I agree completely with you on this point, using an airgun on live prey requires much more patience and skill than other disciplines IMHO.
Poor shot placement can cause undue suffering even with a .22 rimfire, on my last outing the chap I was hunting with shot a rabbit at about 50m which was left alive and crippled by his shot, so I raised my FAC .25 Lonestar and finished the job for him.
Airguns are so much safer particularly when hunting prey that lives in trees (In New Zealand we have huge numbers of tree dwelling possums that are causing massive destruction to the native habitat) and the only rifle I choose to use on a block under 40 acres would be an airgun, as when using a powderburner you have to consider so much more than what is visible as the range of even a ricochet is immense when compared to an AG...
