Ground squirrel taken at 56 yards with my .22 cal Disco.
The last several times I've hunted ground squirrels, I've grabbed my .22 cal Discovery. Hunting with this compact rifle is just to much fun. As a matter of fact, the amount of fun I have with it, is way out of proportion to the cost of this field grade hunter.
I think the low cost, yet high level of hunting performance and consistent success I have with this compact PCP, are the things that make me appreciate it more, and more, every time I take it on a hunt.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good hunt with my more expensive, multi shot PCP's too, but there is just something about hunting with my field grade, single shot Disco, that gives me a greater sense of satisfaction.
My more expensive guns are expected to do what they do, and do it well, no question. When I bought my Disco, because if its price, I expected to have to cut it a bit of slack. After all, just how good could a PCP in this price range really be? I was thinking that if I could keep five shots in three quarters of an inch, to an inch or so at 40 yards, I'd be pretty happy.
Man, was I pleasantly surprised. How about five shots at forty yards that could be covered by a nickel, and many times by a dime. It's no wonder I fell in love with this little rig. I've had this compact rifle for a little over four years now, and it has become one of my favorite PCP's.
Last week, the local weather here in the mountains was in the mid to high seventies. Perfect weather for a couple of days of ground squirrel hunting. I filled the Disco to 2000 psi, grabbed a tin of 16 grain JSB's, loaded my other hunting gear in my vehicle, and headed out to see what I might find.
Park area I hunted the perimeter of on day one.
On day one, I hunted a park area that was about 400 yards across. I spent the afternoon hunting 50 to 100 yards around the inside perimeter of that entire area. The shots ranged from about 40 yards to just under 60.
The last two shots of the afternoon were kind of special. I had been hunting the perimeter of this park for a couple of hours, picking off a squirrel here and there, and was almost back to my vehicle. Frankly, I was thirsty, tired, and looking forward to getting out my folding canvas chair, breaking out a Gatorade and just sitting in the shade for awhile.
I was pretty much through hunting, and ready to call it a day, but for some reason, I decided to check out one last area off to my left, before I called it quits, and made a beeline for the Gatorade.
I quickly glassed the area, and when I did, I immediately spotted a ground squirrel sitting on the end of an old log, in the shade, watching me. I shoot a range to it, and it comes back as 44 yards. The wind was pretty much nil, so I just held on the top of the squirrel's head and touched off the shot. There was the telltale THWOCK and it rolled off the end of the log, DRT.
As I'm taking all of this in through the scope, I can see another ground squirrel jump up on a stump to the rear of the log that I had just knocked this squirrel off of. This'll do. I shoot a quick range to it, and it comes back as 59 yards. There is just a hint of a light right to left breeze starting up. I can just barely feel it in the hair on my arms, and my air tube mounted wind flag confirms it.
Tweaking the parallax on my scope, I hold on the right edge, to allow for the slight breeze, a bit high, to allow for the longer range, and launch the pellet. I watched as it went right over the top middle of the squirrel's head. I had the windage correct, but had held a fraction of an inch to high. The squirrel didn't even flinch. I loaded up another pellet, and making a very slight elevation correction, squeezed off another round. This one was a center punch, knocking the squirrel off of the top of the stump. Man I love this little rifle.
I gathered up both squirrels, for a quick photo-op, and then headed for the Gatorade. As expected, it had turned out to be another fun afternoon hunting ground squirrels with my Disco. The grand total for the day was eight squirrels, and the .22 Disco did herself proud once again. She's a no frills field grade hunter, that in the accuracy department, hangs with some of my more expensive PCP's, and never ceases to amaze me. Just a great performing, inexpensive, effective, and fun gun to hunt with.
Last two squirrels of the day, taken at 44 and 59 yards respectively.
Day two was another fun hunt with the Disco. I'll post the details of that hunt as soon as I have time.
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