Ok I have just moved into a new house over the winter and now that spring is hear I realize I have a huge squirrel problem.

Now I live in the city of Minneapolis and taking out squirrels is a big no no here but I got to find the proper air gun to help me with my problem quietly.

Any suggestions?

I have a fenced in back yard that is only 20 yards deep that will be my "removal area"

Cut out their food supply and wire all holes into your house.
Looks like shooting would be a bad idea, a few wounded ones dieing outside your yard will soon lead to "The New Neighbor".

Cutting out the food supply is not an option some of the people on my block put out entire loaves of bread for them. The problem is I have the 3 biggest trees on the block so they bring the food here to eat and live.

I need an air gun recommendation that will work on them.

If the neighbors are feeding them it's tricky, I'd get live traps, and a decent air pistol.
Then careful disposal of the evidence.

A pump up Benjamin Silver Streak on 4 or 5 pumps isn't very loud and will do for 20y. Or you can get the moderated Air Rifles but if you miss the pellet will go 300 yards or more on an uphill shot.
The pump up guns are way safer in town.

I used a rat trap (just one of the $3 'snap' traps), baited with a dab of peanut butter and attached to a tree with a wood screw, about 4 or 5 ft. off the ground.

I got rid of about a half a dozen of them that way last summer.

quote:

Originally posted by The Specialist:
If the neighbors are feeding them it's tricky, I'd get live traps, and a decent air pistol.
Then careful disposal of the evidence.

A pump up Benjamin Silver Streak on 4 or 5 pumps isn't very loud and will do for 20y. Or you can get the moderated Air Rifles but if you miss the pellet will go 300 yards or more on an uphill shot.
The pump up guns are way safer in town.

My back yard is totally enclosed by a wooden fence so I am not worried about stray pellets getting out of the yard.

Any air rifle ideas?

I like the rat trap idea but if it is seen by my neighbors they could call the cops.

The gun is totally down to budget, you could get any of the 2/300 dollar things from Gamo or Crossman or similar, they are pretty much rubbish but will function well enough to bag a few rodents, but mite need a bit of fiddling first.
If you think you may take airgunning a bit further and want something with a bit of quality,
I recommend the HW guns.
Here are the ones to start off with....

http://www.weihrauch-sport.de/...ndardluftgewehre.htm

Hey MN Hunter, I'm looking for a new Air Rifle myself. And I also have an older Sheridan Blue Streak which is still an excellent Air Rifle.

The "Crosman Nitro Piston" has caught my eye and runs $230-$300 delivered. If you go out to "You Tube" and type in "Crosman Nitro Piston", you will find some interesting Reviews and Videos.

For some reason "You Tube" keeps trying to get you onto other videos that have nothing to do with the Nitro Piston, but I just go back to the top and hit the Search Button next to it again.

Anyway, turn your Volume up until the people are speaking at a normal level and listen to the Nitro Piston shoot - very quiet! None of the SPROIOIOIING associated with the Springers. The video done by Pyramid Air is fairly enlightening and the rifle doesn't have a bunch of Pellets through it. Apparently most Air Rifles' accuracy improves after X,XXX Pellets, or so I read, but these seemed pretty accurate to me.

I feel sure the Air Rifles The Specialist mentioned are Top Notch. I'm just not interested in quite that expensive an outfit for my use. Even if I happen to miss one - so what?!?!?!

Best of luck on your search. Let us know what you get and how well it meets your requirements.

"Even if I happen to miss one - so what?!?!?!"

It's a Rodent, but you still want to do everything you can to do it right.
You need to hit a quarter easy at the range your shooting, or you should use some other method of pest control.

A head shot is harder than that and that's really what you should be doing.
They are tough little buggers and bloody quick.

Were supposed to be shooters here, I personally hate little more in life than using a rubbish gun.

You can probably get a way better gun used than the cheap new ones online, check Pawn shops just look around a bit.

Aren't the Beemans quite good for the money

I'd think about...
http://www.pyramydair.com/p/Be...l#productDescription

Some Gamos have sort of a silencer they are quieter but spring powered and quite low quality.

The HW 30 to 57 are the best value in low to mid price guns, they last well and are worth something if you ever sell them.

I just had a funny criminal case in one of our more "civilized" Idaho cities.

Defendant pleads guilty to discharging an airgun in the city limits. I ask him to tell me the story before sentencing him.

He is shooting the tree squirrels in the city. He misses and hits a passing bicyclist in the butt.

Costs the cyclist $1,500 to get the .177 slug cut out of hit leg.

I tell the guy he is lucky the Fish & Game Dept. didn't charge him with hunting out of season and try to keep a straight face.

He paid restitution and court costs.

