Henry Rifle Forums

In the past, I have only posted on the Henry Centerfire and Reloading tabs; but now I have a very irritating situation on which I hope you air rifle experts can help me. I am an avid vegetable gardener and I live in east central Massachusetts. As I am sure you know, Massachusett' is not gun owner friendly state. Among the laws we must abide by is one that prohibits discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a residence. We have lived here for 13 years, and prior to 2015, I had no problems with varmints raiding my garden. Since then, woodchucks and rabbits have devastated the garden. My fencing is buried 6 - 8 " below the garden's soil, yet the woodchucks and rabbits burrow under it to get at the garden. Interestingly, in the years prior to 2015, we had a dense coyote population in my vicinity, but I have not seen or heard a coyote since that time. I suspect the lack of that preditor has given rise to the woodchuck and rabbit population.
Because I can not use any of my .22 rifle's (including a Henry) to control the woodchuck and cottontail population, I am considering using an air rifle which is allowed by State. I would appreciate any thoughts you can share with me on the ability of an air rifle and its pellets to humanely kill a woodchuck at 40 yds. Please share the air rifles' brand names, model, and best brand of pellets to use with the rifle. If a pellet will Kill a woodchuck at that range, it will certainly do the same on a rabbit.

Pitchman1968 wrote: Because I can not use any of my .22 rifle's (including a Henry) to control the woodchuck and cottontail population, I am considering using an air rifle which is allowed by State. I would appreciate any thoughts you can share with me on the ability of an air rifle and its pellets to humanely kill a woodchuck at 40 yds. Please share the air rifles' brand names, model, and best brand of pellets to use with the rifle. If a pellet will Kill a woodchuck at that range, it will certainly do the same on a rabbit.

I live in CT with similar restrictions.

Two years ago, a woodchuck was devasting my garden, so I decided to shoot it with my .177 pellet gun, a Crossman 2100, rated at about 1000 fps fully pumped with a pointed pellet. I shot it at about twenty feet. It was a clean hit in the vitals, but it crawled away and under my low-to-the ground deck and died there. It took me a few hours, a few days later, when the smell let me know where it was, to retrieve it with a large fish hook lashed to the end of a long boat pole.

I would suggest a hav-a-hart trap to catch it and either release it somewhere else or shoot it point blank. Rabbits, on the other hand, can be taken with the pellet gun, but not likely at 40 yards. I'd say closer than 15 to 20.

You'll get other responses, I'm sure. Good luck.

Im know expert on air rifles like NCG is but I have done alot of research on them lately. I know of a guy on another forum who is shooting chucks out to 70 yards regular with his Air Arms TX200. He had posted pictures of the kills and they looked like humain kills without any issues. I believe his was a 177 caliber. I might be able to go search it out again but I could also send you a link to the sight if you were interested. Al

Sorry to get back to you so late, but have been out of town for a week and couldn't get on the forum to post.

Okay, as far as rabbits, ANY kind of air gun will work - pump up, springer or PCP - and it doesn't have to have a lot of power. Rabbits aren't tough to kill, cleanly and humanely with an air gun. Squirrels are tougher, but still well within the capability of a typical air gun.

Animals the size of a wood chuck at 40 yards, though, would have me hesitating with a typical air rifle if you need clean, instant kills for the sake of the animal not crawling off wounded into a neighbor's yard. That would probably not make you any friends in the neighborhood. Not saying that wood chucks or coyotes of fox are out of the question with an air gun. Just saying that takes you into more specialized and powerful air guns, ones made, specifically, for hunting these larger animals.

First, let's talk about power. The kind of power you want will be a heavy pellet pushed at velocities under 1100 fps for the sake of accuracy and more like 900 to 1000 fps or so is better. Pellets are poor performers, ballistically speaking. Too much velocity destabilizes them, so the best way to get power is to push the heaviest possible pellets up to that 900 to 1000 fps range. Stay away from piston guns, here. They have too many liabilities when you get to this power level. This is PCP country, either in 22 cal or, even better, 25 cal. My recommendation would be a new Benjamin Marauder in 25 cal, but it is a 25 cal PCP which eats a lot of air per shot, so I would do fills with a scuba tank, NOT a pump. This is a serious hunting air rifle that gets you up into that 40 fpe range, something that NO piston gun can do.

Pitchman, got any old .22 bolt jobs hanging around? A CCI quiet going off in a bolt gun with a long barrel doesn't even sound like a shot.

I, too, would recommend 22 LR Quiet loads out of a rifle, at least as far as addressing the issue of your having to deal with the woodchucks. It would certainly be the most cost effective solution. Doesn't address the legal part of the problem, of course, but that would be your call. Can't advise you, there.

By the way, be sure to check your local regs. Some communities consider air guns to be guns and some do not.

Hello Everyone, Thank you for your responses to my post about the feasibility of eliminating woodchucks at 40 yards with a pellet rifle. The response's consensus is that a pellet rifle at that range might kill the critter, but it probably would not be a humane kill. I respect and value your expertise. Therefore, I have eliminated a pellet rifle as an option for solving my woodchuck problem. I am a full-time substitute teacher at our local high school here in central Massachusetts. I am going to propose to the school's industrial arts teacher that I fund a project for his students to build 8 raised tables 20' x 7 ' x 18" deep, and 42" off the ground so that I can have a raised garden for those vegetables that the woodchucks have been decimating. As I continue to age, these tables will extend my gardening years because I won't have to spend as many hours on my knees planting, thinning,weeding, and harvesting vegetable like green/yellow beans, broccoli, beets, carrots, etc. I will still have a ground level garden for corn, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and herbs

I love that solution, Pitchman. Good thinking. Post some pics when the project is complete.

Caution! Have seen groundhogs as high as 15 to 20 feet up in a tree. Some treed by dogs and some just up there for the view I guess. A goodly gob of grease or petroleum jelly should prevent climbers into a raised bed.

I absolutely love my Beeman R9's one in .177 and the other .20. I shot a woodchuck at 30 yards in the head with the .20 and it never moved it just rolled over dead. I have never seen this from a .22 LR gun, which are mostly body shots. Key advise is use a accurate rifle with a good scope. Shot placement is critical and will work for you. I shot a squirrel at 55 to 60 yards with the .177 not a problem. Spend some money and buy a good quality air rifle and a good scope. Beeman R9's are awesome!