GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Hunting Gate => Topic started by: only1harry on September 06, 2010, 12:01:40 AM
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After striking out this morning and not spotting any squirrels, largely due to my fault getting out of bed late, I decided to stake out the trees in my backyard in the early afternoon starting around 2pm.
I was scanning the trees constantly and around 2:30 I spotted this round grayish ball on a tree about 26yds out and I knew it had to be a squirrel keeping a low profile or hiding from me. This ball blended almost exactly with the color of the tree trunk and the color of the branch it was on. I looked through the scope of the Diana 36 .177 and sure enough it was a Gray squirrel resting on a branch right where it met the main trunk of the tree.
But there was something very strange about this picture. The squirrel had its head down between its shoulder almost inside its chest! The top of the squirrel's head was upside down and touching the branch it was resting on, and tucked in under its chest. Its tail was wrapped around its back and the squirrel had curved up into a ball sleeping! I watched it for a few minutes through the scope thinking maybe it's sick or dead, but when I cranked up the Bushy Legend to 15x, I could see it breathing slightly. It was taking a nap! It was weird though. I have seen squirrels sunbathing that looked like they were napping because of the warmth of the sun (on a cool/cold day), but this one was completely in the dark in a shaded part. Oh well, this one is the weaker of the species, not paying attention to its surrounding so it must go :) The squirrel was almost facing me so I put the crosshairs on the back of its neck, which was perpendicular to the branch and ground and facing my direction, and figured if I missed the spine, the pellet would travel back towards the heart/lungs or vitals.
I aimed, exhaled slowly and squeezed the hair trigger of the 36. I heard a deep "thump" as the 7.9gr CPHP struck, and the squirrel just dropped stone dead to the ground! It landed on a little clearing ~30ft below and I could see it with the naked eye. It never moved a muscle. No death dance, nothing. The squirrel was also bleeding from ear and mouth/nose. Later when I cleaned him, I found not only the CPHP had shattered the spinal cord, seemed to have hit a major artery, gone through the chest cavity (a lung) and had stopped just inside the skin half way or more down its body. So this fella was lucky. He was sleeping and never felt anything, it was that quick. You can see in the pics the little red dot behind its head in the middle of his neck. That was where the pellet entered and where the crosshairs were exactly. I love this turbo-tuned Springer!
About an hour later I saw a lone Grackle waking on my lawn and took it out with the 850 .22 at about 18yds with a broadside shot. I had not seen any Grackles in over 3 weeks! I have not seen a Starling since then either. I don't know what 's going on with them, but it seems the Grackles follow the Starlings or the other way around. So all in all a pretty good day today as I 'm coming to terms with realizing I will not see any more Groundhogs until next year.. hopefully! ;D
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0769.jpg)
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0771.jpg)
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0774.jpg)
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0770.jpg)
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0779.jpg)
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/only1harry/Hunting/2010-2011%20Season/2010%20Squirrels/Sept05_10/20100905_0778.jpg)
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nice size nutter. good shooting with the Diana.
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Nice shooting Harry!
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zzzzzzzz...THWACK! hehehe great shooting and pic's Harry. Ed
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Thanks guys. That's what he got for sleeping on the job and not watching his territory :)
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good job
nice shooting!
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Thanks. It didn't feel too challenging, but it was food sitting there like candy for the taking :)
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Nice nutter, nice bird, nice pics and beautiful rifle :)
Oh yeah, nice shot too. :)
ps. you ready to sell that 36 to me yet Harry ? :)
Jeff
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You will be the 1st to know when I am ready Jeff ;)
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Next thing you'll be doing is shooting them in the back! :P
Great shooting man!
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Thanks Randy. Well I usually give them a choice, and ask them how they want it. If I get no reply, I count to 10. If they chicken out and don't turn around, they get it in the back. What more can I do? :D
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Harry, excellent write up on that squirrel sniping. Permanent lights out for that little guy. Great accurate shot at that Grackle too.
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Thanks brother Stanley. I thought it couldn't be more humane than that for the squirrel :)
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Very Nice shot Harry! I had one pretty much in the same situation Saturday morning,but he woke up as the BlueJay's warned him Danger was near hehe.It didn't matter much as the 350 & the predator made short work of him!Hope you see another G Hog just for good measure before it's over.The Diana looks awesome as well!
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Thanks Troy. I have taken many squirrels with my old 350 as well. For some reason it didn't like the Preds as much as domed pellets like the CP, Superdome JSB 15.8 and Kodiak. It did pretty well with Crow Mags as well. The CM's hit them like a hammer. They went down fast and stayed down :) I will be putting the Vortek kit on this 350 and have a full-tune done on it. I started getting some twang and torquing with it and velocity has dropped about 20fps so I am pretty sure the spring is on its way out. It did take a few Groundhogs and possums earlier in the year and last year so it's eager to do it again when it's more healthy :)