VarmintAir's Airgun Hunting Blog

A Great Fall Day In The Woods - And As A Bonus - I Scored A Squirrel

Game tank I started my hunt from.

Have you ever had a day afield, where you were less focused on hunting, and more just about enjoying a nice stroll in the woods?  Well, that's the kind of day I had on my last trip out.

I grabbed my Forest Service map of the area, and picked a road I had never been down before, to explore.  One of the things that interested me, was the fact that there were two game tanks in the area, that were about 600 to 700 yards apart.  They can be fun to hunt around, because where there's water, many times, there is a variety of critter activity.

The area I was headed to, was a little over four miles from the pavement. The drive in was beautiful.  The Gambel Oaks have changed color, and are dropping their leaves in bunches, while most of the Aspen have already shed theirs.

When I got to the area, I was going to spend the day in, I drove past the first game tank, and headed for the second one.  I really liked the area. It was fairly flat with a large park/meadow in the center of it, surrounded by some nice old growth Ponderosa Pines.

I drove past the second game tank a few hundred yards, and pulled into the forest just off the road.  This area is where I would spend the next four or five hours hunting a little, and hanging around a lot.

The first thing I did was to get out my folding canvas chair, sit awhile, and eat a half a sandwich.  Something about fresh mountain air, sunshine, and bouncing down a 4x4 track that makes me hungry.

As I was munching on my Subway foot long, I could hear a woodpecker hard at work on a nearby tree.  I decided, that after I finished my half a sandwich, that I would check it out and see what this guy was about.

As I was eating my sandwich, I was also regularly visited by big yellow hornets.  They look a lot like yellow jackets, only about two and a half times bigger.  Aggressive suckers too.  I think they were after the meat in my foot long sub.

Well, little did I know at the time, but about twenty yards behind me, and about thirty feet up in a tree, was their hive.

Hornets nest.  This thing was about the size of a volley ball with lots of hornets coming and going. 

First off, it took a tremendous amount of self control, to not give in to my inner twelve year old, and stick a few pellets into that thing, just to see, "WHAT WOULD HAPPEN."  One of the advantages of growing older, with some of lifes experiences under your belt is, I already knew, "WHAT WOULD HAPPEN" and it ain't pretty.

Secondly, I made an executive decision to move my operation on down the road another hundred yards or so.  I didn't want one of their young dummies to get some other young dummies together, and go, hey guys, what say about a thousand of us jump this guys butt and see, "WHAT HAPPENS."

Before I left though, I decided to check out what this super industrious woodpecker was up to.  I headed over toward the sound, and found an old dead snag that this guy was using for his food storage locker.

Snag used for storing acorns in. 

I'm looking at this and thinking, "dude, use more of the existing holes, save yourself a bunch of work."  It's like he only gets paid for making new holes, not filling up old ones.

I went back to my vehicle and moved on down the road aways.  I got all of my hunting gear out, and strapped it on, hung it on, and/or clipped it onto my torso, and headed over to the game tank.

My intention was to hunt in a big circle, around both tanks, and back to my vehicle. Roughly 1800 yards or so.  Makes for a nice walk in the woods.  As I'm approaching the tank, I can see that someone has mounted a tree stand next to it. This is the second time, while I've been hunting, that I have seen this at a game tank .  You could tell it had been there a long time, and the Forest Service considers this to be abandoned property.  I'm surprised someone hasn't cut it down, and claimed it as their own.

Tree stand at the game tank.

After looking the tree stand over, and taking a couple of pictures, I headed into the woods to see if I could find any Abert's tree squirrels. To be honest, I wasn't super intent on the hunting part.  It was a gorgeous fall day, and I was just enjoying being out there in the serenity and solitude.

Once again, I was hunting with my .22 cal FX Whisper.  Nice and light, very accurate, and just a great gun to be carrying on a day like this.  It wasn't too long before I saw a squirrel making tracks through the tree tops.  I gave a half hearted chase, for about forty yards, and gave it up. To much like work today.

I was almost down to the first game tank, and while I was glassing a cluster of old pines for squirrels, something caught my eye on an old Gambel Oak tree trunk.  It was in the deep shade, and a little hard to make out.  My laser r/f said it was 77 yards away.  While I'm studying it through my binoculars, I realize that it is a squirrel, partially exposed, and resting in a cutout in the side of the tree.

Oak where I originally spotted the squirrel 

His head, and about two thirds of his body, were sticking out of this hole in the side of the tree. Using some other trees for cover, I was able to close the distance to right at 50 yards.  The oaks have pretty much all dropped their leaves, and the wind has scattered them all over the forest floor, so there was no way my stalk was in any way particularly quiet.

When I got to the last tree, that I was using for cover, I didn't really expect the squirrel to still be there, and I wasn't wrong.  I snuck a quick peek, around the side of the tree, and sure enough the hole in the side of the oak is now empty.  Well crap, I hate it when that happens.  So, let's take a few minutes and glass the area, you just never know.

I almost immediately see that he has left that hole, and climbed up the trunk a bit higher.  He's sitting on an old broken limb, facing to the right, but the way he is positioned, I do not have a clear head shot.  I much prefer head shots, but will take what I can get.  I set up for a heart lung shot, knowing that there is a real good chance that he is going to bolt at pellet impact.  If I can catch one, or both shoulders, it's much less likely.

In the picture below, he was sitting on the broken branch, facing to the right, just below that round knob. His head was partially hidden by that dead stub of a branch that is sticking up. 

I'm sighted in at 40 yards, so hold just a bit high over his shoulder, and launch the pellet. At impact, he's off to the races.  I obviously missed the shoulders.  He leaps from the oak into a pine that is right next to it.  I rack the bolt, to chamber another pellet, and follow his path through my scope.  Using a couple of branches, he crosses over that pine and jumps onto a limb from another pine tree next to the first one. About this time the wheels start to come off.

As he's making his way along that limb, he starts to wobble, and then his back feet slip off of the branch, leaving him hanging by his front feet only. I'm just about to send another pellet on its way, when he lets go and falls to the ground DRT.  When I get over to him, I can see that the pellet caught him just behind the right shoulder, coming out at almost the same location behind the left shoulder.  Turns out to be a nice young male.

Oak tree with notch cut in it, and squirrel laying about where I originally saw him, except his back legs and tail weren't exposed.

