fellow Florida hunters. Don't ask questions though about any hunting area until you've done some of your own research. Hunting competition is very serious in Florida. People don't freely give advise as to where to go or how to be successful on public land, especially if its their stomping grounds where you'll be competing for the same deer they're hunting. But if you search thru enough threads you'll find tidbits, and if you get to know some old timers they'll open up and help you out with knowledge once they see you aren't trying to steal their spots.
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I am not sure about the game animals in the green swamp area nowadays but I used to hunt hogs there back in the 70s with a buddy that had a hog claim on 450 acres of timber company land in the green swamp area between Cross city and Perry FL off highway 19 out to Horseshoe bend area on the gulf coast.
You're thinking of Gulf Hammock, which is where my ancestors have been slinking around since the 1830s. Green Swamp is way to the south near Tampa. I used to keep 10 acres at Rosewood that was the family base camp for the 200k or so acres we used to lease west of 19 and Otter Creek. You would have been north of us. I have some family from Cross City and Perry. Most of my family is from Otter Creek though.
Gulf Hammock is some of the most untouched woods in north Florida. Primeval. If there's any more real, living, skunk apes left, that's where they are. That was also the last holdout for panthers in the north into the 1980s.
There may be a local area around Cross City called Green Swamp, but the OP is talking about the Wildlife Management Area.
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I am not sure about the game animals in the green swamp area nowadays but I used to hunt hogs there back in the 70s with a buddy that had a hog claim on 450 acres of timber company land in the green swamp area between Cross city and Perry FL off highway 19 out to Horseshoe bend area on the gulf coast.
You're thinking of Gulf Hammock, which is where my ancestors have been slinking around since the 1830s. Green Swamp is way to the south near Tampa. I used to keep 10 acres at Rosewood that was the family base camp for the 200k or so acres we used to lease west of 19 and Otter Creek. You would have been north of us. I have some family from Cross City and Perry. Most of my family is from Otter Creek though.
Gulf Hammock is some of the most untouched woods in north Florida. Primeval. If there's any more real, living, skunk apes left, that's where they are. That was also the last holdout for panthers in the north into the 1980s.
There may be a local area around Cross City called Green Swamp, but the OP is talking about the Wildlife Management Area.
Travis
You are likely correct about the local named green swamp west of Cross city/Perry versus the WMA called the green swamp. Its what we were told it was called and my buddies hog claim was on Champion timber company land. We lived in Tampa at the time so it was not to far away.
From what you say it appears that the gulf hammock has changed very little over the years since the 70s. I know it was seldom that we ever ran into any other hunters and when we did they were generally locals as well like the old man who only hunted the boars with dogs and a big knife. I could believe that it could be home to some seldom if ever seen species of wildlife. We never saw any big cats but then that's not uncommon since they will hear and see you long before you ever know they are there.
I was not aware there was a green swamp WMA in that area. Likely was not there years ago. I only lived in Tampa a few years while in school in the mid 70s and originally grew up in Cocoa beach FL from the early 60s until 93 when I moved to Alabama. To many people in Fl for me nowadays.
Mike
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And you will really need to get to know Green Swamp. That's hard core and it gets a lot of hunting pressure. You won't be able to just walk out and hunt and be successful.
Go over to Florida Sportsman and check out the hunting section. Do a search for Green Swamp, there will be hours worth of reading material. I also have a long Airgun FAQ there for my fellow Florida hunters. Don't ask questions though about any hunting area until you've done some of your own research. Hunting competition is very serious in Florida. People don't freely give advise as to where to go or how to be successful on public land, especially if its their stomping grounds where you'll be competing for the same deer they're hunting. But if you search thru enough threads you'll find tidbits, and if you get to know some old timers they'll open up and help you out with knowledge once they see you aren't trying to steal their spots.
Very solid advice sir, and I get it 100%. Thats why i'm just asking about gear, I figure that is the first hurdle I have to cross then I can worry about location. Thank you so much for your time, you do not know how much this helps.
The only reason I mentioned Green Swamp is when I was talking to the game officer he asked me where I lived and then told me I would most likely hunt in green swamp, but I'll drive anywhere in the state.
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The airgun does not need to be single shot. The requirement you're looking at is meant to prohibit air shotguns shooting something like buckshot or multiple BBs. In other words, it has to shoot a single projectile, not multiple, per shot. A magazine-fed airgun is just fine.
