With our thunderstorms and scattered showers, I have to take what I can get. Got out for a couple of hours this morning and bagged 3 grey squirrels and an armadillo. No I’m not eating the armadillo.
I had a feeling I was onto something when I entered the woods. No sooner than I left the trail to enter the treeline did a red-shouldered Hawk enter right behind me. It lit up in a pine overhead. I looked up and saw that it had damp feathers. He fanned out his tail and fluffed up his chest feathers. He looked rather young. Eventually we made eye contact and just stared at each other for a long moment. When I should have just admired and observed its behavior I went for the phone to take a photo. I won’t do that again. It ended up flying off screeching before I could snap a pic.
I stalked rather easily upon a good spot.The forest floor was all wet from yesterday’s rain. I could still see where I’d posted the last time I was in the area and made may way to that spot. Then I remained still for a bit. I heard a squirrel jump a branch and watched it descend a tree trunk. I set up my rifle on my Trigger Stick bipod and continued to watch in that direction for movement. I could hear it on the ground and it ascended the tree again. When it started making its way down, I switched on my IR, zoomed in, focuses my parallax, lined up my reticle and let one fly. I aimed for the head and hit in front of the shoulder. Got a pass-through on the lungs.
After the first shot I heard plenty of activity and I remained still. Soon I noticed some other squirrels began to look around, I guess to figure out what happened. I caught the next one in my peripheral to my left. I eased that direction, resituated my bipod, lined up my shot and squeezed. I aimed for the head and hit between the eye and ear. The pellet exited opposite side mid-body.
The last one I saw in a tree crotch to my right. I moved up slowly beside a young oak and moved my bipod to the right side of the trunk. I placed my rifle’s bottle on the yoke, zoomed in, and focused. Then I put the reticle on the head and hit another vital shot, pass-through both lungs. I saw another so I waited. It began barking and it took me a few minutes to locate it. I just didn’t have a good opportunity for a clean shot, so I left it alone.
I then recovered my squirrels and discovered the mange on the last one. Close up of the mange. Same squirrel above.
Left the mangy squirrel in the woods. I tried looking up if a mangy squirrel was edible and didn’t like some of what I read. Signal wasn’t so great and pages took a long time to load. Since the shot was a pass-through, I have no qualms about leaving it for scavengers. I hope the hawk finds it. All squirrels were shot within my PB range that maxes out at 35 yards. All squirrels were shot once.
I went to another area and didn’t see any squirrels but a pair of armadillos crossed my path and I let one have it. They walked up on me very close and I had to let them pass to clear brush before I could take a shot. I took my first shot and hit this one in the back. It slumped down and started shaking. I figured I broke its spine. When I tried to line up a shot on the other, the one I shot jumped up and started hobbling off. I could see the blood so I opted to pursue it and put it out of its misery. It didn’t make it too far before it rolled over and I stoped and aimed for a shoulder. When I walked up to it it was still moving a little so I shot it in the head. After making sure it was dead I went to see if I could find the other one, but I did not. No pellets bouncing off of the armor. These .25 diabolos penetrated and are effective at 790 fps. I thought I put three in the dillo, but may have put four in him or possibly double loaded because I came home with one in the breech and two in the mag. Either that or I missed a pellet when loading the mag.
All animals were shot with a Brocock Bantam Sniper HR .25 topped with a Bushnell Engage 4-16x44mm IR FFP using JSB King Heavy MKII 33.95 grain diabolo pellets. I’m not putting this gun on the ground if I don’t have to. I’ve babied this gun until I removed the Sightron SFP scope. Now she’s a killer, but I still can’t bring myself to put her on the ground. I have plenty of threads with pics of this rifle.
I had a feeling I was onto something when I entered the woods. No sooner than I left the trail to enter the treeline did a red-shouldered Hawk enter right behind me. It lit up in a pine overhead. I looked up and saw that it had damp feathers. He fanned out his tail and fluffed up his chest feathers. He looked rather young. Eventually we made eye contact and just stared at each other for a long moment. When I should have just admired and observed its behavior I went for the phone to take a photo. I won’t do that again. It ended up flying off screeching before I could snap a pic.
I stalked rather easily upon a good spot.The forest floor was all wet from yesterday’s rain. I could still see where I’d posted the last time I was in the area and made may way to that spot. Then I remained still for a bit. I heard a squirrel jump a branch and watched it descend a tree trunk. I set up my rifle on my Trigger Stick bipod and continued to watch in that direction for movement. I could hear it on the ground and it ascended the tree again. When it started making its way down, I switched on my IR, zoomed in, focuses my parallax, lined up my reticle and let one fly. I aimed for the head and hit in front of the shoulder. Got a pass-through on the lungs.
After the first shot I heard plenty of activity and I remained still. Soon I noticed some other squirrels began to look around, I guess to figure out what happened. I caught the next one in my peripheral to my left. I eased that direction, resituated my bipod, lined up my shot and squeezed. I aimed for the head and hit between the eye and ear. The pellet exited opposite side mid-body.
The last one I saw in a tree crotch to my right. I moved up slowly beside a young oak and moved my bipod to the right side of the trunk. I placed my rifle’s bottle on the yoke, zoomed in, and focused. Then I put the reticle on the head and hit another vital shot, pass-through both lungs. I saw another so I waited. It began barking and it took me a few minutes to locate it. I just didn’t have a good opportunity for a clean shot, so I left it alone.
I then recovered my squirrels and discovered the mange on the last one. Close up of the mange. Same squirrel above.
Left the mangy squirrel in the woods. I tried looking up if a mangy squirrel was edible and didn’t like some of what I read. Signal wasn’t so great and pages took a long time to load. Since the shot was a pass-through, I have no qualms about leaving it for scavengers. I hope the hawk finds it. All squirrels were shot within my PB range that maxes out at 35 yards. All squirrels were shot once.
I went to another area and didn’t see any squirrels but a pair of armadillos crossed my path and I let one have it. They walked up on me very close and I had to let them pass to clear brush before I could take a shot. I took my first shot and hit this one in the back. It slumped down and started shaking. I figured I broke its spine. When I tried to line up a shot on the other, the one I shot jumped up and started hobbling off. I could see the blood so I opted to pursue it and put it out of its misery. It didn’t make it too far before it rolled over and I stoped and aimed for a shoulder. When I walked up to it it was still moving a little so I shot it in the head. After making sure it was dead I went to see if I could find the other one, but I did not. No pellets bouncing off of the armor. These .25 diabolos penetrated and are effective at 790 fps. I thought I put three in the dillo, but may have put four in him or possibly double loaded because I came home with one in the breech and two in the mag. Either that or I missed a pellet when loading the mag.
All animals were shot with a Brocock Bantam Sniper HR .25 topped with a Bushnell Engage 4-16x44mm IR FFP using JSB King Heavy MKII 33.95 grain diabolo pellets. I’m not putting this gun on the ground if I don’t have to. I’ve babied this gun until I removed the Sightron SFP scope. Now she’s a killer, but I still can’t bring myself to put her on the ground. I have plenty of threads with pics of this rifle.
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