I think what had happened with this old oak was, decades ago, when they were logging this area, they intended to harvest this oak, but when they made the cut that would cause the tree to drop where they wanted it to, they discovered that the tree was rotten inside, and not good for lumber. Over the years, the oak tried to heal the cut, but wasn't able to close the opening, and this squirrel, along with others before him I'm sure, found it a good place to build a nest.

I dropped him into my game bag, and made the turn to start hunting my way back to my vehicle.  It's interesting to me, that in life, there's almost always the one percent that don't get the word.  Wildflower season has been over here for weeks now, but as I'm hunting along, I spot this little beauty squeezing out one last bloom before surrendering to winter.

It was a fantastic day, roaming around in a high elevation mountain forest, and getting the squirrel was icing on the cake.  You never know what you might find, or see, and that's a big part of the fun of being out there.

Here's an image from a couple of weeks ago.  One of the things I love about hunting with many small bore airguns, is the lack of a muzzle blast, that puts every critter in the area on notice that you are there.

I had taken a tree squirrel, with my FX Whisper, about fifteen minutes before slipping up on these young ladies at about 35 yards.  I was down wind, and they didn't have a clue that I was even there.  Airgun hunting doesn't get much better than this.   

 

 

 

  

One Hard To Find Squirrel - Forty Minutes - And I Loved Every Moment Of It

Hunt area.

I headed out last Thursday, for another Abert's tree squirrel hunt.  I went to another spot, where I had seen some tree squirrel sign while hunting ground squirrels last summer.

While on my way into the area, I was surprised to see a couple of ground squirrels out and about.  It has gotten cold enough, that most of them have gone into hibernation.

I got my gear out, and prepared to hunt out about 500/600 yards, and then make a wide looping hunt back to my vehicle.  I had been slowly hunting for about an hour. Glassing every likely looking Ponderosa pine tree for squirrels, and not finding a darned thing.  There weren't even any chipmunks or ground squirrels around.  Most of them had decided it was time to hibernate until spring.

I was seeing some sign here and there, but it was old.  Dried up needle clusters, peeled stems, and field stripped pine cones that you could tell had been there for months. Even though I hadn't seen a squirrel, I was still enjoying just being in the forest on the hunt.

I continued to slowly hunt along, carefully glassing all of the old yellow belly Ponderosa pines for squirrels, and quite frankly, at this point not expecting to see much, when there he is.

I spot one proned out on his belly, out on a limb next to the trunk, about 80 feet up an old 120 foot tall pine.  This guy is in the shade, and dead still, not so much as a tail twitch. He has his chin resting on the branch watching my every move.    

I shoot a range to him using my laser r/f, and it comes back at 37 yards. I'm sighted in dead on at 40 yards, but with the extreme up angle, I know I'll need to hold a bit low.

He is so high, that I can't use my Stoney Point bipod while standing.  I drop down to one knee, and position the bipod legs at an angle in front of me, so that I can rest the rifle on it, and still get enough elevation to make a shot.

I'm hunting my FX Whisper again, still shooting the .22 cal 16 grain JSB's.  I chamber a pellet, and resting my right shoulder against a nearby tree, line up the shot.  It turns out that I was holding just a bit too low, and when the shot broke, I saw the pellet hit the limb just under his jaw. He gets splattered with pieces of flying bark, and launched straight up the trunk into the upper canopy, yelling obscenities at me the entire way.

Since this is the only squirrel I've seen, in an hour and a half of hunting, I decide to see if I can maybe wait him out, better yet, find him in the canopy and pick him off. Normally when they do this, I just move on, but with the way things are going, I'm thinking that this just might be the only squirrel I see today.

I put my back against the tree, that I made the shot from, and using my binoculars, I start searching the canopy for any sign of this guy.  I know from experience, that he is going to be near the top of the tree, and well hidden, but he will be watching me.

I also know that I'm not looking for an exposed squirrel, I'm going to be looking for a squirrel head, or maybe only the eye.

I start glassing every little opening I can find from the top of the tree down about a quarter of the way.  I know he's up in there somewhere.  I do that several times, and don't see a thing.  Man, they are really good at making themselves disappear in the tops of these trees.

At this point I decide to take a break, have a drink from my canteen, and just rest my eyes.  After about ten minutes, I decide to try it again.  This time I go even slower. There is nothing in that tree that is shiny and round, except a squirrels eye.  I get my head around that fact, and focus on finding that small, round, shiny, squirrel eye that's hiding in the canopy.

I am really taking my time, and focusing on the minutia, when I spot him. He's about ten feet from the top of the tree, and the only thing showing, is a very small part of his head and his eye.  I'm so excited at locating him, that I'm on the verge of coming down with buck fever.

I slowly let go of my binoculars, they're hung around my neck, and pick up my rifle to set up the shot.  The problem is, I can't find him in my scope. I put the rifle down, and grab my binos again.  Yep there he is, no problem.  I pick up the rifle, and once again I can't find him in my scope. WTH! Using two eyes in the binos, I can find him, using one eye in the scope, I can't pick him out.  This is very frustrating.

I decide to get back into the binoculars, and locate some landmarks on the trunk, and walk my eye onto the squirrel that way, while looking through the scope.  This works great, and now I've got him in my sights.  

Talk about threading a needle.  There is no room for error here. Fortunately, my whisper is up to threading a needle, providing I do my part.  At the moment, it is dead calm.  I hold the crosshair just low to where I think his jawline would be, center the vertical crosshair on his eye and squeeze the trigger.

I get that satifying THWOOKK, at pellet impact, and down he comes, bouncing and spinning from limb to limb.  He lands with a nice soft thud, in the bed of pine needles, under the tree.

Talk about total tunnel vision, for about forty minutes there, I was completely oblivious to anything else going on in the world around me. The concentration was intense, and the thrill of getting him was way out of proportion to the size of the trophy, but man, was that challenging and very rewarding.

When I got over to him, I could see that the pellet had literally gone in one eye and out the other.  It was a nice clean one shot kill.

I was right, that would be the only squirrel I would see all day, but that's alright, the mental energy I put into claiming that one squirrel, just about wore me out.  LOL.

