Not sure if this should go on the Hunting or Target forum, but it involves a hunting shot while shooting target (25M Benchrest), so I put it here.
I was invited to shoot in my first 25M BR this past Sunday. I had heard about this air gun club from a member on AGN, so I called up the owner and asked to be invited the next time they had a shoot. So, after about six weeks or so, I saw online that they were having a 25M BR shoot (they vary the format, not always 25M BR), and requested to join in. After a few calls, e-mails, and texts, I was invited. I told him this was my first 25M BR, and I would be shooting a .22 Daystate Renegade off the installed bipod. He was fine with that as long as it wasn't a larger caliber than .22.
So, I arrived, met the five other shooters that were there, asked about the rules, put out our first targets, and we got to shooting. Slightly breezy day in Southern California, so of course it was sunny and warm. My first card was 232, and after that we set up and shot our second card, and mine was 224.
So that's when the hunting part comes in...
As we were talking, one of the guys noticed a very large ground squirrel sitting on a boulder about 8 feet higher than the range to the right of the range and looked like maybe 35 yards (turned out to be 41 yards later when I laser ranged it). So the guy to the left of me starts to pick up his BR gun and says "I'll get this one." Well, the owner of the range says "no, Mike will take this one since he's told me all about his squirrel hunting recently." YIKES!
Talk about PRESSURE!!! Here I'm the newbie, never shot 25M BR, didn't know any of these guys (yet), and I have five other guys watching as I point my Renegade in the direction of the squirrel. I'm thinking, just breath, be calm, SQUEEZE the trigger. I'm estimating 35 yards, the gun is sighted in at 28 yards for the 25M BR, so I figure pretty much point blank. The squirrel is sideways, left side to us, so I put the crosshairs aft of the left eye, a little high on the head, and squeeze the trigger. PERFECT head shot, DOA. PHEW! What a relief. The shot was about 1/4" low, middle of the head, just forward of the left ear. And when retrieved, that was one big fat squirrel, probably at least three pounds.
So after that I think I loosened up a bit, shot the last card at 234, total 690 for my first 25M BR. Afterwards we all had lunch together at the owner's home, couple of beers, great fun. Looking forward to shooting with those guys again.
I was invited to shoot in my first 25M BR this past Sunday. I had heard about this air gun club from a member on AGN, so I called up the owner and asked to be invited the next time they had a shoot. So, after about six weeks or so, I saw online that they were having a 25M BR shoot (they vary the format, not always 25M BR), and requested to join in. After a few calls, e-mails, and texts, I was invited. I told him this was my first 25M BR, and I would be shooting a .22 Daystate Renegade off the installed bipod. He was fine with that as long as it wasn't a larger caliber than .22.
So, I arrived, met the five other shooters that were there, asked about the rules, put out our first targets, and we got to shooting. Slightly breezy day in Southern California, so of course it was sunny and warm. My first card was 232, and after that we set up and shot our second card, and mine was 224.
So that's when the hunting part comes in...
As we were talking, one of the guys noticed a very large ground squirrel sitting on a boulder about 8 feet higher than the range to the right of the range and looked like maybe 35 yards (turned out to be 41 yards later when I laser ranged it). So the guy to the left of me starts to pick up his BR gun and says "I'll get this one." Well, the owner of the range says "no, Mike will take this one since he's told me all about his squirrel hunting recently." YIKES!
Talk about PRESSURE!!! Here I'm the newbie, never shot 25M BR, didn't know any of these guys (yet), and I have five other guys watching as I point my Renegade in the direction of the squirrel. I'm thinking, just breath, be calm, SQUEEZE the trigger. I'm estimating 35 yards, the gun is sighted in at 28 yards for the 25M BR, so I figure pretty much point blank. The squirrel is sideways, left side to us, so I put the crosshairs aft of the left eye, a little high on the head, and squeeze the trigger. PERFECT head shot, DOA. PHEW! What a relief. The shot was about 1/4" low, middle of the head, just forward of the left ear. And when retrieved, that was one big fat squirrel, probably at least three pounds.
So after that I think I loosened up a bit, shot the last card at 234, total 690 for my first 25M BR. Afterwards we all had lunch together at the owner's home, couple of beers, great fun. Looking forward to shooting with those guys again.
