Yesterday Wade and I headed to a region of NE Oregon for some air rifle Belding ground squirrel action. We left my house about 6:00 and arrived at the cemetery about 8:20. After speaking with the grounds keeper for a few minutes we slowly drove through the cemetery to the back fence overlooking grassy range lands. There were 15-20 ground squirrels running back and forth across the grass and road as we approached where we would set up my new blind. The weather was perfect: clear, calm and about 55*. After about 20-25 minutes of setup, loading, etc. we started in. Wade was using his trusty, heavily modified .22 Mrod shooting 18.1g JSB pellets and I was using my .22 Impact shooting 24g. Griffin slugs. We both would spot the best target, alternating shots to the best of convenience and the non-shooter would range the squirrel. The groundskeeper was mowing in the same general area we were in, which spooked the squirrels and we only killed 6-7 in about 1/2 hour. We didn't see the mowing action going away anytime soon so we set off on foot along the back path and fence of the cemetery. The fence was perfect height for me to use as a rest but too tall for Wade so he used his trick tripod shooting sticks for a rest. We ended up walking a couple hundred yards, moving 30-40 yards at a time when the action slowed. Wade spotted some rock chucks on a pile of broken concrete debris and ranged them at 134 yards. I dialed in and whacked one in the neck first shot and it rolled off the pile. Wade was amazed so he took a shot and did exactly the same thing. We ended up killing 9 rock chucks off of that same general area with the longest being 155 yards. Wade was ready to shoot one but it moved and a ground squirrel ran right to that same area, stood tall on it's hind legs almost taunting Wade to shoot. I ranged it at 158 yards, Wade dialed and Ka-Whop! A very distinct sound with a direct hit and it went kicking and tumbling on the ground. Keep in mind a fatty adult is about the size of a 20oz plastic soda bottle but most are about 3/4 that size with a bunch of babies out about the size of a small potato. We ended up leaving this site about 11:00 with 39 confirmed ground squirrel kills and 9 rock chucks. A large majority of our ground squirrels were 10-55 yards. We both found the sound of the slugs hitting to be considerably louder and more easily recognizable that pellets hitting. A majority of the younger ones had their guts ripped out and blood splattered on the grass. Some were almost torn in half. They must have thinner skin and less muscle mass to hold things together. They almost looked like what a .22LR would do. The adults had entry and considerably larger exit wounds but nowhere the destruction of the young ones.
Here's the blind setup. We need to fabricate an adjustable height table that goes partially in & out of the front of the blind so we can use sand bags.
![7VgK0Up.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/7VgK0Up.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/7VgK0Up.jpg)
[/url][/img]
Here is what the back fence of the cemetery looks like. Imagine there being 20-30 squirrels running along the fence, in the grass between the fence and camera and the road in front of the fence. The center of the picture was 39 yards from the blind and the outside edges of the shooting area were about 55 yards. All right in the wheelhouse of our air rifles.
![BWRooHB.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/BWRooHB.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/BWRooHB.jpg)
[/url][/img]
The second spot we headed to was just 1/4 mile away with ground squirrels galore. Again the weather cooperated and we shot some as soon as we crossed the fence off of the Hwy ROW onto private property. We slowly walked up the private gravel road beside the main pasture area and smoked 10-12 at pretty close range. Wade's trigger adjustable tripod shooting sticks were the bomb! We climbed the fence into the pasture area and shoot out of a tin hay shed, mostly for concealment. We were still alternating shots and spotting/ranging. This area is ideal for air rifles as the furthest range was about 75 yards and most of our shooting was 20-55 yards. This pasture hadn't been grazed recently so the grass was taller than I'd liked to have so some very likely escaped. More for next time. We left there about 13:00 and headed to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch. We ended up with 63 confirmed kills there.
This poor youngster got it at about 7-8 yards as soon as the shooting started. Wade got one off the same concrete slab a couple minutes later.
![QaLSMm0.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/QaLSMm0.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/QaLSMm0.jpg)
[/url][/img]
![EGVZjWr.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/EGVZjWr.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/EGVZjWr.jpg)
[/url][/img]
This is very typical of what these slugs were doing to the young ones.
