rabbit a go go

[Guest air gunner]

Me and my friend are keen on shooting rabbits. we have got a few but many times we have shot them in the head with a zeroed rifle from 30 yrds and they just run off! this is really inhumane and means we dont get bunnie pie so how do we prevent this? our guns are 12ft ponds and we use suitable flat head pellets which have worked on occasions. any stalking tips and night hunting tips would also be appreciated. we really dont want injured bunnies so please help us. also does decoying in a field work for air rifles aswell? if so what to do? stalking tips for pigeons,magpies and squirrels would be much appreciated also.

[ferretville 69]

Whats your gun firing at mate if its below 11 you won`t drop rabbits believe me . Also what calibre because if it is up at a decent poundage .177`s tend to drill through bunnys . Double check your zeroing because if ou say it`s bang on and the gun`s firing at a good poundage then somethings not quite right. My guess is its either one of the above if still ou have no joy take it to your local gun smith . FV.

[hughesey1552 0]

Me and my friend are keen on shooting rabbits. we have got a few but many times we have shot them in the head with a zeroed rifle from 30 yrds and they just run off! this is really inhumane and means we dont get bunnie pie so how do we prevent this? our guns are 12ft ponds and we use suitable flat head pellets which have worked on occasions. any stalking tips and night hunting tips would also be appreciated. we really dont want injured bunnies so please help us. also does decoying in a field work for air rifles aswell? if so what to do? stalking tips for pigeons,magpies and squirrels would be much appreciated also.

 

hi mate, welcome to the forum. Firstly try using roundhead pellets as they are more accurate. (flat heads are better for paper punching lol) I would say try and get [bANNED TEXT] guns over a chrono to check the power and then you just gotta be sure that [bANNED TEXT] hitting them in the head.

Ive never had the same problem.

When ive bin lamping in the past ive just walked around hedges quietly and used a red filet to spot the eyes then THWACK they dead lol.

 

Decoying does work with maggies and pigeons but u got to find a good hide becuase maggies and pigeons have got good eyesite.

 

Finlly lol, i go for the squirells quite a lot and i find the best approach is to just walk as quietly as possible through the woods and stop every so often and listen for them on the ground or rustling about in the trees. On my permission the majority i have shot lately have all been on the ground and not in the trees. Its easier with 2 ppl for squreels coz they are hards to see.

 

Sorry for the long post lol

 

Ryan

[taff3915 2]

flat heads are a no no, there accurate to about 18 yards use round heads H&N field target trophys are excellent through most rifles, I can say from experience that flats, hollows and pointed pellets dont group well at 30 yards plus. A few mills out of the kill zone will result in a injured rabbit that will probably die down. good luck

[Deker 3,478]

Me and my friend are keen on shooting rabbits. we have got a few but many times we have shot them in the head with a zeroed rifle from 30 yrds and they just run off! this is really inhumane and means we dont get bunnie pie so how do we prevent this? our guns are 12ft ponds and we use suitable flat head pellets which have worked on occasions. any stalking tips and night hunting tips would also be appreciated. we really dont want injured bunnies so please help us. also does decoying in a field work for air rifles aswell? if so what to do? stalking tips for pigeons,magpies and squirrels would be much appreciated also.

 

 

As has been said..something does not quite seem to add up, check the power and I suggest the use of domed pellets.

 

But flat pellet, 12ft lb, 30 yards and head shot means a dead bunny, not one running away!!!

[ghillies 209]

in a word flat heads.. they make a luverly impact slap. in two words you could be hitting the nazal cavitry or jaw area.

 

in .177 i had no problems at 10.5 foor pounds.. try round head pellets, AA feilds or daystate/jsb'etc...

[stealthy1 3,964]

Welcom to THL, think maybe your guns not up to that range if they are getting up and walking away, better to stick to 20yrds and nail more of them, my vote goes to round headed pellets, tried them all, roundheads are more consistent for me.