I've got a new scope coming for my AA 410ERBSL, and I'm going to convert her over from a prairie dog rifle to a ground squirrel, tree squirrel rig.  I hope to get her out for a romp in the woods next week.

Stay tuned, more to come. 

 

 

 

 

First Abert's Tassel Eared Tree Squirrel Hunt Of 2012 - This Year - I'm taking A Different Approach

Abert's tree squirrel season opened here on the 5th of October.  It was the 9th before I had a chance to get out after them.  I headed for the base of that mountain that is sticking up on the horizon in the above picture.

During the summer, while scouting for ground squirrel hunting areas, I would also make a mental note, of areas that had good tree squirrel sign. There were a few areas at the base of that mountain, that looked pretty good, with a fair amount of that type of sign.

Below are a couple of pictures that show what sign I'm looking for when scouting areas for tree squirrels.  A bed of field stripped pine cones, and pine cone debris under the trees, as well as stripped stems from pine needle clusters.

Pine cone debris underneath a Ponderosa Pine tree.

Clipped needle clusters, and stripped stems.

Abert's tree squirrels do eat other things, but their primary food sources come from the Ponderosa Pine trees.  That is also where they build their nests.  Another interesting fact about them is, they do not hibernate, so they are out feeding on pine cones, and the under bark from needle cluster stems, all winter long.

To give myself a leg up when hunting these guys, I scout for areas that show a lot of the above types of sign.  That's exactly what I saw in several areas at the base of the mountain I was headed for.

Ponderosa Pine trees are self pruning.  Meaning, that as they grow and mature, the lower limbs die and fall off, or are knocked off in stormy weather. Also, there is very little undergrowth on the forest floor.  That means, that in a typical Ponderosa Pine forest, you can see a long way. An example of that is shown in the photo below.

However, that is a double edged sword.  Not only can I see critters a long way off, but they can also see me.   If I see a squirrel on the forest floor, I'll try and get it to head up a nearby tree.  As often as not though, if they do tree, they head straight for the canopy 90 to 100+ feet up, and get lost in the foliage.  Or, instead of treeing, they will just haul buns for parts unknown, never to be seen by me again.

I've only been hunting these guys for about four years, and I've come to notice something interesting about them.  If they are already in a tree, and have not been chased there by me, they are easier to get a shot at. But, once they've been put on the run, the adrenaline is flowing, making them much more alert and hinky, and making it much more difficult to get a shot.

This year, I'm taking a different approach.  I'll make an attempt on any squirrel I see on the ground, but my main focus is going to be to hunt the ones that are already in the trees.  This can be easier said than done. They are masters at concealment, but if they haven't already been startled, so there isn't any adrenaline pumping, and they are just following the normal daily routine, their natural curiosity may just get the better of them, and while they are sneaking a peek at me, I just might locate them with my binoculars, and be able to get a shot.

Ponderosa Pines do not start producing pine cones until they are between 45 and 60 years old.  There are thousands of trees out there, and I need to focus only on the ones bearing cones. Also, by the time they are that old, the bark on many of their trunks has started to turn a cinnamon, or copper color, giving them the nickname of, "yellow belly." When hunting Abert's tree squirrels, those are the trees that I will focus the majority of my attention on.

Example of an old "yellow belly" Ponderosa Pine tree on the left.

I slowly made my way up the 4x4 track, that would take me into my hunt area.  Pulling into a wide spot in the road, I parked and prepared for an afternoon hunt.  Going through my usual gearing up ritual, after about fifteen minutes, I was ready to hit the woods.

Initially, I was going to hunt with my FX Monsoon, but after a bit of thought, I decided to use my FX Whisper again.  I have been shooting this rifle exceptionally well on ground squirrels.  Making head shots on nickel sized kill zones at 60 yards, in the wind, with ease.  Why change a good thing.

Slipping into the woods, I headed for the area that I had seen goodly amounts of tree squirrel sign during the summer.   Hunting in this manner, meant that I would be spending a lot of time in my binoculars, checking individual trees for squirrels.  Much like when hunting ground squirrels.  Only now I would be looking up into the trees, instead of down low on logs and stumps.

I'm slowly hunting along, checking old yellow bellies for any sign of squirrel activity, and not really seeing anything, when on the third one I'm checking out, as though it was scripted, I see a squirrel head peeking at me from behind the trunk, about halfway up the tree.  I heard myself say under my breath, "I'll be damned, this is actually going to work."

The squirrel is dead calm.  No warning barks, no nervous action at all. It's just staring, secure in the fact, that if it just holds very still it won't be seen. My laser r/f gives me a range of 43 yards. Since it's about 60 feet up in this particular tree, I hold a little low, to allow for the steep up angle, and launch the pellet.The sound of the pellet impacting the squirrel's head was LOUD.  It instantly launched off of the branch it was sitting on, and hit the ground, 60 feet below, with a soft thud, DRT.

I love it when a plan works.  When I got over to it, I could see that the pellet had entered just under the right ear, and came out the top of its head.  After spending the summer making head shots on ground squirrels, that are one fifth the size of these big guys, it looked to be about the size of a house cat in my scope.  How can you miss a target that size.

First Abert's tree squirrel of the 2012 season.

I took a couple pictures, put the squirrel in my game pouch and continued on my hunt. I had gone another five hundred yards or so, glassing every appropriate looking tree along the way, when I spot another squirrel, sitting in the shade, on the fat part of a limb attached to the trunk of an old Ponderosa yellow belly.

Again, this guy is showing zero concern.  It's sitting motionless, in the shade, but in plain sight facing me.  Without the use of my binoculars, I never would have seen this one, or the last one.  It makes me wonder how many I have walked right by in the past. The laser r/f says 39 yards. This one is about 75 feet up a 90 foot pine.  Holding center, high on the chest, I took up the trigger pressure and the pellet hit him right in the throat.  This one tumbled backwards off of the limb, and hit the ground with a soft thud.  Again DRT.

Second Abert's squirrel of the 2012 season.

To say that I'm tickled is an understatement.  I think I may have just cracked the code to hunting these guys.  They are well dispersed, and hunting them based on watching the forest floor for movement, and then treeing them, which is what guys with years of experience told me to do, hasn't been a very productive approach for me.  Based on this first hunt, I'm pretty sold on my new method.  As a side note, on this hunt, I didn't see a single squirrel on the forest floor.  Using that method, again, I would have been skunked.

