TF 89 Early Morning Squirrel Hunt

[Atchman2]

I'm headed out of town on business for the next three days so I thought I would empty out the game camera from last night before putting it back down in the lowlands.  Last night, I saw a possum but didn't a good shot as I could only see his body and not his noggin.  However, the game camera got a good picture of him as he was retreating. 



I've been pondering advice on the forum regarding squirrel hunting.  Part of me only wants to take the perfect shot where I can hit them once and put them down.  However with so much cover that hasn't been working out too well for me.  So I took the helpful advice of the forum folks and dialed my 16x scope down to 4x and opened up the AO so I could see much more of the woods. 

For some reason I had a hunch I'd see a nutter this morning.  The Dogwood trees have just gotten in their red berries and squirrels and birds love them!  So I put on my shoes and grabbed the TF 89 off the porch (where it was from last night) and headed down into the woods.  As I was walking towards the fence, I noticed one of the Dogwood trees was waving.  I looked around at the wind and it was waving in the opposite direction which alerted me to potential game.

Sure enough as I took another step a nutter took off at high speed!  He jumped into this huge vine covered pine tree that is in the woods nearby but made the mistake of jumping to a hickory tree.  This time I took Only1Harry's advice and fired QUICK!  I threw the gun up offhand and hit him as he was running away from me.  That stopped him cold. I quickly reloaded and put one right through the back of his shoulder and out through his head.  He fell down in a ravine!  I had to climb over the neighbor's fence and down a really steep hill to get to him.



About halfway down as I was trying to avoid the worst of the poison ivy, a hidden log rolled out from under my feet and my freakishly large body hit the ground and I slid down the hill for a bit.    That will teach me to wear tennis shoes instead of slipping on my boots huh? 



Here is where I found him.  I put down the rifle so I could take some pictures.  His right eye was bulging out of his head and I could see where I hit him through the left back thigh as he was running away. 



You could see it is a typical TN gully with the requisite old tires at the bottom of it!  I posed the TF 89 along with her first squirrel kill!  I've killed rabbits, grackles, and prairie dogs with it, but that was its first confirmed squirrel.  I shot one the other day on the bluff, but it fell into such dense terrain I couldn't recover it. 

I've just got to say, that a TF 89 is a nice hunting rifle.  It isn't as heavy as my 350 and I don't care if I ding it up crawling through brush and stuff.  It is a hunting gun, not a closet queen.   Mine, is my only successful home lube.  It is shooting so smoothly and accurately.  I just know when I throw it to my shoulder something is going down.  I gave her the Centerpoint 4 x 16 off the TF99 (which is in the shop with a broken spring).  I'm probably going to roll the scope back to the non-AO Leapers I had on it before.  I paid the price on Saturday for forgetting to adjust the AO on the scope and missed a certain shot. 

[dk1677]

Nice off hand shooting Randy! Sorry you fell!

[Jonesin]

Nice shootin, bro! I had to laugh at you saying you were wearing tennis shoes as I slipped on Saturday while wearing them as well!

[bradyman1]

Good shot! How far was the shot?

[Atchman2]

Probably 20 yards.  The 2nd shot was about 10 yards.

[bradyman1]

That's pretty good off hand shooting! Congrats on the harvest.

[only1harry]

Excellent shooting Randy!  I enjoyed the story.  It all came together nicely for you, except for the falling part at the end   Was this on your property?

When I said shoot them fast (when hunting in the woods), I meant if they stop briefly..  I didn't mean shoot them while they are running, hehehe   But hey, it worked for you!  That's an unbelievable shot, even from 20yds.  A shot in the behind will definitely slow them down, so you can take a better shot.   I might have to try that next time.  The squirrel is running to gain distance and escape anyway, so what's there to lose?

I think a low magnification and fixed A/O is the best option when hunting in the woods.  With 4x or 6x you can see a lot more and spot that squirrel quicker.  It takes too long to adjust the A/O when you are in the woods after a squirrel that has already seen you, and is trying to get away from you.  This is why I am going to try the Bugbuster 6x32 on the 48 and see how it holds up.  If it doesn't, Leapers will fix it or replace it, and I can try a different scope.  I 've had this scope laying around new in the box for ever.  I am surprised of the clear optics in such an inexpensive scope.  Anyway I 'm hoping the 48 and one of the 350's will be my "woods" guns although they all have nice wood on them.  I will be putting a sling on the 48 soon.  It doesn't have the cocking slot down the middle of the forearm like break-barrels, since it's a side-lever, so it's ideal for that.

[Atchman2]

I don't know if the Bugbuster will work that well on the 48.  I had to put one of the mounts on my B21 so it wouldn't keep shifting around.  With the short eye relief on the Bugbuster, I know it wouldn't work on mine. 

However, I'm with you though on the hunting scopes needing to be non-AO.  I've missed a couple of times lately trying to shoot at blurry squirrels.  I have a 3 x 9 Leapers that I really like for hunting.  Normally it just stays on 6 x and since you don't have to mess with the AO that works for most stuff.  I like the AO for shooting targets, I'm just not that hot on it for hunting. 

I have another Leapers that is a 30 mm 3 x 9 with the illuminated reticle and non-AO that was one my RWS 350 most of last year for hunting.  Not really sure why I took it off?  Right now it is on my .22 TF 99.  It is another one of those guns it is so easy, smooth, and accurate to shoot it almost isn't any fun.  

[shadow]

Great job running him down with a shot bro and super pic's, keep the boot's handy we don't want you going down again bro. Ed

[Atchman2]

Thanks guys!  It wasn't that hard of a moving shot since he was going straight away from me.  I heard the THWOCK and knew I hit him.  I moved down to get a better angle and saw him stationary on the tree limb.  The next shot put him down in the gully. 

I guess you guys can see how hilly TN can be!  The bluff we hunt on is even steeper than my yard!  However it is a squirrel rich environment.  The leaves should start falling in the next few weeks and the hunting action should intensify.  In the meantime, there are all of those coons and country rats in my backyard that need sorted out.  

[Froghunter]

Randy,

Loved the squirrel hunting adventure.......It gets enjoyable and dangers sometimes. Glad you don't have to call 911, That's a deep gully! I have hunted in Graham County, NC and the Ozark Mountains of MO.

Please Be Safe !

Froghunter

[timegoat]

Nice shooting, pics, and story! Those Grays are tough buggers.

- Mark

[longislandhunter]

Fantastic hunt Randy, great shooting on the running nutter.  There is definitely something to be said for a low magnification scope when hunting in thick, leafy terrain.  I have a fixed 4X RWS scope on my .20 cal RWS 48 and I love it.  It gives me a great field of vision for close in nutter and rabbit hunting and it just points and shoots so nicely.  Sorry to hear you took a fall, but really enjoyed your hunt buddy 

Jeff

[1377x]

good job
nice shooting!

[Atchman2]

I went today over to the bluff.  I was in too much of a hurry and there were squirrels everywhere!  I just wish the leaves would thin out a bit more.  It is hard to spot them right now. 

[Jonesin]

I went today over to the bluff.  I was in too much of a hurry and there were squirrels everywhere!  I just wish the leaves would thin out a bit more.  It is hard to spot them right now.  

Ditto. Although it's 92 (!) degrees in Virginia/DC today and over 96 tomorrow, it looks like the leaves are starting to turn so it shouldn't be much longer until it thins out.

[gamo2hammerli]

Great shot at that nutter with your TF 89.  Wear crampons next time climbing up or down....