I've used my son's W-mart Crossman .177 w/scope to dispatch a good number of squirrels. Hypothetically, one might approach this problem as a squirrel sniper would. First, you need to establish a shooting position from cover. You might set up a tent in the back yard and use it as your sniper's nest. It wouldn't draw any suspicions. Next, set up your kill zone. Then bait the kill zone with squirrel food. Finally, just before sunrise(when 99% of folks are asleep), grab a cup of coffee and the Crossman and slip into the nest. Of course I wouldn't advocate breaking any laws. This is all just hypothetical.

An upstairs window is choice, if you can arrange it, then bait them to the ground, uphill shots are just not worth the risk in the city.

Squirrels can waste a lot of your time if you try to shoot them.
Just get a good live trap and a tall trash can full of water.
Then you have the option of transplanting the squirrel to a neighborhood with a lot of feral cats or giving him a dunk in the trash can.

Here you aren't allowed to move pests, if you you trap them you got to kill them.
Releasing them elsewhere is an offense.

Depends on how much $s you want to spend. A good air rifle is a real rifle and the cost is proportionate. Since it is a big "no no" you've three basic criteria; not be seen, not be heard and the squirrels must die quickly and not leave the back yard. This requires a certain amount of power and precision. I would suggest looking at RWS Models 34, 48, 52 and 54 in .22 cal. The model 34 will push a 14.3 gr pellet at 600+ fps which is a good squirrel thumper. Better are the M48, 52 and 54s which push the same 14.3 gr pellet at 800 fps. The M34 is a barrel cocker and the others are basically the same action as side cockers.

Solid head shots are required to make sure a wounded squirrel does not escape the yard. Quality domed pellets like the Crosman Premier or the FTS pellets are the most accurate and give the best terminal ballistics. The Cabella's domed HP 14.3 gr pellets do well also.

I would suggest a bait station such as a bird feeder with peanut butter suet in it to bring the squirrels to a specific spot (range) and hold them there long enough for a clean shot. If you can't make the sho clean then don't take it. Placing the feeder so you can shoot out an open window or door is best with a rest position set back so themuzzle is a couple feet inside the opening. Thus the house will act as a suppressor and the neighbors will hear nothing. Zero dead on from the firing position to the feeder so there is no quessing about hold.

I have used all the models mentioned and have been using a M54 with the recoiless feature for about 10 years now. Besides many, many tree and ground squirrels I have killed hundreds of starlings, lots of crows, 78 brown and Norwegian rats (off my squirrel feeder in the back ysrd), several feral cats and lots of rabbits (jacks and brush bunnies) with it. A solid head shot with a Crosman Premier does the trick.

Larry Gibson

A "mate" ... well a dickhead I know has just put three .177 pellets through his back fence, while trying to shoot rats. Unfortunately a neighbors wife's six month old Black Soft Top Porsche Boxter was parked in the back lane, two hit the rear fender, one skimmed the trunk.

She is going NUTS!!!

He pays for the repair or they are going to call the cops.

I have a friend with a paint shop who says he'll do it for £2,000 she's not happy with that, she wants it to go back to the dealer. That will cost two or more times as much.

If she calls the cops, he'll have problems with his Firearms license and could easily loose it.
So he's going to have to pay whatever it costs.

So be REAL careful of your backstop when shooting in the city.

yep..humane trap, peanut butter and 55 gal drum of water.

In the "old" days, in (city of your choice) you could get away with a .22, not any more.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
Squirrels can waste a lot of your time if you try to shoot them.
Just get a good live trap and a tall trash can full of water.
Then you have the option of transplanting the squirrel to a neighborhood with a lot of feral cats or giving him a dunk in the trash can.

quote:

Originally posted by Judge Jerry:
I just had a funny criminal case in one of our more "civilized" Idaho cities...

I tell the guy he is lucky the Fish & Game Dept. didn't charge him with hunting out of season and try to keep a straight face.

Baaaaahahahaha!!! Good one, Judge!!

My office is in town. The little buggers keep trying to eat a hole in my roof so I put out some corn and slightly open a window. I use shelled corn because they will carry off the corn on the cob.

I shoot from inside my office through the window opening. You have to set up the corn at the right spot then put out a target and practice til you can hit a quarter size target at your corn pile.

I use an 8 lb. RWS 350. It shoots .177 cal pellets at 1,250 FPS. It is a break action spring pneumatic rifle.

It will definately do the job at the range you speak of however to anchor them on the spot you need to head shoot them. With a body shot they jump up and run off to die somewhere else.

If you throw them over the fence at night they will not be there by daylight - something will get them.

I never seem to get rid of them. Every time I get them thinned out some more move in to take their place on the corn pile. The good thing about this is I get lots of iron sight practice.

I have never been able to trap a squirrel. Trapped,cats,coons,skunks,possums and a rabbit. I did have some black burrowing squirrel and used my Sheridan to eliminate. Not all one shot kills but did get them.

Okay, so I am back in the same "civilized" city this week on the bench again.

