Nutter #11 - "Stumpy"

Just when I thought I had their timing figured out, they surprised me again. This time of year, they have been waiting until the day warms up a bit, maybe 9 or 10 AM, before coming out. But this guy was out feeding at dawn, and it's a COLD day here.

I didn't realize it when I saw him in person, but he had a stumpy tail; probably lost the end of it in spirited negotiations with another nutter. 

I went down to the breezeway, slid the door open as quietly as possible, and this guy took off around behind the tree. I got the camera ready, unlocked the rifle and checked that a round was chambered. When I was ready, I looked up to see him sitting on a branch about 8' up, just watching me. He eventually regained his courage and went down the back side of the tree and made his way over to browse under the feeder.

When he came up to chew, I homed in on the middle of the brain, between the eye and ear, and released the 9.6 gr. Baracuda Hunter. A too-quiet report followed and too long passed between the report and impact, but I could hear the full "POK!" of the impact, which was nice. A nice little breakdance followed, but he went off camera before he launched into his biggest jump; sorry about that. While that was playing out, I checked my power setting: yep, I had left it on low power for some reason. The pellet was only moving out at ~12.5 FPE and 766 fps instead of the more usual 17 FPE and 890 fps when I have it set to medium power. For a brain shot, that's more than enough at 10 yards.

Examining the body, the pellet went in right where I intended; between the eye and ear. It exited the eye from the other side, as you might guess by the squirt.

If you don't want to watch the disclaimer and the minute of feeding footage leading up to the shot, skip ahead to about 1:22 for the impact and breakdance. Skip to 3:47 for the slo-mo impact.

I retrieved the squirrel, an adolescent male, and made a few photos, which are attached to the end of the clip. 

Like the savage men we're descended from, I brought home the meat, and proudly plopped him into the sink next to the bowl of blueberries. To my dismay, I she did not even compliment my hunting prowess. She is one of those who prefers to buy the meat where it is manufactured, at the grocery store. That's weird, because her upbringing was on a rural family farm in China, where it was commonplace to slaughter pigs and chickens, and where they bought their fish alive at the local market to slaughter at home. Did you know that in those days in China, they had public executions by firing squad, some of which she attended?

I had half a mind to fry him up right then and there, but Ivy was using the cast iron skillet to cook some homemade rolls. Also, I would've been late to work. ;) 

Without further ado, here's the video. 

 
"oldspook"Good shot. Yep. I hate watching the dance, but that was a good clean kill. I know they are dead and not feeling it but there is something in my gut that just wants them to stop. That ain't going to stop me from hunting though. I am, therefore I hunt. ;)
Do you go for chest shots then, so they don't dance, but run a bit before expiring? Or go for the headshot anyway, for the insti-kill?

I've done it both ways. I think in my back yard, I'll go for head shots whenever I can, so they don't get off the property before expiring. But in the woods later this year, I'll probably end up taking the chest shots.
 
"Smaug"
"oldspook"Good shot. Yep. I hate watching the dance, but that was a good clean kill. I know they are dead and not feeling it but there is something in my gut that just wants them to stop. That ain't going to stop me from hunting though. I am, therefore I hunt. ;)
Do you go for chest shots then, so they don't dance, but run a bit before expiring? Or go for the headshot anyway, for the insti-kill?

I've done it both ways. I think in my back yard, I'll go for head shots whenever I can, so they don't get off the property before expiring. But in the woods later this year, I'll probably end up taking the chest shots.
I do head shots because I think they are more humane and the critters are usually nailed to the spot.

One problem is them having time to snuggle up to the top side of a branch and then die. I had one that did that this year. I had to get a ladder and climb up the tree.
 
"Smaug"
"oldspook"Good shot. Yep. I hate watching the dance, but that was a good clean kill. I know they are dead and not feeling it but there is something in my gut that just wants them to stop. That ain't going to stop me from hunting though. I am, therefore I hunt. ;)
Do you go for chest shots then, so they don't dance, but run a bit before expiring? Or go for the headshot anyway, for the insti-kill?

I've done it both ways. I think in my back yard, I'll go for head shots whenever I can, so they don't get off the property before expiring. But in the woods later this year, I'll probably end up taking the chest shots.
Nice shot. The slow-mo after the shot really makes it seem like they're flipping about forever.

With a .25 @ 44FPE (25.4gr JSB Exact King Diablo @ ~844fps from my Air Wolf MCT Tactical), it's been my experience that a clean heart/lung shot < 45yrds will anchor them DRT like flipping the off switch, while a headshot can result in them flipping about even though it's lights-out.
 
"balllistic"
"Smaug"
"oldspook"Good shot. Yep. I hate watching the dance, but that was a good clean kill. I know they are dead and not feeling it but there is something in my gut that just wants them to stop. That ain't going to stop me from hunting though. I am, therefore I hunt. ;)
Do you go for chest shots then, so they don't dance, but run a bit before expiring? Or go for the headshot anyway, for the insti-kill?

I've done it both ways. I think in my back yard, I'll go for head shots whenever I can, so they don't get off the property before expiring. But in the woods later this year, I'll probably end up taking the chest shots.
Nice shot. The slow-mo after the shot really makes it seem like they're flipping about forever.

With a .25 @ 44FPE (25.4gr JSB Exact King Diablo @ ~844fps from my Air Wolf MCT Tactical), it's been my experience that a clean heart/lung shot < 45yrds will anchor them DRT like flipping the off switch, while a headshot can result in them flipping about even though it's lights-out.
Yeah, I should speed that up; it takes too long and doesn't really need to be in slo-mo.

I've seen them run off with chest shots from a 120 FPE .22 rimfire. The only time it anchors them right there is if the chest shot gets the spine too. Even a heart shot, they can run a bit. You DO have better odds of clipping the heart and spine with the bigger calibers though.
 
"Str8tshooter"I have traveled to China and thru out Asia, it is still the norm to buy your food at a outdoor open market. Nice shot!

Edit: btw, I enjoyed your Squirrel cooking video.
For small meat, like fish & chicken yes. Beef is bad and expensive, I never saw it there, except in expensive (bad) western-style steakhouses.

In the countryside, it's probably common to pick your pick too, but I cant' say for sure. The butchers in Guangzhou are open to the street; storefront is totally open. They have wooden counters and the meat just hanging all around on hooks. Mostly pork, chicken and duck. I can see how diseases spread fast there. (thinking of SARS)

Their public transit is REALLY good, compared to ours. Trains come every 5 minutes, and they're state-of-the-art European trains, too. The country would immediately fall apart without their public transit; everybody relies on it.