Post by sixshot on Apr 15, 2012 20:43:10 GMT -5
As usual spring time in Idaho is slow coming. I decided I'd had enough so even though it was cold & threathning rain or snow I went for a little drive. The wind was the main culprit, when its blowing the squirrels either stay inside their dens or they stay close to the hole & in a low spot.
I drove out to one of my favorite haunts & rolled the window down, stoked the S&W 45 ACP revolver with a half dozen 200 gr hollow points & started scanning the sagebrush.
After a few minutes I spotted one about 20-25 yds straigh out in front of the truck, I eased the door open & sent one of the freshly cast HP's down the 6 1/2" runway of the old Smith...it went high, I donated another one after holding a bit lower...it also went high, just barley, that one made him duck, so I held right where his butt met the burrow & launched him butt hole over eye ball. He made a couple of wiggles & flopped down the hole.
After many years of reaching down in these den holes to fish out squirrels or badgers I have a real dislike for doing it. With my ever present headlight on my hat I could see the shine of an eyeball, he was deader than Obama Care.
The hole was quite small & I had to find a stick to fish him out of the hole but I did get him out. I already had the rear sight all the way down but the gun was still shooting high. Yesterday I had switched from a 230 gr SWC to the lighter 200 gr HP's but still had to hold low to make contact. Tomorrow I'll bump the load up in velocity to get the sights down on target.
Here's my little headlight that I always have on my hunting hat, comes in real handy almost everyday.
No global warming here in Idaho, I'm sure some of you are planting flowers.....not here!
I ended up getting 4 squirrels, not bad for such a cold, windy day. All 4 made it to the den hole before giving up, the 200 gr HP is a round nose style & needed either more velocity or a heavier target, even a large bull, ground squirrel will only weigh about 8 ozs, the bullets were just penciling them. I'm currently loading 4.3 grs of WST, tomorrow it will be 4.6 grs, this will also bring the zero down.
This is my old 25-2 45 ACP, it has oversize throats & I have to use an unsized bullet that I lube with ALOX in order to get any accuracy, but it has always shot very well with .455" slugs.
Hunting any critter in high winds is always a challenge, the winds make them very goosey/loosey & you don't get many chances.
I did manage to recover 2 of the 4....don't like putting my paws down in them holes!
This is another one of the old abandoned farm houses out in the mountains.
I'll round up old Callshot as soon as the weather warms up & we'll spit some seeds & whack more ground squirrels & badgers. Anybody that wants to stick their hand down one of these holes is welcome to tag along!
Dick
I drove out to one of my favorite haunts & rolled the window down, stoked the S&W 45 ACP revolver with a half dozen 200 gr hollow points & started scanning the sagebrush.
After a few minutes I spotted one about 20-25 yds straigh out in front of the truck, I eased the door open & sent one of the freshly cast HP's down the 6 1/2" runway of the old Smith...it went high, I donated another one after holding a bit lower...it also went high, just barley, that one made him duck, so I held right where his butt met the burrow & launched him butt hole over eye ball. He made a couple of wiggles & flopped down the hole.
After many years of reaching down in these den holes to fish out squirrels or badgers I have a real dislike for doing it. With my ever present headlight on my hat I could see the shine of an eyeball, he was deader than Obama Care.
The hole was quite small & I had to find a stick to fish him out of the hole but I did get him out. I already had the rear sight all the way down but the gun was still shooting high. Yesterday I had switched from a 230 gr SWC to the lighter 200 gr HP's but still had to hold low to make contact. Tomorrow I'll bump the load up in velocity to get the sights down on target.
Here's my little headlight that I always have on my hunting hat, comes in real handy almost everyday.
No global warming here in Idaho, I'm sure some of you are planting flowers.....not here!
I ended up getting 4 squirrels, not bad for such a cold, windy day. All 4 made it to the den hole before giving up, the 200 gr HP is a round nose style & needed either more velocity or a heavier target, even a large bull, ground squirrel will only weigh about 8 ozs, the bullets were just penciling them. I'm currently loading 4.3 grs of WST, tomorrow it will be 4.6 grs, this will also bring the zero down.
This is my old 25-2 45 ACP, it has oversize throats & I have to use an unsized bullet that I lube with ALOX in order to get any accuracy, but it has always shot very well with .455" slugs.
Hunting any critter in high winds is always a challenge, the winds make them very goosey/loosey & you don't get many chances.
I did manage to recover 2 of the 4....don't like putting my paws down in them holes!
This is another one of the old abandoned farm houses out in the mountains.
I'll round up old Callshot as soon as the weather warms up & we'll spit some seeds & whack more ground squirrels & badgers. Anybody that wants to stick their hand down one of these holes is welcome to tag along!
Dick
