This is the one I saw in the back yard, as I was getting ready to head out.
It was making its way across: bound, a couple sniffs around, bound again. It made its way up onto my deck, then onto the woodpile that borders that side of the back yard. I squatted down a little to try to thread a shot between the slats of the deck railing. It was tough, the sun was right in my eyes, and if I shielded my eye with the other hand, the gun was too shaky. Finally, I took a seat on the deck in the field target position. With the S510 resting on my knee, I could use the left hand to shade my eye without being TOO shaky.
I settled on what I thought would be a boiler room shot. Probably about 20 yards. "chik-WHOCK!" She jumped up, and then ran up a tree, and watched me for a bit. I chambered another JSB 18. She made the association and got the hell out of there. She went two more trees down and I searched in vain to find her. Finally, I saw her on the ground, next to the tree she had jumped into. Whether she went down on purpose or fell because she was losing blood pressure and passed out, I can't say.
I re-acquired her through the scope, and estimated she was about 30 yards out now. But thankfully, she was in the shade and I didn't have to look so much into the sun. I could see she was on Red Alert, probably in pain and shock. Eyes wide, chest heaving. This gun is at zero from 13 to about 30 yards. I lined up on the head, from my fully supported field target position. (seated, arms wrapped around knees, rifle rested on meat of the left arm) I lined up for a head shot to finish her off. That was a bit optimistic of me.
I sent the lead: "POK!" She face-planted and started the fancy dance. "Head shot at 30 yards without a proper rest, YES!" thought I. It was kind of breezy, but I'm not blaming that. The gun is 1/2" at 50 yards, if I do my part, so I'm not blaming that either. Just a good old-fashioned doe fever and real-world hunting compromises.
The first shot went in right at the bottom of the upper chest area, but the angle was such that it went diagonally backwards from there. Broke a rib, clipped a lung, through the stomach, through the intestines, through a kidney, and out the opposite side gut. That must've stung a little. Looking at the pix, she had a bit of a pot belly. Pregnant? No. That was internal bleeding. The guts were full of blood. She would not have lasted long, probably just long enough to evade me, get somewhere I couldn't find her, then conk out.
The follow-up shot, of which I was so proud, was not the kind of head shot I thought it was. It was more of a "Texas Head Shot". The pellet entered the left shoulder, shattered that, then broke the neck, through the bottom of the brain, through the jaw on the opposite side and stopped under under the skin. You can see the pellet in one of the shots if you view the full size one. Just near where the chopstick is exiting:
Is it just me, or is that one impressive left bicep?!
Big hematoma where the pellet wound up in her cheek.
Recovered JSB 18. This pellet went through a shoulder, spine and a jaw, not to mention whatever muscle was there. It was sent at about 20 FPE, but probably had less than 15 by the time it got 30 yards to the nutter. Impressive penetration, considering it was going well under 750 fps. I just read that 'Impact Energy Requirements' thread, which says 3 FPE is all that's required for a nutter. 3 FPE would have just left another pellet under her skin, like whoever has been shooting them with the .177 Crosman pointed pellets.* My opinion is that 8+ FPE is good for brain shots, and 12+ for good lung shots. Shots like this require probably more like 18 FPE.
* - Each squirrel had a .177 Crosman pointed pellet in her. Probably someone in the neighborhood has a 1377 and is educating them, making them more wary.
Anyway, these two are processed now, and I pressured cooked the last 4 I shot. My brother's coming up for a Bro Weekend on Saturday. We're going to be useless and play vintage video games. I think we'll have squirrel tacos on Saturday evening:
It was making its way across: bound, a couple sniffs around, bound again. It made its way up onto my deck, then onto the woodpile that borders that side of the back yard. I squatted down a little to try to thread a shot between the slats of the deck railing. It was tough, the sun was right in my eyes, and if I shielded my eye with the other hand, the gun was too shaky. Finally, I took a seat on the deck in the field target position. With the S510 resting on my knee, I could use the left hand to shade my eye without being TOO shaky.
I settled on what I thought would be a boiler room shot. Probably about 20 yards. "chik-WHOCK!" She jumped up, and then ran up a tree, and watched me for a bit. I chambered another JSB 18. She made the association and got the hell out of there. She went two more trees down and I searched in vain to find her. Finally, I saw her on the ground, next to the tree she had jumped into. Whether she went down on purpose or fell because she was losing blood pressure and passed out, I can't say.
I re-acquired her through the scope, and estimated she was about 30 yards out now. But thankfully, she was in the shade and I didn't have to look so much into the sun. I could see she was on Red Alert, probably in pain and shock. Eyes wide, chest heaving. This gun is at zero from 13 to about 30 yards. I lined up on the head, from my fully supported field target position. (seated, arms wrapped around knees, rifle rested on meat of the left arm) I lined up for a head shot to finish her off. That was a bit optimistic of me.
I sent the lead: "POK!" She face-planted and started the fancy dance. "Head shot at 30 yards without a proper rest, YES!" thought I. It was kind of breezy, but I'm not blaming that. The gun is 1/2" at 50 yards, if I do my part, so I'm not blaming that either. Just a good old-fashioned doe fever and real-world hunting compromises.
The first shot went in right at the bottom of the upper chest area, but the angle was such that it went diagonally backwards from there. Broke a rib, clipped a lung, through the stomach, through the intestines, through a kidney, and out the opposite side gut. That must've stung a little. Looking at the pix, she had a bit of a pot belly. Pregnant? No. That was internal bleeding. The guts were full of blood. She would not have lasted long, probably just long enough to evade me, get somewhere I couldn't find her, then conk out.
The follow-up shot, of which I was so proud, was not the kind of head shot I thought it was. It was more of a "Texas Head Shot". The pellet entered the left shoulder, shattered that, then broke the neck, through the bottom of the brain, through the jaw on the opposite side and stopped under under the skin. You can see the pellet in one of the shots if you view the full size one. Just near where the chopstick is exiting:
Is it just me, or is that one impressive left bicep?!
Big hematoma where the pellet wound up in her cheek.
Recovered JSB 18. This pellet went through a shoulder, spine and a jaw, not to mention whatever muscle was there. It was sent at about 20 FPE, but probably had less than 15 by the time it got 30 yards to the nutter. Impressive penetration, considering it was going well under 750 fps. I just read that 'Impact Energy Requirements' thread, which says 3 FPE is all that's required for a nutter. 3 FPE would have just left another pellet under her skin, like whoever has been shooting them with the .177 Crosman pointed pellets.* My opinion is that 8+ FPE is good for brain shots, and 12+ for good lung shots. Shots like this require probably more like 18 FPE.
* - Each squirrel had a .177 Crosman pointed pellet in her. Probably someone in the neighborhood has a 1377 and is educating them, making them more wary.
Anyway, these two are processed now, and I pressured cooked the last 4 I shot. My brother's coming up for a Bro Weekend on Saturday. We're going to be useless and play vintage video games. I think we'll have squirrel tacos on Saturday evening:
.