A picture of the pair. 

Here's a picture that clearly shows why they are known as "tassel eared" tree squirrels.

On the left side, you can see the long hairs that they grow on the tip of each ear, giving them the name "tassel eared" tree squirrel.  On the right ear of this one, the hairs are matted with blood.

I added the second one to my game pouch, and started to slowly hunt back toward my vehicle.  I didn't spot another squirrel on my way back, and the shadows were getting long, so I decided to call it a day.

I'm pretty happy with the results from hunting, using my new approach, and hope to get out later this week for another try.  We need a couple more to make a meal. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The FX Whisper - Hunts The North Side Of Squirrel Valley

A partial view of squirrel valley looking west.

I did a blog story earlier, about hunting the south side of this valley. When I went back to hunt the north side,  some bow hunters had their elk camp set up near where I would have launched my hunt from.  I know that some folks have waited many years to get drawn for an elk hunt, so rather than get in the middle of their hunt opportunity, I left and hunted another area.

Last week, I headed back out to see if they were gone, and if so, I would hunt the north side of this valley.  On my way into the area, I spotted these two guys taking in the morning sun.

This time of year, I'm especially interested in seeing some of these guys while I'm driving into my hunt area.  If I don't see any, then that tells me that they have gone into hibernation until spring, and I'm just going to have a nice walk in the woods that day.

When I got to the area that I would launch my hunt from, the bow hunters were long gone.  I immediately started getting my gear out, and started prepping for my hunt. While I was getting geared up, I noticed what looked like the profile of a ground squirrel, clinging to the side of an old fire charred stump, about 50 yards away. 

I got my binoculars out of their case and took a quick peek.  Sure enough, it's a furball alright.  I didn't have my rifle out yet, so I just kept on getting ready, figuring that if it was still there when I finished, I would set up for a shot.  I took it as a good omen as to how the rest of the day would go.

I got the legs on my Stoney Point bipod extended, dug out my pellet pouch and dropped 26 pellets into it.  I already had 12 pellets loaded into the guns magazine, and the combination of the two would give me 38 shots.  I get 36 shots on a fill, but I always take a couple of extra pellets, to cover for the ones I invariably drop in the grass while refilling the mag.

Then I put my camera, SPOT GPS locator, Colt 1911 .45 acp, (cougar country) extra loaded .45 mag in its pouch, and water canteen on my belt. Hung my binos, range finder, and pellet pouch around my neck, double checked everything, and decided I was ready to go.

I checked out that stump again, and the squirrel was still there.  I shot a range to it, and it came back as 54 yards.  I haven't even left my vehicle yet, and I've got my first shot of the day.  I'm liking this a lot.

I set the Whisper onto the bipod and lined up the shot.  Since I'm sighted in dead on at 40 yards, I allowed a bit of daylight between the top of the squirrels head and the crosshair, held a little left to allow for a left to right breeze, and gently squeezing the trigger, sent the 16 grain JSB on her way.  Below is the result.

After taking a couple of pictures, I headed over to the start of the valley area that I would be hunting.  Hunting along the tree line, I was maybe two hundred yards into the valley, when I spot a squirrel sitting on a pile of debris, left from when the area was logged many decades ago.  The laser says it's 107 yards away.  I need to close the distance, so picking some trees that I can use for cover, I start my stalk.

When I'm about as close as I can get, I peek my head out from behind the tree I used for cover, to see if the squirrel is still there, and much to my surprise, there are now two.

My laser r/f gives me a reading of 59 yards.  Using the first mildot south of the crosshair, I place it on the squirrels head, and then, allowing for a brisk left to right wind, I hold one mildot left.  When the shot broke, the squirrel flipped off of the old log he was sitting on, and disappeared.  I immediately shifted the scope onto the second squirrel, racked the bolt, and using the exact same hold, sent another pellet on its way, with the exact same result, as shown below.

Pair of squirrels taken just seconds apart.  One off of each end of this old chunk of log.

This is just too much fun.  We are definitely on a roll.  Three shots taken, all over 50 yards, and we have three squirrels down.  It's hard not to start feeling just a little cocky.  Hey, we're shooting a pellet gun in some pretty stiff winds, making head shots on small critters beyond 50 yards, why not.  LOL.

For whatever reason, I decide to hunt a little deeper into the forest.  Up until now, I've been hugging the tree line.  Seventy five or so yards in, I spot an old blowdown stump. It has one root that is sticking straight up about six feet, and sitting right on the end of it is brer ground squirrel.  

This guy lasers at 51 yards.  Same story, hold high and a little off for the wind, and THWAAACK, another head shot furball on the ground. This continued for another couple of hours.  Misjudging the wind, I had a few misses, along with a lot of center punched skulls. The north side of this valley was turning out to be every bit as good, ground squirrel country, as the the south side was.

Squirrel dropped at 51 yards, while sitting on the tip of an old root.

I don't bother to stop and take a picture of every squirrel killed, but here's a couple more from the afternoon.  The wind was gusting from 12 mph, to just over 20 mph. My barrel mounted wind flag really earned her keep that day. All told, I covered a couple of miles out and back.

I spent a good three plus hours on the hunt.  The wind made all of the shots challenging, but that's part of what draws me to this sport.  I got a pretty good wind burn on my face, but a small price to pay for a great day afield, hunting ground squirrels with an accurate airgun.

The temps here are going to drop into the 40's for a day or two this week, and that will probably put most of these guys underground until next spring.  There's always a few stragglers, but my main focus from here forward, since the season just opened, will be on the tree squirrels.  

The Abert's tree squirrels do not hibernate, so if you can stand the cold and snow, you can hunt them through the end of December.  As a matter of fact, yesterday, I was out after them for the first time this year, and had some success.  I'll get that story up as soon as I have a chance.

Late in the day, as I was bouncing down the 4x4 track, heading back to the pavement, I spotted this guy grabbing a few late afternoon rays. 

The ground squirrel hunting has been fantastic this year.  It has been a ton of fun, and I had a chance to use a bunch of different guns.   Hunting these tree squirrels though, is a whole different ball game, and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

  

 

Google Maps and My Spotting Scope Helped Find This Spot - Hunting Squirrel Valley - With My FX Whisper

Natural Tank.  AKA, pond.

