Rat #16 for the season, #4 for July

[BackStop]

Got up at 4:30am and opened up the "sniper pesting window" for a smoke (AB Puck) and coffee and noticed one rabbit eating the chicken scratch. When I started to light the cigar, I noticed (out of the corner of my eye) something scampering away from the shadow of the rabbit to run behind the garage. So, I immediately set up my make-shift rest (step ladder and couch cushion), grabbed the .177 Fortitude and adjusted the scope to focus on the rabbit. Before I got it focused, the rat came back. Nailed it with a heart shot, but don't look for the entry and exit wounds in the pics. I could not find either, although I know the shot passed through. DRT, no movement at all after the shot and no blood at all. I was aiming at the right shoulder and it was a nearly full on side shot. Confidence is high that my shot hit where I was aiming.

Shot was ~14 yards with .177 Benjamin Fortitude using CPUM 10.5 @ ~755fps for ~12-13fpe at the muzzle.

I waited to take the pics so there would be more light, so the rat was stiff. I guess I should have waited a little longer because the pics still weren't very good. Sorry...

First pic is entry side, second is exit side.

As stated above, the cigar was an Alec Bradley Puck Toro (6x5.2), pretty good!

 

[BackStop]

P.S.

I re-examined the rat in much better light and I did find the entry and exit wounds. Apparently either the shot was not as much a "full on side shot" as I thought, or the pellet took an interesting turn after entry. As I said, no blood at all except for a tiny amount I noticed around the mouth. That is what I call a perfect heart shot.

First pic is entry. Second pic is exit.

 

[Ranchibi]

Nice shot! Have shot a few rats with like yours, no apparent blood from entry or exit wounds….still find that hard to understand. It’s like the wounds were cauterized! LOL!

 

[BackStop]

Nice shot! Have shot a few rats with like yours, no apparent blood from entry or exit wounds….still find that hard to understand. It’s like the wounds were cauterized! LOL!

Thanks Ranchibi!


That's why I called it a "perfect heart shot". When you stop the heart, you stop the flow of blood. I prefer heart shots on small pests rather than head shots, but I still do take some head shots if the circumstances make it the best shot to be taken for a clean kill. However, head shots will almost always have more blood because the heart keeps beating for a little while even though the brain is dead.