Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Pigeons ... WTH?

Ever try to solve a pigeon problem with an air gun? Which ammo do you use? I know I hit (feathers fly) them but they just won't go away.

I have been shooting a few pigeons in a friend's barn, using a Crossman .17 caliber pneumatic pistol. So far, only one has plummeted to earth after being hit with a pellet.

So I tried a .22 revolver using CB Caps and killed a pigeon, but you could see daylight through the bullet hole in the roof afterwards...OOPS!

I would imagine a pneumatic pellet rifle would work...?

The shotgun works fine in the barnyard, though.

Well, your post is a bit vague.
Perhaps if you tell us what weapon you are using, caliber and distance to the pigeons you are hitting, we might be able to help.
Offhand, either the weapon does not have the power, or you are stretching the distance.
My .177 Diana 52 drops magpies out to 35 m, with either round head or flat head diabolo lead pellets.
Probably could go beyond that, but never tried.
Good Luck

Its by neighbors (Chinese) .177 break open, spring operated, rifle. The first batch of pellets were flat head and lead. The current one has a slight dome. I know, still pretty vague. Distance from the one I knocked down was a couple of inches, I was right below him. The others, which I know I'm hitting, are about 15' away. Last night, I took another shot. They were perched one in front of the other and I hit the second (farthest) one. I know I hit it because when they both flew away, the second one had a less-than-direct flight to my neighbors front yard. They usually fly up on the roof for safety.

So I know I'm hitting them and I know the rifle can kill them. I guess I'm just not getting proper shot placement. Its become a nightly routine of taking one shot before I go to bed. I can't sit out there all night, we have security patrols and I don't need to get arrested for pest control.

Shoulder or straight on chest shots usually make pretty quick work of pigeons with any air rifle. The pellets you are using are fine. I'm thinking you are just not hitting them well.

my friend has a 177 fx . this one shoots fast, he swears by the flat tips. he has done a lot of shooting and knows what he is talking about. so try some of those. they can be bought at pyramid air online.http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/show_necessities.pl?show=NEW&Caliber=0.177&Type=0

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/gamo-cfx-royal-wood-stock-air-rifle.shtml this is the one he uses

When I was a young teen-ager, I had a friend that lived in town in a big (3 story) house with lots of gutters, dormers, and all kinds of nicks and crannys for pigeons to live in. I bet we killed at least a hundred with a crossman pump up .22 caliber pellet gun. I don't remember any that flew very far after we shot them (in the head if we could, young eyes can shoot good!) Anyway, you might need "more gun".
BTW...Later we started putting out those "poison peanuts" that you use for moles in your yard. They would eat them, then fly away in a very erratic pattern, then crash and flop around. Man, we thought that was real funny til the cops came.

22 cal is much better for bigger birds. my friend and i do some rabbit hunting and we both use the 22 cal marauder with 25.4 grain pellets. no problem with one shot one kill.

Flip the pellets backwards and use the huge gaping hollowpoint.

At the close ranges you have, shoot em in the head.

We killed countless pigeons, starlings, and sparrows with our Benjamin air rifles as kids. I had a 177 smooth bore and used either Benjamin pellets or round lead shot. Both killed pigeons just fine with, usually, pass-through body shots. I think those round-nosed pellets were probably a bit heavier than either the Crosman or Daisy pellets we also sometimes used.

I have a S&W 77A pump gun that is quite accurate and deadly on small critters. Mine is a .22 caliber, so just about any skirted pellet will do the deed. I try to shoot through/through the body on pigeon, but they are pretty robust and can live quite awhile if you don't do enough damage to their vital organs.

Jeff

I think that the problem lies in the "Chinese" air rifle.
Especially as hits at 15 ft are not putting them down.
Any way you can get hold of a more powerful air rifle, just to compare ?
Mebbe cock the weapon, then spray some 3in1 or WD40 type oil straight into the chamber hole.Let it sit for 15 - 30 mins.
Then try a couple of shots at some sort of target.
It could be, that if your neighbor has had it lying around for a while, without using it, the pump leather, on the front of the spring piston, may have dried out, thus allowing air to escape,rather than compressing it and pushing it down the barrel.
Power increase should be evident after a couple of shots, if that is the problem.
Good Luck.

Has anybody else tried shining pigeons. If you hold the light right on them and don't move it they will fly right down to you. It takes about 1 to 2 minutes . We used 3 or 5 cell flashlights.

TOM THATS PRETTY GOOD STUFF. OR JUST DRILL HOLE IN IT

this does work i tried this some years ago under some bridges and they set there and take it.

a weak bb gun would kill at 15 feet with a head shot.... and if you can't hit the head at 15 feet...... shot placement here or get a stronger airgun.

Starlings are a lot easier. The trick in either case is to hold the light still for 15 seconds or so, then begin to slowly move the center of the beam around their head. They get dizzy and fall, heading straight into the light. Pigeons will come down, but they are more challenging. English sparrows: they are the worst; they just sit. We gave them lead every time.