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All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Hunting Gate => Topic started by: JimD on January 19, 2022, 06:35:11 PM
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I shot another squirrel a few minutes ago. I saw it low on the killing tree headed up. It was smart enough to rapidly go to the back side of the tree where I could not see it. So I waited a few minutes. I've had them stop somewhere they are not visible before so I wait them out. She reappeared at a large squirrel's next about 30 feet up in the oak. I don't think she has been using it, I haven't seen her up there, I think she was checking it out. It was really nice here today with the temperature over 60 but it is going to get cold and rainy tomorrow and Friday. Anyway, when she got to the nest I had the window open and lined her up. I hit the near side shoulder and there was no exit. I found the pellet against the opposite rear leg under the hide. It did not do more than just scrape the rear leg. But it penetrated the length of this 12 ounce female. She still managed to go down vertically about 8 feet and halfway around the tree. That's a lot of movement for a squirrel with a hole through her. When she dropped she did not move.
I'll include a picture of the impact side of the squirrel and the two legs that were impacted with the pellet laying on the front leg. It looks almost good enough to shoot again. I don't think it hit any big bones. I was using my P35 shooting H&N FTT in 25 caliber about 875 fps.
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Jim, great shot on a very tough one..especially with a .25 cal pushing 43 ft/lbs! Nice pic. H&N lead is so much harder than JSB lead..I shoot both into my metal trap and there is a big sound difference with the H&N a much higher pitch in sound at contact.
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Nice shot Jim!
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Thanks guys.
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Way to go, Jim. You got that one - no crawl away to die.
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I like the 25 because it anchors them quickly. Most fold at the impact, a few move a little. But none lost. But I was not loosing them with my Prod either after I increased it's fpe to around 17 fpe. I got 10 or more in a row with the Prod. I shoot the P35 now mainly because it's so quiet. I also had a similar shot that hit a shoulder and penetrated diagonally through the squirrel with my Prod. I hit that one above the front shoulder and it penetrated through the squirrel to under the hide in front of the opposite rear leg. I did not weigh it but the penetration was a bit easier because I did not hit the front leg. I shot that one 2/11/21(I keep a little log). I only shot 4 squirrels with the Prod's original tune. Two head shots dropped the squirrels, two body shots did not. Since retuning the Prod I've only lost one and I think it was a head shot. It hit the ground and started flipping around and went into a rot area that is pretty deep at the base of my killing tree.
This is why I think if you hit the front half of the body with a 22 or 25 with at least 17 fpe muzzle energy, your odds of recovering the squirrel are quite high. I've done it now 23 times in a row. But if you do not have that level of power, it's probably best to stick with head/neck shots. I don't really know what it takes for a 177 or actually a 25 either. I have not shot them with a really low power 25 or a reasonably powerful 177. I don't plan on dropping either of my 25s power much if at all but I will probably get a more powerful 177.
This is my latest. I shot it on the ground at the base of the killing tree where it was eating the grain the birds have scattered. It's a 1 lb female, I think it was pregnant. I hit the near front shoulder and found the 20 grain FTT under the hide on the top of the back in the middle of the squirrel. It flipped around a bit like a head shot, I probably clipped the spine. The pellet had marks on the nose that I think mean I hit some bone. My meat bag is getting full, probably have to cook some up soon. Rain is supposed to start about noon and we may have snow/ice tomorrow. So I think the squirrels and birds are trying to get their bellies full before the weather hits.
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Since stories are being shared: Tuesday afternoon, I shot a smallish Gray up in a tree. It fell about 15 feet and grabbed onto a little branch and crawled up to a larger limb. I could see it - and it didn't look like it was expiring. So I shot it again, and heard the pellet hit hard this time. It disappeared to the back of the tree. When I went to pick it up. it was gone. I tracked it and found blood on the snow near a small crevice in the roots and rocks at the base of a tree. Both shots from the Marauder .25 (JSB 25.39 g) were upper body hits. See the Subject line!!
Now back to the original . . . .
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I guess my squirrels aren't as tough, Mike, or I've just been a bit luckier. You have to be hitting them as hard, you are using a heavier pellet.
I almost lost a squirrel and lost a dove when they fell on the other side of my yard where the leaves are thick. The squirrels tail was sticking out of the leaves so I got it. The rest of the squirrel was under the leaves. I did not find the dove but my dog did the next day. It was hit right in the upper center of the chest. It looked like it dropped like a rock from the tree but I think it might have tunneled up into the leaves a bit so I couldn't see it. My silly dog gets too excited to really use her nose when she knows I've shot something.
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This one was definitely not tough. I shot it at about 25 yards and it was up about 20 feet in a tree on the opposite side of my yard from where the killing tree is. It was a 9 ounce male. My shot entered below the eye and exiting the other side at the same point. It was moving around a lot and not staying still for long. I'm lucky I hit it. It bled a lot but I don't think it got the brain at all. My dog got to it first, as usual, and shook it pretty good. It was still moving slightly when I got there. It was bleeding badly and stopped moving shortly after I got there. It folded up and fell immediately upon impact. I don't think it tried to crawl under the leaves that are pretty thick where it fell. It was lightly raining when it showed up and got shot.
I got a 1 lb female earlier today and I found it interesting how much easier this much smaller one was to skin. Night and day. It took me at least twice as long to do the bigger one because the skin just did not want to come off. I rarely get them close enough together but of different size like this to compare. A lot less meat on the little ones but a lot easier cleaning too.
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Sweet shooting Jim! You are really reducing the squirrel population in your neighborhood!