They're not silent either, they have a very noticable loud "snap" and considerable recoil. I've dropped rabbits with head shots at about 100 ft.....
Here's the Link: Kodiak
Posted on 01/12/2010 9:13:29 AM PST by Jewbacca
I have got squirrels all over my damn house, ruining flower beds, getting in the attic, etc. Some idiot introduced them (they are not native) to our town and they are going crazy with no natural predators.
I live in a city (suburb) where the discharge of firearms is rather disfavored.
My friends and neighbors have opted for the pellet gun approach --- some with the C02 pistol spray-and-pray approach --- some with the scoped rifled (nailed one myself at a friend's house at 30 yards).
I know squat about pellet guns, other than they come in .177 and .22.
Recomendations?
Others have said it, but I will stress it again: do not let anyone see you shooting ANYTHING within city limits!
Crossman 760. They’ve been making them for decades. Its a pump - no CO2 cylinders. Pump it 10 time and hit the varmint with a pellet and thats it for the critter.
Its cheap, too - $20-$30.
I am not worried about my back yard, but I have several large oaks and pecans in the front yard, which are just as infested.
Thinking about a pistol for concealment purposes; just get under the tree and shot about 10 times.
I actually have a Gamo .22 cal break barrel right now for the purposes of varmit control in the back yard. It’s a smooth bore that fires both pellets and shot shells.
It does not have a muzzle break, but I have noticed that if you fire it without a pellet, it is louder than a .22 rifle. However when fired with a pellet or a shot shell, all you can really hear is the the sound of the spring decompressing. I have fired it from within the house into the bird feeder (at pesky squirrels who refuse to eat the seeds on the ground that I put out for them), so it seems impossible that my neighbors will hear it.
The only thing that I do not like about this Gamo break barrel is that it only has a shot gun bead sight. It is very hard to be accurate with a pellet with that sight and the smooth bore barrel. I bought a 25 $ cheapy laser sight for it, but the spring decompression actually produces a kick that is strong enough to un-sight the laser every time it is fired.
Oh and the shotgun shells are deadly for Mr. Squirrel, but they are quite expensive compared to pellets. I do love my Gamo, but I’ll never forget that Benjamin Sheridan from when I was a kid.
Dogs gotta eat ... same as buzzards.
If you shoot from within your house, most of the report will be muffled. Also, nobody will see you waving a rifle around.
FWIW.
However, try a Have A heart live trap....they work great when baited with peanuts.........then dispose of the squirrel any way you want.
FWIW, I caught 4 squirrels and a possum in the course of a week two weeks ago in my trap.......
I have a Sheridan pump. Accurate, affordable and quiet.
And a .22 CB or BB round will do the same job at about the same noise level.
If you’re a lousy shot and noise isn’t a concern, a Mossberg 12 ga with 00 buck is a good choice. You may have to relandscape, however.
Whatever solution you choose has to overcome the reproduction curve. That is, it has to eliminate the squirrels faster than they breed.
One solution might be a “death barrel”, with a fast, spring lid, so that when the squirrel goes for the bait, they drop into the barrel. The bottom of the barrel is charged daily with carbon dioxide from vinegar and baking soda. So as soon as the squirrel drops and hits the bottom, it suffocates with its first breath. Since CO2 is heavier than air, the barrel will stay charged until the dead squirrels are emptied from it.
Quick and painless, and the lid can be secured until the squirrels get used to jumping on it.
Depends on the city. Where I live, there is no law on the books regarding pellet guns within the city limits.
--if you can hit a grasshopper offhand at twenty-five feet you are deadly on anything "real"--
I have a RWS .177 pistol it is very accurate and has good velocity with penetration into pine lumber of about a inch. I do think the Sheridan pump would be a better choice. My only advice is aim for the neck.
They're not silent either, they have a very noticable loud "snap" and considerable recoil. I've dropped rabbits with head shots at about 100 ft.....
Here's the Link: Kodiak
I am also an urban squirrel hunter; welcome to the brotherhood.
You have much to learn, grasshopper, before you will attain greatness in this area. By "greatness" I mean "not getting arrested". That is the most important priority. Many times I have ensconsed myself in my backyard blind, beer and BB gun in hand, only to hear the neighbor kids come out and play; I won't hunt if there is activity nearby, especially kids, so I defer my hunt until later. That in itself is a big discipline that I am thankful for achieving. I lacked it before.
Yep, true. The police were called on me in Metairie, Louisiana for shooting the pellet gun.
But in Anderson, South Carolina, when I was 14 or so, you could walk around all day with a rifle on your shoulder and fire any weapon at all pretty much anywhere, and no one would even blink an eye. Average distance between houses was well over a mile.
The downside is the decreased field of view: I cannot fully track the squirrel through my yard unless I open the window all the way up (which is loud and creaky), so it requires one more form of discipline, that of knowing when to take your shot, and when to just let the critter live one more day/hour.
Beeman in either .177 or .22
Agreed. I have pigeons that wait on the telephone lines until I fill up my feeder for the finches. Then, like thugs, they roar in and shouldout out the smaller birds.
I got a Crossman Powermaster 66, 10 pumps = 680 fps. Light, handy, 5-shot strip mag, great optic sights, but IMO, wasn't accurate enough. Plus, 10 clickety-clack pumps scared the pigeons off, even when done indoors (they got smart real quick).
Bought this puppy for $109 at Wal-Mart (Crossman STORM XT .177 caliber) 
The gun weighs as much as a regular rifle and at first I thought the scope was overkill as the range is only 20 feet, but have I've come to like it. And ACCURATE. At about 1000 fps, there is a cloud of feathers (impressive through the scope) when the pigeons are hit, they fly up about two feet, then roll over and crash. Neighbors never hear a thing.
One caution. You're supposed to grab the rifle by the muzzle and pistol grip to "break" and cock the rifle. Out of the box, the damned thing wouldn't move and I nearly bent the barrel trying to force the issue. Thinking there was some kind of internal locking pin for shipment, I called customer service and told the girl, "I feel like the village idiot . . ." and before I could finish, she said, "and you can't cock the gun." She said the company had a problem with the cocking mechanism being too loose, so they "fixed" it. She said to lay the gun across my knees and smack the barrel near the muzzle while holding the grip. WTF?? I did that it it opened right up. She said I might have to do that 6-7 times before it broke in but after the thitd time I had no more problems. Gun does what it is supposed to do.
It looks friggin' awesome! I want one too now :D
I just double-checked the statutes for my city. They are not banned, but there is an ordinance regarding "missiles" - includes snowballs, BBs, arrows, etc... It addresses damaging property or endangering folks, but there is no ban on pellet/BB guns.
Peanut butter is extremely attractive to many beneficial birds, like woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees. Not a good idea.
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