VarmintAir's Airgun Hunting Blog

The Continuing Hunting Adventures Of - P-Rod - the Marauder Pistol/Carbine - Day Two

 

Wow!  Time flies.  I meant to have this finished and posted a week ago.  I've been super busy helping our son with his business, and that's a good thing, but it has definitely cut into my playing time.  I finally had a chance to complete the day two story, and videos, from my last hunt with my Marauder pistol/carbine.  It's posted below.

 

I was out bright and early on day two.  Once again, the weather was forecast to be just about perfect, sunny with temps in the high sixties, and I wanted to make the most of it.

I almost took my AA 410CRBSL Carbine with me on this hunt, but when it was time to leave for Califonia, I went for the Marauder Pistol again. This is one of those guns that I just can't get enough of.  It is so handy to hunt with.  Plenty of power for my application.  If you've watched any of the previous videos of hunts with it, the accuracy speaks for itself, and the light weight makes it so easy to carry, that I have a hard time putting it down.

There are other places on the ranch, where longer range shooting is required, and a 30+ fpe rifle is the best choice for those, but in these steep canyons, with their close quarter, 30 to 60 yard shots, a nice light gun like this Marauder pistol/carbine makes a lot of sense. 

I headed back into the same general area I hunted the day before, but hunted a bit more East. Once again, I was soon spotting ground squirrels in the piles of deadfall, on stumps, and sitting on old logs.  I got in a full day of hunting, and took some good video clips of a lot of the shots.  

This years crop of mini vermin were thick as flees on a hounds back.  I may go back with one of my FWB 300S rifles, and have a mini squeak hunt.  I've done that in the past, and it is a ton of fun.  The 300S will drop them in their tracks out to around 45 yards.

Some mini squeaks, and a few adults, taken with one of my FWB 300S rifles, on a previous hunt.

Below, are a bunch of video clips from the hunt.  If you listen closely, in many of the slomo clips, you will hear two impacts.  The first is from the pellet impacting the squirrel, and the second, immediately following, after a complete pass through, is the pellet impacting something behind the squirrel, .

The following video may take 20/30 seconds to load, and runs a bit over 4 minutes. Thanks for watching.

 

I wish now, that I had been keeping track of the number of kills made with this Marauder pistol/carbine.  It has been very impressive to say the least. Until next time, thanks for reading and watching.

 

Pellets In Flight - A Compilation Of Clips - Showing Pellets In Flight - While Hunting With the Marauder PCP Pistol/Carbine

Some folks, myself included, like seeing shots where the pellet is visible during its flight to the target. The DYNAMIC tin pellets, with their shiny smooth finish, seem to do this quite well.  There is a very practical side to being able to see pellets in flight too.  It makes it very easy to make a slight correction in your hold, for the second shot, when the first one obviously missed by just a squirrel whisker.

The past month and a half, I've been hunting my Benjamin Marauder Pistol/Carbine, shooting the tin Sn-2 pellets.  While reviewing some of the video clips from the various hunts, I noticed a pretty good number where the pellets are clearly visible in flight.

It is especially so during the slow motion replay of the clips.  I have put together a compilation of many of those clips, showing the pellets zipping toward their intended targets.  Little tin missiles, with SHSR, (squirrel head seeking radar).

The video may take 20 to 30 seconds to load, and runs about one minute.

  

The pellet of choice.

Benjamin Marauder Pistol - Hunting California Ground Squirrels - The Sequel - Part 2

On day two, of my continuing adventure, of hunting ground squirrels with my Marauder PCP Pistol, I headed out to a canyon that has always produced a good number of squirrels. I always like hunting this canyon, because of the varied terrain.

The mouth of it is fairly open, wide and flat, with a large meadow full of stumps and old logs.  Yet as I hunt my way up into it, the canyon narrows, and the timber gets much thicker with lots of deadfall and blowdowns.  Perfect ground squirrel habitat.

The sides become very steep, and that can make for some interesting shots.  Hit a squirrel up on the side of the steep canyon wall, and it will roll a long ways until it comes to rest at the bottom.

The first shot of the day, was on a squirrel with just its head showing over the back of an old log.  The range was just under 40 yards. When the shot broke, the pellet completely penetrated the squirrels head, blowing a lot of dirt and dust off of it, as well as impacting a log behind it, leaving a nice indentation there. The power and accuracy of this rig are excellent, making head shots to 60 yards, the rule of the day.