Guy traps cute little tree squirrels in his live trap. He must have seen SR4759's post. But he isn't as discreet. Takes the squirrels out of his yard in the trap and walks to the creek in plain view. Dumps the trap into the water and drowns the squirrels.

Neighbor starts howling to police, guy is now charged with Animal Cruelty.

Case is ongoing. Don't know how it will end, thankfully it isn't one of mine.

Moral of story--squirrels can get you in trouble if you aren't careful. Don't shoot the passing cyclist in the butt, don't drown them where you can been seen.

I find peanut butter is the thing, it's like heroin mixed with caviar for rodents.
Even if they suspect a trap they can't help taking the risk.
And they can't just run off with your bait.

quote:

Originally posted by The Specialist:
I find peanut butter is the thing, it's like heroin mixed with caviar for rodents.
Even if they suspect a trap they can't help taking the risk.
And they can't just run off with your bait.

I'll second peanut butter. Several years ago I had a family of flying squirrels in the attic. I bought a live trap, baited it w/bread and p-nut butter, and caught 12 squirrels in 2 days. When I called our state WNR as to where they could be released, I was told to kill them. Wife couldn't bear it so I took them a couple of miles away and released them into a swamp. Two days later the buggers were back in my attic! This time I caught them all up again and transported them 5 miles away across an interstate highway. Haven't seen them again.

Peanut butter works great. I've screwed rat traps baited with peanut butter to the trees in the manner described above by Tumbleweed and had great luck. I've seen one squirrel stick his head in to get the peanut butter and he gets the big chop while his mates watch and I no sooner take him out and reset the trap but another does the same thing. I guess they are not very smart.

I find an air rifle to be more fun, though.

Look at the Talon SS or the Benjamin Marauder. both are silenced and cost around $500. They are both very quiet and accurate. I also have a squirrel problem but mostly use traps as they are more effective at killing them all and that is what I want to do. When I do shoot them I have the fortune of living in an area where I could legally shoot them with anything but I still use a suppressed 22 or moderated air rifle as the noise from shooting anything else scares the squirrels away for a time and brings the kids running to see what is going on thus scaring more away.

Matthew

I like squirrels I'd miss them if they weren't a few around. Obviously I'd like to see Red ones here as well, but they don't do well when their habitat is disturbed. So the Grays will have to do in the city.

Specialist--You have gray squirrels and want red ones. Easy solution--paint em.

Dam small targets for a Paintball gun.

I just never understood why squirrels would be considered "a problem"?? We have a few around here....and I don't really see where they hurt anything....???

Squirrels get in your attic and build nests, then they chew the insulation off your wires, the wires short out and burn your house down. About 1,000 house fires per year nation wide are caused by rodents chewing on the wires and squirrels are the worst offenders of all. They also defecate in your attic and spread all diseases common to rats.

Thanks for the clarification Swampshooter.
I'd call that a problem worth of this solution:

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0048232229345a.shtml

Just catapult them into your neighbor's yard!

http://www.dailymotion.com/vid...squirrelpult_animals

quote:

Originally posted by Antelope Sniper:
Thanks for the clarification Swampshooter.
I'd call that a problem worth of this solution:

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0048232229345a.shtml

Cabela's website is full of s--t. they warn that you should use lead pellets to decrease the velocity below the published velocity of 900fps(using PBA pellets) because the 900 fps velocity is supersonic and the supersonic velocity produces a cracking noise. 900fps is WELL below the supersonic speed of approx 1100fps!!!!!!!!!!! just another example of people advertising a product with sales rather than truthfulness in mind.

That asshole who thinks it's funny to fire a Squirrel at a tree needs a good slap.
Or a go on one of those human trebuchets without a net.

quote:

Originally posted by Antelope Sniper:
I just never understood why squirrels would be considered "a problem"?? We have a few around here....and I don't really see where they hurt anything....???

They are pretty tough on a garden if you plan to eat from it.

Had one get trapped in the garage overnight and he tried his best to chew his way out past the Weather Strip on the bottom of the door.

And foremost, they are excellent when lightly Fried and then Baked in a covered cassarole dish with Cream of Mushroom soup, hot biscuits, mashed potatoes, corn, sliced tomatoes and field peas with some chow-chow on the field peas. A real Waist Expander!!!

Head Shots are acceptable!

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
...900 fps velocity is supersonic and the supersonic velocity produces a cracking noise. 900fps is WELL below the supersonic speed of approx 1100fps!!!!!!!!!!! just another example of people advertising a product with sales rather than truthfulness in mind.

+1

Just tried some 3.8gr Lead Free(looks like Tin) Pellets in the Storm XL today. It sounded like a regular 22LR due to breaking the Sound Barrier just as JDollar mentioned.

Accuracy? Maybe 3" at 25yds, but they were F-A-S-T!!!