Yesterday, I headed back to that narrow valley that I started hunting one day last week. I had originally used my spotting scope to do a bit of long distance recon of a part of it, and then used Google Maps to confirm the size of it.  

I hunted a part of it last week, with good success, and planned to hunt the rest of it yesterday.  However, as I was studying my Forest Service Map of the area, I saw a location nearby, that was labeled as a "natural tank."  In other words, a pond.  Since it was only a few hundred yards from the area that I would launch my hunt from, I decided to check it out.

I went ahead and got all of my hunting gear out, since I would be leaving from the pond area, and hiking directly to the valley that I would spend the day hunting in.  I also took time to liberally coat myself with insect repellent.  

This is our rainy season, and along with that comes lots of standing water.  Along with the standing water comes mosquitos, lots and lots of mosquitos.  When I got over to the tank, I could see swarms of the bloodsuckers hovering over the surface of the pond.  They were on me like white on rice.  Or they thought they were.  Nothing like a nice shower in Johnson's "OFF" to level the playing field.  None of them could hold their noses long enough to score a hit, but man do they work hard trying.

After satisfying my curiosity, I took a picture of the tank, and decided to get on with my hunt.  As usual, I gave the area a quick once over for ground squirrels.  Off to my left, sitting on a rock pile at exactly 50 yards, is none other than brer furball.  The first one of the day.

No wind .... sighted in dead on at 40 yards .... no problem .... hold a bit high .... launch the 16 grain JSB from the FX Whisper .... pellet enters just under the squirrel's chin .... with the usual result.  See picture below. A good start to what turned out to be an amazing day.

I headed on out of that area, and on toward the narrow valley that I would spend the day hunting in.  

Looking back toward my 4Runner, as I hike on over to hunt the valley again. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere.

I got over to the head of the valley, and as I slipped into the tree line, I immediately spot a couple of squirrels.  They were a little over a hundred yards away and chasing each other around some stumps and an old blowdown log.  Using some trees for cover, I closed the distance.

When I stopped to sneak a peek, they were nowhere to be seen. Knowing how these guys operate, I decided to get set up and wait.  I was tucked back in the shadows of a cluster of pine trees, so I got my rifle rested on my bipod, and gave the area a quick once over with my binos.  Still nothing showing, so I took the opportunity to shoot a range to the stumps and log.  The stumps came back at 53 yards, and the log at 49.

Now it became a waiting game.  Ten or fifteen minutes went by with no activity.  I was just about ready to move on when I look up, and a ground squirrel is now sitting on the log.  I held a little high and launched the pellet.  It impacted the squirrels head with a loud THWAAACK.

It drops out of sight behind the log, and at the same time, a squirrel appears on the top of one of the stumps.  The sound of the pellet impact got its attention, and it had hopped up on the stump to see where the sound had come from.  I quickly racked the bolt, and since I already knew the range, just held a bit high and launched another round. Like the first pellet, this one connected, and knocked the squirrel off of the stump.

I picked up both squirrels for a quick photo-op, and then continued to slowly and quietly hunt the edge of the valley.

I had gone another 80 to 100 yards, when I spot two more sitting on a rock outcropping.   Because of the way the rocks are positioned, I don't believe the squirrels can see each other. When I hit the one on the right, the one on the left, who had been stretched out in the sun, sits up and looks around, wondering what that sound was.  Two seconds later, a pellet rolls him off of his stone perch, DRT.

Two taken from rock outcropping.

This is how things went for the next couple of hours.  I saw a lot of squirrels, put the sneak on many of them, and got shots at most. The Whisper is incredibly accurate with the 16 grain JSB Jumbo's.  If I got the crosshairs on a squirrel, it usually went down.  

I mostly hunted inside the tree line, up to where the incline from the valley floor crested over onto a plateau.  I did try hunting out onto the plateau for awhile, but there was no squirrel activity to be found out there.

A view across the plateau.

All of the squirrel action was to be found, from the edge of the plateau, down the slope toward the valley floor.

Looking down into the valley from about 50 yards inside the southern tree line.

I had a lot of shots at individual squirrels, but I think I set a record for taking at least two squirrels from the same firing point.  I didn't bother to take pictures of each and every kill, but I went through 30 pellets, and only missed twice.

Another pair taken within seconds of each other.

My original plan was to hunt down the south side of this valley, crossover to the north side, and hunt my way back to my vehicle.  It didn't turn out that way.  I spent the entire time hunting the south side. By the time I got to the end, the shadows were getting long, it was getting late, and I still had a thirty minute drive down a rough 4x4 track back to the pavement, and another forty minute drive home.

I decided to call it a day, and make tracks for my vehicle.  That's okay, because I'll just come back next week and hunt the north side.

To top off the day though, I got three squirrels from the same firing point, at ranges from 44 yards out to 64 yards.  A great way to end a great day hunting with a favorite airgun.

Any coyote that went through that area last night, found a large number of four legged, furry protein bars to stuff its gut with.

The last three squirrels of the day.

The end of the valley.

This area turned out to be fantastic for hunting ground squirrels.  The day was just about perfect.  No wind, temps in the mid seventies, with beautiful billowy clouds in the sky, a rifle that rarely misses, and lots of squirrel activity to keep things interesting.  In my book, it just doesn't get much better than that.

I'll be heading back next week to hunt the north side.

   

 

The Search For Ground Squirrel Habitat Continues - Using My Spotting Scope - and Google Maps - Was A Huge Help

Game tank, and high mountain meadow at 8500 foot elevation.

If you caught my last blog story, you know that the last time out, I went to a new area to search for ground squirrel habitat.  I had some success there, and decided to go back again this time, and hunt a different spot.

Last time, on my way out of the area, I saw a small valley that looked kind of interesting. I could only see across a part of it, and not down the length.  I couldn't tell if it went 300 yards or a mile.

When I got home, I jumped on Google Maps, and located the valley I was interested in. It turns out that it actually runs about 1500 yards in length, and varies from about 250 to 300 yards in width.  That is the area I headed for yesterday.

On my way into the spot I wanted to hunt, I passed these guys along the way.  Always a good sign.

When I got to the spot that I would likely start my hunt from, I did some long range recon work with my spotting scope.

