Question: What would this be gun be good to hunt for?

[BUTCHER45]

The .45caliber SamYang 909. or 909S (with a power tune) is a much better choice for deer hunting than the DS .50, which is a bit underpowered in stock form, and has less potential to be tuned for power. It shoots .45ACP/.45Colt lead boolits, and will put a 200grain slug in one side of that deer and out the other when shot broadside@50 yards. These bigbore airguns are intended to be used at bow/shotgun/handgun-type ranges....I limit myself to about 50-60 yards with mine when hunting coyotes and bobcats.

Use hunting tactics and shot placement as you would with a medium power bigbore handgun and you will be fine. There are a few states where hunting deer with an airgun is legal in muzzleloader form, and they are legal in any form in Missouri so long as they are shooting a projectile .40caliber or larger. Deer shot thru the lungs with an airgun consistantly run about 15-50 yards and tip-over.

I have killed a corsican ram, a small (about 80lbs) wild boar, a couple of coyotes, a bobcat, along with some smaller critters with my SamYang 909 .45caliber. These guns get the job done at short range.

Here is the best thing running in bigbore air rifles today......the .58caliber version will capably kill anything (yes ANYTHING) in North America.

http://xp-airguns.com/

[Old Grump]

Your 1,000fps .177 Gamo is quite adequate for squirrel killin' far beyond the 25 yards you mention... My personal best is 63-65 yards laterally with the bugger in the top of a VERY TALL tree (at least 75' tall).

My personal best on rabbits and feral cats is 50+ yards... Your ability to make these shots or lack of confidence in the weapon does not limit the actual ability of the weapon.

Brent

I practice regularly at 50 yards and its rabbit hunting accurate with some pellets at that range but I screwed up about 6 months after I bought and started shooting it. I bought a .17 caliber brass brush and cleaned it. My one hole groups at 20 yards disappeared and I used to get them just using the cheap hunters pellets. Now I have to use the heavier pellets to stay in the black at that range. Fellers, never run a brass bore brush down an air rifle barrel, it is bad juju. It is beginning to tighten up again but I don't know if it will ever get back to the accuracy it had when I first bought it. What hurts is having to spend twice as much or more for pellets. I weep but it is still cheaper than shooting a 22 so I can live with it.