As I slowly hunted my way up the canyon, and by using my binoculars to find them, I was able to pick off several more ground squirrels along the way .  As the vegetation is getting taller, and taller, it's becoming ever more challenging to find them.  A few weeks ago, they could easily be seen down on the ground, and sitting on mounds, now, they pretty much need to be up on something to be spotted.

Below, are some video clips from the days hunt.  They may take 20 to 30 seconds to load, and run 2 minutes 30 seconds.  Thanks for watching.

 

This little P-Rod carbine is a definite keeper.  I will be hunting with her again soon. Stay tuned for more stories, and video adventures of P-Rod doing her thing.

 

 

Benjamin Marauder Pistol - Hunting California Ground Squirrels - The Sequel - Part 1

I was in California again last week on business, and when I was finished with that, I was able to get out for a couple of days of ground squirrel hunting with my Marauder PCP Pistol.

For me,  hunting with airguns is about precision pellet placement, and having fun with the guns I hunt with.  For the hunting to be fun, the gun I'm hunting with has to be accurate.  I don't mean pretty accurate, or kind of accurate, I mean dead nuts accurate, and this Marauder pistol of mine is just that.  I won't go into the specific accuracy of this pistol now, as I've done that in a past blog entry.  You can find the story about the accuracy, by scrolling down the side bar, but let's just say this gun amazes me every time I've taken it out for ground squirrels.  

Any ground squirrel inside 50/55 yards is in very, very, serious trouble. I have the gun set up with the shoulder stock on it, and hunt it as a light weight, compact carbine. The "on squirrel" performance is everything I had hoped for, and then some.

One of the reasons that I have as much success shooting ground squirrels in  the areas I hunt, as I do, is because I spend a tremendous amount of time in my binoculars, looking for them.  I would say that probably 60/70 percent of the shots I get, are shots where I first found the squirrel with my binos.

The videos make it look like they are just sitting out everywhere, but many times, they are tucked back in the shade and shadows, sometimes only a head is showing over the edge of a mound, out of the ground, or over the back of a log, or stump.  They blend in really well with all of those things, and in a lot of those cases, they are darned near impossible to see with the naked eye.  Especially at 30 to 60 yards.  They seem to instinctively know that shade, and the darker places they inhabit, are their friend.  

A good pair of binoculars makes finding them, when they are tucked back in their hidey holes, a whole lot easier.  By the time I've got the video camera zoomed in on them for the shot, the hard part, spotting them, has already been done.

The first day out, I didn't get started until early afternoon.  I headed for a narrow canyon that has a nice creek running down the bottom of it, and is just about perfect for hunting ground squirrels with a gun like the Marauder PCP Pistol.

The lay of the land makes for shot opportunities that run from about 30 yards, out to around 60.  I don't normally hunt this area with my rifles, because the shots just aren't very challenging with a 30+ fpe gun.  

However, with my P-Rod generating 13 fpe at the muzzle, this particular canyon would be the perfect place to hunt ground squirrels, while using this compact PCP carbine.

As I was getting my gear set up, I could see several squirrels sitting on piles of deadfall, and running up, down, and across the cow path that I intended to hunt along. I knew from experience, that If I could see that many, there were even more tucked back in the shadows, that I would have to dig out using my binoculars. 

Once I had my gear all set, I slowly hunted up the canyon for several hours, glassing all of the nooks and crannies, with excellent success.  I also had my first up close and personal encounter with a rattlesnake this year.  He wasn't very big, maybe a two footer, but man was he grumpy. These snakes are very interesting. Some of the ones I encounter, never coil. All they want to do is get away.  Others, like this guy was, are grumpy before they see me, or me them.  I heard him before I could see him, and he wasn't at all happy to be sharing space with me.  Some of them, just flat don't play well with others.  I shot some video of him, and wished him luck with his squirrel hunting this year.  In the slomo clip of him, you can hear his rattles clicking away in the background.

The afternoon hunt was very successful, and I was able to shoot some good video, in real time, as I made the various shots.  Below are some video clips showing some of the hunt results, along with some footage of my buzztail friend.

The video may take 20 to 30 seconds to load, and runs just a few seconds over 5 minutes in length.

 

It was another great afternoon hunting ground squirrels with my Marauder PCP Pistol.  The Sequel, part 2, is coming soon.  Stay tuned. 

