This is a VITAL thread

[intenseaty22]

Post your Vitals experiences here. No head shots allowed, just vitals. Was it DRT? Did it scurry away a few yards ? Did it run off all together?

I probably shoot squirrels 50/50 head vs vitals & I’m generally pretty successful with either method.

I find that a Vitals shot gives me a little more room for error or for them Neo (Matrix) squirrels.

 

[Removed]

Headshots are difficult when they running. Typically they don't make it far with a vitals shot, especially with a bloodthirsty dog after them. Lol

 

[JimNM]

I don't airgun for the dinner table. It is strictly for pest control and therefore saving the edibles does not factor into my calculus. I do prefer the neck/shoulder junction for my ground squirrels.

For rabbits, it hardly matters as a good stiff wind will knock em out. Head shot is a luxury if there is time, stability and visibility... or an audience. To get the work done, vitals are fine.

 

[Ranchibi]

Largest rattus rattus I've taken and was presented with a great vitals shot.....

 

[qball]

When it comes to squirrels in the back yard I have completely switched over to vital shots after my kids saw the resulting break dance from a good brain shot, needless to say I got major stink eyes from the wife. I've also missed the brain a couple of times from either me or the squirrel move the last second that resulted in ran off. Vitals are MUCH bigger and even when they move their head they don't move their vitals as much. While it's not DRT they don't run more than a few feet from the tree compared to couple of squirrels did the flop over 15 yards into neighbors front yard which made retrieval "tricky".

 

[N2 Shooter]

Here is my first groundhog I took with a bodyshot using the Maverick VP .30cal shooting FX Hybrid Slugs. I didn't even trust my eyes, and did a follow up headshot after I stopped recording, but it had long died. After this performance, I was completely sold on the airgun and the .30cal's capabilities.

 

[Vetmx]

Been hunting for 42 years. Never headshot elk or mule deer in Colorado. Never headshot bear in Canada or whitetails in the states I hunt. So my crosshairs are just drawn to the vitals on animals that are susceptible to the power of the gun I’m using. A marginal headshot is an ugly thing for the animal because of the small kill zone and they can really suffer. I will only post a few because all my pics except coon or groundhogs are vital shots. These two fell dead with a fast 32gr slug .25 maybe 40 yards on both.

 

[Vetmx]

With a .22 pellet, good pellet, I usually expect a 20 yards dash after a vital hit. If they are in a tree I just wait for the skydiver without a parachute.

 

[Vetmx]

I even try to vital mice. This one was 60 yards taken with a .22 slug. He ran 50 yards. Just kidding, he flew 5 feet.

 

[Hard2hurt223]

75 fpe at 100yds with 38.5 Nielson went maybe 5yds and dropped

 

[EdinGa]

22 yard chest shot with a Daisy hollow point running 630 fps from my Marauder pistol. DRT

The pellet on the right was recovered from just under the skin on the side opposite the shot.

 

[Ezana4CE]

All shot with .25 JSB King Diabolo domed pellets 25.34 grain shot from an EDgun Lelya 2.0.

This is from last fall and from what I recall this guy was on its way back to its drey around sunset. I was in a thicket and caught him on the run. I believe I was having trouble maneuvering and positioning myself to track it because my pants got hung up in briar vines. When it jumped to an arched sappling I believe I caught it with a body shot that dropped it. Didn’t take long to expire on the ground. I don’t recall it moving much before dying.
Punched through the lungs.

The gray pictured below was on a the lower trunk of an oak tree across a creek from where I was posted IIRC. I think I was kneeling and took my first shot which hit high. I don’t recall its exact reaction, but it didn’t drop or run. I quickly took the second shot which was money. I may have dropped it towards the base of the tree. I think I remember this one now. This squirrel fell back slowly off of the tree after the second shot and into the creek bed. It just missed falling into the small trickle of a stream running through the creek bed. Pellet took the lungs out.

This is more recent in early October. I was beneath the pine tree while the squirrel was dining almost oblivious to what I was doing on the ground. I recall seeing pine cone pieces raining down and circling to get a clear shot. I think I was either leaning again at tree or shot offhand, I don’t remember. Hit him low through the ribs standing at a steep angle beneath it. The pellet penetrated the thoracic cavity, breaking its spine clean, and exited through the top of its back. I remember its lungs looked like jelly. I don’t recall it moving on the leaves. That was a long drop. Dead when it hit the ground.

