Tough little buggers.

[Martis 1]

I know this has been covered a lot before, and shot placement is key, no matter what you're using, but I thought I'd share this anyway...
This summer we've been invaded by Golden Mantle Ground Squirrels.  They're doing their best to get under my house, into the wood pile, eating the wife's plants, etc. 

The other day I had one sitting on top of my fence.  He was on his hind legs, just staring at me.  There was a thin branch obstructing a good head shot, so I rested the .22 Disco and put the cross hairs right on his chest.  I let fly with an 18 gr. JSB dome.  Saw and heard the smack as it hit.  Knocked him off the fence and I heard him thump on the ground on the other side.  Went through the gate and he was gone!  No blood.  Nothing.  There's no cover where he landed, so he had to have gone a good distance to get away. 

I've had these guys run off even with head shots that weren't perfect.  Those domes are the most accurate out of my gun, but really zip though stuff.  As a result, I just re-zeroed my gun with some 18 gr. H&N Crow Magnum hp's I had.  They're plenty accurate out to about 15 yards, but open up after that.  So far, all my pesting shots have been well within that range, so they should be fine. 

It'll be interesting to see if there's a difference in "stopping power" between the dome and the huge hp...

Ron.

[Rico14]

Ground squirrels are one of the toughest critters to drop in their tracks, as you are finding out. They will run even with a head shot or a heart/lung shot. If Predator Polymags are accurate in your gun I would use those. For me, they have more stopping power as they cause a bigger wound. Since I started using them, I have fewer squirrels running or crawling off. Hope this helps

[Martis 1]

I keep reading good things about those pellets, but haven't tried them yet.  My Disco shoots the 18 grainers at 715fps.  Do the polymags need a lot of velocity to expand on something like a small bodied ground squirrel?

[Rico14]

The Predators weigh 16g so they will be flying a little faster. At that speed you shouldn't have any problems. I've had them expand shooting them out of my P-rod at 610 fps. You shouldn't have too many pass throughs and the pellet will expend its energy inside the squirrel. I think it would be worthwhile to get a tin and try them. IMO, if your gun shoots them accurately, it's the best hunting pellet to use

[nappyman]

Yes sir, tuff cookies. I have no problem using mid and big bored on them, no such thing as over kill on something not mention to eat and a devilish pest to boot

[Martis 1]

Yep, I hate crawl-off's.  Don't want the animal to suffer and don't want it ending up dead in a neighbor's yard.  Bad deal all around.
I'm looking at the polymag and the polymag short.  I'm thinking the short, for such small critters, might be better.  Lighter and maybe better expansion?  Dunno.
Ron.

[nervoustrigger]

Shorter equals lighter equals higher velocity equals more expansion on impact.

But I would get a tin of each and use the one that is most accurate.

[Wildcatter]

I've finally gotten tired of crying about mad thumps with my .30 Hatsan Carnivore only to have them run 6-12 yards into a hole.   Almost 70 fpe and they have no problem at all moving after contact.  No matter if head or heart.   Now I just hit em and watch through the scope to see if I'll be able to get a photo or if they're able to hole up.

What's frustrating is I belive in the "no pictures it didn't happen" rule.  Squirrels love to throw up that middle finger at me and make it to safety AFTER impact knowing I won't have any record of it. 

[shadow]

Pound for pound some of the toughest critters around and one may put the lead in the kill zone but these guys will still deny you a closer look as they vanish fatally wounded into the brush etc. . Ed

[HunterOne]

Very tough critters indeed. I had pretty much decapitated many of them with my .30 cal and they still manage to sometimes crawl off. I like polymags for long shots due to their accuracy but for a short range heavy hitter, I think that the Crow Magnums hit a bit harder.  I have a ratting video that uses both of them in .25 cal.  See what you think.

[Nickelsig229]

Tough is no joke.

Yesterday I took 7 shots. 3 shots were hits using predator promag .25 26 gr. Those 3 hits I know were good because the sound is different when it hits their pelt then when I miss. They all ran off, this was between 15 and 19 yards with a marauder.

