2021-2022 Hunting Season

[Saltwater60]

I made a promise to myself to go squirrel hunting whenever the temperature goes above freezing. Today it was 41 degrees at sunrise.

Returning to the woods with the Ruger 10/22 Green Mountain Sporter. I recently replaced the Nikon Prostaff Rimfire 3-9x40 with a Prostaff P3 6-18x40. The latter is a centerfire scope with an adjustable objective and I was hoping it would serve as a replacement for the older scope after the eye-piece lens came lose. Still, the 6x made target acquisition more difficult and the AO had difficulty providing sharp focus at closer than 50 yards. I have a more suitable replacement scope being shipped. I’ll post about that, if February allows.

The first squirrel was taken from a tree at about 20 yards. It was off-hand so I opted for heart and lungs. The target was only still for a moment, but the 36 mini-mag HP made short work of it.

However, a second squirrel was no so graceful. The target was on the ground partially obscured by rocky rubble and downed branches.

The image was not sharp and the shot was bad. I opted for a second shot, but the first case had stove-piped as it ejected. This happens occasionally with autoloaders. It is extremely rare with mini-mags, but the chamber in the green mountain barrel has lower tolerance for ammo variation.

I prefer autoloaders for hunting and the 10/20 is s particularly good choice with the 10-round flush detachable magazines. Swapping Ruger mags to a reload on a cold morning is much more pleasant than reloading a tube magazine.

The trade-off is marginally lower reliability than a bolt-action and more complicated cleaning regimen.

I cleared the malfunction and pulled the bolt to chamber a fresh round. But, the squirrel had crawled off. I found blood trace, but no obvious trail. I probably winged it and it crawled off to die. I haven’t had a crawl-off in a while. It is not a good feeling.

I continued to hunt for another 90-minutes or so. I spotted a few, but never had a good shot. There were also chipmunks and sparrows to add to other distractions.

If the warm weather continues, I’ll head out tomorrow before work.



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I prefer a 20-gauge for squirrels. I get a lot more meat and more shots. It’s more fun. Been in college so I haven’t gotten out.

 

[Kent Goldings]

I prefer a 20-gauge for squirrels. I get a lot more meat and more shots. It’s more fun. Been in college so I haven’t gotten out.

I’m not above using a shotgun. Shotgun tactics are can be more aggressive. A shotgun is also safer when your sharing space with hikers and such. Tree-top shooting is also safer.

Still, I like the challenge of using a 22.

The reason I hunt squirrel is to make a better deer hunter. Mentally and physically, there are a lot of similarities.

 

[camper4lyfe]

I’m not above using a shotgun. Shotgun tactics are can be more aggressive. A shotgun is also safer when your sharing space with hikers and such. Tree-top shooting is also safer.

Still, I like the challenge of using a 22.

The reason I hunt squirrel is to make a better deer hunter. Mentally and physically, there are a lot of similarities.

The nice thing about .22 is that you don't have to worry about biting down on a piece of shot that got stuck in the meat.

 

[Saltwater60]

The nice thing about .22 is that you don't have to worry about biting down on a piece of shot that got stuck in the meat.

With low brass 20. Gauge shells I find they don’t penetrate very far anyway so they are right at the surface.

 

[Xae289]

I went snow goose hunting in PA today. It was pretty intense. Crazy weather, thousands of birds flying overhead, waiting in anticipation to see if they would come on down to join the flock of decoys. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate (as in 30 mph gusting winds and a brutal snow squall) only one flew down close enough and promptly got shot by one of our party. I definitely want to go back and give it another try, preferably over a couple of days next time.