Too many squirrels

[wolverine]

while having my morning coffee i watch the birds at the feeders out back.  this morning are 6 squirrels in the yard at the feeders.  this is the most squirrels i've seen since i started thinning them out 3 years ago.  the norm is 2 or 3.  the power lines held 8 doves waiting their turn and the 1st robin of the new year was atop the oak tree in the center of the yard. 


it's time to start thinning them out again.  1 is at the feeder 20yrds out from my shooting bench inside the garage.  a chip shot for the HW30 or 2400KT, but it's also in line with the neighbors kitchen window, and although they know i shoot all the chippers, i don't know how she would feel about the squirrels.  that feeder gets a pass. 


the other 4 are moving between the feeders at 41 and 44 yards.  both are concealed from all the neighbors by trees or a stone wall.   easy decision.


i sit at the bench and take aim at the squirrel on the feeder at 44 yards.  squeeze the trigger and send the JSB to the side of it's head.  the acrobats begin and it tosses itself 10 feet and under one of the pines leaving a long blood trail.  the second one hasn't noticed it's accomplice and keeps feeding at the stone wall.  i take aim and send a second JSB.  the squirrel jumps as if hit, but runs to the oak, climbs it 6 feet or so and returns to the ground running to the shelter of the deck.  i loose sight as the house is blocking the view.  looking from the kitchen window the 2nd squirrel has expired in the middle of the yard in full view of the neighbors kitchen window.  with a back drop of snow, it's easy to see so i decide to claim it immediately.  i grab a bucket hurry outside.  tossing the 2nd squirrel into the bucket and then the 1st before heading back to the garage.  it's obvious by looking at the second squirrel it moved just as i squeezed off the shot.  skinning it will provide more information.


 

[Wayne52]

Great shooting Carl !!!

[wolverine]

as i stood at the garage sink cleaning the 2 squirrels i just shot.  i can hear nut cracking.  i look out the back door and there sits a squirrel at the 20 yard feeder.  looking around i see 3 other squirrels at the 41 yard feeder.  i take the HW100 and shoot at one.  it crawls under the wood rack and makes it no farther.  then i break out the .22 Daystate Regal XL and load the magazine with JSB Hades.  the other two squirrels are unaware of what is coming when the Hades hits the squirrel and it drops DRT.  the 5th and last squirrel nonchalantly hops over to where the last is laying and it too accepts a Hades and is DRT.   i as go to retrieve them, i'm caught off guard as 5 more squirrels are at the back of the yard.  the bold one stops to bark at me before they all head towards the wooded gully.  so i didn't get a squirrel last sunday from the state land, but today i limited out in my own backyard. 


 

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Well Carl......you did a good job of thinning them out.   That's excellent shooting & on a nice bunch of squirrels.


Best Wishes - Tom

[wolverine]

i was able to recover 3 of the pellets, 2-.177s & 1-Hades.  when i first tried the Hades i was impressed.  very good expansion, now however i've found they really aren't worth the extra cost.  this particular Hades only expanded to .249 after entering the neck and traveling through the body to lodge in the left rear leg.   average muzzle velocity with the Hades out of my gun is 918fps.

[ranchibi]

Holy moly Carl...that is squirreltopia! Great shooting on all those!

[Mole2017]

A squirrel mas·sa·cre! (Got to beat that sanitizing filter somehow  )

Nice work. But seriously, it's January and you have that many squirrels about the place? Time to shoot them up! If you are in a neighborhood that is like that for blocks in several directions, you are going to be shooting a lot of squirrels for a while!

Strange how the squirrel population works: I've shot them into oblivion in my yard and, by association, adjacent yards, yet just half a dozen houses down down the street I can still see them four, five or even six at a time in people's yards! I shoot them as fast as I can and they just keep showing up from other yards. The yearly average has been nearly 150 per year for several years now.

[Xraycer]

Great shooting, Carl! I bet you had a lot of fun 

I was in your situation several weeks ago. Looked out into the backyard, one Saturday morning, and there were at least 6 squirrels scrambling all over there place. Even got bold enough to come up on the deck and poked around the windows and sliding door. Too bold! Big mistake!

Yep, I've been having fun, too! 

[wolverine]

2 of them have dreys in the trees next door.  2 of them i've seen come from across the street and the rest come from the wooded gully a couple doors down.  The gully is adjacent to trees that run into larger woods along a creek.  I've seen squirrels use it as a highway to move through the area.

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Carl!

[Danny]

i was able to recover 3 of the pellets, 2-.177s & 1-Hades.  when i first tried the Hades i was impressed.  very good expansion, now however i've found they really aren't worth the extra cost.  this particular Hades only expanded to .249 after entering the neck and traveling through the body to lodge in the left rear leg.   average muzzle velocity with the Hades out of my gun is 918fps.

There are always more squirrels than you think!

  Hades have been a disappointment.  They expand better than diablo's but barely.  I get better performance from H&N Terminator's and Hunter Extreme's.  Nothing puts 'em down like Polymags though.  Here is the exit wound from a .177 Polymag that left the barrel at 915 fps.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Hi Carl.

I also tried out the Hades pellets.  They did not expand much in my Summit Ranger break barrel rifle.

Others have reported the same experience with more powerful PCP guns.

They were accurate enough just not much expansion.

As for me, I will stick to what I was using and will not be using the Hades pellets anymore.



Best Wishes - Tom

[wolverine]

took a look see out the upstairs window and there are 7 squirrels in the backyard, 1 on the fence, and another on the neighbors bird feeder.  they chased all the hosps from the feeders, which is nice, but they also displaced the cardinals, juncos, and doves. 


looks like i have more "work" to do.  i'm never going to finish this bath remodel

[Mole2017]

took a look see out the upstairs window and there are 7 squirrels in the backyard, 1 on the fence, and another on the neighbors bird feeder.  they chased all the hosps from the feeders, which is nice, but they also displaced the cardinals, juncos, and doves. 


looks like i have more "work" to do.  i'm never going to finish this bath remodel

When I built the addition to our house, I soon figured out that it was profitable to carry the CFX around with me. Sure, work got interrupted from time to time, but the squirrels were the enemy at that point: they had already been into the attic and shed and had chewed on just about anything they could in the yard. If I heard one jumping around in the tree tops or shrubs when I was outside, I'd look up and get on him pretty quick.