I used it to look back into the tree line, on the far side of the valley, that I was thinking of hunting along the length of.  While scoping out the area, I spotted a small pile of rocks, tucked back in the shadows, and sitting on top was a nice fat ground squirrel.  I shot the rocks with my laser range finder, and got a reading of 412 yards. Since these ground squirrels don't live in a vacuum, I knew that where there is one, there will be others.  I put the spotting scope away, and got ready to spend a few hours hunting in the tree line along the edges of that narrow valley.

My gun of choice this time, would be my FX Whisper in .22 cal.  It's the perfect gun for this type of hunting.  Light weight, easy to carry for several hours, yet it has plenty of power, and gives me 36 shots before I need to refill the airtube.  I have yet to get anywhere near that many shots when hunting these Golden Mantle ground squirrels. They tend to be well dispersed, and you have to cover a fair amount of  ground to get many shot opportunities.

I headed out across the valley floor, and into the tree line on the far side, where the rock pile I had spotted earlier was located.  That squirrel was long gone, but it wasn't long before I spotted another one, sitting on an old burned out stump, a lasered 120 yards away.  Putting some trees between myself and the furball, I started closing the distance.  

These guys are pretty small, and I like to get the range down to around 65 yards or less if I can.  At the point that I was about as close as I could get, I shot a range to the squirrel and got 57 yards.  There was a light breeze, but it was in my face, so I just put the hash mark between the first and second mildots, on the squirrels head, and touched off the shot.

It tumbled off of the stump and out of sight.  When I got over to the location, there was a lot of blood on the ground, but no squirrel.  After close examination, I could see just the tip of a squirrel tail sticking out from under a nearby rock.  Recovering the squirrel, I took a few minutes to get a couple of pictures, and then moved on.

What I found when I got over to the stump.

Squirrel recovered from under the rock at twelve o'clock in the above photo. 

Over the next couple of hours, I saw quite a few more squirrels, and got shots at many of them.  Along the way, I would occasionally stop and gather up a squirrel or three for a photo-op.

Below are some examples.

This new area turned out to be well worth checking out, and Google Maps, along with my spotting scope, were a big help.  I'm going to head back to the same spot next week. I only hunted about a third of the valley area, and want to explore and hunt the rest of it.

The Whisper is a tack driver.  When I got the crosshairs on a squirrel, it went down.  The long shots of the day were just over 60 yards.  

The forest is in full bloom, and a great place to spend a few hours hunting ground squirrels.  I'm looking forward to heading back out there again next week and continuing the adventure.  

 

 

 

Went Out To Sight In My FX Whisper - And Found A Nice Ground Squirrel Area As A Bonus

FX Whisper, sporting her new Hawke 4-12x50mm, Panorama EV Scope. 

The local temps finally dropped about ten degrees, and the humidity dropped by about thirty percent, so I thought I would take the opportunity to get out and get my Whisper sighted in with her new scope.

I only had about three hours to spend, so I decided to hit an area not to far away, and one that I had driven by many times.   The Forest Service map showed a 4x4 road that paralleled the county road for about three miles.  I had never taken it before, because with that easy access, I figured it would probably get a lot of traffic from the local hikers and bikers.  Nothing wrong with hikers and bikers, but my past experience had shown that a lot of those folks aren't real compatible with hunters. Especially this hunter.

I found the turn off, and headed down the 4x4 track.  It went in about a half mile before it turned and started paralleling the county road.  It was a pretty drive through the pine trees, but I was looking for a place that I could pull out and set up my target frame at 40 yards.

I was down the road about a mile, and hadn't found a place flat enough for my purpose, but as I was slowly driving along, I saw a small canyon opening up off to my right.  The mouth of it is pretty well blocked by young, ten foot tall Gambel's Oaks, and Ponderosa Pine trees.

Because of the density of the trees, I couldn't really see back into the area, but as I drove along, I suddenly came to a spot where a game trail exited the canyon, and there was a path through the trees.  I used my binos to sneak a peek back in there, and liked what I saw. Piles of deadfall, stumps, and blowdowns, with plenty of open area.  I decided that after I got the Whisper sighted in, I would come back and check it out. Anyone hiking, or biking down the road, wouldn't even know I was there. Another advantage to hunting with a quiet airgun, which my Whisper is, is no muzzle report to startle the tree huggers.

About 200 yards further down the road, I found the ideal spot to sight in the Whisper. It took all of five shots.  The first shot at 40 yards hit about two inches high, and one inch left.  I made a scope adjustment and fired another shot.  Almost there.  One more fine adjustment, and fire for effect. The next three shots were touching, right where I wanted on the target. Great, now lets go check out that canyon.

I hiked back down the road, and picking up the game trail, I headed into the canyon.  As soon as I was clear of the young trees, I started glassing the area.  It was great looking ground squirrel country, and within seconds I spotted squirrels out and about.

The first one I have a shot at is sitting on an old blowdown log at 52 yards.  It's dead calm back in there, so I just hold a little high for the 52 yard distance, center him with the vertical crosshair, and squeeze off the shot.  The pellet knocked him off of the log and out of sight.  

When I got over to him, I could see that the pellet had taken him through both shoulders.  I stopped for a photo-op, and then continued to hunt.  A little further into the canyon, I spotted three squirrels at distances of 43, 48, and 57 yards.  I started with the 57 yarder first, the 48 yarder second, and the one at 43 yards last.   I dropped them all with four shots.  I missed the first one, a bit high at 57 yards, but he didn't spook, and I got him with the second pellet.  The other two were one shot kills. Three squirrels in about 40 seconds, not bad.

The three taken at 43, 48, and 57 yards.

About this time, a pair of Red Tail hawks came screeching through the area, and that was the end of seeing any squirrels for about twenty minutes.

Things finally quieted down, and the squirrels started to appear again.  I hunted for another thirty minutes or so, and got three more ground squirrels.  The area turned out to be worth checking out, and I'll be back when I have more time to spend.

A couple more pictures from the hunt. 

 

The Whisper, Hawke Panorama EV scope combination is working out great.  I think I finally have this rifle set up just the way I want.  It's been a long time coming.

 

 

A Trio Of Hawkes - Ready To Pounce On Small Game - And Varmints

L-R, Benjamin Discovery .22, FX Rapier .22, FX Whisper .22.   All with Hawke Panorama AO IR EV series scopes mounted.

