Small Game Hunting Weapons – Rifles
Small game hunting involves pursuing small animals like rabbits, squirrels, and ducks. Since these animals are small, high power weapons are not needed to hunt them. You are better off investing in a weapon that has greater accuracy to be able to target the small game better.
Also, the price of ammunition should be considered, too, since a hunter can take a great number shots in one day.
Under these conditions, a rim-fire rifle would be perfect weapon to use in the small game hunting category. When selecting a rifle, you must consider the following – its fit, sights, weight, its action and caliber. A gun that fits properly will help assure you of getting more accurate shots.
When using a rifle with a stock that is too short, the scope might hit your eyebrow, giving you “scope bite,” while one that is too long could get caught in your armpit if you are wearing a heavy jacket.
A full size stock is better for adult hunters because of its perfect fit. Good balance and stock design is vital for a small game rifle so that it can be handled quickly and readily. When you are small game hunting, most shots are done from a short distance where the animal can possibly detect the hunter, and small animals do not sit still for very long once they sense danger.
It is better to get a light rifle rather than an ultra light one, because ultra light rifles are difficult to keep the balance and make accurate shots. An ideal weight should be about 6 pounds. The rifle’s action can be either repeater or single shot as long as it gives you a more accurate shot. Barrel length also needs to be considered – mostly for balance more than for ballistics. A medium weight barrel of about 20-22 inches in length is ideal.
A perfect small game rifle should have a small action to match its cartridge and a good, solid feel. A rifle with a smooth action is always best with a clean and light trigger pull, which is needed for accuracy. Given the standards of production today, a trigger revamp might be needed for every new rifle.
It is much more important for a small game rifle to be accurate, rather than fancy. There are various different types to choose from: auto-loading, lever, pump, and bolt action repeaters. Among the widely known calibers are the .22 WMR, .17 HMR and .22 LR, from manufacturers such as Anschutz, Ruger, Browning, Kimber, CZ, Winchester, Henry, and Savage, among others.
A quality rim fire rifle deserves to have a quality scope. A fixed power scope of around 4 times or a variable one in the 2 to 7 times range can serve a small game rifle well. Good rim fire scopes are not inexpensive, but are not overly costly either.
A first-rate small game rifle should be:
- as accurate as possible, but not necessarily too powerful. It can be as powerful as .22LR, but no more powerful than .30 Carbine
- light: for carrying ease and fast handling, but not ultra light
- well balanced and able to swing properly
- with a smooth action and a stock that perfectly fits the hunter
- with light and terse trigger pull
- with a scope of good quality and medium power
A superior rifle may be a little too high priced for a amateur hunter but its quality will prove to be rewarding in the long haul.
Steve Searls
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/small-game-Hunting-weapons-rifles-98229.html
Home made hunting weapons?? (small game)?
Can anyone give me instruction on how to make a weapon for hunting? I have hunted before, know how to skin, gut and all that, so I’m not a fantastical wierdo.
In order to get an air rifle here (Ireland), you need to go through a whole ridiculouslicence application process rigmarole. Need to know what model gun you’re getting, who from, where you’re shooting, permission to shoot, get cops to grant permission, and the whole thing is a waste of time rip off. Plus I’m going to the UK to live in a few months.
Anyway, I’m not a great shot with a slingshot, and not allowed get a lurcher (huntng dog).
Is there anything I can make, powerful enough to hunt for rabbits and pigeons? (For food of course)
I’m thinking like a nail gun/pipe modification, blowpipe, bow, anything that will kill a rabbit for food.
Please, help me out here.
Thanks
Hmm…some good answers there. Any type of hunting animal is out of the question unfortunately!
I think the box trap is the best plan. I was pretty hesitant about snaring or trapping as its not my land, but theres not many people so I may be able to get it nicely hidden.
Bit of a humane issue with snares, especially since I’m not close enough to check them often.
Thanks guys, I’ll look for a box trap tomorrow!
If I were you, I would take a different route. Get an inexpensive box trap (live trap) for rabbits. If you don’t have a way to purchase one, you can find plenty of trap building instructions online.
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You might try an old school sling shot, the David and Goliath type. It’s just a couple of leather thongs and a pouch. You may be surprised at how quickly you can get accurate and they are quite powerful.
