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Fatal shot for rabbits


ratchers
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Need some advice please.

Just got a new permission to shoot grey squirrels and the owner also has a problem with rabbits digging his lawn up.

I have never shot rabbits before so slightly unsure where to aim for a fatal head shot from different angles,eg face on, side on etc.

Using a legal limit air rifle.

Thanks

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1 hour ago, enfieldspares said:

I've never liked the idea of shooting rabbits with any 12 ft/lbs air rifle. I know that You Tube has many many videos of such but it's not for me. I won't do it. The best way would be to see if anyone here on PW can accompany you and ferret them with nets.

No problem at all with sub 12 but each to their own 

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4 hours ago, ratchers said:

Need some advice please.

I have never shot rabbits before so slightly unsure where to aim for a fatal head shot from different angles,eg face on, side on etc.

Using a legal limit air rifle.

Thanks

Google head anatomy of a rabbit and see where the brain actually is. Then when they present you with any angle of shot, you will know exactly where to aim. A rabbits skull is like an egg shell, and a sub 12 pellet will pass through any part of it on the way to and through its brain.

3 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Never when the rabbits nose is facing at you .

The Pellet wont travel all the way to the brain at the rear of the head below the ears  

I've shot loads of rabbits head on. The pellet usually ends up in the neck/shoulder/upper body area causing immense damage, and on dissecting for the meat, the pellet is retrieved very badly mangled, so your statement is incorrect.

2 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

I've never liked the idea of shooting rabbits with any 12 ft/lbs air rifle. I know that You Tube has many many videos of such but it's not for me. I won't do it. The best way would be to see if anyone here on PW can accompany you and ferret them with nets.

Many rabbits each year, and for many previous decades, are shot successfully with sub 12 air 👍

20 minutes ago, pork chop said:

No problem at all with sub 12 but each to their own 

I concur ^^^^ 👍

Edited by JKD
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3 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Never when the rabbits nose is facing at you .

The Pellet wont travel all the way to the brain at the rear of the head below the ears  

Really?  

The countless numbers I've shot have been bloody good actors then!😂😂

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14 minutes ago, turbo33 said:

Really?  

The countless numbers I've shot have been bloody good actors then!😂😂

Im sure your just a wind up merchant  .im not going to bite.

To the op .

Dont shoot rabbits in the nose its far from an ethical shot  . 

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28 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Im sure your just a wind up merchant  .im not going to bite.

To the op .

Dont shoot rabbits in the nose its far from an ethical shot  . 

No one is saying shoot them through the nose 🤔 A front/head-on shot usually means you wait for an ideal shot through the forehead, into the brain and through and through 👍 It does make a mess of the upper body, but there isn't much meat there anyway 😉

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37 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Im sure your just a wind up merchant  .im not going to bite.

To the op .

Dont shoot rabbits in the nose its far from an ethical shot  . 

I’m not a wind up merchant Ultrastu, but you do leave yourself open with some of your “My way is the only way” comments. 
You said “Never when the rabbits nose is facing you”. JKD ‘s post is exactly right and Strimmer_13’s photo is a preferable shot.

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9 hours ago, ratchers said:

Need some advice please.

Just got a new permission to shoot grey squirrels and the owner also has a problem with rabbits digging his lawn up.

I have never shot rabbits before so slightly unsure where to aim for a fatal head shot from different angles,eg face on, side on etc.

Using a legal limit air rifle.

Thanks

If you can kill squirrels with your air rifle you won't have any problems with rabbits.

The thing to be aware of is they can squeal quite loudly if winged.

Just wait for a shot your happy with, side on is preferable as Strimmer shows above.

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17 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Never when the rabbits nose is facing at you .

The Pellet wont travel all the way to the brain at the rear of the head below the ears  

I don’t believe I have ever had an air gun pellet not go right through a rabbit’s head from any angle. Head on they wind up in the neck/shoulders.

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I've shot hundreds of rabbits with my legal limit Webley Viper Venom .22 and Weihrauch HW100T .22, but side on head shots only up to 30 yards, just behind the eye, or ideally a shot in the back of the head between the ears. If they have their heads down eating, I click my tongue and they sit up for a listen and pop! 

My signature picture shows my Career 707 .22 carbine on FAC at 28 ft lbs. Any head, or chest shot out to 40 + yards will do the business. Horses for courses.

To be honest, I find squirrels harder to kill than rabbits and won't attempt a shot beyond 15 yards with a 12 lb rifle. 

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2 hours ago, kenj said:

I've shot hundreds of rabbits with my legal limit Webley Viper Venom .22 and Weihrauch HW100T .22, but side on head shots only up to 30 yards, just behind the eye, or ideally a shot in the back of the head between the ears. If they have their heads down eating, I click my tongue and they sit up for a listen and pop! 

My signature picture shows my Career 707 .22 carbine on FAC at 28 ft lbs. Any head, or chest shot out to 40 + yards will do the business. Horses for courses.

To be honest, I find squirrels harder to kill than rabbits and won't attempt a shot beyond 15 yards with a 12 lb rifle. 

Got to echo this squizzers are surprisingly tough compared to bunnies I have always found bunnies with a sensible range headshot just behind the ear fall over easily. A couple of squirrels even after a solid head shot I had to give a follow up shot to 

Advantage with squirrels though they are easy to bait in to a range you want them at.

 

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I think Stu may have meant as in a Rabbit facing you head on but maybe head raised so the nose is elevated (scenting for danger) and thus the centre of the target is indeed the nose - a central shot would smash into the nose/mouth area and a little higher might result in a pellet glancing off the top of it's head. Not a shot that I would feel happy taking with an Airgun - LR absolutely no problems - I think he may have worded his thread a little "open to interpretation" but who here hasn't?

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Thanks bruno .exactly .

So let's follow this through then .

Rabbit is head down feeding and you can see and aim at the top of the head parrelel with his eyes.a shot here will pass into the brain with a 11 fpe ain gun (all good )    BUT      and its a big but .

When a rabbit hears a noise when feeding the first thing it does is raise its head to listen  .so an airgun pellet that travels slower than the speed of sound is gonna be heard by those huge ears just before the pellet strikes. Up comes his head and the pellet hits either his nose or chin area  or possibly neck .this leads to a horrible wound and your left trying to get a rushed shot into squeeling rabbit doing circles in the grass  .its not very nice .

So no head on shots for me thank you .there is no need to take that risk ..22 lr  .17 hmr and ..25 cal fac air are a different matter  however .as they carry a lot more penetration potential  

 

 

Obviously  one cavet to the above .is if your shooting micro bunnies ie kits with tiny heads and soft bones .then full brain penetration is easy from any angle

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