Brain Shots

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Some time back someone posted some skull images of a cat. Someone had a cat problem.. We see people always post images of where to aim to kill a deer.. Why not some images of where the #1 nemesis's brain is located?.. i.e. the squirrel.. Maybe that has been covered?
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@markT It’s been discussed on AGN. I don’t recall if squirrels specifically have been discussed in this fashion. Ideally, shooting and hitting them from the side, between the eye and ear, has been very effective in putting squirrels down quickly and humanely in my experience. 
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From the front, hitting them between the eyes puts them down fast as well, although they tend to flop around more from my observation. These are violent, convulsive types of movements. 


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Understanding that death is a process is also important. When you shoot an animal in the brain, if it falls within sight and you keep your eyes on it, you will watch the animal die; this takes time. They typically don’t just instantly lay down or fall over motionless. Watch them closely. I don’t think it is common for flesh-and-blood, breathing organisms to die instantly. To my understanding the quickest and one of the most painless ways to do this is to sever the brain stem located on the lower portion of the back of the head towards the neck. Or as another member stated in a previous post, at the base of the skull. Severing a head clean from the body would likely be one of the fastest ways to kill an animal (think of a guillotine). However, we don’t hunt with those and this is highly unrealistic. There was a recent post with a scholar discussing the neuro-muscular reaction that often accompanies brain shots preceding or following death. I have been having a tough time locating that post containing the video this morning.

What I would like to say is this, and this is my opinion: If a person does not know where to shoot an animal to make a humane kill, they should learn and practice those shots before going out to hunt. Studying animal anatomy helps tremendously. Knowing and doing are two different things. Being able to make the shots consistently takes practice and discipline. It’s easy to get excited looking at pesting and hunting videos on YouTube and in our “hunting” forum. If that excites you and compels you to hunt, learn more about the animal(s). If you’re new to shooting get the basics down first. If new to hunting, take a hunter safety course and obtain a hunting license. Going out with an experienced hunter/pester and learning from them is also an extremely valuable resource. As a hunter I have taken less than ideal shots, and all may not agree with shots that I am comfortable taking. My bottom line is to avoid or prevent prolonged suffering of game animals. Sometimes that entails not taking a shot. 

Edited to add diagram and link. 
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The above diagram came from this airgun blog https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-other-side-of-an-accurate-shot-iii

I cannot attest to the accuracy of all of the author’s claims in his blog post. 


Thank you @TN_Yankee. I couldn’t recall who posted the video or which thread it was in. Here is the link to that AGN thread. Head shooting squirrels was discussed here as well. https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/slow-25-or-30-cal-for-squirrels/page/4/#post-1167493

edited to clean up a few typos
 
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Good post ezana.



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It’s a worthwhile topic of discussion. I hope that the culmination of the experiences of contributing airgunners remains accessible on AGN to help others. Thanks for posing the question. Strangely enough I didn’t see much in the way of decent diagrams on squirrel anatomy for hunters. Since I started eating them I have learned more about their anatomy from skinning and gutting them. I still have much to learn and posts like this are beneficial to me. 
 
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I also appreciate ezana's excellant post and I agree with the information it contains. I usually aim for the brain but my shooting is not always that precise. I've found that neck shots kill about as quick as brain shots. So aiming for the portion of the head towards the neck not only targets closer to the brain but if you are a bit further back you get the neck and the squirrel still dies very quickly. I've been shooting them this year with my P35 using FTT pellets at 850-900 fps. I hit one smallish squirrel (about half a pound) on the forward part of the head, in front of the eyes about at the joint of the jaw and it still dropped immediately and even did the brain dance. I think the 25 caliber pellet pretty much crushed the skull, that's what it felt like when I was cleaning it. I don't know if my much lower power Prod would have killed it as quickly with this placement. I keep a few statistics and I put head and neck shots in the same category. They seem to have similar effect with squirrels dropping quickly from both. Even with the P35 I have had squirrels run as much as 15 feet with a body shot - but it is rare.

I do not have a reasonably powered 177 yet but may get one. I'm interested in the difference in effect but I expect to have to be more precise with placement.
 
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@Ezana4CE, UW, Yes I wanted to see some more info as well. but you hit it...

Honestly it took me a long time to figure out where the light switch is.. I was shooting where I could not let one flop or run off.. Neighbor: PETA, mask, "Let's go" kinda fella, if you know what I mean.. Anyway, I finally started hitting them in the very top of skull... Absolutely amazing what a well placed shot does.. 

The Science guy, that's a whole other story and probably best not to go there with Mr caffeine..
 
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Brain shot is no doubt the fastest off switch. However it is smaller and with a bit of wind not the easiest to hit pass 30 yards. A vital shot is far more forgiving because it’s much larger but they will run off a little so might not work that well for you. With a 177 the hole on vital is rather hard to see/find plus they run into their hiding place so a different kind of stealth? Just another possible option depending on your situation. 
 
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When I first started about 6 months back I took mostly vital shots mostly due to lack of confidence. I found that with a properly placed vital shot they seem to just go down only a little bit of wiggling goes on. The brain shots they also drop but seems to be be a bit more leg twitching. Now I exclusively go for brain shots mostly just because that's what consensus seems to be for the most humane shot and also because I can since most of my shooting is less than 30 yards.
 
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The calls for better information and shot placement are appropriate.



🔸 I'd love to see a series of diagrams or photos of different animals — from different angles and different body positions — that show where to hit, taking into account brain shots and heart & lung shots.