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if you cant get a dog how about a harris hawk or red tail buzzard?
so you cant get sub 12 ft/lb air rifles there? damn, how about a shotgun? here its alot easyer get a shotgun than a fac air rifle and costs £40 for 5 years
i’d check your laws, you may find sling shot, bow, blow pipes, spears are probably illegal to hunt with.
you can always get a trap, snare (may have a legal issue?) and not worry about any lead shot.
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If you played baseball for 11 years like I have, you can throw big rocks and kill them. I’ve killed crows like that.
If youre good with woodworking, you can build your own recurve bow.
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if you do a search i think that i have seen something about co2 cartridge with a valve used as a pellet gun but the blow gun thing would be the most fun and it works has been for thousands of years
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I think that your best bets would be to either keep practicing with that slingshot or look into building a trap.
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Have you ever considered a atlatl? They require some practice but can serve your purpose well. Stalking the game animal is the most difficult part of atlatl hunting.
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Expirernce
Self bows are relatively easy to make…try googling, there are plenty of instructions on line.
Atlatls are very formidable…try worldatlatl.org
Wrist rockets made with surgical tubing are very deadly with marbles or 1/4" steel bearings at close range and as easy to master as a bow.
Paleo rabbit sticks are very simple (what the boomerang evolved from)
Commercial blow guns with the plastic/piano wire darts are fairly easy to master, but are very close range weapons. I have had good luck nailing sparrows around the house with one, but not big enough for squirrels and rabbits.
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You have some nice answers.
My favorite survival weapon for killing small game and game birds is the Apache throwing star.
Its easy to make and if practice enough with you can take birds flushed in the air/ I have a friend that can do this, he can flush a grouse and hit it in the air as it takes off. I am not that good but I have killed lots of rabbits and a few grouse with it.
Here is a link about it;
http://www.dirttime.com/apache%20throwing%20star.html
I disagree with the fellows use of cordage, rawhide works better. You wrap it with wet rawhide and let it dry. This will cause the rawhide to shrink and hold tight. I also char the ends in a fire to make the wood point stronger. I also made one by wielding two metal rods together and sharpened the points on a grinder. This metal one will penetrate so far into a tree that you need a pry bar to get it out.
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the good old fashione d"throwing stick" works great, Just find a branch or root that has a larger end to it, carve the other end to fit your hand and practice with it. A "bola" also works well with practice. Simply use three pieces of cordage or rope about 3′ long. Tie one end of all three together. Next, on the end of each cord, tie a rock weighing around an ounce or two. I’ve done everything from using another rock to chip a narrow band around an oblong rock to the cord stays tied in place, to placing the rock in a bag or animal skin and tie that to the cord. Grasp the end of the cords that is tied together, twirl it over you head and release it in the direction of the animal. It spreads open and entangles the legs or stuns/kills the animal if the weights hit it. A simple snare works very well, you can find diagrams online easily or pick up a book on outdoor survival skills. A home made bow works if you have access to the proper types of wood, like ash or yew for example.
good luck
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Retired Police Officer
NRA certified police firearms instructor
Competition shooter (ret)
Avid hunter since age 9 with:
Archery
Black powder firearms
Handguns
Modern rifles
Shotguns
Trained at S&W, COLT and GLOCK Armorer schools
I specialize in building 1911 pistols and AR 15 rifles
And ran a gun shop for many years
SIC VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM.
“If you want peace, prepare for war”
a snare trap. a fiber glass rod about 4 feet long, a piece of nylon rope (shoe lace thickness) about 2 feet long, and a 12" long piece of wire (coat hanger) bent into a u shape.
tie the rope to the end of the rod, make a sliding noose with the other end of the rope, stick the other end of the fiber glass rod into the ground about a foot or more deep, bend it over until the tip of the rod touches the ground, and with the U-shape wire, straddle and secure the tip of the rod onto the ground. open the noose and set feed in the center of it. when the bunny comes to eat the feed, it will get tangled in the noose. the jerking actions of the bunny trying to escape will cause the tip of the rod to slip out of the U-shape wire, making it retract upwards to straighten, the rods retracting whipping force will instantly tighten the noose and kill the bunny by choking it or holding it there until you whack it dead to take it off.
for pigeons, use fishing lines instead of nylon rope.
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