 

  

 

Benjamin Marauder Pistol - Hunting California Ground Squirrels - Part 3

This is the third, and final segment about hunting California Ground Squirrels with my Benjamin Marauder PCP Pistol.

I darned near didn't go.  I was staying at a Motel near the ranch, and the wind woke me up a couple of times during the night.  I got up about six, and when I looked out the window, things were not looking very good.

The wind was still blowing pretty good, and when I looked at the mountain, that I would be hunting on, clouds completely covered the top, and dropped down quite a ways onto the sides.

Hmm, decisions, decisions.  Well, not many things are more boring than laying around a Motel room all day, so I got dressed, grabbed some breakfast, and headed out onto the ranch.  I figured, a day on the ranch in lousy weather, is still better than a day laying around a Motel room in lousy weather.

I also remembered that up high, where I hunted the previous day, the rut was still in full swing.  Nothing gets in the way of the rut, not even inclement weather.  

California Ground Squirrels only get to chase squirrel tail once a year, and the boys do their level best to make the most of the opportunity.  I pretty much knew there would be ample squirrel activity, even if the weather was going to be on the lousy side.

When I pulled into the spot that would be my jumping off point for the days hunt, it was 46 degrees, and overcast,.  The wind was still blowing pretty good, but the good news was, as I was four wheeling into the area, I saw lots of ground squirrels, chasing ground squirrel tail.

I got geared up and headed out to hunt.  I had only gone a short distance, when I spotted a squirrel at a lasered 50 yards.  I set the Marauder Pistol up on my Stoney Point bipod, adjusted the scope's AO for a clear image, held over a bit for 50 yards, off a bit to allow for the wind, and sent a pellet on its way.  At impact, the squirrel shut down like someone had just kicked his power cord out of the wall.  

The hunt had started off great, and in spite of the windy cool weather, it turned out to be a fine day for hunting ground squirrels.  By noon, the sun had started to peek through, and the hunt turned out to be very productive, and a lot of fun.

Below, are some video clips showing some of the shots, taken in realtime, during the hunt.  If you watch closely, in many of the clips, you will see the pellet in flight as it streaks toward the target squirrel.

The video may take 20 to 30 seconds to load, and runs 4 minutes and 28 seconds.

 

What a fun several days hunting with my Marauder Pistol.  The gun is accurate, more than powerful enough to blow a pellet clear through a ground squirrel at 50 yards, and the fun factor is just off the chart.  I can hardly wait to get her out after ground squirrels again.  

I hope you have enjoyed the videos.  They give you an up close look at what this gun is capable of as a light weight, repeating, carbine sized hunter. 

Benjamin Marauder Pistol - Hunting California Ground Squirrels - Part 2

This is the second segment about hunting California Ground Squirrels with my Marauder PCP Pistol.

Spring is my absolute favorite time of year in Southern California.  The hills turn a beautiful green, the trees burst out with new green leaves, an amazing variety of wildflowers make their appearance again, and best of all, the ground squirrels are out from their winter hibernation, and squirrel hunting starts in ernest.

I have yet to fire a lead pellet in my Marauder Pistol.  It is shooting the SN-2 tin pellets so well, that I will probably just stay with that pellet, even though I don't have to use non-lead ammo here in Arizona.

On this hunt, I decided to go to an area that has a lot of deadfall and blowdowns.  The ground squirrels love to build their dens in and around that stuff.  It gives them great protection from predators, like coyotes and bobcats, and gives them a place to climb up onto, for a better view of the surrounding area.

This particular area has a lot of that going on, and because of it, there are many shot opportunities in the 30 to 50 yard range.  Just about perfect for hunting with a lower powered PCP like the Marauder pistol/carbine.

This area is also at a higher elevation, Spring is a bit slower coming up high, and because of that, the vegetation is a bit slower in getting going, and the rut is still on. The males were busy chasing the ladies all over the place, and that makes for some great shooting opportunities.

Below are some video clips that were shot real time during the hunt. The video runs 2 minutes and 58 seconds.  It may take 20 to 30 seconds to load.  Enjoy.

 

It was another great day hunting with the Benjamin Marauder PCP Pistol.

More to come in part 3.

Benjamin Marauder Pistol - Hunting California Ground Squirrels - Part 1

Well, after several false starts, last week I finally was able to get out with my new Marauder PCP Pistol, and spend several days hunting ground squirrels with it.

