You guys and your head shots...

[rabjr]

On squirrels that is. My hats off to ya's :hatsoff: I got 7 greys around one of my stands that supply comic relief during my sit there. They spend most of their time playing "Betchya can't grab my tail" and are anywhere from 15 to 40 yards away doing their thing. I know my eyes ain't what they used to be but dang, I tried lining up my sights of the .54 just to see. :haha: I have no idea how you guys can see and head shoot those critters.

 

[bob1961]

isn't that where a scope comes into play :rotf: ....sorry just had to get that out of my system :v ..............bob

 

[rabjr]

:haha: Well that be the only way for me to do it for sure Bob.

 

[Wehrmacht]

Head shots are all part of the game. It isn't[url] easy....in[/url] fact it's very difficult, but it adds a significant challenge to the game. If you can't score with a big 10 point 160+ buck,just challenge yourself with head shots on skirls.

I try very hard with my little .32cal. So far,with a daily limit of 12, I've been able to make 5 or 6 head shots before I foul up and bust one through the body. I keep trying,but it's very questionable if I'll ever make all 12! At our annual camping/squirrel hunt that I just returned from, one of the five of us there FINALLY scored with 12 head shots on the same day! He has been trying for several years,and finally made it. We had a little ceremony that evening,and he formally retired the 12 hole loading block he has used for years. Says he's going to frame it and hang it up on the wall in his den :grin:.

 

[tg]

Is there a chance of just crippling a squirel by taking off his nose of part of his mouth? what are the odds/percentages?I have always taken themm in the middle as I don't eat that part, a little messy but I like messy stuff anyway.

 

There's always a chance of crippling any game we shoot at, whether head shots or not. That's one reason we practice, to lower that chance. On squirrels, if you're taking head shots, it's just about guaranteed if you don't hit it in the head it's a clean miss. I like to aim just a bit behind and below the eye. There's a little more target there and anything that hits close is instantly fatal. On center mass shots a low shot could be just as ugly as an almost hit on the head. I'm confident we all strive to not do either.

I don't like my meat mangled or messy as the back is my favorite piece and the wife always eats the ribs first. Then we each take a front and rear leg apiece. She always fries two squirrels for a meal.

der Forester is right, it isn't easy, at least for me and evidently him. By insisting on head shots it puts the hunt back into hunting. I won't shoot at a squirrel outside 20 yards or so because beyond that distance my misses far exceed my hits. I prefer a solid rest and a still squirrel. With the preponderance of grays in my area that means you're gonna wait...and wait.......and wait for that perfect shot. It's worth it when it all comes together.

Our limit is 6 per day and I have, on two occasions in my life, taken a limit of head shot squirrels. One of those times it was with 6 shots but I was a lot younger and so were my eyes!! I doubt I'll ever do that again and if I do it will be good fortune.

I love to hunt deer and black bear but if I had to make a choice to hunt only one animal for the rest of my life that animal would be squirrels, hands down, no questions asked. Besides, squirrel is a heck of a lot better eating than either...there just ain't as much of it!

Vic

 

[rabjr]

:rotf: I think under 10 yards I might have a chance. :haha:

 

[jethro224]

I got a huntin' buddy who totes a shotgun and claims he only takes head shots at squirrels. :haha: Might work for you too...

I did have one get away after I shot his face off with my .22 a couple of years back. Made me feel bad but I've had a couple get away after a solid body hit too. Sometimes stuff happens. I just try and keep it to a minimum.

 

[Wehrmacht]

A .32cal ball weighs about 45gr. and is just a little heavier than a .22LR. I think-notice I said think-that the 28gr of 3f that I use in my .32cal puts it about on par with a .22mag. Sometimes a ball will hit dead center of the head and simply punch a hole clean through both sides with minimum damage. At other times a head shot can just about take off all of the head and even cause front leg damage. I think it depends on the angle both up-down and front-back that the ball hits. I've clipped off the front 1/3rd of the nose and killed them dead on the spot. My thinking is that a hit about anywhere in the head delivers enough shock to cause instant mortality. I remember grazing one across the top of the head just taking out hair and it dropped,probably from shock.

I agree on the short distance. Most of my shots are 25 yards or less. And I also agree that squirrel hunting is more fun,at least to me, than deer hunting though I dearly love bear hunting :thumbsup: . As long as I can buy grain fed Black Angus at the supermarket, I'm not going to bother with killing a deer,dragging it out and butchering it! IMO deer is about like chowing down on billy goat anyhow :grin:

 

[jethro224]

As long as I can buy grain fed Black Angus at the supermarket, I'm not going to bother with killing a deer,dragging it out and butchering it! IMO deer is about like chowing down on billy goat anyhow :grin:

I think of deer hunting like buying in bulk while squirrel is more like picking up a pack of bologna. :haha:

Either you're not feedin' them deer right (ours ARE grain fed) or I've been missin' out by not eatin' billy goats. :hmm:

:rotf:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I use my .54 with 42 gr (happens to be what an empty 45 LC holds) and the secret is to carve the end of your rammer to look like an acorn and sit on a stump real still.

When they try and bite at it . . .

 

[rabjr]

Aah now see I could do that! :haha: