Thread: How clean is a clean kill?

Hi all,
Relative newbie here. I got my first half-serious air rifle last week and shot its first possum with it last night down the back of our section. First time with my own equipment, after having shot maybe a dozen or so using friends ruger 10/22's.

Last night there was a delay of probably a 10-15 seconds(?) before it dropped from the tree. So long that I was about to place a second shot by the time it did drop. I then searched for it for probably 10-15 minutes but never saw or heard anything from the possum and never did find it (though it's a very challenging bank with dense undergrowth and not even sure i'm looking in the right place)

1) What kinds of times are you typically seeing between impact and a possum dropping?
2) Is it possible I just winged it and it dropped the full 20+ meters to the ground and then hid or snuck away in near perfect silence? I would really like to think the shot went where I aimed it, and the delay was just how long it took to bleed out and lose consciousness / fall.

Targeted area: Front chest/neck, unconfirmed it actually hit here.
Ammo: Winchester domed pellets, unknown weight.
Rifle: Gamo Whisper wildcat. Stated energy 17.7 fl.lbs / 24J.
Distance - 20-25 meters? shooting at 70 degrees up.

Trying again in the same spot tonight. I really want to make sure these are clean kills, and adjust things as necessary if not.

Firstly, welcome aboard. I wouldn’t be concerned by the ten or fifteen seconds taken for it to drop. Even if your shot knocked out the animal’s central nervous system (instant death) it could still take time for it to drop if it was clinging on to the trunk or a branch of the tree. If you have zeroed the rifle then trust your shot and don’t start second guessing yourself.

It's good that you are concerned about this, every animal deserves a humane kill. Possums are harder to kill than other small game/pests in my opinion. Maybe check your zero and test fire a few shots at a similar angle.

In an ideal world, we'd aim for about zero seconds between impact and death. The means using the right tool for the job to help ensure that. It's not always going to happen though.

I have shot plenty of critters with air rifles. But after shooting possums with 22's and seeing bullets either ricochet off their heads or come to a dead stop against their skulls, I'm not sure I would want to tackle one with an air rifle. They can be tough little buggers. Dropping from a tree isn't going to put the final nail in the coffin either - they aren't that heavy and bounce quite well rather than going splat. I usually go for neck or chest shots on them with the 22 to make sure there's a soft meaty bit there to for the bullet to dump its energy into. That can result in them clinging on for a few seconds. No drama.

We have no way of knowing if you walked past your one a dozen or more times in your search any more than you do. But if it really was not there then it must have crawled (and died a somewhat slow death).

I've shot possums 6+ times with a subsonic 22 and had them hang by the tail for ages before dropping

If you miss and get it in the guts it's a distinctly different sound, the thwack sounds like it's in the bottom of a glass bottle

Some possums are very hard to kill IMO

I've shot them and never had them drop, but found them the next day cold dead still sitting on the branch. I've clean missed others that got a fright and apparently let go of the tree and fell straight out too! I know I missed, due to the chunk out of the timber the thing was sitting on. It's a relative thing, dropping isn't a sign of a kill. As far as it goes, worthwhile noting that what goes up must come down and that also includes the pellet - need to make sure of a hit on something solid when shooting up. It is a marginal example of "safe direction" at the best of times!

As far as finding it at night, in long grass under a tree it's always a hard ask. Probably still there as the last stop at the bottom never improves them.

Welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of info and helpful buggas on here.

When shooting possums you may find you'll need to aim differently than you normally would. If the possum is almost straight up it may be 10m up vertically and only 2m away horizontality so you would need to aim as if it was only 2m away. this link tells it better than I https://www.rifleshootermag.com/edit...t/83768#replay

Just remember NEVER shoot a possum directly over you, it's like a grenade with claws landing on you.