On public land, the airgun may only shoot arrows when turkey hunting. This is for human safety, as there is no hunter orange requirement on public land during turkey season and hunters are walking around with decoys. They don't want hunters shooting rifle projectiles 100 yards across a cut at movement they think is a turkey.
On private land, you can use pellets and bullets for turkeys.
Thank you so much for this answer, the regulations do not read well, it like they try to keep everything kind of confusing on purpose so people cant figure it out easy.
Have you ever deer hunted in Florida before, or is the hunting aspect new to you as well? I see the wildlife officer told you what to expect in terms of shot range, so I presume that hunting here is new to you. Hunting deer is Florida is different than anywhere else in the US. Florida whitetails superficially look like traditional whitetails in all but the size but they might as well be a separate species in terms of habits. You'll have to hunt harder than you've ever hunted in your life to see a Florida buck with any spread to him, and its hard to have access to areas to legally shoot does, especially in south Florida.
I have never hunted in Florida and to be honest I have not hunted anything since I was younger with my dad. I also was in the Army so I am no stranger to guns, but obviously that training was for a much different purpose. Even if we do not hunt dear this year I do want to do it with him at some point. Do you have any suggestions for starting out young hunters?
I'm going to respectfully disagree with Manny about a .45 and turkeys. Often high-powered firearm rifles are overkill on turkeys at close range because the projectile will punch thru their thin little bodies without expanding. Then you'll get a turkey that will run off. I've only ever lost one turkey of the many I have killed with a firearm rifle (actually it was my wife's turkey that got lost), but there's been many I've had to spend hours searching for because I used too much gun. The best rifles for turkeys are light little rounds like a .22 magnum with a ballistic tip like you'd shoot prairie dogs with. You want something that will go inside the turkey and "blow up" for lack of a better word. Smaller, faster, longer, projectiles will accomplish that. Maybe if you can find a .45 round that's flimsy and likely to fragment on little resistance that might be ok. If you want to err on the side of caution in terms of caliber, you might look instead at a .357 that you can hunt ballistic tip pellets with on turkeys (Predator Polymags).
Yeah, i knew at the end of the day I would be getting more then one gun to hunt everything, but i'm not even sure this is going to be something we want to do for the long haul. In my dreams I can see me and my son out hunting for years and having a great time together, but we have never gone out before, so who knows. So that is why I'm trying to do my best research to make sure I have the right gear and the right game to make this a great time before I even head out on my first trip.
I'd rather shoot a turkey with a .25 or .30/.308 airgun over a larger caliber so long as my projectile has enough velocity and is so built to go "poof" when it goes into the body. You want to shoot a turkey where the wing connects to the body. Its a natural target marked on their chests in the triangle of where the body connects to the neck. The feathers grow in a line there and make an intention right where you want to aim. You'll break the wing every time, stoping them from flying off. If a turkey flies after a rifle hit, you've hit him too low. I have never hit one too low. Its not hard being precise on a turkey so long as you're a good shot and have a good way to keep your gun still.
I'd say a .308 airgun would be a good all-purpose airgun for Florida. I've seen .308 airgun rounds devastate whitetails this past season and also a fall gobbler on a body shot. I like the .308 Texan SS. It also shoot pellets well, so that's a plus if you want to also walk the woods with it and use it as a squirrel gun. A gun that gets you near 200fpe will be fine for deer out to 100 yards. And I've cleanly killed deer with much less power than that.
Thank you, I have also been looking at the texan.
In terms of how you hunt with an airgun, you really need to think of them as bows. You take the same shot and put in the same practice with an airgun as you would a bow. You can't rely on the shock of an airgun hit to cause hydrostatic shock to happen. You have to rely on the mechanical wound channel of the projectile itself to kill your target. So you need to make sure you hit the vitals from any angle you shoot, and that you pick angles that take you straight to the vitals and avoid unnecessary chances of deflection or meat shielding as much as possible.
I figured as much, and that is what draws me to the airgun VS other guns.
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I had great success shooting Peacocks at the base of the neck with .45 airguns, they drop on the spot.
I agree there's no need for overwelming power, I think a Seneca .45 Twin tube is in the 200-250 FPE range stock and with a .457 EPP/UG it will cut a great, clean hole without blowing through to fast. ( there was a lot of talk back in the day on Adventures in Airguns about the benefit of having a projectile not go past to fast )
I definitely go for a .45 for a one gun fits all.
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I had great success shooting Peacocks at the base of the neck with .45 airguns, they drop on the spot.
