In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

Squirrel shooting

onepopperonepopper Member Posts: 1,825 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited August 2003 in General Discussion
While stationed in Maine 40 years ago, we pistol team members would go squirrel hunting with our match 1911s. The first thing that pops into the uninformed mind is that the 230 gr hardball 45 cal bullet will leave nothing but the head and skin. Far from the truth, the hard ball passes through with little damage to the edible parts. 22 rimfire cartridges would just blow them apart. Back then the little red squirrels had no limit on them and could be hunted all year. As an enlisted man with a wife and 4 children, those squirrels sure tasted good in a pie a couple of days before the Eagle ****.

Frank Hiles
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • FrancFFrancF Member Posts: 35,279 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It's encuraged where I live for control. The (ground squirrels differant from gray's) most of the time carry Bubonic Plague.
    22-250/w a 55gr. blitz king vaporizes them. West coast version of shooting ground hogs.[;)] Never thought of doing squirrels with a .45
    I bet that is a challange![:)]

    hsas157x100.gif
    gun1.gif



    "I know Everything because
    my Wife is a Hair Stylist"
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have always hunted squirrels with a .22, but the old feller that taught me said only shot them through the eye and waste no meat, because thay are small. Always worked for me, but I passed shots where I could see the body and not the eye.

    My heros have always killed cowboys.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BurningDailyBurningDaily Member Posts: 271 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Around where I live, they are more of an infestation than anything. There are thousands of them. One day i just sat in one place near a walnut tree. A squirrel came by and and started to nibble on a walnut. I shot it- dead. 10 minutes later, another one came by, and i killed it too. This continued until i killed 5 and my conscience started getting to me. Keep in mind, these guys were going to the same branch and didnt seem to notice the pile of relatives under them. Oh well...the things we humans do for fun! =)

    Happy hunting.
    -bd
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • redcedarsredcedars Member Posts: 919 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I still use my old Hi Standard Model B to hunt squirrels. Sometimes I take a HS Longhorn 9 1/2" barrel revolver. I use solids, not hollow points, and I use shorts in the revolver. I also usually carry a Savage Model 24, so I can take longer shots, or use the shotgun barrel If I'm concerned about where the bullet may wind up.

    redcedars
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • outdoortexasoutdoortexas Member Posts: 4,780
    edited November -1
    BurningDaily,
    you've acually found out on your own an old sq hunters trick. Very common, if there's plenty around, to sit at the base of one tree and take several. After the shot, they pay little attention. Even if they run and hide, give 10-fifteen minutes at most and they'll be right back out playin'or feedin'.

    If there's any critter on earth that the 22 is perfect for, it's the bushy tails. But, a 45 sounds interesting onepopper!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.