Preparing for bushytails

[dburkhead]

I'm planning going hunting for squirrels tomorrow morning (north end of Morgan Monroe State Forest). Today, at the range, I tried some preparation practice.

I had printed out a bunch of squirrel "picture targets"--a squirrel sitting on a limb eating a nut--very archetypical squirrel--that worked out to about 1/2 to 1/3 scale given the "typical" sizes of an adult squirrel I've seen listed (I've never actually measured one in real life). Since the indoor range is limited to 50 feet, this is approximately like shooting 30-50 yards (my rifle, with it's scope set up, is sighted to produce +/- 1 inch using high velocity ammo from 5 to 70 yards, provided I read the ballistics tables right).

Normally, I put the rifle to my shoulder, inhale, let it out, hold, fire, inhale, let it out, hold, fire, etc., until I've fired off one magazine (10 rounds). In addition to the new target, this time I did something different. I held the rifle in a "ready carry" (modified so the barrel was pointed downrange rather than to the side), lifted it to my shoulder, got a sight picture, held my breath at wherever it was in my breathing cycle at that point, and fired relatively quickly. The idea was to mimic what might happen in the woods. I spot a squirrel, and I don't have a lot of time to take aim and take the shot. I also changed my foot positions from time to time, again, on the basis that I wouldn't have time to set up a perfect stance while hunting. The squirrel would be gone before I could get set up.

I shot 100 rounds, of which about 60 hit the squirrel pictures somewhere in the body, not great, but I figure not horrible either. I noticed that I had a strong tendency to hit in the haunches, probably because my eye was drawn to this larger area. This is something I need to be aware of should I get the chance to shoot "live."

[NateIU10]

Sounds like a good time let us know how it goes. It's not too far from here, and may have to make it up there sometime

[NEOCON]

I shoot em in the head. If you shoot them in the body with a .22 it tends to make quite a bit of the meat not edible unless you use .22shorts or subsonics. I just shoot at the same respatory pause everytime. You will be more sucessful if you don't rush your shot. Take your time and shoot true you will fill you limit quicker. At least I do.

MMMM I love fried squirrel and gravy with biscuts. I may have to go out in the morning as well supposed to be mid 50s in the morning.

[wolfman]

A little advise, there is no need to practice snap shooting for squirrels. Just find you a comfortable spot to sit at the base of a tree, with a good view of the woods around you. Sit quietly and watch the tree tops, pretty soon you will see several moving around, and if you move slow, you can get pretty close before they "flaten out" on top of a branch. If they aren't spooked too bad, they will lay there, watching you, and you will have plenty of time to aim carefully and squeeze off a shot. If you find a walnut tree with a lot of cuttings under it, move around and away from it until you have a good view of the lower branches, and you probably will get to take a couple while they are sitting up eating.
And when you drop one, just remember where it is and don't move, gunshots do not scare squirrels as bad as you might think, and they usually will start moving around again in around 5 min. When I was younger, most of the time we could limit out without ever moving more than a few yards from where we started.

[dburkhead]

Interesting stuff. I've never hunted squirrel before and the one's I've seen in urban and suburban environments never seem to sit still for very long. That's why I thought I had to get the shot off quick.

My _intended_ point of aim was heart/lung area. However, I noticed that despite that intention my shots were actually going more to "center of mass" of the image. This was something I figured I needed to pay more attention to even at the time.

Some have mentioned "head shots" and, actually, now that I think about it, on squirrels, a head shot is little, if any, smaller a target than the "vitals" shot that I see recommended for hunting. I'll try that more.

For the most part, I practice shooting offhand (although occasionally putting the sandbag on the shelf to shoot from). I figure, if I can shoot well offhand, I can shoot better with support but the reverse doesn't hold.

