A question about energy levels / animal size

[45Bravo]

What animals would you consider taking with different ft.lb. weapons?

What animals would you consider taking with each

a 60 ft.lb. weapon?
a 100 ft.lb. weapon?
a 200 ft.lb. weapon?
a 400 ft.lb. weapon?

Thanks in advance.

[Kinetic45^]

I would 'consider' taking down some pretty large animals with small FPE pneumatics.

But I would then consider Murphy's Law, the Perversity of the Universe, Chuck's rule of fools and overconfidence, hunter's fever, the reality of the difference between bench and field accuracy, etc and then RECOMMEND much bigger FPE for the average shooter than I would for an expert (who is probably overconfident too in reality)

I once watched a 2000 pound raging bull get taken down by a 130 FPE 22LR but I would urge caution to anyone trying it,

Here's mine (no animals listed) for GOOD SHOTS ONLY, NOT NIMRODS!
60: birds, rodents, ferel pets and animals under 10 pounds
100: animals under 40 pounds
200: under 350 pounds
400: anything on North America (except dangerous game)

The reality is that even our most powerful air rifles are still weaker than any Magnum pistol cartridge and most of this country's hunter's would criticize taking the average 'big game' with something so weak as a pistol.  I've pistol hunted deer and hogs with a .357 Magnum revolver and at the time I thought I did not have enough for humane and effective kills... Yet here I am hunting with rifles that strain to get .38 Special power.  The difference is I am very, very, very , very selective on my shots (and 'fear' the hunter that is not !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [For the sake of the animal and the sport if liberals get wind of what an amature does and they publicize it to smear and block all the rest of us])

You must know your targets anatomy and where it's vital zones are and what angles of shots can reach them!!!! Look it up before going into the field, it's easily found on the Internet!
You must know your trajectory at many ranges, not just your zero because your game WILL NOT OBLIGE YOU BY GOING TO A TARGET RANGE.

A little preperation goes a long way, especially in air gunning.

Add 50% to your group size out hunting vs what you got on the range then consider that when you are aiming at that vital zone.

I'm tired of tracking down wounded animals, not ones that were shot and ran a bit before they died, but ones shot by low skilled hunter's that would have taken weeks to die if not laboriously tracked down and put down... That's my rant on the subject due to that disgust and fatigue.

[rsterne]

I would agree with Carl's assessment for the smaller two guns.... but I would never use a gun on an animal where the body weight exceeded the FPE, so I would limit the 200 FPE gun to deer, and the 400 FPE gun to under 400 lbs.... Having said that, those are my minimums the caliber of the gun also influences my decision, and I would prefer to use the 400 FPE gun on a deer, rather than the 200 FPE one.... I feel a lot happier with having 2 FPE or more per lb. of animal, and even more for small, but hard to kill game....

Bob

[45Bravo]

The reason I asked the question above is to put things into perspective for some of the new people coming into the hobby with ideas of hunting like they do with powder burners.

In airgun circles, these power factors are on the upper end of the ever climbing airgun power scale.

But in the powder burner world, they are on the extreme lower end of the scale.

As in most powder burner hunters would not even consider using them for ethical/humane  hunting.

60 ft.lbs is equivalent to a FMJ .25 acp.
100 ft.lbs is equivalent to a standard velocity .22 LR.
200 ft.lbs is equivalent to a standard loading for a FMJ .380 acp.
400 ft.lbs is equivalent to a 115gr FMJ 9mm parabellum  load.

In looking at it from that standpoint on the power scale, you had better make darn sure of your accuracy ability, shot placement, and distance to target.

If you want to make an ethical and humane kill..

In other words,
Know your equipment and it’s power/accuracy limitations.
Know your quarry and it’s anatomy.
Know your ability to hit the vital area at a given distance.

Just my 2 cents worth..

[Bullfrog]

Contemplated lung shots in all categories:

a 60 ft.lb. weapon?      Bobcat w/.25
a 100 ft.lb. weapon?    Coyote w/.25
a 200 ft.lb. weapon?    Whitetail Deer w/.30
a 400 ft.lb. weapon?    Black Bear w/.45

I'm fine with taking whitetails as low as 110fpe with the right projectile. But that isn't necessarily violating that 1fpe per pound rule. Florida bucks mature out around 120-140lb on the hoof and does mature out at 70-80lb. I more often shoot adult does anyhow. I have a particular .300 round that's devastating at 110fpe.

With brain shots, 60fpe in a .25 and a hard pellet will kill anything in the woods.

[Kinetic45^]

I would agree with Carl's assessment for the smaller two guns.... but I would never use a gun on an animal where the body weight exceeded the FPE, so I would limit the 200 FPE gun to deer, and the 400 FPE gun to under 400 lbs.... Having said that, those are my minimums the caliber of the gun also influences my decision, and I would prefer to use the 400 FPE gun on a deer, rather than the 200 FPE one.... I feel a lot happier with having 2 FPE or more per lb. of animal, and even more for small, but hard to kill game....

Bob

I would actually feel more comfortable and agree with this recommendation on the 200 and 400 FPE than what I posted for the majority of shooters I've encountered

[gendoc]

my rule is....200fpe+ for hogs and 350+ for whitetail
 just my standards 

[Big Ken]

Good info!!!!!

[Zgunz]

Having hunted smaller sized hogs in hawaii with 9mm subsonic using 147gr bullets i agree with the idea of lbs of animal should never exceed the ft lbs of energy as a general rule.

Killing power vs stopping power are two different things.  100 fpe will kill many different animals... but for humane hunting i would feel more comfortable with 150 to 200 ft lbs for pigs and deer etc.