[Guest air gunner]

The guns a .22 bsa supersport (brand new) i have only putt about 300 pellets through it. it definately kills i got a pigeon through the wing with a flat head quite close though recently. also where about on the head should i be aiming? because they could be hitting the jaw etc as said. we use a red lamp too and the rabbits seem to run away with that too? we are probably too noisy. i expect it just needs practise but as much info and help possible will result in more game. i will try my bisley superdomes they might have more luck. Whats the best way to stalk up to a rabbit? in a square field with their burrows in thick bushes around it? there is no cover so do we crawl? the gun hits a small metal 1" spinner at 30 yrds consistently. my shots are probably not accurate but we have gone 2 hole days with no luck : ( with no cover how so we approach closer so we are about 20 yrds? cheers for the help so far i will give you feed back on the results.

[Jef66 0]

My permission is much the same...... bugger all cover at all, with the bunnies in a hedgeline bordering someone else's land. I find the only way to close to 30 yards in approach low and quietly to about 60-70 yards, then slowly crawl prone to 30-35 yards. Its tedious and a good way to get grubby, but taking time and effort this way will get you unnoticed into a position to shoot.

 

As everyone else has said flatheads are ok for ganking woodies at close range but for accuracy and takedown use a quality domed pellet [i feed my HW90k AA diablo field] You should be trying to hit the head in line with the eyes, and between the eye and the root of the ear, if you have to take a front on shot you need to be hitting it between the eyes or as near to there as you possibly can.

 

Heres a spiffy picture of inside a bunny, as you can see the brain [in yellow] only takes up a relatively small area of the total head space.

 

 

Good luck and happy hunting

[celticwar 1]

nice rifle mate . power should be ok if its new but i would check it just incase , gun shop should have one if you have not you should be aiming just at the side off its eye .. thats where his brain is ..

with the scull being shaped the way it is the pellet can bounce of the skull if not hit full on . it happens ..

heres pick rabbit to help

[celticwar 1]

head just past eye perfect shot

[Guest air gunner]

Cheers guys. ill give it a go i have been shooting near the top of the head which may be bouncing off them ill try behind the eyes those pics are perfect illustrations of where to shoot thats great cheers. ill give you the feed back and some pics of my next rabbit. : ) my bisleys should work fine and the gun is ace im happy. thanks again for the help.

[gazguildford 0]

head just past eye perfect shot

 

excellent examples there! just in front and just below the ears is perfect. i have to say also i would check ur zeroing because a shot in the head with a 12ftlbs rifle would drop em without a twitch. try get urself to a shooting range and fire near on 1000 pellets at different ranges and getting a grouping of atleast 5 in a row on each distance in the sweets spot obviously it goes without saying the more practice the better. im not to good with rain so if i wanna just go shoot i go to the range

[ghillies 209]

for any one who hadnt notised, the front leg covers the heart a bit, unless you get a good angle on it.

 

an, look at the actual heart size against the brain.. the brains huge in comparison, and well in veiw.

 

most people use the fraze 'hit it', hit what excactly? in most newbie turms the 'it' is the whole animal, soooo you 'hit it' and 'it' ran off.. things pick up vastly when you realise 'hit it where'...

 

the fluke shots that hit the lower spine can sit um there till you pick them up.. you'll some times feel what i'd discribe as a wasps nest hummmm comeing from th lower end, seriously not nice watching a bunny trying to run but pain and paralasy's stooping it.

the heart/lung shot... gives screemers that go down like bag pipes... they can and do run a ways then flake out and take several minutes to exspire, usualy just behind the spot they disapeared to or in the hole, you need to literaly hit the heart it's self, with a well placed shot the thing just roll's gently on its side and peaceably exspires.. very hard shot, and past the 30 mark you start lacking the penatration to acheive the clean shot..

Edited November 2, 2008 by ghillies

[jazz_11 5]

mate are you sure your gun is even hitting the rabbit and not just falling infront of it mate and scaring it.

cheers

jazz

Edited November 2, 2008 by jazz_11