A couple of months ago, I picked up one of the Hawke Panorama AO IR EV 4-12x40mm scopes for my Disco.  At the time, I was looking for a scope to replace the Bushnell Legend that I had mounted on her.  

The Legend is a nice scope, but I always found myself wishing that the crosshairs were a bit thinner, and that it would take a sunshade.  After some research, I settled on the Hawke Panorama AO IR EV series to meet my needs.  The Panorama series do not include a sunshade, but they are available as an add on accessory.

I've had the scope mounted on my Disco for a couple of months now, have had the rifle out on a half dozen ground squirrel hunts, and I am really pleased with the performance of this scope.  So pleased that I ordered up a couple more.  Another 4-12x40mm for my RWS Rapier, and a 4-12x50mm for my FX Whisper.

Below is a shot of the end of the box.  It shows the floating reticle. Hawke offers a couple of different reticle options on this model, I went with the half mildot.  Since the reticle is etched into glass, and not attached to the edge of a tube, there are no mechanical strength issues, and they can make it very fine.

These scopes have the front adjustable AO.  The third knob on the left side of the scope, is the on/off brightness control, for the illuminated reticle.  Using this control, you can choose either red or blue illumination. 

About half of my scopes are side focus, and the others have the front AO. I switch between the two types of focus adjustment, pretty much seamlessly. 

Above is the 4-12x40mm Hawke Panorama AO IR EV mounted on my Disco. At a length of 39 inches, this rifle is essentially carbine in size, and weighs 7.2 pounds as you see her. It's just a great size and weight to carry for hours while hunting either ground squirrels or tree squirrels.  

Above is my RWS Rapier.  I replaced a Leupold 3-9x33mm EFR scope, that was on her, with a 4-12x40mm Panorama AO IR EV.   I've had a love, hate, relationship with the Leupold for years.  It's a nice scope, but I'm always just a bit dissatisfied with the duplex crosshair, and the fact that it doesn't take a sunshade.  

After hunting with the Hawke Panorama on my Disco, I decided that the same scope on the Rapier, would be everything I was looking for.  Fine crosshair, sunshade, and a weight of only 17.3 ounces.  

At only 40 inches in length, this rifle is also carbine in size.  It weighs 8.5 pounds, but because of the excellent balance, seems lighter.

I needed a set of medium scope mounts for the Rapier, so I ordered a set of the Hawke's to try.  They are very nicely made, and are lined, to help minimize ring rash on the scope tube.   

Last, but not least, is my FX Whisper.  I've had a BSA scope mounted on her, and once again, I was not happy with the thickness of the crosshairs. The BSA probably has the thickest crosshairs of any of my scopes.  A perfect candidate to be replaced with a Panorama AO IR EV.  

I went with the 4-12x50mm Panorama for this rifle, simply because a scope with a large objective looks better on this gun.  Because of the height of the magazine, the use of high rings is a must.  A scope with a 40mm objective looks goofy on this rifle. How's that for some scope vanity.  LOL.

This rifle runs 42.25 inches in length, but only weighs a few ounces more than my Disco. The synthetic stock really keeps the weight down.

Next up, is to get the Rapier and Whisper sighted in with their new glass, and get ready to do some ground squirrel hunting with them.

Here recently, It has been too darned warm and humid to do any actual in the field hunting. Nothing like 85 degrees, and 85 percent humidity to kill my desire to do much hiking around.  For about another month, It's the monsoon season up here, and remains fairly warm and humid, especially humid.

Rather than waste the time though, I've been scouting new areas for ground squirrels. Riding around in my air conditioned 4x4 isn't bad at all.  Last week, I found a couple of really good spots.  In both areas, using my binoculars, I could see lots of squirrels sitting on stumps and deadfall.

Now, I just need to wait for the humidity to drop back down into the 20/30 percent range, and we'll be on the hunt.  I love hunting these guys in the deep forest.  There is just nothing like it. 

While scouting, I started taking some pictures of some of the squirrels I came across. Here's a couple of examples, shot from inside my vehicle.

As soon as I have some time, I'm going to post a story or two about the scouting experience.  It has been a blast, and time really well spent.  Plus I've had a chance to see a lot of really beautiful country.

FX Whisper .22 - Goes To Local Park - For Ground Squirrel Hunt

Park in the middle of the forest.

The above picture shows what is known, in the local vernacular, as a park.  Most places would probably just call it a meadow.    

It was a gorgeous day, so I decided to take a trip to the local forest, just to hang out for a few hours, and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.  Of course I took an airgun along, just in case I got the urge to do a little ground squirrel hunting.

On my way out of town, I stopped and grabbed a $5 footlong for lunch.  I didn't really have a lot planned, just basically a kick back kind of day. Not planning to do much hunting, I didn't bother to bring the video camera.

I picked a forest road, and started down it until I found this park area, that looked pretty nice, and decided to spend a few hours there.  I pulled into the shade, under a nice big Ponderosa pine tree, and broke out my collapsable canvas camp chair.

One of the things that I like about hunting ground squirrels and chipmunks in this forest is, it's a great way to hone my shooting skills for fall tree squirrel season.  All three critters share the same forest habitat, so while hunting the first two critters, I'm also scouting the same area for tree squirrel sign.  

The Abert's Tassel Eared tree squirrels build their nests in these pine trees.  They aren't great wanderers, and don't venture to far from their home ground, so once you find sign, you know there is a squirrel not to far away.  Getting a shot at one though, is a whole different issue.  They are true masters of concealment.

As I was just sitting and enjoying my lunch, one of the big furballs decided to drop by and see what I was doing in its neighborhood.  It was only about 30 yards away, so I snapped a quick picture of it for posterity. Come this fall, I will be back.

Abert's tree squirrel keeping an eye on me during lunch.  Look at the size of that bushy tail.

The Abert's run about two pounds in weight.  The Golden Mantle ground squirrels run about nine ounces, and the chipmunks around here weigh about three ounces.  In other words, both critters are much, much smaller that the Abert's tree squirrels. Hunting the smaller furballs is a great way to practice for hunting the much bigger tree squirrels.

