Bullets for Small Game

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 3/29/2021 | P Massaro

[w1n1]

Top loads for Popping Winter/Spring Predators and Varmints.
With our big game seasons winding down, it's time to turn our attention to the predators in the later winter and the varmints in the spring. Where the strong, stiff premium bullets – with their bonded cores, monometal construction and partitioned cores – are the darlings of the big game world, the small-bore cartridges that best handle the furbearers and varmints are the opposite: maximum frangibility is a benefit. I enjoy hunting both coyotes and foxes in January and February here in New York, when the fur is prime, and both species are beginning their breeding seasons. We have no lack of coyotes, and as they feed on wildlife and domesticated animals equally, they are actively hunted.

Many hunters also take them as a target of opportunity during deer season, as they will often be seen cruising after deer or cleaning up gut piles, and taken with the deer rifle in hand. But for those who actively pursue coyotes and foxes, specialized rifles, cartridges and bullets are the norm. Popular centerfire cartridges for these species include the .223 Remington, .204 Ruger, .243 Winchester, .22-250 Remington and .17 Hornet, and among the rimfire cartridges, the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, .17 HMR and .17 WSM are favorites. All of these cartridges have the energy and trajectory to cleanly take the furbearers within their eective ranges, though that range will be a bit different for each of them.

The muzzle velocities and bullet shapes will dictate sensible uses – for example, the bullet shapes and velocities of the .22 Magnum will limit its range, especially in comparison to the speedy .22250 Remington – and some of them can do double duty on deer and similarsized game. Where many deer are taken each year with the .243 Winchester, those 90 and 100 grain bullets that excel on whitetails and pronghorn antelope aren't exactly what you want to use on varmints and predators. Yes, they’ll work, but not with the same dramatic eect as that of a thin jacketed 55 grain bullet at a higher velocity from the same cartridge.

THE IDEA BEHIND the varmint and predator loads is not complex: a high-velocity bullet of frangible construction, capable of pinpoint accuracy and that delivers a whole lot of hydrostatic shock to an animal of smaller stature than their big game counterparts. These species are thin-skinned, have lighter skeletal structures and (most) have a nervous system that can be rapidly switched by that hydrostatic shock.

Some of my favorite varmint/predator bullets include the Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint, the Speer TNT, Barnes' Varminator, Sierra's BlitzKing and MatchKing (more about that in a minute) and the Hornady V-Max. All of these have the properties any varmint/predator hunter wants, and all are capable of creating the fabled "red mist" when hunting woodchucks and prairie dogs. They all either have a polymer tip or hollowpoint design, and most oer a boattail variant for maximizing downrange energy and minimizing wind drift. Let’s take a look at them individually to get a better feel for what might work best for you. The Nosler Ballistic Tip was the first American bullet with a polymer tip, used to maintain a consistent ballistic coefficient as well as acting like a wedge to initiate expansion upon impacting the animal. Read the rest of small game bullets.

[Osage Orange]

I’m not sure I truly understand your post.......

[wgmalabama]

Foxes, raccoons ... everything likes the taste of chicken.

[wgmalabama]

I don’t have enough regular ammo to be worried if I have some special round, that you can’t find, to shoot some trash animal.

[Nailbiter]

flr

[Bob434]

I’ll see if i can explan

His posts started out slamming hunters claiming they like to kill- then he ‘clarified’ that he ‘only meant people who like to kill’, then he says ‘most hunters’ like to kill-and claim they ‘make excuses to justify it” then insinuates that farmers are creating the problems of ‘problem predators’ by not ‘protecting their animals properly’-

Of i misunderstood, then i misunderstood- but his followup posts seemed to confirm my suspicions-

I asked him in previous posts if he thinks farmers, and fishermen etc who have to kill as a living, and enjoy their jobs as farmers, fishermen etc are monsters, because that is basically what he called hunters who enjoy hunting- insinuating that hunters hunt because they ‘like the killing’ part of hunting.

This isn’t true- 99+% of hunters are good people that don’t have blood lust

horse breeders dont’ raise the animals for food, but they have to put problem horses down from time to time- it’s part of the process- hunters take care of problem animals to keep the populations down, and to earn money in the process- but apparently he doesn’t think the two are similar- i disagree-

Predator hunters are keeping the predator animals down so the game animals we love to hunt and eat can thrive better- He claimed predators are just innocent animals just trying to survive- I asked about rats- Rats are ‘innocent animals just trying to survive too’ but we have no qualms about exterminating them when they over run areas- it’s no different with predators- they decimate other animals, and are a problem to game animals-

This isn’t an attempt to ‘justify blood lust’ as he seems to indicate hunters like to do- These are just the facts- predators overwhelm certain areas and decimate game animals- Hunters don’t need to justify hunting animals that are allowed to be hunted for culling purposes-

[Bob434]

Yep- would love to have one if i had the m oney, just for fun- There’s a few youtube videos on full auto pellet guns- pretty cool-

[Bob434]

I did a lot of research into them awhile back- the Hatsuns seem to be pretty well looked upon- There’s a number of good makes, some less expensive, some more of course- If i get one, it’;ll likely be a break barrel one, as I wouldn’t know where to get the tanks filled- You can buy an electric pump for them but they are wicked expensive. But if i were serious abotu hunting with them, and had the money, I’d likely go with at least a .45 cal with tanks-

[Bob434]

we had coyotes trying to kill the calves of the bison we were taking care of- my sister-in-law had to fire off a couple shots when we weren’t there, to get them to leave- one kept coming back, she was able to shoot it-

We’d hear them howl in the evenings too- mostly they kept away, chasing down deer- but during calving time, they would always be around-

[MHGinTN]

Hear here! Adding my dittos. Killing for ‘enjoymrent’ is demented.

[Osage Orange]

No sweat Bob..

I enjoy fishing and hunting.

We are legal...

I often take 4 deer a year..I have a life time license....

I've seen 100 deer in a 70 acre bean field.

I've seen 20 yotes in 10 minutes...

I actually enjoy managing the wildlife in my neck of the woods....

Who ever that knuckle head is...and I'm guessing a chick.

Should just read up..maybe go on a hunt sometime.

[MHGinTN]

Atsa bigga tree rat! or a little GI joe.

[Bob434]

Gamo is another one i see a lot of reviews on- check them out too- they seem to be mid to low priced, and well spoken of too

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gamo+air+rifles

Benjamin makes a good rifle too- a but pricey though for some models

I’d be looking at

hatsun,

gamo

benjamin

FX

There are many other brands, but these seem to be the main ones everyone reviews mostly- and most seem to think they are good quality ones- You likely know this, but you can search on pyramidair site brand- I’m sure there are other quality brands too- but i haven’t researched any of them- The ones i listed woudl make my list if i were gonna get one

[Bob434]

Well, like i said- I may have misunderstood him- maybe he just worded his responses badly- I do that a lot myself- but to me it seemed like he was dissin hunters- then saying he wasn’t. I defend a few issues on FR vigorously- and the right to hunt is one of them-

We live in ‘Big Woods’ Territory, so seeing coyotes is kinda rare, unless you live on a farm, or happen to see them on road kill beside the road, or in the woods-

I always just loved being out in the woods- i didn’t care if i got to harvest game animals or not- just being out in the woods was what i really enjoyed- I practically lived in the woods- loved fishin too- loved hiking into ponds 3-4 miles in- and fishing for the day- but those days are gone now-

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