Same for pigeons.... — just like Ezana4CE, I have learned more from preparing them for consumption — than from the poorly done diagrams published in our forums.



Matthias
 
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It's s tall order to want where to shoot an animal from different positions. Just know what you want to do is place your round between the eye and ear for a perfect brain shot. Now extrapolate where the round will intersect if you took that shot from the front and the rear and you're good.

Between the eye and ear works for raccoon, hogs, coyote, fox, groundhog, bobcat, beaver, and the list goes on!

A big Groundhog was shot with the JSB Exact between the eye and ear, and he was dead before you saw one drop of blood.

https://youtu.be/hOGWhhFmyVQ
 
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I grew up squirrel hunting with a .22 rimfire, and head shots were considered the only acceptable placement. Obviously, a brain shot is lethal. And if harvesting the meat, it makes cleaning and preparing the meat an easier chore. In recent years, most of my squirrel killing is a pesting scenario in the back yard, using an air rifle. At some point, I began to intentionally shoot not for the head, but for the vital chest/neck area. To my surprise, it has proven just as lethal. The neck area is especially a puzzle to me, as it would seem to be putting the pellet between two vital areas, rather than in one. Perhaps it severs the spine. Recently, I have used a low powered .177 (13 fpe), and it is very effective too. So, while a brain shot can't be criticized, I have found the larger vital area very effective too, and I no longer pass up a shot if the head is not clearly visible, and that is what is presented to me. 
 
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I grew up squirrel hunting with a .22 rimfire, and head shots were considered the only acceptable placement. Obviously, a brain shot is lethal. And if harvesting the meat, it makes cleaning and preparing the meat an easier chore. In recent years, most of my squirrel killing is a pesting scenario in the back yard, using an air rifle. At some point, I began to intentionally shoot not for the head, but for the vital chest/neck area. To my surprise, it has proven just as lethal. The neck area is especially a puzzle to me, as it would seem to be putting the pellet between two vital areas, rather than in one. Perhaps it severs the spine. Recently, I have used a low powered .177 (13 fpe), and it is very effective too. So, while a brain shot can't be criticized, I have found the larger vital area very effective too, and I no longer pass up a shot if the head is not clearly visible, and that is what is presented to me.
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+1! 



Like you sometimes I don’t have a good back stop for the headshot. For out to 30 yards I have no issues with vital shots even down to 8 FPE with 177 hades. 


edit: forgot to mention pet of the reason I take some vital shots is they run just a little and die as supposed to drop and flop around. If my kids can see the brain shot flops I don’t do headshots so I don’t have to explain the flopping to my 4 year old little baby girl! Wife gave me the stink eyes last time she had to explain the flopping. LOL
 
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When I say practice your shots before going out to hunt. Here is what I mean. In preparation for a hunt I have found it helpful to find lifelike images of the animal I intend to hunt printed on paper targets. I’ve shared this idea before in other threads and some people think differently, so please understand that this is my opinion. Some of the good ones will have targets on the vital areas on the body. I can’t think of any I’ve used with targets on the head. BUT considering what I have learned from observation I try to use what has worked and I apply it to practice. 

On the target below I was shooting a .25 caliber, seated behind a tripod at 35 yards (possibly seated on the ground I can’t recall). I generally practice from shooting positions that I frequently use in hunting scenarios or I may try practicing a new setup on paper before using it in the woods if I’m not put in position to improvise on the fly.


On the target take a look at the headshots. 2 of the 10 shots or 20% would cause a slower than desirable and a presumably more painful death for the animal. One shot would’ve likely grazed its face. I’m confident that 70% of the shots from that 10-shot group would kill the squirrel using this caliber. Their large eyeballs are convenient aiming points for lethal and humane headshots and work well when using lower magnifications. At least that’s at’s my preference. Sometimes they move, sometimes I move, sometimes the wind comes into play, and sometimes it’s something else or a combination of multiple factors. The photo below is evidence of movement that was likely my doing. If my shot is accurate at an angle like the majority of the headshots pictured below, the shots will likely go into and often through a portion of the brain. At higher velocities the pellets most often pass through the head from the other side. As @qball and @elh0102 mentioned your backstop is also important to consider when there is the possibility of pellets passing through your intended target.
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I believe that practicing on targets with realistic photos of what I intend to hunt has resulted in very similar outcomes in the woods on a hunt. Shots on the animals tend to mirror shots on the targets as far as shot placement is concerned. So for me these types of targets help when compared to using standard circular bullseye targets. I believe that they work to the point of me not having to think much about which shot to take because I’ve practiced my shots and hunted so much. At least that’s how things have worked until an unusual challenge presented itself.

Sometimes a squirrel will hide in a dense leafy area of a tree and I may have to maneuver around the tree to get a better shot and a headshot just isn’t feasible. Other times I may just feel more confident taking a body shot. I aim for both areas. But I addressed headshots here, more specifically brain shots, to stay on topic to answer the OP’s initial question. 


If you’re interested in these specific targets here’s a link Crosman Varmint Paper Targets They come with prairie dog, crow, and rat targets as well. The shots show up well for through the scope when targets are taped to a DIY cardboard pellet trap. 
 
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I killed squirrels and I would always find a spot on a limb of a tree and see where Im hitting after I filled my tank. I was “unregulated.” This is real world. Range, elevation and shooting position. I usually had the muzzle out a window or thru and open sliding glass door. Really learned or taught me a lot about hold, drop etc. Way different from a bench shooting a circle. 
 
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