Anyone Hunt Squirrel With A .35?

[jawshunting]

I completely understand a squirrel can be killed with .177, .22, .25 and .30. I have personally done it. I know that .35 is overkill. My question is does anyone here use a .35. Head shots only I believe would be no problem. But sometimes I screw up and make a body shot. Just thinking that may be a ruined squirrel. And I definitely clean and eat them. Thoughts?

 

[HubenK1Sniper92]

Use what ya want, I use 30 cals occasionally but I don’t eat tree rats, I have been saving them though and throwing them in my garage beer fridge freezer until fall and grind them up for bait for trapping season

 

[scubajeeper]

I can make a squirrel gravy that will make you slap yo mamma! We eat them down here and I always try to head shoot them. You’re right, it doesn’t matter what you send through their noggin, they’re coming down. I don’t see a problem using a .35, but you’re going to ruin some meat if you take a body shot.

I shot one behind the shoulder with my .25 thinking he’d drop only to have him run to the trunk, if there had been a hole, I’d lost him, fortunately he expired and fell. To me, the only shot on a squirrel is the head so IMHO, it really doesn’t matter the caliber.

 

[Contndr35BB]

I completely understand a squirrel can be killed with .177, .22, .25 and .30. I have personally done it. I know that .35 is overkill. My question is does anyone here use a .35. Head shots only I believe would be no problem. But sometimes I screw up and make a body shot. Just thinking that may be a ruined squirrel. And I definitely clean and eat them. Thoughts?

Jaws , Hello . I've used .22 Hades w/ great results on head , neck or shoulder shots . I believe any hollow point would do as good , just that Hades groups well in all my guns.

 

[beerthief]

Only thing i can think of to not use a .35 is when you miss , thats a sizable chunk of lead to be flying around .

 

[Mr_Potatoes]

I completely understand a squirrel can be killed with .177, .22, .25 and .30. I have personally done it. I know that .35 is overkill. My question is does anyone here use a .35. Head shots only I believe would be no problem. But sometimes I screw up and make a body shot. Just thinking that may be a ruined squirrel. And I definitely clean and eat them. Thoughts?

no issues with this at all, just verify your backstop is safe. the projectile is not going fast enough to "explode" a squirrel. If you hit them in the boiler room you might lose the front legs but theres not that much there to begin with. I shoot Iguanas all the time with .357. Goes straight through. I do recommend Lucky 777 ammo for his .357 "meatpunch" slugs. they dump more energy into the target versus domed diablo.

 

[AmosBurton]

I'm picturing headless squirrels which would make skinning easier but messier. LOL

 

[Yoda_1794]

I'll just leave this here...not my video. Click at your own risk

 

[OldSpook]

Too much gun for in town. YMMV ofcourse but mistakes happen.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

We do not have squirrels here but we have mongoose that is pretty much the same size,
I have hunted them with .357 and I don't feel it's overkill,.....I take the low neck/High shoulder shot, devastating and very easy to make and if you looking for meat it does not ruin any,......Win, win,win

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Use what ya want, I use 30 cals occasionally but I don’t eat tree rats, I have been saving them though and throwing them in my garage beer fridge freezer until fall and grind them up for bait for trapping season

That's awesome and disgusting at the same time! I feed my kills to my snake after a good freeze for parasites. The smell of frozen then thawed squirrel is a dis"stinct" odor! Can only imagine them ground up.

 

[edgunleshiy]

I'll just leave this here...not my video. Click at your own risk

click at your own risk lol

 

[JimD]

I don't have any experience with 9mm or 35 caliber for squirrels and will probably never have any. I've taken them with 177, 22, and 25. IMHO, 177s work best for head shots. Body shots kill fine but not as immediately as the larger calibers. So they may run some. But the 20 I've shot with 25 caliber all expired quickly. Only two ran at all and the pellet in both cases had entered their chest and stopped behind a rear leg under the skin. It went the length of the squirrel. One ran about 12 feet and the other about 15. These were about half head shots and about half body shots. In other words, 8 of 10 body shots were DRT. Maybe a 35 stops them a little quicker, maybe. 15 feet isn't very far and there was never a risk I wouldn't recover them.

On the other hand, if you hit them in the back half of the body I don't think you will like the results regardless of caliber. They will die but I doubt it will be soon enough for you to recover them in all cases.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

I think Everyone should really try the low neck/high shoulder shot, you'll be impressed how devastating it is.

We are not confined to brain or heart/lung shots only,....in small critters the low neck/high shoulder shot has been the most efficient I've found, never lose a critter.

 

[Red_Ryder_Sniper]

I think Everyone should really try the low neck/high shoulder shot, you'll be impressed how devastating it is.

We are not confined to brain or heart/lung shots only,....in small critters the low neck/high shoulder shot has been the most efficient I've found, never lose a critter.

I'll give it a try, neck shot is my favorite when hunting deer so....

 

[Spartan]

It's overkill, sure. But it's not going to tear them in half. Wouldn't be my first choice, by far, but It'll get the job done. The real downside, IMO, would be the cost per pellet/slug. You're looking at about $0.25 and up per shot for .35 whereas .22 can be had for about 4 to 5 cents per round for the quality pellets.

 

[JimD]

I like head shots, brain shots, the best. I've had them work even when I missed the brain with my 25 caliber. Crushed the skull.

Neck shots have also always killed quickly for me.

My favorite body shot is to hit at least one shoulder. Double shoulder is the best. They cannot run if you get both and they cannot climb if you get one. But with a 22 or 25 of about 30 fpe, I have not had them even try to run. DRT. But busting up the shoulders puts little bone fragments in the meat so I prefer brain shots.

 

[Wr250r]

wow that video.

 

[OldSpook]

We do not have squirrels here but we have mongoose that is pretty much the same size,
I have hunted them with .357 and I don't feel it's overkill,.....I take the low neck/High shoulder shot, devastating and very easy to make and if you looking for meat it does not ruin any,......Win, win,win

You know how make one tin can trap fo'dose, bra?

 

[N2 Shooter]

I completely understand a squirrel can be killed with .177, .22, .25 and .30. I have personally done it. I know that .35 is overkill. My question is does anyone here use a .35. Head shots only I believe would be no problem. But sometimes I screw up and make a body shot. Just thinking that may be a ruined squirrel. And I definitely clean and eat them. Thoughts?

It's not as bad as you may think. I used my Benjamin Bulldog. 357cal and eliminated two squirrels out of season as pest. I don't eat city critters, so I didn't bother to clean them, but it's not like I shot them with a .223 or anything.