In any case, I went out on my little venture this morning. I heard (I think) several squirrels "barking." I Set up as covered as I could get and waited a good half hour but nothing came into view from where I think the barking was coming from. I did see a tree limb flexing in the distance to one side (kind of glimpsed between limbs of nearer trees) and think I caught a quick flash of a squirrel moving through it, but that may only have been my imagination. No time to even move on my part, let alone get a shot (and I probably wouldn't have tried at that range anyway).

Several things I learned from this trip:

First, make a checklist of what to take along. There were several things I wanted (my binoculars, a camera in case I got lucky) that I didn't have.

Second, I hadn't bought camouflage yet but I did dress in "subdued" clothing (a kind of dull green "plaid" long-sleeve pullover and jeans). I think good camo is next on my list of things to acquire.

Third, the trees were a lot taller than I was expecting, not spreading to crowns until quite a ways up. This suggests that any shots I make would have to be at a longer range than I had originally expected.

Fourth, I really wasn't used to the kind of walking I had to do--stepping over obstacles, much steeper grades than you generally face in the typical urban environment, etc. Be the end of the morning, the muscles around my ankles were tired and sore, and this was wearing boots that I thought provided good support.

Fifth, I found reserves of patience that, quite frankly, I never knew I had (that half our wait, hoping Mr. Bushytail would come out to play). Okay, maybe to a seasoned hunter or a Ranger Sniper or something like that, it's trivial, but it means something to me.

In any case, that's the result of my first squirrel hunt.

[Soundslikejosh]

db, glad to hear the morning wasn't a total wreck. It sounds like you had a good time, despite the lack of meat.

As for camo, I think you give squirrels too much credit. I could be way off, but I think they would hear you long before they'd spy you. Personally, I think that from your description, you had suitable clothing. Camo won't bring them in, and that sounds like your major issue today.

I deer hunt without camo, and despite my best attempts, I fidget like a 5 year old, and every year I see squirrels. They don't seem the least bit concerned by my attire or my slug gun. It's like they are taunting me.

[rhino]

I did some squirrel hunting when I was in high school (I was a sophomore when a senior invented dirt). The sounds you make when you're moving disturb the tree rats a lot more than gun shots or anything you might be wearing.

[rhino]

I did some squirrel hunting when I was in high school (I was a sophomore when a senior invented dirt). The sounds you make when you're moving disturb the tree rats a lot more than gun shots or anything you might be wearing.

[dburkhead]

And my second trip was even more of a learning experience--I got lost.

I made two major mistakes which led to that:

1) I cued on terrain features. In particular I knew that I had to cross a ravine/dry creek bed to get back to the fire trail where I'd parked (and, once there, it would be a right turn back to the car.

2) Once I realized I wasn't going the right way, I checked my compass, but (and I'm a physicist; I should know better), for quite some time I didn't set down my gear and step away from it so the metal screwed up the compass readings.

I've reconstructed where I probably went on this little "trek" here:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...k091308JPG.jpg

A couple of other things I noted while I was out there:

On some of the softer spots on the fire trail on my way home, I saw deer tracks, probably doe. I also saw tracks of what looks to be a remarkably large cat: main pad and four "toe" pads but no claw marks as one would find with canines. These tracks were a good inch and a half to two inches across. I'm not sure what made them, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to meet.

At one point when I was stopping to take a compass bearing, I also spooked a turkey.

Another thing I learned is that my hydration pack was a lifesaver, possibly literally. By the time I finally hit pavement again, I was completely exhausted, but at least I was hydrated. I was back in the care and halfway home before I finally finished the last of the water.

In the end, I didn't have to break into the emergency kit stuff, and I didn't have to call for help (I was carrying my cell), so I guess it's all good.

Oh, I saw exactly two squirrels--both after I'd returned to my car and was driving home

[indyjoe]

Anyone get any squirrels in Morgan-Monroe Forest? I'm seriously considering doing a little work on my 10/22 LTR trigger and going out for some bushy tails. I don't have a lot of time to drive out places, but dad and I used to just stroll through the woods for them in the past.