When I initially heard that Crosman was coming out with a PCP pistol, my interest was somewhat peaked.  Then I heard that it was going to come with a shoulder stock, and would be a .22 caliber repeater, at that point I knew that I would have to add one to my collection of hunting guns.

I had been thinking about getting something in a light weight carbine repeater, for carrying when I hunt some of the higher elevations and steeper terrain.  It sounded like the new Marauder pistol would fill the bill quite nicely.

When I received the gun from Mac1 Airguns, I cleaned the barrel and commenced to try some tin pellets in it.  Since I knew the main use for this pistol/carbine would be to hunt California Ground Squirrels with, and for me that means non-lead ammo, the focus would be on testing tin pellets.

The two that I wanted to test were the DYNAMIC SN-2, and PCP-2's. The only one I had a chance to shoot at distance, was the SN-2.  It shot really well, so I sighted in with it, and the SN-2 became the non-lead pellet of choice for my initial hunts with the Marauder pistol.

Final sight-in target with SN-2 tin pellets.  Five shots at 40 yards.

Using a 2650 psi fill, the gun is driving the 12.8 grain SN-2's at an average of 680 fps for 24 shots, generating 13 fpe at the muzzle, with an extreme spread of only 21 fps.

I knew the performance on paper was very good, but I was really interested to see what she could do in the field, on a hunt or three.

I was able to hunt with her for several days.  I killed a lot of ground squirrels, and in the process, I got a lot of video footage of shots being made in real time.  In the interest of keeping the videos to a reasonable length, I will post the hunt results in multiple segments.

As they say, if "a picture is worth a thousand words," then a video must be worth at least ten thousand pictures.

The following video is 4 minutes and 22 seconds long, and may take 20 to 30 seconds to load.

 

As I was getting my gear out to start my hunt, I was paid a visit by a mob of  ribeye's on the hoof.  They took great pleasure in rubbing cow snot all over the hood and doors of my ride.

My first impressions of the Marauder PCP Pistol, as a ground squirrel hunting rig, are extremely favorable.  It has all of the accuracy that I could want, with enough power to blow pellets clear through ground squirrels at 50 plus yards, and she's an 8 shot repeater.  Whats not to like?

When set up with the shoulder stock, she makes for a great light weight carbine.  I was looking for a nice easy to carry, accurate, medium power hunter, and it would appear that Crosman has nailed it with the Benjamin Marauder PCP Pistol.

More to follow.  

 

 

 

The Benjamin .25 Caliber Marauder - Earning Her Keep.

Over the past couple of years, I have done a series of stories on my blog about various of my airguns, "earning their keep."  What I mean by that is, how have they done when used for the primary purpose that I purchased them for, and that primary purpose of course, is for hunting.

I've had my .25 Marauder for one full cycle of the hunting seasons, almost one year, so I thought I would do an "earning her keep" story about my experiences during last years many hunts with her.

One of the first things I did, after I received her from Mac1 Airguns, was to test some pellets for use in the local prairie dog towns. My pellet of choice for this application, was the Beeman Kodiak, 30.8 grain semi dome head pellets.   The above picture shows my final sight-in target, shot at 65 yards, with the Kodiaks.  Most of my shooting in the dog towns would be at longer ranges, so a pellet with excellent long range accuracy would be needed.  The Kodiak's proved to be a great choice.

I spent most of the summer hunting prairie dogs exclusively with my .25 Marauder, and the performance was simply amazing.  I killed prairie dogs all of the way out to just past 100 yards in the wind with her, and never once wished for a more powerful rifle.  It has done everything I had hoped for when I bought it, and I am very impressed with its overall performance.

Some of the dozens of prairie dogs taken with my .25 cal Marauder.

In early October, I switched from hunting prairie dogs with her, to hunting tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and chipmunks.  I was having so much fun with the ground squirrels, and chipmunks, that serious tree squirrel hunting got a bit sidetracked.

I also switched from shooting the Beeman Kodiaks, to the Benjamin 27.8 grain dome heads.   

One of the fun things about hunting tree squirrels here in Arizona is, there are a variety of other critters that share the same habitat, and are legal to hunt at the same time.  It makes for a fun day afield.

The accuracy of my .25 Marauder is simply incredible.  I was taking the small Golden Mantle Ground Squirrels out to 70+ yards with no problem. Chipmunks to 60+ yards were almost too easy.  I would walk around all day with a big smile on my face.  This rifle will do that to you.

