I just love it when a hunting day starts like this one did.
I was through getting my gear out of my truck. I had just finished putting my binoculars and rangefinder around my neck, when I did a quick glance around the area with the naked eye. Something about an old hollow log laying on the hillside by a small creek caught my attention.
It's amazing, how after decades of hunting ground squirrels, you develop a sense of where they will be. There was something about the end of that hollow log that looked a little out of place.
It looked to me like there was a squirrel's head peeking at me from just inside the end of the log. I checked it with the binos. Yep, br're furball is laying in the end of that log with just his head peeking out, watching me get geared up.
I put the rangefinder on him and got 33 yards. Today I'm hunting with my 30 plus year old FWB 300S Tyrolean, 10 meter match air rifle. She's sighted in for 30 yards. My Stoney Point bipod is already set up, so I slip a pellet into the grand old lady's barrel, rest her on my bipod, hold just on the top of his head and send him a wake up call.
The pellet connects with a solid "thwock", he rolls out of the end of the log, and his tail starts cranking like they do with a solid brain shot.
This is good. I haven't even closed up the truck, and I've already got a photo-op volunteer.
Well heck, I might as well look over the rest of the area. I come about 90 degrees to my left, and sitting on the end of an old fallen oak stump, on the side of the hill, is another ground squirrel basking in the early morning sun.
I laser him real quick, and get 37 yards. The morning air is dead calm. I put a little daylight between the horizontal crosshair and the top of his head and squeeze off another shot. I'm shooting the 8.4 grain JSB Exact pellets.
Again the grand old lady works her magic. There's a nice solid, "thwock" and down comes br're squirrel rolling end, over end, down the side of the hill.
This was an amazing start to what turned out to be a great day in the field hunting ground squirrels. I gathered them up and took a picture of the two of them posing with the Grand Old Lady.
I wound up hunting the entire day with the old gal. It's really fun sometimes, to take old technology into the field, and watch her do her thing. It does take me a few shots though to get the feel for that 8 ounce trigger all over again.
Anyhow, we had a blast, and before we headed for home I took a group photo with some of her other conquests of the day.
AIRGUN VARMINT HUNTING VIDEO AVAILABLE NOW! "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel" is 70+ minutes of nonstop fair chase airgun varmint hunting action and information. Over 260 video clips of California Ground Squirrels being taken with modern adult airguns from 30 to 90 yards and beyond. $19.95 +S/H Order at: Link to VarmintAir.com
Comments