The 4th shot I flat out missed at 15 yards.

The 5 shot I hit and the squirrel ran about 6 yards and stopped, I could see his left rear leg was crippled, I put another shot in him and he rolled over and got up. I could see the blood coming out of his central body. I put a third in him and he went down. There is a distinctive sound the predator makes when it hits them. Almost like a popping sound rather then a crack of the pellet hitting wood or ground.

I thought something was wrong with my rifle, its 2 weeks old and the day before I had 4 shots with 4 kills. I cleaned the barrel last night, after 250 pellets, I'm pretty sure all I removed was graphite using goo gone and patches but I'm hoping I go back to clean kills today.

[nervoustrigger]

I cleaned the barrel last night, after 250 pellets, I'm pretty sure all I removed was graphite using goo gone and patches but I'm hoping I go back to clean kills today.

If you want to be sure any potential leading is removed, use WD-40 or Kroil or Shooter's Choice.  Goo Gone does not release lead very well.

[Nickelsig229]

I cleaned the barrel last night, after 250 pellets, I'm pretty sure all I removed was graphite using goo gone and patches but I'm hoping I go back to clean kills today.

If you want to be sure any potential leading is removed, use WD-40 or Kroil or Shooter's Choice.  Goo Gone does not release lead very well.

Yeah I read a thread here last night about using solvents and brushes after I cleaned it using goo gone. I'm going to try it out today and see if things are better, If not I'm going to get more aggressive. I'm just worried about solvents leaking down into the  action.

[grizzlyadams]

squirrel family is one of the toughest to put down.... i have seen a woodchuck hit with a less than perfect shot from a 300 mag
 make it back to it's hole

[grizzlyadams]

they have the metabolism of a slug.... and are tougher than nails!

[Martis 1]

I hit another one yesterday.  It was on top of the wood pile broadside.  Dead center head shot with the Crow Magnum hp.  Flopped for about 10 seconds.  Lots of blood, and dead.  Good sized entry and exit wounds. 

My son watched me shoot it.  He was amazed that it managed to flop around after being hit like that.  I told him that was pretty normal, and why I don't like shooting them on the wood pile.  This is the pile of split wood that's waiting to be stacked.  I had to dig down a ways to recover the body.  I won't shoot anything on the stacked wood.  They always manage to drop down between rows where I can't get at them.

Ron.

[Martis 1]

HunterOne,

First off, that video was amazing.  Second, I don't know where you were that there were THAT many rats, but I never went to live there!

As to pellet choice, my .22 Disco only shoots an 18 grain pellet at 715fps.  Would that make a difference in your pellet choice for close range gs control?

Ron.

[Sqrl Klr]

To any hunters with experience in killing nutters they all will say squirrels are mighty tough critters. For their size they are just as comparably tough as hogs or bison in my book. Stout little suckers which commands our admiration despite being the pests that they are.

[nappyman]

I cleaned the barrel last night, after 250 pellets, I'm pretty sure all I removed was graphite using goo gone and patches but I'm hoping I go back to clean kills today.

If you want to be sure any potential leading is removed, use WD-40 or Kroil or Shooter's Choice.  Goo Gone does not release lead very well.

Yeah I read a thread here last night about using solvents and brushes after I cleaned it using goo gone. I'm going to try it out today and see if things are better, If not I'm going to get more aggressive. I'm just worried about solvents leaking down into the  action.

Just clean your gun upside down, it will be fine

[Martis 1]

Got another one yesterday.  It came under the fence from the neighbor's yard, then darted back under when I went out the door.  I rested the disco on the top of the spa and waited.  Sure enough, he came back under and started foraging around on the ground.  Just as I was about to take a head shot, he sat up on his hind legs.  I decided to go for another chest shot, only this time with the crow magnum hp.  This shot clearly hit spine.  He shot up in the air, came down, and drug himself about 3', then bled out and died.  If he'd been on or near the wood pile, I'd have been digging, but he was in the open, so nowhere to go...