Stalking a squirrel and she and I crossed paths. I’m gonna get her cleaned and put away and post details later.
Racoon Headshot EDgun Lelya 2.0 .25
- Thread starter Ezana4CE
- Start date
I was glassing the trees for a squirrel when I heard rustling in the branches, next I saw a branch flex, then the gray. When transitioning from binos to my rifle scope I lost site of it. So I began stalking the treeline for movement, but heard nothing but birds. I decided to bend down and enter a thicket through a deer run. Once inside I sat still waiting to see if I could out-wait the squirrel in the event it was hugging a tree trunk or sitting in a crotch until it felt safe to scurry off. Then I heard movement in an adjacent thicket and thought “maybe it jumped over and I didn’t see it,” but the longer I listened, the louder the rustling became. It was so loud I knew that it couldn’t be a squirrel and it was headed in my direction. So I edged over into an opening in the foliage for a better view and lowered the barrel. When I looked through the riflescope I saw the brush moving and thought it could be a dog or deer. Then I noticed some grass moving, but didn’t see a body, which told me the animal was low to the ground. Then I saw ears and rings around the eyes. I lined up the thin reticle on my FFP Vector Veyron between the eyes (I think I was at 4x or 5x magnification) but there were a few branches from the brush swaying in the wind and tall grass in the way. When the breeze abated I took a shot and the coon headed back into the brush. I didn’t think I hit it. It was about 15 yards away (I think that was the parallax setting) and I didn’t hold-under so I thought the pellet flew high. Next I heard the coon take to a tree and that’s when I exited the brush. I’ve been hunting coons since childhood. So after she climbed that tree she didn’t have a chance. When she heard me come out of the brush she went around the trunk of the tree so all I could see were feet and an ear. I tried to line up a head shot but there wasn’t enough mass to target. As I waited I remembered how they move. I knew if I entered that thicket it would likely jump to another tree. I opted to force her to present her head but I needed to be fast. So aimed at her left foot and hit the lower left leg.
The way she reacted bothered me. Maybe time has softened me some or perhaps I made a poor shot selection. Whatever the case, it was calculated and thought out within a matter of seconds. Why the haste? Because I didn’t know if I’d hit her with the first shot and I wanted to end it ASAP in the event that I had. So that was the decision I took. When I came inside and removed the magazine I noticed 5 pellets were missing and I fired three shots. One was in the breech when I left the house, but I think I may have double loaded a second pellet when I inserted the mag because I don’t recall putting the mag in after taking the shot. I likely inserted it when I decided to stalk the squirrel. This may have accounted for the missed first shot or it could’ve just been me and my adrenaline.
Once her leg was struck she immediately reacted by making the short and sharp hissing sound that raccoons make just before she presented her head from behind the tree trunk to look at it. When she reacted, that’s when I took the shot and heard that unmistakeable skull thwack. I was thankful that I was able to take the follow up shot very fast. She then fell from the tree and twitched in the leaves for about 10-15 secs. By then it was over. She may have been dead before she hit the ground. I can’t really say. There wasn’t a lot of movement after she hit the ground. Here’s where she fell. All other pictures were staged after removing her from the thicket.
The shot hit about 1/2” - 3/4” over the left eye. JSB Diabolo King 25.3 grain pellet. No pass through.
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The way she reacted bothered me. Maybe time has softened me some or perhaps I made a poor shot selection. Whatever the case, it was calculated and thought out within a matter of seconds. Why the haste? Because I didn’t know if I’d hit her with the first shot and I wanted to end it ASAP in the event that I had. So that was the decision I took. When I came inside and removed the magazine I noticed 5 pellets were missing and I fired three shots. One was in the breech when I left the house, but I think I may have double loaded a second pellet when I inserted the mag because I don’t recall putting the mag in after taking the shot. I likely inserted it when I decided to stalk the squirrel. This may have accounted for the missed first shot or it could’ve just been me and my adrenaline.
Once her leg was struck she immediately reacted by making the short and sharp hissing sound that raccoons make just before she presented her head from behind the tree trunk to look at it. When she reacted, that’s when I took the shot and heard that unmistakeable skull thwack. I was thankful that I was able to take the follow up shot very fast. She then fell from the tree and twitched in the leaves for about 10-15 secs. By then it was over. She may have been dead before she hit the ground. I can’t really say. There wasn’t a lot of movement after she hit the ground. Here’s where she fell. All other pictures were staged after removing her from the thicket.
The shot hit about 1/2” - 3/4” over the left eye. JSB Diabolo King 25.3 grain pellet. No pass through.
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Thank you. No, but I’d like to try one. Oddly enough I was actually wondering about a BAT after I took my first shot. It really didn’t seem loud, but there were some pretty strong wind gusts and plenty of branches and leaves blowing making noise simultaneously. I was wondering just how much quieter a BAT would be. The raccoon didn’t run too fast on its way back into the thicket so the sound didn’t seem to alarm her much with the stock moderator. The slower than expected hustle back into the brush made me question if I’d hit it or not. I really think that the crack of an unmoderated shot would’ve sent her running back a lot faster.
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@ezana4ce I don’t know for sure, but there might be an adapter for the Leyla like there is for the Leshiy Classic to add a “everyday” moderator like a DonnyFL, $45.00 vs $300.00
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Edit: mixed up vendors.
Eagle Vision sells those adapters. I was looking at one the day we last discussed Donny’s moderators. I recall reading that using their adapters calls for drilling a couple of holes. That was a bit discouraging for me. I don’t want to mess up my baffles or anything. Here’s a link https://eaglevisioncam.com/shop/moderator-1-2-unf-adaptor/edgun-matador-r5-r5m-lelya-2-0-1-2-unf-off-set-moderator-adaptor/
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Nice shot. Thanks for the story. What velocity do you get on the Kings from your Lelya? Seems it was adequate.
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I haven’t shot the Lelya beyond 60-62 yards using these 25.3 grain pellets. And that was me punching paper. It’s primarily a woods walker and a truck gun. When i hunt varmints and small game I’m stalking, so my shots are generally going to be close up. Ideally within 25 yards.
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