Squirrel Question

[Sir Veylance]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this activity and have already bagged myself 8 squirrels this year. I've been watching a few vids on YouTube and in most that I've seen the squirrel seems to die quite quickly, though I have seen a few (good shots in the head) where the squirrel will twitch for quite some time afterwards (say 5-10 seconds). When I've shot mine, I've had fairly clean head shots but my squirrels also seem to take a few seconds (5-10) to die, by which time I'm usually loading another pellet into the gun to shoot again to put it out of its misery. When I've then looked at the dead squirrel close up, I see my first shot behind the eye and the second shot elsewhere (I know they are in that order as the second shot is usually at a wriggling squirrel and hence is all over the place, not cleanly behind the eye). I'm currently shooting with .177 Hobby wadcutters at about 20 yds max and I know I'm on target (lots of practise at paper etc). My rifle is a BSA Ultra ss which I've chrono'd at about 10.5ftlbs.

 

My question is should I be worried that they are not dying immediately, or is it ok (like a chicken which will wriggle for a short while afterwards) and I shouldn't worry too much?

 

I'll caveat my YouTube watching by saying I've also seen a few where the squirrel falls after being shot, is fairly motionless for a few seconds and then wriggles again (like mine!).

[UKPoacher]

If you hit them between the eye and ear from the side they will invariably be dead before they hit the ground. They might twitch or even run a little way, but they'll be dead. One way to tell is to touch their eye with the muzzle of the gun. If it doesn't blink it's dead or as good as.

[Dekers]

Just don't put your hand down to check before you are sure it is dead!!

[Dekers]

Just back having another look, they are tuff little things, obviously nobody sets out to cause any cruelty but they can be difficult to stop.

 

I am to this day a lot happier to kill a squirrel with one shot than a rabbit, it's a lot harder on a squirrel.

 

ATB

[John_R]

Hobby wadcutters are a pretty light pellet. If you want to try RWS Super Hollow Points those weigh a bit more and are very good at 20 yards. If you want to go heavier still then you might want to try Bisley Pest control.

 

If you fancy going away from wadcutters/ hollowpoints then a decent dome head would work out to further ranges, and more choices are available in all sorts of weight.

 

As for aimpoint on a squirrel, try going a little nearer the base of the ear. Works better for me anyway, but I am never surprised if they twitch or hop around for a few seconds, or even drop still then have a few hops half a minute later then its all over.

Edited March 15, 2010 by john_r

[steve_b_wales]

Don't forget to add your kills to the squirrel 2010 count.

[Sir Veylance]

Don't forget to add your kills to the squirrel 2010 count.

 

I do have one more to add to the count which I've not added yet!

 

Ref some of the answers, I've had twitchers and wrigglers (well summersaulters!) and hence have always sent another pellet into the squirrel as best I can. At least I know to expect that sort of behaviour - it came as a bit of a shock at first and I thought I wasn't hitting them well enough. I have some superdomes and some fieldpoints inbound so I'll see what happens with those (assuming I get any more squirrels in my garden!).

[John_R]

Pointed pellets are rubbish, see if you can return the tin unopened unless you enjoy disappointment!

[Sir Veylance]

Pointed pellets are rubbish

 

As a newbie to a lot of this, what makes them rubbish? Do they have poor flight stability or because they are pointed do they over penetrate? If they are no good for vermin etc, then they'll get used for random plinking and targets etc.

[Dekers]

As a newbie to a lot of this, what makes them rubbish? Do they have poor flight stability or because they are pointed do they over penetrate? If they are no good for vermin etc, then they'll get used for random plinking and targets etc.

 

Commonly both.

[Sir Veylance]

Well after having shot about 60-70 RWS Superpoint Field Line .177 pellets through my Ultra today I must admit I'm quite pleased with the accuracy - suffice to say VERY pleased (at about 20yds only though). I'm getting groupings of around 10-15mm which for me is excellent!

[John_R]

Good to see you are having fun, and practising too which is key. Try the superdomes at the same range, and so long as your gun barrel gets on OK with them you should be able to drop them through the same hole.