I have others, but that’s a lot of photos to sort through, found a few gut shots. Only one of them crawled a ways from the tree using its front paws. That was my first 50 yards shot with this bullpup. I left my cover and put it down up close. That experience caused me to practice target shooting with more purpose. There should be threads on these somewhere in the hunting forum. Some of the details are muddled.

 

[Bigragu]

Post your Vitals experiences here. No head shots allowed, just vitals. Was it DRT? Did it scurry away a few yards ? Did it run off all together?

I probably shoot squirrels 50/50 head vs vitals & I’m generally pretty successful with either method.

I find that a Vitals shot gives me a little more room for error or for them Neo (Matrix) squirrels.
View attachment 306693

I took this same shot to a squirrel today, same shoulder shot at 20 yards up a tree, and this was the result-

This is a first. I’ve shot my fair share of these punks, and I’ve never seen this type of damage before.

 

[Filnez]

A little too far back, got into the abdominal cavity past the diaphragm. Just a bit further forwards could have been less messy. Not always that simple though.

 

[Teep]

When squirrel hunting I prefer a head shot if possible, squirrels tend to set and stare when in a tree. I also don't like cleaning one that is body shot. That said, I cleaned several three legged squirrels this year.

 

[Ezana4CE]

I took this same shot to a squirrel today, same shoulder shot at 20 yards up a tree, and this was the result-

View attachment 306765

This is a first. I’ve shot my fair share of these punks, and I’ve never seen this type of damage before.

@Bigragu Was it quartering away from you? Where is the entry wound? Which caliber and type of projectile? Had you grabbed and squeezed the body (to pick up and move it) prior to taking the picture?

 

[Bigragu]

Yes on the quartering shot. Shot entry was aimed and hit at where INTENSEATY posted his squirrel pic. It was taken by my 25 cal MK2 wildcat shooting 28.4g barracuda hunter extremes at 1010 FPS, so yeah, right at 12 ft lbs(kidding)

The pic was taken prior to picking him up. It’s exactly how I found him

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Bigragu I’m trying to envision this best I can. I saw that his was a shoulder shot but I’ve been having issues viewing photos (with consistency) on here lately. If it was quartering towards you then I’d guess the pellet may have entered the shoulder and passed through or just below the diaphragm exiting the abdomen and pushing out the entrails. In my experience .25 pellets do some pretty serious damage to the internals of squirrels. I have popped lungs on shots I thought were too far back towards the abdomen. Sometimes it’s so bloody in there I wonder if it was the actual pellet or displacement of fluids and/or gases that caused most of the damage.

 

[450BM]

I don't airgun for the dinner table. It is strictly for pest control and therefore saving the edibles does not factor into my calculus. I do prefer the neck/shoulder junction for my ground squirrels.

For rabbits, it hardly matters as a good stiff wind will knock em out. Head shot is a luxury if there is time, stability and visibility... or an audience. To get the work done, vitals are fine.

I was wondering if others have had the same experience with rabbits as me. I’ve been shooting them with a .177 domed pellets and swear some of them flip over and die before the pellet gets there. They are by far the easiest animal to kill I have ever shot. Got one at a measured 64 yards this summer. One shot, just in front of the shoulder, DRT.

I know I’m getting a little off topic and I apologize… About 40 years ago a buddy and I were hunting rabbits. We didn’t have a dog so we’d take turns kicking the brush. In this case it was diversion ditches running through hay fields. My buddy, the dog, kicked one out into the field and it was, I’m guessing here, 40-50 yards away before I got on it and took the shot. I was using an Ithaca M37 Featherweight 12 g with a modified choke. (I really think it was more like a turkey choke but I digress) At the shot the rabbit, running full speed, rolled over and over and over, dead when we got to it. We always gutted and skinned rabbits immediately (good and warm) and we found one hole in it’s neck, #6 lead shot. It was a big rabbit too. I wonder what the energy was in that #6 shot. Starting velocity probably around 1200 fps weighing 2 grains. Can anyone do the calculation?

I’m not a fan of headshots with every gun because I’ve seen too many marginal hits and terrible wounds on the animal. If I’m hunting squirrels with my 17 Mach2, I’ll take headshots. It’s laser beam accurate and super destructive. I can’t hunt them in Pennsylvania with my Impact 25 cal and I won’t hunt them with my .177 Marauder. If someday I can use the 25 call, I’ll probably stick with shoulder shots.

 

[Vetmx]

450BM, the same shot with a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun will net the same results as your shotgun. One bb to the neck. Spine is in the neck. Instant shutdown of all electricity.