IMO an air rifle would be an EXTREMELY poor choice for hunting anything except maybe very small birds or mice . Wether it was a rabbit or squirrel , it would have to be a close range head shot . If you did hit a rabbit with an air rifle , it might kill it but it would probably be a slow death . The rabbit would more than likely get away and hide only to die a slow death . With the money it would cost to buy a air rifle that was powerful enough to do the job , you could buy a dozen 22 cal. rifles .