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Successful handgun squirrel hunt! #195428 11/05/2018 4:34 PM
Joined: Oct 2018
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RH Custom Guns Offline OP
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This weekend I had a chance to take out my new 12" .22LR Match Contender barrel for some squirrel hunting. A big thanks to Kurt Bellm for getting the barrel to me before the hunt!

I'll get to the absolute best part of the story first, and that is that I got to take my 6 year old son with me! The day before, we went to sight in the Simmons 4x32 scope I mounted on the barrel. Though he had a hard time finding the crosshairs in the EER 4x scope, he did get a chance to fire off a few rounds - his first ever from a pistol.

The next day, we were having a father son camp out with a couple of other friends, and we headed out before anyone else got there so just the two of us would be able to hunt a bit. He spotted the first squirrel 30 seconds after we got to our spot, and then I discovered how much practice I really need to make those head-shots!

So, over two mornings of hunting and 4 squirrels, I did well shooting on every other squirrel. The first squirrel I hit, after missing about 7 shots, low in the spine and had to finish him on the ground. The next squirrel was one shot to the head and done.

The next morning, I took my friends dogs with me. As we were walking down the lane, I saw a squirrel tail popping up from behind a limb and I moved around for a shot. After missing twice, the squirrel jumped into a hole in an adjacent dead tree trunk. I could see the squirrel in the hole, so I started trying to rustle him out of there with my shooting sticks. He finally tried to run to a stand of trees a little ways away, and the dogs got him. I hauled the dogs off before they did too much damage, dispatched him and put him in my game pouch. One to the dogs...

Later that morning, my buddies and I went looking for bushy-tails in a different area, and we saw a squirrel pop his head out of a hole. Because squirrels usually stress out and move if bothered enough, I started scraping the side of the tree with my sticks. Sure enough, he bolted straight up the tree. He was about 50 feet straight up when I put one bullet through his eye from a very awkward shooting position.

So, I guess I needed to make some really bad shots in order to remind myself to calm down and concentrate on the next one...

One big lesson that I learned is that the 4x scope is too much magnification for that hunt. I took the 4x off of my 7mm TCU barrel, just to have something to use for the hunt, but I will definitely be switching to a 2x in the future.

Another lesson that was driven home again is how incredibly addicting handgun hunting is! I had one of those rare moments when I was walking in the woods thinking, "I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do." That feeling, plus a freezer full of squirrel meat are so rewarding!

PS - I didn't take any pictures from the hunt, as I was alone half the time, and with my youngster the other half. I'm working on being able to take pictures in the future.

Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: RH Custom Guns] #195432 11/05/2018 7:18 PM
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Sawfish Offline
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Great story. Handgun hunting for Bushytails is addicting!


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Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: Sawfish] #195436 11/05/2018 9:57 PM
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wvhitman Offline
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Good story. Lots of fun for the young ones. I use a Bushnell 2-6X Trophy on my Ruger MKIII. 2x for close shots. 6x for the long ones. Lots of versatility.
In fact I made my longest witnessed groundhog kill with at 640 yds. Pre ballistic plex and rifle scope. I think it took 5 or 6 shots to do it. Used a 70 BT and it stayed in him. Farmer was impressed. I didn't have the nerve to admit it was 1000% luck.

Last edited by wvhitman; 11/05/2018 10:04 PM.
Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: wvhitman] #195444 11/06/2018 12:27 AM
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KRal Offline
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Great hunt! Squirrel hunting is fun and one of the best practice methods for big game hunting, not to mention some fabulous table fare!


It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but only 3 for proper trigger squeeze.
Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: KRal] #195492 11/06/2018 6:50 PM
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jamesfromjersey Offline
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good hunting....


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"I have more guns then I need but not as many as I want" "Handgun hunters HAVE to be good"
Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: jamesfromjersey] #195507 11/07/2018 1:37 AM
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cherokeetracker Offline
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What a fun sounding weekend. Great companion, and challenging targets. Good table fare too.

Re: Successful handgun squirrel hunt! [Re: cherokeetracker] #195532 11/07/2018 5:34 PM
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Chance Weldon Offline
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Sounds like you had a lot of fun! Those 4x scopes are definitely a little much for that kind of shooting.


Formerly TN Lone Wolf

"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided." - J.K. Rowling

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