![sEpE0kZ.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/sEpE0kZ.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/sEpE0kZ.jpg)
[/url][/img]
View from lunch. The weather was becoming overcast but still calm and about 65*.
![DPVJXBJ.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/DPVJXBJ.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/DPVJXBJ.jpg)
[/url][/img]
We finished lunch and drove 10 minutes to a 3rd location, our ultimate honey hole for squirrels, arriving about 14:30. The pastures around this house hadn't been grazed so the grasses and weeds were between ankle to mid-shin height making spotting the squirrels difficult. The wind also started to pick up. We stayed inside this 1/2 acre fenced yard using the top rail of the perimeter fence as a rest. Many squirrel holes had 4-6 young ones around it, sometimes all of them standing up at the same time. Wade and I had a couple count-down double shots and each of us of had one-shot doubles. The wind was constantly getting stronger with shifting directions. We shot here for about 2 hours and had another 98 confirmed kills. We ended up leaving because we had either eliminated most of them and the weather (15-20mph gusting winds) drove them below ground. Sorry, no pics but this pic from a few years back of the same area will give you an idea of what it is like. We headed home with an even 200 squirrel and 9 rock chuck count. Not to bad. If the 2nd and 3rd locations had been grazed and the wind hadn't picked up we likely would have added another 75-100.
![BeK6ICu.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/BeK6ICu.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/BeK6ICu.jpg)
[/url][/img]
My DIY side-shot didn't work as expected with glitchy, grainy, out of sync pictures. Dang. I'll use the video camera next time. We plan on going back next month.
Here's the blind setup. We need to fabricate an adjustable height table that goes partially in & out of the front of the blind so we can use sand bags.
Here is what the back fence of the cemetery looks like. Imagine there being 20-30 squirrels running along the fence, in the grass between the fence and camera and the road in front of the fence. The center of the picture was 39 yards from the blind and the outside edges of the shooting area were about 55 yards. All right in the wheelhouse of our air rifles.
The second spot we headed to was just 1/4 mile away with ground squirrels galore. Again the weather cooperated and we shot some as soon as we crossed the fence off of the Hwy ROW onto private property. We slowly walked up the private gravel road beside the main pasture area and smoked 10-12 at pretty close range. Wade's trigger adjustable tripod shooting sticks were the bomb! We climbed the fence into the pasture area and shoot out of a tin hay shed, mostly for concealment. We were still alternating shots and spotting/ranging. This area is ideal for air rifles as the furthest range was about 75 yards and most of our shooting was 20-55 yards. This pasture hadn't been grazed recently so the grass was taller than I'd liked to have so some very likely escaped. More for next time. We left there about 13:00 and headed to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch. We ended up with 63 confirmed kills there.
This poor youngster got it at about 7-8 yards as soon as the shooting started. Wade got one off the same concrete slab a couple minutes later.
This is very typical of what these slugs were doing to the young ones.
View from lunch. The weather was becoming overcast but still calm and about 65*.
We finished lunch and drove 10 minutes to a 3rd location, our ultimate honey hole for squirrels, arriving about 14:30. The pastures around this house hadn't been grazed so the grasses and weeds were between ankle to mid-shin height making spotting the squirrels difficult. The wind also started to pick up. We stayed inside this 1/2 acre fenced yard using the top rail of the perimeter fence as a rest. Many squirrel holes had 4-6 young ones around it, sometimes all of them standing up at the same time. Wade and I had a couple count-down double shots and each of us of had one-shot doubles. The wind was constantly getting stronger with shifting directions. We shot here for about 2 hours and had another 98 confirmed kills. We ended up leaving because we had either eliminated most of them and the weather (15-20mph gusting winds) drove them below ground. Sorry, no pics but this pic from a few years back of the same area will give you an idea of what it is like. We headed home with an even 200 squirrel and 9 rock chuck count. Not to bad. If the 2nd and 3rd locations had been grazed and the wind hadn't picked up we likely would have added another 75-100.
My DIY side-shot didn't work as expected with glitchy, grainy, out of sync pictures. Dang. I'll use the video camera next time. We plan on going back next month.
