Anybody huntin with an air rifle?

Curious to know if anyone here hunts varmits with an air rifle. My home place has plenty of coons and a few fox that Id like to get rid of before I move my chickens from the brooder to the pen.

I use a Crosman F4 in 17 caliber, and a Crosman 22 caliber air pistol for vermin control on skunks, possums and raccoons. Never have had an opportunity to try them on a fox. Definitely a "head shot only" solution for a humane kill. A body shot will deliver a mortal wound if it hits a vital organ, but death will come agonizingly slow to the target species, and you'll never know if you've taken them out or not, since they'll run or crawl off and die deep in the bush.

have thought about it, might get one for the back yard tree rats

I have killed a lot of rats with mine. Skip to last page and go backwards, many of the original pics aren't showing up bc of photo bucket
http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6529949/Is_hunting_rats_worthy_of_the_

I love hunting with my PCP air rifles. Unlike springers, which I still like to shoot from time to time, PCP's have next to no recoil so I can actually watch the pellet strike through the scope. .25 will reach out to 80yds and still packs a wallop to take out coon size game. .22 is perfect for for smaller game at closer range.

This weekend I happened upon a Gamo Maxxum in 177 at Walmart. It was on cleareance from $188 down to $89. It came with a 4x32 scope.

I really wanted a 22 but I couldn't pass on this deal. Shoots great is accurate with a solid rest. I sighted it in at 25 yards.

I'm impressed by with this rifle.

How much gear other than the rifle itself did you need to buy? Was it hard to figure out the various fittings, etc?

You can start out with just the rifle and a hand pump. I started out with a Benjamin Discovery + pump combo, so there wasn't much to figure out. There are two popular fill probe connections: foster quick connector and (for lack of better name) Air Arm type connector.

These days, you can pick up an entry level PCP rifle for less than $200. Hand pump starts at $150 new, but you can probably buy a used one or ebay Chinese knock-off for a lot less.

Once you've shot PCP, you'd amazed at just consistently accurate it can be compared to springers.

I would love a daystate or fx pcp gun. Just never seem to save for one.

Man I love mine. I have two PCP's. One is a Modified Discovery .25 ACP and the other is a modified Air Force Condor .257. Support equipment is significant but I think if you break it down to the shot it is less than most 30+ cal powder burners over the long term. I rented a 6000 psi Nitrogen tank that I refill a 4500 psi carbon fiber tank regulated to 3500psi.

I have a few air arms spring and pcp. Much more rewarding killing small games with my air rifle.

I have a Hatsan 125 in .22 that is a squirrel killing machine. It will shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yds. Off of a rest.
Much more fun than than hunting them with a powder burner.

My dogs go nuts when I grab the pellet rifle. They love tree rat.

As energy levels increase into 100's of FPE, I get excited about the possibilities. I have a couple pcp's that produce 150+ fpe I use to hunt with. One is a .25 ACP and the other is a .257.

What do you all think of Gamo in .177 - 1100 FPS with pellets?

I got one from a friend of a friend who was moving back home (China). Is it reasonable to have a Gamo .177 as a primary small game rifle?

Ive killed rats, mice, rabbits, raccoons, and a few skunks with mine. IT WILL KEEL

The Gamo in .177 will work just fine within short ranges on small game. Head shots are required for humane kills. Make sure you spend a lot of quality time behind the trigger and spend the money to buy at least 3 or 4 different kinds of pellets to find out which one gives you the best accuracy.