This is a VITAL thread

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Got this one about an hour ago. Same 28 yards, about 1/3 up the Pecan tree. Quartering towards the shot, perfect placement. It dropped and ran like a banshee for all of 5 yards or so.

This was a situation where I could simply not afford to miss the shot by trying for the head, a slight movement & the pellet would have traveled into my neighbors, no bueno! So, a vitals shot it was.
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I'm mainly a Brain shot hunter for big game and they drop on the spot, Mongoose I prefer the low neck/high shoulder shot and they drop on the spot, collared doves I shoot them in the chest with my Gamo Hunter sport tuned to 10.5 FPE using the Skenko 10.5gr and they drop on the spot.

However on the right circumstances I will take a Heart/Lung shot on Hogs too ;) ...here we go :


Dragon Claw .50 with Airbolts,...run about30 yards

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REX mini-carbine .357 with Airbolts,...run about 30 yards

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The blood trail after you pass through a critter with an Airbolt tipped with a Snuffer or a Woodsman is unreal.
 
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Took this one just a few minutes ago. This was a 32 yard shot, quartering away from the shot. Still running with the .22 Taipan at 22fpe, Hades.
It jumped straight up in the air & ran 5 yards and tried climbing the pecan tree, maybe 2 yards up, came back down and ran 1 yard and the lights went out. All in all, it laid about 3 yards away from the spot I shot it at.
As you can see from the pics below, it wasn’t a pass through, and more than likely hit the pump.
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intenseaty22 said:
Took this one just a few minutes ago. This was a 32 yard shot, quartering away from the shot. Still running with the .22 Taipan at 22fpe, Hades.
It jumped straight up in the air & ran 5 yards and tried climbing the pecan tree, maybe 2 yards up, came back down and ran 1 yard and the lights went out. All in all, it laid about 3 yards away from the spot I shot it at.
As you can see from the pics below, it wasn’t a pass through, and more than likely hit the pump.
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For 35 yards and under, I've found 20 to 22 fpe to be a good power level. My .25 converted Stormrider falls right in there and it's a hammer on squirrels.
 
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Neighbor lady called me an hour ago and said a squirrel was running on my roof when she came up to get her paper. Quickly grabbed the last gun I was messing with because I knew this squirrel was super skittish. Caught him going away from my house towards a wood pile. Straight away is not a vital shot, it’s an everything shot. AA .25 domes were in the gun so thats what took it. It went 3 feet. Pellet still in the squirrel but I didn’t dig it out because I know it probably looks like I could reuse it.

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I've not seen vital shot reactions to skwirrels to be the same as other animals.

If the expectation is that a vital shot dies right there then power vs size of animals seems to be worth considering.

It seems to me that headshot animals prevents them from running as far away as body shot critters in my experience.

That is how I see this....
 
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It’s all about margin of error. If you’re Backyard Bob shooting stuff off feeders then a headshot is easy as you sit there in your slippers sipping coffee and shooting off a rest. In the woods where the animals are constantly on the move looking for food, it’s nice to have a bigger kill zone. I never knew a squirrel knew how to walk until I finally saw a semi domesticated neighborhood squirrel. I have a decent chance of recovering a gut shot critter. I have zero chance of recovering one with its face blown off.
 
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It isn't an absolute MUST to kill that squirrel is it? It isn't a competition and I hope no one here is having to survive only on what they've killed. I'd starve for sure. Picking and choosing your shots is a part of hunting, just as the safety portion is. Stalking closer, waiting until you can get a rest, aiming more carefully, etc. Learning from mistakes instead of repeating them. Gut shot squirrels get away, whether it's into your neighbor's yard or into a hole out in the woods and gone. A true "vitals" hit squirrel doesn't run away. It's dead. A pellet penetrated heart and lungs means no blood pressure, or no brain no run away wounded ,no guilty conscious ,no upset neighbors. If you're having poor luck try something different. The next squirrel that you recover, skin it and gut it with a mind to observe where the actual vital bits really are, then you will know for sure from then on. Practice on some small targets in the field, shooting is fun anyways and the more practice away from shooting benches the better the learning assistance. No one gets there overnight.
 
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Vetmx said:
It’s all about margin of error. If you’re Backyard Bob shooting stuff off feeders then a headshot is easy as you sit there in your slippers sipping coffee and shooting off a rest. In the woods where the animals are constantly on the move looking for food, it’s nice to have a bigger kill zone. I never knew a squirrel knew how to walk until I finally saw a semi domesticated neighborhood squirrel. I have a decent chance of recovering a gut shot critter. I have zero chance of recovering one with its face blown off.
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@Vetmx Love it. 😂😂
 
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Today’s Vital Customers. I took the Taipan out of rotation yesterday. Even though it meets my needs and performs flawlessly, it was time to give others a chance.

Enter the @KalibrGun Cricket Carbine Mini in .22, tuned for Hades at 22fpe, and shooting the NSA 17.5gr slugs almost as accurately.

Noticeable difference here is that the NSA did pass through, while the Hades didn’t.

Customer # 1 purchased a Hades at 33 yards.
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Customer # 2 went with the NSA at 25 yards.
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intenseaty22 said:
Today’s Vital Customers. I took the Taipan out of rotation yesterday. Even though it meets my needs and performs flawlessly, it was time to give others a chance.

Enter the @KalibrGun Cricket Carbine Mini in .22, tuned for Hades at 22fpe, and shooting the NSA 17.5gr slugs almost as accurately.

Noticeable difference here is that the NSA did pass through, while the Hades didn’t.

Customer # 1 purchased a Hades at 33 yards.
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Customer # 2 went with the NSA at 25 yards.
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Man those hades are pretty darn effective that's impressive
 
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intenseaty22 said:
Yeah, they work, hell of an expansion too if they hit the right bone or dense area, etc. I dug THIS ONE out of a squirrel a little bit ago.
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Hot damn! Now that's really impressive for a pellet!!! I'm a big fan of the hades, even even the lowly 177 Hades at 10 fps is a wrecking ball with vital shots. Very impressive results and they are every bit as accurate as the 10.3 heavy pellet under 40-50 yards.
 
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qball said:
Hot damn! Now that's really impressive for a pellet!!! I'm a big fan of the hades, even even the lowly 177 Hades at 10 fps is a wrecking ball with vital shots. Very impressive results and they are every bit as accurate as the 10.3 heavy pellet under 40-50 yards.
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Absolutely! I have posted here of such results. Shooting 9fpe out of my .177 HW95 and it did a number on several squirrels!
 
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