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First ground squirrel body recovered

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qball

qball

Member
Apr 13, 2020
8,115
3,737
CA, United States
Been going shoot ground squirrel at a friend’s permission for couple do weekends. They are tough critters and don’t really venture out pass their den much. Hit at least a dozen or more but could not recover a single body for picture till this past Sunday.

They are damn impossible getting close to, in open areas they won’t stay put outside of the borrows closer than 200 yards. This big old boy popped up at around 80 yards as I was stalking another squirrel at about 100 yards inside of the orchard. Quickly put the center dot on the head and the 23 grain slug slammed into its vital with a loud thud! Saw it fall down and scampered away, figured it went back in the hole again but I walked over to check while trying to see if there are more squirrels down the roles of the orchard. To my surprise it was laying belly up about 15 feet away from where he was hit, guess he ventured out from his home a little too far.

And holy cow this thing is big! Certainly very well fed and round!
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Pretty happy with that and just love my little impact compact for walk and stalk. Although this porker got me wondering if I should shoot heavier/larger caliber slugs for some extra knock down power. Could not find the exit wound, pretty sure the slug stayed in so it got all of ~33fpe in it's vital, these guys seem a lot tougher than their tree cousins.
 
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Ground squirrels are very aware of things within a 50 yard range, and they watch the sky for raptors. I have seen some venture much further out, 100 yards or more. It's necessary to break up your outline, my retriever, Pete, took his had off, he's bald, and the squirrels picked right up on that, I told him to put his cap back on, he needs to wear a bootie hat, as I do, Also dark clothing, not sure that full ghilliy is necessary.
 
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HogKiller said:
Ground squirrels are very aware of things within a 50 yard range, and they watch the sky for raptors. I have seen some venture much further out, 100 yards or more. It's necessary to break up your outline, my retriever, Pete, took his had off, he's bald, and the squirrels picked right up on that, I told him to put his cap back on, he needs to wear a bootie hat, as I do, Also dark clothing, not sure that full ghilliy is necessary.
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indeed they got amazing eyes! Only reason This one popped up closer is because we have thick spring weed in between the roles of trees. It was far enough to pause to see what’s going on while I was stationary already looking through my scope, they bolt if they see movements even far out to 150 yards. Think I need more camo clothing and camo underwear!

Really thinking about switching to 25 cal so the slugs have much bigger hollowpoint.
 
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If you dont get a head shot they end up dying in the den. I only take head shots on ground squirrels and rock chucks. Every once in awhile one will fall into the hole and drop back far enough to not see while doing the death dance from a head shot. plenty of blood and all my shots are on scope cam to confirm it was a good hit just one of those times they drop just right. 99% of them death dance outside the hole and are recovered.

Ground squirrels are just getting active in my area so plenty of scope cam video coming up.
 
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What slugs are you using and at what velocity? I’m surprised that you have so many crawl away. You may be getting minimal expansion on those slugs and that’s why they aren’t being killed quickly. At one point the NSA 24.8 grain slugs worked like lightning bolts on ground squirrels for me at about 950fps. Then NSA must have made a change and now they won’t expand at all. Still very very accurate though in my Crown MK2. In my Panthera the H&N HP2 30 grain .22 slugs are again like little lightning bolts when they hit squirrels; also at about 950 fps. They literally kill the squirrel almost instantly with solid shoulder hits. Even when their hole is just a couple feet away they never make it.
Kenny
 
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Gerry52 said:
Camo shirt, hat & face covering makes a BIG difference in not being spotted by them too quickly.CA. I also have a CHEAP ($24) ghillie type poncho I can throw on if I need more hide coverage.
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I really don't have too much of an issue, I have a building behind me or I'm in the shade of trees. If I REALLY wanted a challenge I'd use a huge table but it adds 15 yards to the distance and ...worse part...points me towards a house 250 yards out, my max range for the critters is 125 yards
 
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Kgphotos said:
What slugs are you using and at what velocity? I’m surprised that you have so many crawl away. You may be getting minimal expansion on those slugs and that’s why they aren’t being killed quickly. At one point the NSA 24.8 grain slugs worked like lightning bolts on ground squirrels for me at about 950fps. Then NSA must have made a change and now they won’t expand at all. Still very very accurate though in my Crown MK2. In my Panthera the H&N HP2 30 grain .22 slugs are again like little lightning bolts when they hit squirrels; also at about 950 fps. They literally kill the squirrel almost instantly with solid shoulder hits. Even when their hole is just a couple feet away they never make it.
Kenny
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If your replying to me, I never said they get away unless I place a 💩 shot. I use everything from JSB @ 32 ft/lbs to HPII @ 62 ft/lbs. JSB's are within 40 yards. All I have to do is walk outside and sit under the car port.
 
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Squirrels are just tough. We absolutely bleed energy no matter how powerful we think our airguns are once we start approaching 100 yards. Up close, the most wicked energy you can achieve might trump accuracy and yield slightly better results. At distance, stick with whatever gives you the most accuracy. If it only scurried 15 feet, that was a good hit.
 
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Ta-Ta Toothie said:
Maybe I got wimpy ground squirrels in my neck of the woods. They don't make it back unless I place a bad shot. And I usually take body shots. They just floop like fish.
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What type of ground squirrels are in your area? They vary in size and I would imagine tenacity. My local ground squirrels which are columbian ground squirrels can get pretty good sized and can be tough as nails. I hit one with a .223 that hit him mid body at about 50 yds away. I was using open sights on an AR- 15 so not a precision rifle I normal do ground squirrel work with. Blew his guts out and he ran 20 yds or so dragging his entrails behind him and into a burrow.
 
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LDP said:
What type of ground squirrels are in your area? They vary in size and I would imagine tenacity. My local ground squirrels which are columbian ground squirrels can get pretty good sized and can be tough as nails. I hit one with a .223 that hit him mid body at about 50 yds away. I was using open sights on an AR- 15 so not a precision rifle I normal do ground squirrel work with. Blew his guts out and he ran 20 yds or so dragging his entrails behind him and into a burrow.
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I actually don't really know. Whatever is in eastern southern California. I would say the average is 15" head to tail.
 
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Ta-Ta Toothie said:
I actually don't really know. Whatever is in eastern southern California. I would say the average is 15" head to tail.
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Looks like round tailed ground squirrels (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus ) inhabit that area of California. Based on the size description and pictures they certainly look like they are not the beasts our Columbian ground squirrels can be.
 
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