Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
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All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General
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Hunting Gate
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Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
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Topic: Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus! (Read 400 times))
Mole2017
Squirrel Researcher
GTA Senior Contributor
Posts: 2351
Real Name: David
Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
«
on:
January 24, 2019, 12:44:07 PM »
After two that got away in the last week or so, I finally have one to share. And this one was a four-for-one deal
Like most opportunities these days, I looked out the window in time to see this one coming down the tree over the far feeder. But then she bounded away from it to another tree. This is the second time I've seen this exact same path taken--bypassing the feeder completely--so I think this may be the same squirrel. The squirrels have discovered a route through the canopy from a tree immediately west of this position and I think they've been coming in (and escaping) this way frequently now. This route wasn't available years ago, but trees grow...
Anyway, the first time, about a week ago now, she gave me the slip as I didn't see where she had got off to after seeing her go behind some stuff out there. By the time I'd gathered things and got out to the feeder to investigate I could find no sign of her. Fortunately this time, I wasn't even halfway to the feeder when I spotted her in a tree closer to the south property line.
She was busy with a nut and must have felt pretty secure because she didn't bug out at my presence as I angled for a shot. She was quartering away from me, so much so that I was estimating the angle the pellet would take through the body. A few steps to the left put a big tree behind her to catch any pass-throughs and I was was ready. I took a while before I pulled the trigger--I was trying to steady the left-right motion of shooting standing with a shooting stick, but it nailed her nicely and over she went, falling out of sight from my position. (The range was measured afterwards to be 25 yards.)
I get over to where she fell and find her about 3 feet away with a hole that wasn't where I was aiming. Maybe it was the wind, maybe I pulled left, or maybe I need to double check my sight-in and see if the sweater is throwing my aim off, but this is the second time a shot recently that has gone more to the left than made sense...It might have been off 1/2" or 3/4", but still a bother. Fortunately, on a squirrel that is hunched on a branch like this one was you do have some wiggle room for lateral error. It clomped her in the left jaw and exited through the right upper eyelid. Come to think of it, in the past, I routinely went for neck shots on squirrels that were on all four feet on a lateral branch because to the left or right of the point of aim was still a lethal hit.
She was a big one (19 ounces) and I figured I might have caught a pregnant female, so we opened her up and found three very small fetuses. The fallopian tubes of a gray squirrel are very long and might be hard to see, even when you move the guts aside and especially so in the "off season." But when pregnant or maybe because this one was so recently receptive, they must bulk up some. They are "thicker" than usual in this picture. The fetuses are circled. When I found the first, I though
maybe
it was an ovary, though that wasn't quite making sense, but then I found two in the other side and that settled it. They won't move very far as they develop. When you open a squirrel that is further along, they'll be strung out like sausages in the tubes. In this picture you can also see the intestines in several states of the digestion process, from stomach to what I think must be colon just behind and between the fetuses.
Looking at the data, she was larger than most for this time of year, but not huge. However, the large female squirrels will be scarce for the next 50 or 60 days, presumably tending to youngsters and being a wily quarry--they feed differently and are a lot more cautious. Not so the males...
«
Last Edit: January 24, 2019, 01:40:22 PM by Mole2017
»
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Pendleton, SC
Gamo CFX .177 and .22, old style triggers
BSA R10 MK2 .177
Crosman 1377
ranchibi
GTA Senior Contributor
Posts: 9383
yes
Real Name: Randall
Re: Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
«
Reply #1 on:
January 24, 2019, 02:30:16 PM »
David, excellent shot on your 4 for 1 deal!
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U.S. CA
JSAR Raptor .22 TJ slug barrel Discovery HD 5-20X50 SFIR FFP
RAW HM1000x LRT Chassis .22 Athlon Ares BTR 2.5-15x50 FFP MOA APLR3 Gen2
Beeman P17
PRod Discovery HD 4-20x50 FFP SFIR
A.K.A. Tommy Boy
No High Quality Guns Here. All "Bottom Shelf" Air Rifles Small Game Hunter
GTA Senior Contributor
Posts: 9658
Rusty the Dog & Elvis the Cat Pals Forever
Real Name: Tom
Re: Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
«
Reply #2 on:
January 24, 2019, 07:12:51 PM »
Good Shooting David. That's the way to do it !
Best Wishes - Tom
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The North Woods - We have 2 seasons, Winter & Mosquito/Tick season
********* My Menagerie of Bottom Shelf Air Rifles *********
.25 cal. Hatsan 125TH Magnum - Coil Spring
.25 cal. Hatsan Edge - Crosman NP Gas Spring (Now a Mini Magnum - Thank's to mikeyb)
.22 cal. Walther Talon Magnum - Coil Spring (A Hatsan 125 Magnum)
.22 cal. Gamo Magnum GR - Coil Spring
.22 cal. Crosman Summit Ranger - NP2 Gas Spring
.22 cal. Crosman Diamond Back - NP Elite Gas Spring
.22 cal. Umarex Surgemax Elite - TNT ReAxis Gas Spring
.177 cal. Hatsan Striker - Vortex Gas Spring
.177 cal. Stoeger S3000C - Coil Spring
.177 cal. Umarex NXG APX - Multi Pump
The Crosman Nitro Gas Spring conversion parts in the Hatsan Edge were a gift from
mikeyb
The 22 cal Walther Talon Magnum Rifle - A 22 cal. Hatsan Edge/ Striker Barrel - The Edge rifle stock on the Hatsan Striker - were gifts from
SteveP-52
A Picture of Some of My Rifles:
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https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=202334.0;attach=413068;image
anti-squirrel
How'd I become a
GTA Senior Contributor
Posts: 9731
Wadcutter fan
Real Name: Peter
Re: Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!
«
Reply #3 on:
January 24, 2019, 07:51:28 PM »
Good shooting and excellent "autopsy" work
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Quinton Virginia
Slingshottist and antique tool junkie
EdGuns, Crosmans, and a couple big-bores from the Far East
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Four for one--big squirrel with a bonus!