Invincible Fox Squirrel

[Chicken of the Tree]

Been making a little dent in my stash of squirrels, so one in a big water oak was too tempting to pass up. Took multiple .22s to the boilermaker (it was the shot he gave me), and had to put one behind the ear to make sure.

I haven’t had one take that kind of shellacking before, so I was grateful to recover him. Probably could have waited a bit, but I hate not making sure with the airgun. Pellets are relatively cheap.

 

[JimD]

Boilermaker? His rear end? If so I've done that only once and used my 177 P35 and it did not turn out well. It fell quickly but crawled away and we didn't find it for several days. I should have waited. Only one (of23) I've lost with that gun.

 

[Chicken of the Tree]

Boilermaker? His rear end? If so I've done that only once and used my 177 P35 and it did not turn out well. It fell quickly but crawled away and we didn't find it for several days. I should have waited. Only one (of23) I've lost with that gun.

Lungs…that’s how I’ve always heard the expression used, but I could be mistaken

 

[WorriedMan]

Lungs…that’s how I’ve always heard the expression used, but I could be mistaken

Chest shot, as far as I've ever heard. WM

 

[AmosBurton]

Them suckers are tough, age it for a week in the fridge and then cook him low and slow.

 

[cmatera]

We have them where I live. They are get big and are tough to kill.

 

[JimD]

Lung shots that don't hit bone are deadly but have permitted several of my 177 squirrels to run a little. Last one smashed the shoulder on the way in and it dropped immediately. My favorite is to hit the off side shoulder.

 

[karl_h]

I forgot fox squirrels normally look like the one in your photo, I've only seen them in the wild at a property I used to hunt ages ago. The were predominately shiny all black there, some were salt and pepper, some were a satin/dull black, and extremely rare ones were very shiny solid white(not albino's). Never saw one like your picture in the wild, even though that is the most common color. I had my 22 on two of the white ones back then ready to shoot, planned on having one mounted, but both times I decided not to shoot, took my finger off the trigger and put the safety back on. I hunted that property only about 5 years, and only saw a white one like that 4 times, and 3 times was the same one over about a 5 month timespan.

 

[A.G.R]

I’ve said it 100 times.
If they were 100 lbs I’d never go into the woods as you could not kill them.

 

[Chicken of the Tree]

I’ve said it 100 times.
If they were 100 lbs I’d never go into the woods as you could not kill them.

Amen to that

 

[JimD]

I have white, non albino, grey squirrels living close to me. I see them out walking the dog. I've never seen them in my yard but one was visiting my neighbors yard last fall. Too unique to shoot. Animals must be color blind or something because they are much easier to spot.

 

[A.G.R]

I have white, non albino, grey squirrels living close to me. I see them out walking the dog. I've never seen them in my yard but one was visiting my neighbors yard last fall. Too unique to shoot. Animals must be color blind or something because they are much easier to spot.

No whites here but a few blacks with white tipped tails.. whites are bad ju ju. … no shoot white animals.

 

[scubajeeper]

It’s always best to head shoot them. I realize that sometimes you don’t have that shot but you always run the risk of them being able to get to a hole when you shoot then in the boiler room. A few years ago I shot one behind the shoulder with a 34 gr. .25 thinking he’d drop, much to my surprise he ran down the limb and got to the trunk on the opposite side of the tree. After a brief pause I heard him hit the ground dead. If there had been a hole close by, I’d never recovered him and would have killed him for nothing. I always wait for a head shot.

 

[cmatera]

That is my problem exactly. I only have line of sight to 30-35 yards, then a steep drop-off. Over that hill are a bunch of holes dug. There is no follow up shot. They only have to go 10-20 feet to get to those holes. Had one sitting on the corner post of my horse corral (35 yds) last week. Only had an offhand shot. Hit him solidly in the body. Heard the thwack. Knocked him clean off the post to the ground. Ran out there but could not recover him. I was using my .22 Notos. Due to the proximity of the holes and lack of a follow-up shot, I may switch to my M3 Impact 600mm in .25 or even my Wildcat M3 BT 600mm in .30