Some of the critters taken during squirrel season.

Abert's tree squirrel.

Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel.

Golden Mantle GS, with chipmunk for size comparison.

Golden Mantle taken at 68 yards.

Rock Squirrel.

While hunting, I had a video camera mounted to the scope on my .25 cal Marauder, and captured a lot of footage of the shots being made, in real time.  Below is a compilation of some of my favorite clips from last years hunts.  I think they do a great job of showcasing the power and accuracy of the .25 Caliber Marauder.

The video opens with a clip of a Steelplinker's Paddle Target taking three hits in half an inch, on the one inch center spinner, from the .25 Marauder, shooting the 27.8 grain Benjamin dome head pellets at 50 yards.  It really gives you a good feel for the power of the .25 cal Marauder, and does a good job of showing off the energy carried down range by these pellets.

The video may take 20 to 30 seconds to load, and runs 3 minutes, 41 seconds.

 

My .25 caliber Marauder has most definitely "earned her keep."  She's a full fledged member of my hunting rifle collection, and in the accuracy department, holds her own against guns that sell for three and four times the amount she cost me.  

I keep hoping someone will come out with an accurate .25 cal non-lead pellet.  I would love to hunt California Ground Squirrels with her, but the ranch I hunt requires the use of non-lead ammo only.  I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope we see a non-lead .25 cal pellet at some point in the future.

 

 

 

A Walk In The Fall Woods With My .25 Marauder - A Surprise Connection To My Hometown - and A Couple of Fun Shots

Sometimes, I just like to get out into the woods and see what I see.  I'm hunting, but not particularly hard.  Just sort of going for a hike with an airgun along, because you just never know.

I did just that the other day.  Once out of town, I headed down one of the hundreds of old logging roads around here, left over from the logging days of a hundred years ago. I was about four miles down the road, when I came to an area where someone had setup a deer or elk camp.  I decided that this would be my jumping off point.

Since I mostly hunt alone, the first thing that I do when I land somewhere, is to put out my SPOT emergency GPS locator, and send an "I'm okay" message to my wife here, and my son in California.  This way, should something happen, they both know exactly where I'm at in the forest.  Just a safety measure that I think is worth having.

I could see that the guys that had set up the camp, had crafted a fire pit using stones from around the area.  There was an old stump near where they had done that, and it would make a good place to set my SPOT transmitter, and turn it on while I was getting out the rest of my gear.   

When I went over to the stump to place the SPOT on it, I noticed several chunks of old cedar telephone pole that guys had brought in to use for firewood.  I found that kind of amusing, because you are surrounded by 4.5 million acres of National Forest, and you are tripping over firewood.

Anyway, as I was looking at the chunks of telephone pole, I noticed that one piece had some kind of a tag nailed to it.  The tag had printing on it. I wondered what the heck that might be.  

I was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington.  I left there as a teenager in 1960 when I joined the Navy.  I've only been back a few times, and it's been decades since the last visit.

Tacoma has got to be at least 1000 miles away from this deer/elk camp, that's located out in the middle of the forest, 30 miles from the nearest local town.  I went over to the tag to see what was printed on it.  This is what I found.

Amazing, that is the last thing I expected to see out there.  That chunk of telephone pole was a long way from home.  Love to know the story as to how it got there.  My best guess is that someone from Washington State, got drawn for an out of state elk, or deer tag, and brought firewood with them to their camp.  Or maybe a company in Tacoma, was supplying telephone poles to Arizona back in those days, and they tagged each one they sold. Who knows, but it was kind of interesting to see, and brought back some memories for me about Tacoma.

I got my gear out, and headed off into the forest to see what I might see. I soon came to a game trail and decided to hike along it for awhile. There really wasn't much moving in the way of critters, but that's okay, because just being out in the forest on a day like that is reward enough for me.

The Gambel's Oaks had changed color, and the leaves were starting to fall.  The air was crisp and clear.  There was no wind, the sky was so blue it almost hurt to look at it. The sun was out, and the temp was about 65 degrees.  The smell of the pines made me think of Christmas.  Life just doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

At different times, as I hiked along, I saw a couple of Abert's tree squirrels off in the distance, but they were both headed for parts unknown, and I wasn't motivated to try and hunt them down. Sometimes it's not about the hunt, as much as it's about just being out. For me, It was one of those "just being out" kind of days for sure.