I agree there's no need for overwelming power, I think a Seneca .45 Twin tube is in the 200-250 FPE range stock and with a .457 EPP/UG it will cut a great, clean hole without blowing through to fast. ( there was a lot of talk back in the day on Adventures in Airguns about the benefit of having a projectile not go past to fast )
I definitely go for a .45 for a one gun fits all.
I got this nice porker shooting it into the shoulder towards the neck with a lowly 200 FPE .50 shooting an EPP/UG
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=153521.0 (https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=153521.0)
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I had great success shooting Peacocks at the base of the neck with .45 airguns, they drop on the spot.
I agree there's no need for overwelming power, I think a Seneca .45 Twin tube is in the 200-250 FPE range stock and with a .457 EPP/UG it will cut a great, clean hole without blowing through to fast. ( there was a lot of talk back in the day on Adventures in Airguns about the benefit of having a projectile not go past to fast )
I definitely go for a .45 for a one gun fits all.
To the extent that peacocks and turkeys are almost the same bird for these purposes, and you’ve had good experience shooting them with .45 airguns, I’d defer to your experiences. It may be that a subsonic .45 will do what it needs to do without passing thru too fast.
The kind of overshot I’ve seen with turkeys involve upper body hits with high velocity firearm rounds such as .270s and .308s, as well as hard small rounds like a .204 that’s not a ballistic tip. Those kind of hyper fast rounds that meet no resistance going thru the turkey don’t do enough expanding to really frag the vitals fast enough to avoid a run off.
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Yeah the EPP/UG .457 cuts a big, clean hole with that sharp frontal band.
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I also had great results shooting Peacocks with the JSB .30 pellet, one at the base of the neck that dropped on the spot,
and one with a frontal chest shot that flew 4' of the ground for about 25-30 yards before piling up.
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Anyone ever hunt the land called "triple N ranch" near Melbourne FL?
The past couple winters I've been going down to Melbourne for January and February... I love all the fishing but I'd like to try some hog hunting next winter when I get back down there.
I've looked online and found a couple guides down there too...that might be what I do for the first time since I've never hunted before. They have private land and no hunting license needed.
Watching Mannys hog hunt vids makes me really want to try it! We don't have any wild hogs in upstate NY... and no airguns allowed here anyway.
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Just hop over to Vermont for deer season. We allow air.
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Anyone ever hunt the land called "triple N ranch" near Melbourne FL?
You've got to get drawn in a lottery to hunt it, unless you're there during small game season, which should run from the end of November to the end of January.
I think you'll be happier buying a hog hunt on private land. Florida's public land hunting is hard core. By that, I mean its vast swamp and jungly woods that many thousands of people are accessing to harvest the same game you're after. It usually takes years of trial and error before someone can regularly see game on public land. Its really only conducive for locals who can afford to spend their free time tramping around the woods within a short driving distance from home. The further north you go in the state, the larger the public tracts become and the less the hunting pressure is. But again, its not the sort of hunting you can easily just go out and do without experience.
Private land hunting for hogs is fun and would be a good way to get hunting experience. Some of the private ranches in south Florida are amazing in the beauty of the woods that's on their land. Some are canned hunts, but many are free range. A lot of those big ranches are cattle operations that keep large stretches of undeveloped woods. Its what Florida used to look like until about 50 years ago.
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Had a friend forward me this link and remembered this thread which should be food for thought for hunting hogs, yes they can be fiercely mean and dangerous.
As I said before, I was trained to always have a retreat and not go poking an animal til I was sure it was dead. (have a personal story about an uncle who got trampled and needed stitches when a 'dead' deer proved to not be, too)
I have had a few (rare, to be admitted) experiences with hogs that I thought were Satan on earth to teach me respect! 300 pounds of testosterone loaded porcine MEAN! Evilly smart and their chest is like armor plate and I'm out hunting with a low powered air rifle (compared to center-fire guns)??? And yet I continue to do so because they just taste so good n every bite I feel the 'win' with my primitive self. Most I mix 50/50 with venison and make into smoked link sausage... YUMMMM!
Newbie hunters and inexperienced youth need to be aware that this is a fun sport but know there are dangers and adjust their actions too.
99.8% of the time hunting is normal and the 'extras' run off, the other 0.2%......
Trigger warning : GRAPHIC PICTURES of a torn up person.
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/are-you-certain-he-is-dead.3346/ (https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/are-you-certain-he-is-dead.3346/)
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wow that hog did a serious number on that guy