Squirrels fair game with air rifles of .177 or greater.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-s ... rifles.ece

The above link is a story about how Texas squirrel hunters may now use air rifles to hunt them
as long as the air rifle uses a .177 or larger projectile, with an FPS (feet per second) rate = or > 600.

SIA

[Dan20703]

I started hunting squirrels with a pellet gun many years ago! Guess I didn't know it wasn't legal when I was a kid. None of us did. We hunted all sorts of small game. Rabbits, pigeons, squirrels, rats, snakes, etc., etc.

I have to admit that once we were old enough to hunt on our own we left those pellet guns behind and used "real" guns. I might have to go get a modern air rifle and go back to my roots of hunting small game with a little more of a challenge to it.

[WildBill]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-s ... rifles.ece

The above link is a story about how Texas squirrel hunters may now use air rifles to hunt them
as long as the air rifle uses a .177 or larger projectile, with an FPS (feet per second) rate = or > 600.

SIA

Nice! Thanks for the post. I hope this doesn't cause a pellet shortage.

Pellets are much cheaper, less noisy and safer than using a 22LR.

[WildBill]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-s ... rifles.ece

The above link is a story about how Texas squirrel hunters may now use air rifles to hunt them
as long as the air rifle uses a .177 or larger projectile, with an FPS (feet per second) rate = or > 600.

SIA

Yeah!!! ...

on a down note, I asked my wife if I could cook squirrel this fall since we have so many pecan trees in the backyard...

Squirrel and dumplings was not met by an approving WV gal...

*sighs*

What about dessert? Pecan pie?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Squirrel and dumplings was not met by an approving WV gal...

Would she approve if they were served with a nice coal slurry? :-)

SIA

[Deltaboy]

I killed my first squirrel with an Bengiman air rifle in 177. Back in 1970.

[gringo pistolero]

I thought the airgun prohibition didn't apply to nongame animals.

[Greybeard]

Quote: "I thought the airgun prohibition didn't apply to nongame animals."

That is still correct. But in Tejas, tree rats ARE considered a game animal. Some counties even have specific hunting "seasons".

[Cedar Park Dad]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-s ... rifles.ece

The above link is a story about how Texas squirrel hunters may now use air rifles to hunt them
as long as the air rifle uses a .177 or larger projectile, with an FPS (feet per second) rate = or > 600.

SIA

My canine security force believes shotguns and drone strikes are fully authorized against all squirrels. The two wiener dogs attempted to take out some squirrels with a .22 antiaircraft style, but the old wiener dog was doing the aiming, and he became distracted by a nice nap in the sun.

[jmra]

My boys would like to snipe a few from the back porch but my wife would neither condone the act nor prepare the feast.

[Deltaboy]

I will have to cook any I harvest cause the wife won't cook wild game.

[HankB]

In terms of hunting with airguns, Beeman's published an article quite a few years back addressing this, with their recommendations of appropriate minimum power levels to hunt various critters - here's a link: http://beemans.net/field%20use.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

According to their chart, a squirrel requires about 3 ft. lbs, with an impact velocity of ~415 ft/sec for a 7.8 grain .177 pellet.

Probably a reasonable guideline, but IMHO it's like the 1000 ft. lb recommendation some gunwriters say is required for deer - there's an awful lot of "hand waving" in the numbers. (And since a .357 Mag handgun is a reasonable deer cartridge at close range, it's clear that 1000 ft. lbs. is not really needed.)

[XinTX]

After the tree rats raided our tomatoes out of the garden, the MUCH better half will love this new 'hunting season'.

[big 54r]

^^^funny