The ranges that you get shots at are the same for all three types of critters.  After successfully hunting the ground squirrels and chipmunks for four or five months, and taking them regularly from 40 to 60+ yards, the tree squirrels look like they're the size of house cats, in the scope, when it's finally legal to take them starting in October.  It's almost unfair.

After finishing lunch, I decided to take a short walk along the edge of the park, and back into the trees for maybe 50 yards.  For some reason, both the chipmunks, and ground squirrels like to hang out around the edges of these parks.

I grabbed my .22 cal Whisper to take along.  I had gone a couple of hundred yards, and hadn't really seen any activity, when a chipmunk suddenly jumped up onto an old stump at what lasered to be 47 yards. As I was setting up for the shot, a ground squirrel jumped up onto the same stump from behind.  Decisions, decisions.  I decided to go for the ground squirrel.  Fate works in funny ways.  Today, the chipper caught a break.

Since I'm sighted in a half inch high at 50 yards, I held a little low, and sent the pellet on its way.  At impact, the ground squirrel was blown off the back of the stump, and the chipmunk launched itself off of the front, never to be seen again that day.

Ground squirrel taken at 47 yards with FX Whisper.

Since I wasn't real intense about hunting, I decided to head back to my vehicle.  When I got there, as I usually do before putting my gun  away, I quickly glassed the area around me.  As happens many times, I spotted a ground squirrel sitting on a stump out at 52 yards, facing to the left, watching me.

I got the rifle set up on my bipod, and since there was almost no wind, held dead on, on the squirrels ribcage.  When the pellet struck home, the squirrel just dropped in place. It didn't even roll off of the top of the stump.  Instant DRT.

Squirrel taken at 52 yards.

It turned out to be a fun few hours.  If you can dope the wind, it's darned near impossible to miss at these ranges with the .22 cal Whisper.  The 16 grain JSB's, I shoot in it, are impressive to say the least.

Next time out, I'm going to hunt my .20 cal Logun Mk II.  She's another tack driver.

 

 

Ground Squirrel Hunting Video - With The FX T12 Whisper - .22 PCP - Quiet But Deadly

The FX T12 Whisper is a PCP that you don't really hear a lot about.  I've had mine since early 2007, and she has been a stellar performer on a variety of ground squirrels, as well as prairie dogs.

It's manufactured by the FX Airgun Company out of Sweden.  They are known for making excellent quality airguns.  I have several others of theirs, and they are some of the most accurate PCP's that I have had the pleasure of shooting.

The Whisper that I own is in .22.  She takes a 12 round, self indexing magazine, and I get 36 shots on a fill.  The one complaint that some folks have, is the fact that it does not have an air gauge that shows remaining pressure.  I have never found this to be an issue.  I know I get 36 shots (3 mags) on a fill, so when I've gone through three mags, I know it's time to refill.  No big deal.

I took her out yesterday for a romp in the woods, and to see if we could maybe find a few ground squirrels.  I haven't hunted with this rifle in a couple of years, and was really looking forward to getting reacquainted.

As usual, the first thing I did, was to put my portable target frame out at 50 yards, and check my zero.  I keep a 3x5 information card on each of my rifles.  I pulled the one for the Whisper and reviewed the data for this gun.

It showed the best fill pressure to be 2900 psi to give 36 shots.  It also showed that the JSB Exact Jumbo in 15.9/16 grains to be the lead pellet of choice, and also showed that I have her sighted in at one half inch high at 50 yards.

I threw my Caldwell Shooter's Bag on the hood of my vehicle and rested the rifle on it. The wind was pretty stiff, so I waited for it to drop and fired one shot at a Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C  bullseye target.  The inner circle 10 ring, is one inch in diameter. So I then know, that by holding at six o'clock on the ten ring, it's one half inch from there to the orange dot in the center.  The pellet landed just a tiny fraction of an inch from the orange dot.  The zero is obviously still good, so I put the target frame away, geared up, and started to hunt.

I was only about 75/80 yards into the forest, when I spotted the first squirrel of the day sitting on a stump at 60 yards.  At sixty yards, I put the horizontal crosshair on the top of its head, and because of the left to right wind direction, put the vertical crosshair on the left edge of the squirrels body.  I took up the trigger pressure, the shot broke and rolled the furball off the back of the stump.  Not a bad start to what turned out to be a fun day.

A little while later, I spotted another squirrel sitting on stump, at a little over 100 yards away, and started my stalk to close the distance some.  I shouldn't have bothered.  As I was checking the squirrel through my binoculars, to make sure it hadn't bolted, a Red Tail hawk came whistling out of the trees and grabbed that sucker off the top of that stump.  I've seen that before, but it's still pretty amazing to see when it happens.  Amazing or not, I also knew that a hawk in the area would put a damper on the squirrel hunting for awhile.  

I decided to head back to my vehicle for a lunch break, to let things settle down, and hope the hawk would vacate the area that I was hunting in.  While eating my sandwich, I could see that there was actually a pair of Red Tail hawks soaring above where I was located.  Probably a mated pair.  I had lunch, and just hung out for about half an hour. The hawks eventually disappeared off to the south.

Figuring that things had settled down enough, I grabbed my rifle and headed back into the forest.  I hadn't gone but maybe a hundred yards, when I saw a squirrel hunkered down on a log, facing directly toward me.  The distance lasered at 49 yards. I set the rifle up on my bipod, and holding a bit low for that range, touched off the shot. At pellet impact, the squirrel was picked up and tossed off the back of the log.

Like I seem to manage to do at least once on every hunt, I forgot to put the camera in record mode, so didn't capture the shot on tape.  When I got up to the squirrel though, I could see that the pellet entered just under its nose and had passed the full length of its body. Instant lights out.

The afternoon was a bit overcast, windy and cool, but I was able to locate a few more squirrels, and it turned out to be a very fun day.

Below are some video clips I shot during the hunt.  They run just a bit over 3 minutes, and may take 20 to 30 seconds to load.

 

When it comes to PCP's, I think the FX Whisper is kind of a sleeper.  It sells for under a grand, and when it comes to accuracy, mine holds its own against my other guns no problem.

I really like the synthetic thumbhole stock, and I also like the fact that with the camera mounted, it only weighs a bit over eight pounds.  Even at 8000 foot elevation, I can carry this rig all day.

I've got another area in mind to check out for squirrels, and I think the Whisper will be the gun of choice for that hunt as well.