Bagged this gray squirrel this evening with my Lelya at around 20-25 yards with a headshot. It was about 30F with a very light residual coat of snow on the ground. Very little wind, overcast a with periods of good sunlight. Gotta clean it and bag it for the freezer. More to come….
Edited to add write-up, additional photos, and correct typos.
I went out and posted up in one of my regular areas. The silence was serene. I’ve grown to love the flap of the different birds’ wings as they fly overhead. Crows’ wing flaps almost sound like denim rubbing together. Anyhow, it was cold but not too windy and the cool air felt good to inhale when I pulled my gaiter beneath my nose to glass the area with my binos. I found myself sifting through my thoughts and really just taking in the beauty of the woods and nature in general. At this point I thought, “If I don’t get anything today, I’m glad I came out here. This is beautiful.” I don’t think the photos do this place much justice and I realize beauty is a subjective concept.
Below is a view from where I posted up. The red circle is where I shot and retrieved the squirrel, a few feet behind the piece of wood with snow on it below the circle.
Maybe 7-12 minutes pass and I hear a noise. Since it’s damp and icy I’m not familiar with sounds of squirrels moving around in these conditions, but I knew it was some sort of animal. I look around and catch the squirrel as she had almost finished descending a tree. From here the process felt very routine. I kept an eye on her. I already had a pellet chambered and my gun rested across my upright knee; I was kneeling. I slowly clicked off the safety and shifted my gun from its side to its base. Next I firmly gripped and shouldered it. Then I found the squirrel in my sights. The picture was clear and I’d already ranged trees in the area. It showed up right in the range I left the parallax knob set on between 20-25 yards. As the squirrel cautiously stepped off the tree onto the ground and I aimed the thin crosshairs for the eye (the scope’s magnification was set a tad below 5x). I believe the squirrel saw me but wasn’t sure what I was doing because I made no horribly loud noises or quick movements. I moved deliberate and slowly in a fluid motion. When it paused looking in my direction I squeezed and heard that Lelya *ping,* then
POP!! I knew it was a headshot from the sound. The squirrel fell to its side and gave about 3-5 faint kicks. I didn’t move after chambering another pellet. When it stopped moving, I remained still, re-engaged the safety, placed the gun back across my knee, and waited for another to show up. I checked on it a couple more times (through my scope) to see if it was moving or suffering and I saw nothing. No movement, no need for a follow up shot. I ended up packing it in a little early because someone messaged me for assistance. I didn’t see any more squirrels, but I got to enjoy some other wildlife during my brief outing. It was nice to take some time and get back out there.
A view of a nearby branch of the creek to the right of the first photo
This is more to the right, but behind me
Upon examination of the squirrel when I went to retrieve it, the POI was in front of the left eye and the pellet exited behind the right eye just below the right ear. The 1st photo at the top is how and where she fell. I flipped her over to take the photo below.
Other than some fleas, she looked healthy. When I cleaned her I didn’t get a great look at all of the organs because I was racing the sunset, but from what I did see of the lungs, heart, liver, and some of the intestinal tract, she appeared healthy. She’s now in the freezer.
Gear: .25 EDgun Lelya 2.0 fitted with a Vector Veyron 3-12x44mm FFP scope and Vector rings, and a Midway single point sling. Vortex Diamondback HD OPMOD 10x binoculars, .25 JSB King Diabolo 25.39 grain pellets, camouflage clothing, and a cheap $2-$3 neoprene seat cushion from Wally’s World to kneel on.
Edited to add write-up, additional photos, and correct typos.
I went out and posted up in one of my regular areas. The silence was serene. I’ve grown to love the flap of the different birds’ wings as they fly overhead. Crows’ wing flaps almost sound like denim rubbing together. Anyhow, it was cold but not too windy and the cool air felt good to inhale when I pulled my gaiter beneath my nose to glass the area with my binos. I found myself sifting through my thoughts and really just taking in the beauty of the woods and nature in general. At this point I thought, “If I don’t get anything today, I’m glad I came out here. This is beautiful.” I don’t think the photos do this place much justice and I realize beauty is a subjective concept.
Below is a view from where I posted up. The red circle is where I shot and retrieved the squirrel, a few feet behind the piece of wood with snow on it below the circle.
Maybe 7-12 minutes pass and I hear a noise. Since it’s damp and icy I’m not familiar with sounds of squirrels moving around in these conditions, but I knew it was some sort of animal. I look around and catch the squirrel as she had almost finished descending a tree. From here the process felt very routine. I kept an eye on her. I already had a pellet chambered and my gun rested across my upright knee; I was kneeling. I slowly clicked off the safety and shifted my gun from its side to its base. Next I firmly gripped and shouldered it. Then I found the squirrel in my sights. The picture was clear and I’d already ranged trees in the area. It showed up right in the range I left the parallax knob set on between 20-25 yards. As the squirrel cautiously stepped off the tree onto the ground and I aimed the thin crosshairs for the eye (the scope’s magnification was set a tad below 5x). I believe the squirrel saw me but wasn’t sure what I was doing because I made no horribly loud noises or quick movements. I moved deliberate and slowly in a fluid motion. When it paused looking in my direction I squeezed and heard that Lelya *ping,* then
POP!! I knew it was a headshot from the sound. The squirrel fell to its side and gave about 3-5 faint kicks. I didn’t move after chambering another pellet. When it stopped moving, I remained still, re-engaged the safety, placed the gun back across my knee, and waited for another to show up. I checked on it a couple more times (through my scope) to see if it was moving or suffering and I saw nothing. No movement, no need for a follow up shot. I ended up packing it in a little early because someone messaged me for assistance. I didn’t see any more squirrels, but I got to enjoy some other wildlife during my brief outing. It was nice to take some time and get back out there. A view of a nearby branch of the creek to the right of the first photo
This is more to the right, but behind me
Upon examination of the squirrel when I went to retrieve it, the POI was in front of the left eye and the pellet exited behind the right eye just below the right ear. The 1st photo at the top is how and where she fell. I flipped her over to take the photo below.
Other than some fleas, she looked healthy. When I cleaned her I didn’t get a great look at all of the organs because I was racing the sunset, but from what I did see of the lungs, heart, liver, and some of the intestinal tract, she appeared healthy. She’s now in the freezer.
Gear: .25 EDgun Lelya 2.0 fitted with a Vector Veyron 3-12x44mm FFP scope and Vector rings, and a Midway single point sling. Vortex Diamondback HD OPMOD 10x binoculars, .25 JSB King Diabolo 25.39 grain pellets, camouflage clothing, and a cheap $2-$3 neoprene seat cushion from Wally’s World to kneel on.
!