At one point, what I thought was a bird in a tree, turned out to be a chipmunk, and at another point, I spotted a Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel at 71 yards, that was sitting on a knob, that was sticking out from the side of an old oak tree.  I dropped both critters with one shot each from the .25 Marauder.  That was the sum total of the shooting for the day.  

All in all, it was a great Fall day in the woods.  I got some good exercise, some great solitude, and even a couple of shots at vermin.  The .25 Marauder once again showed what she's about.  I love days like that.

Below is some video from the day.  It runs just over 1 minute, and may take 15/20 seconds to load.

  

Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel taken at 71 yards with a head shot.

 

Marauder .25 - One Last Hunt For Micro Mini Vermin For 2010

The weather is starting to turn cool here, and the mini varmints will be hibernating soon.  I love the challenge of hunting these guys.   It takes patience, and a lot of time is spent in the binoculars, carefully scanning the forest's downed trees, stumps, and debris piles that these critters like to hang out in.

It also takes an accurate rifle to have much success.  The two main vermin type critters that are the focus of this hunt are, the Cliff's Chipmunk, and the Golden Mantle ground squirrel.  They are both small, with the chipmunk being the smaller of the two.  

Typical shots will run from around 55 yards, on out to 70.  A gun that can shoot sub dime sized groups with its favorite pellet at 50+ yards, is what is needed for this type of hunting.  The targets are small, and the ranges are challenging.  It's excellent practice for hunting the much larger Abert's tree squirrels at similar distances.

My choice of gun for this hunt, once again, was my .25 caliber Marauder. It has accuracy in spades, and is a ton of fun to hunt with.  It also has the power to drop any Abert's Tree Squirrel I may see during the vermin hunt.

I was hunting an area that appears to be an old abandoned homestead. A couple of the buildings, and much of the original barbwire fence are still standing. There is a huge meadow, or park, as they are known around here as, and the forest completely surrounds it.  It's an ideal area to hunt these small varmints in.

I got my gear out, and mounted up for the days hunt.  The plan was to hunt from the edge of the park, back into the forest for two or three hundred yards.  I was maybe 150 yards from my vehicle, when I spotted the first chipmunk at 61 yards sitting on a stump.  I'm sighted in dead on at 50 yards, and  there was almost no wind. I let a little bit of daylight show between the crosshairs and the top of its head, and launched a 27.8 grain Benjamin dome head pellet on its way.  The pellet impact was loud, and it sent the munk flying off of the stump.

As I was working my way over to the first varmint of the day, I was continuing to glass the area and spotted a Golden Mantle ground squirrel sitting on a log at 59 yards. Using essentially the same hold as on the chipmunk, I launched a pellet at the ground squirrel, with the same result.  The pellet knocked it off of the log, and it was DRT when I got over to it.  I picked it up along with the chipper, and took a quick picture of the two together to show a size comparison.

As I continued to hunt along, I spotted movement out in the park.  When I put my binoculars on the area I saw the movement in, I saw a nice band of Pronghorn Antelope about 700 yards away.  I shot a bit of video of them, and have included it in with some of the video clips from the hunt. Also, on the way out, at the end of the day, I saw a nice elk herd that I also shot some video of.  They were a good 1000/1200 yards away.

I was having good success hunting the edge of the forest.  There were a lot of old deadfall trees, stumps, and debris left from when the area was logged many, many, years ago.  The chippers and ground squirrels just love that stuff.  I continued to drop chippers and ground squirrels along the way.  

At one point, I spotted a ground squirrel sitting on a log at 68 yards, it was facing directly at me, I placed the first mildot on its head, and gently squeezed the trigger. The pellet dropped the squirrel in place.  Literally, it didn't even fall off of the log. Instant lights out.  

I could hear and see thunder and lightening off in the distance.  It was heading my way, so I grabbed a quick picture of the squirrel beside my rifle, decided to call it a day, and headed back to my vehicle.  I managed to pick off a couple more chipmunks on my way back.  The hunt was a lot of fun, with challenging targets, and seeing the band of antelope was frosting on the cake.  I had hoped to have a shot or two at an Abert's tree squirrel, but didn't see a one.

Ground squirrel dropped in place at 68 yards with .25 cal Marauder. 

The following are some video clips from the hunt.  They may take 20/30 seconds to load, and run 3 minutes 58 seconds.