Unlucky Squirrels

[Crow Beads]

Okay I want nothing but the unvarnished truth. :nono: What is the average distance that you consistantly hit squirrels with head shots offhand under somewhat ideal conditions.

 

[Shine]

I trimmed this brute at 25 yds with a full charge in my .50 I was lucky he charged.

 

[Vaino]

I choose not to shoot squirrels other than w/ head shots. .45 cal. is a real meat spoiler w/ a body hit.

When hunting w/ a dog, the majority of the shots are w/in 15 yds because the dog trees the squirrels.

When hunting w/o a dog, 35 yds would be very possible....although I've killed squirrels at further distances, but not w/ consistency.....Fred

 

[roundball]

Okay I want nothing but the unvarnished truth. :nono: What is the average distance that you consistantly hit squirrels with head shots offhand under somewhat ideal conditions.

I haven't actually taken very many squirrels with a Flintlock rifle...several with a 28ga & #5 shot and only a handful with my fairly new .40cal Lancaster.
Have only intentionally taken 2 head shots with it, making 1 lucky shot at 35yds, and took 1 from 25yds...the rest were just intentional front body shots (head/neck/shoulder area) given the sight picture I could get on before they disappeared.
Not married to the idea of head shots only anyway, given my belief that there isn't enough meat on the front half of a squirrel to worry about.

 

[hanshi]

Okay I want nothing but the unvarnished truth. :nono: What is the average distance that you consistantly hit squirrels with head shots offhand under somewhat ideal conditions.

Hi, kids; can we say, "point blank"? :redface:

 

[Dave K]

I guess I never really thought of it. I maybe standing as far as 20yds.-30yds. from the base of the tree that the squirrel is located in. He maybe at the top of the tree though. I always use a rifle and always aim for a head shot. The number of squirrels over the years is well into the 100's.

 

[VEARL]

Distance for me is around 25 yds or less. Prefer less.
When I was younger about all of my shooting was standing off hand. Now, I steady up against a tree trunk or shooting from a sitting position, gun atop my knees.
Always strive for a head shot.
Vearl

 

[JJCASTINGS]

I use a walking / shooting stick or tree to brace on. I like to keep it 25 to 30 yards from the tree base. I always use a walking stick so I added a Y to the top for hunting.

Practice is a 30 to 35 yards to account for tree height. I use these life size targets I made. Link

This range is after using the Dutch Schoultz Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System to make my .32 Crockett. as accurate as it can be.

Link

 

[Rev_William]

I'd say 25-30 yds. Away in the trees mostly. Sometimes as they run down a log. Head shots in the trees while running not that picky.

 

[Crow Beads]

Those of you who can make these shots have my undying admiration. I hope to live long enough to be able to emulate your wonderful skill.

I have one other question that has bothered me about shooting at squirrels in trees. Don't you ever wonder where those round balls go that miss?

 

[Shine]

Dont know I never missed :wink:

 

[roundball]

I have one other question that has bothered me about shooting at squirrels in trees. Don't you ever wonder where those round balls go that miss?

An excellent question and an issue that usually makes me favor my 28ga with shot loads.
Where I squirrel hunt is surrounded on 3 sides by a good 1/3 to 1/2 mile of woods...but the the 4th direction is the country road where I park, only a few hundred yards away...hate to have a ball come down on somebody's windshield.
So the times when I do go after them with a rifle I'm very mindful of direction...and so far have literally only shot one up at an angle in a tree...the others have either been on the ground, on a log, or on the side of a tree trunk just a few feet off the ground.
If hunting in a more crowded urban environment, a load of #5's has about the same effective range and doesn't pose safety issues like PRBs might.

 

[hanshi]

Don't you ever wonder where those round balls go that miss?[/quote]



I've always kinda hoped they homed in on a liberal. :shocked2:

All seriousness aside I try to make sure a limb or tree trunk is behind the beastie.

 

[Crow Beads]

I once read a quote by Mark Twain that I will paraphrase due to lack of memory:

"You can be the worst shot in the world but if there's a misfire, Granny dies."

 

[George]

I've always kinda hoped they homed in on a liberal.

Do you feel free to say that because you assume there are no liberals on the board? Guess again. And you missed. :grin:

Spence

 

[George]

"You can be the worst shot in the world but if there's a misfire, Granny dies."

You may be thinking of this, from Advice to Youth:

"Therefore, just the same, don’t you meddle with old unloaded firearms; they are the most deadly and unerring things that have ever been created by man. You don’t have to take any pains at all with them; you don’t have to have a rest, you don’t have to have any sights on the gun, you don’t have to take aim, even. No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get him. A youth who can’t hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three quarters of an hour, can take up an old empty musket and bag his grandmother every time, at a hundred."

Spence

 

[Crow Beads]

That's it! Thanks Spence. I've been looking through my Twain like mad for that quote. :grin:

 

[hanshi]

I've always kinda hoped they homed in on a liberal.

Do you feel free to say that because you assume there are no liberals on the board? Guess again. And you missed. :grin:

Spence

A sense of humor seems to come hard nowadays. But that's alright because humor is an intensely serious subject to me. :hmm:

 

[George]

Good one, hanshi. Serious about humor is a good attitude to have.

Spence

 

[hanshi]

Thought you would like that one. :thumbsup: