Barking Squirrels, how much bark?

[jethro224]

When hunting squirrel with a .50 or .54 round ball, how much bark should one allow for between the critter and the point of aim?
I tried barking one for the first time the other day with my .50 and the results were very messy. I got the squirrel, but it wasn't pretty. I was wishin' I'da head shot him.

 

[doverdog]

My thoughts on it are, all squirrel and no bark. As you found out, head shots are a must, and even those are very messy, even with smaller calibers.

 

[Alberta Black]

Although we cannot hunt squirrels here in Alberta, several years ago we set up an informal match trying to bark tin cans off of a log. it was a lot harder than we though. Maybe you could try this if you have the place and time.

Richard

 

[jethro224]

Well, I usually use #6 shot in the early season when the leaves are thick and have shot some with my .32 Crockett. Head shots with the Crockett.
But the other day I was out shooting my .50 GPR at targets. Had time when I finished shootin' so decided to try a little squirrel hunting.
Figgered I'd try barking one since I had the big gun out. I've always heard that you won't mess up so much meat barkin' 'em.
Wasn't long til I got the chance. I aimed about an inch into the edge of the limb right below his chest and fired. Looked like I hit right where I was aiming.
Bark flew. Squirrel flew off limb, hit the ground raisin' Cain, and ran off into the brush.
When I got to the tree he was on, there was blood where he landed. No squirrel to be seen. I had to blood trail him about 15 yards thru brush and a blowdown, into a ditch and found him dead under a log. Most of one leg gone and innards hanging out all over.
I seen 'em run over in the street not lookin' as bad.
Is that normal? Didn't I hit enough bark? I like 'em dead when they land. Felt sorry for this one. When I head shoot 'em with the .32 it pretty much wrecks the head but at least they don't know what hit 'em. And I don't eat the head anyway.

 

[Roy]

I've always tried for under the head rather than the body. As far as how much bark, I just hold 6 o'clock.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Speaking of which...

A long time ago, I was deer hunting with my old Potsdam musket ("Tea Cup" by name) and things had gone seriously dull. One of the limb chickens had been making a general nusiance of himself and I figured little is better than none. He hopped up on the trunk of a pine tree that was only about 5 inches in diameter and was playing peek-a-boo around one side then the other. I finally decided to give it a try and there was a big KABOOM! and I hit the tree straight on...did I mention it was a smoothie?!! The point is that he was probably resting his chin against the trunk when the ball hit and he did a double back-flip into the nickle bleechers! Cold-cocked him real good!! He tasted pretty good too> :haha:

 

I never had much faith in barkin' a squirrel and it's a fact that Audobon's story about him and Danl' Boone barking squirrels is a fabrication. With a rifle, for me, it's head shots only. As others have already said, head shots can be messy even with the small calibers. I use a 36 flint and love it.

Vic

 

[buttonbuck]

howdy jethro, well I finished my 54 cal plains pistol now need to go get a cwd tag for ogle county. I got a limb chicken 10 days ago with a 32 cal rifle. going to try for one with a 32 crocket pistol. I did shoot one a few years back with the 54 cal renegade and had similar results. Head shots with 32 are clean and they drop right where they are shot.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Evidently this was done because some of the Old Timers considered squirrel brains a real delicacy, I've never tryed myself but know that to be fact. considering how generally tough and sparse of meat the front chest area is I wonder why it was done when the chest is an adequate size target. Have you ever eaten the kidneys? Delectable. :v

 

[paulvallandigham]

Another reason this was done was so there was no blood trail left on the ground. Wolves, and enemy dogs could follow the bloodtrail and scent from it even at night. By barking the squirrel, the animal was killed off a high limb, where it would be unlikely for anyone on the ground to see where the shot hit the limb. Then all the hunter needed to do was conceal his own tracks, and get out of there.

The brains taste sweet, and in a country that was short on sugar, anything sweet was a welcome change to a meal. We take so much for granted these days with our supermarkets and cheap food, that its sometimes hard to really understand what it was like for people who lived in this country in the early years, when roads, and stores were miles away, and sometimes more than a da';s travel by horseback to reach. ANy hunter who came across a beehive,or honeytree, no matter what he was hunting, would stop and retrieve the honey, which was more valuable and more rare than a squirrel, deer, or anything else he might hunt.

 

[Stumpkiller]

When hunting squirrel with a .50 or .54 round ball, how much bark should one allow for between the critter and the point of aim?
I tried barking one for the first time the other day with my .50 and the results were very messy. I got the squirrel, but it wasn't pretty. I was wishin' I'da head shot him.

Hardwood or soft? :rotf:

Seriously, on a green branch of a white pine I have never had success at barking squirrels. The wood absorbs even a .54 without doing much but flicking the squirrel off the limb. Hit a cold hickory and it's like a Claymore under Mr. Chippy. When they're holding flat I shoot for the chin and let chance decide whether I bark 'em or headshoot 'em.

Usually I try for ground or trunk shots, anyway.

 

[jethro224]

Stumpy,
I never thought of that. :hmm: I suppose it would make a lot of difference what kind of wood.
This one was sitting on a dead limb of a walnut tree. Claymore is a pretty good description. He was busted open for about 1/2 his body length. And we're talkin' good size fox squirrel here.
I'll try it again some time under the head instead of the chest.