I had a few hours to myself this evening and decided what better way to spend it than swatting at mosquitoes with my gun while trying to hunt squirrels! And if you are gonna be swinging your gun around, might as well save some weight and run open sights.
I made up a new aperture for an old ARH marked Williams peep and set it up on an early FWB124. A quick sight in at home, and we are off to the management area. The mosquito infested, muggy, swampy management area.
As soon as I got into the woods, I heard hickory nuts dropping and squirrels cutting. This time of year they are so focused on eating that they hardly notice you if you take it slow. But on the flip side, they hardly ever sit still, and they are usually waaayyyy up in the treetops. Not exactly good open sight conditions.
Not long after sneaking into the woods I hear a squirrel close off to my right side barking like mad. I turn to see a young squirrel stuck to the side of a shagbark hickory facing me. I swiftly unslung and shouldered my iron and put the front post right under his chin. The Crosman Premier struck home and he fell stone dead right there.
After watching a few more squirrels working the treetops for about an hour, I set off walking. Didn't take long to hear another startled squirrel scolding me from about 20 yards away. I found him about 15 feet up perched on limb, his tail twitching gave him away. I was next to a small tree and was able to get a supported shot, and settled for a heart/lung shot. One shot and he fell dead within a few seconds.
After retrieving this one, I snuck along for another 75 yards or so, all the while scanning the treetops. For whatever reason, something caught my eye in the fork of a big oak, waaaayyy up top. There was a lump, right in the fork. A quick glance through my binos confirmed it was a big grey trying to keep a low profile. I was able to sneak next to a big pine and steady my shot. It was quite a stretch, but the way the squirrel was positioned it was either going to be a clean miss, or a clean lung hit. I aimed dead on and squeezed off a shot, THACK! Hit low, nothing but tree bark. I quickly reloaded, looked through the binos to see where I hit, and aimed again. THUD. I added some elevation and the shot hit true right in the shoulder. The squirrel fell dead, for what looked to be a three second fall lol.
I gathered up my prize, and headed for the car. My Thermacell was running low, and it was getting dim out. I didn't quite make the hole in my new aperture big enough for low light hunting, that was blatantly obvious soon as the light started fading.
Anyway, shooting open sights from time to time sure keeps you humble. Oh and the gun only puts out about 10.5fpe. And that big grey hit in the shoulder? He must have been 30 yards or better and the pellet passed through breaking both shoulders the heart, and was hanging under the skin on the far side. Sounds like plenty to me.
Anyway, thanks for tagging along. I'm not much for remembering to take pics.
I made up a new aperture for an old ARH marked Williams peep and set it up on an early FWB124. A quick sight in at home, and we are off to the management area. The mosquito infested, muggy, swampy management area.
As soon as I got into the woods, I heard hickory nuts dropping and squirrels cutting. This time of year they are so focused on eating that they hardly notice you if you take it slow. But on the flip side, they hardly ever sit still, and they are usually waaayyyy up in the treetops. Not exactly good open sight conditions.
Not long after sneaking into the woods I hear a squirrel close off to my right side barking like mad. I turn to see a young squirrel stuck to the side of a shagbark hickory facing me. I swiftly unslung and shouldered my iron and put the front post right under his chin. The Crosman Premier struck home and he fell stone dead right there.
After watching a few more squirrels working the treetops for about an hour, I set off walking. Didn't take long to hear another startled squirrel scolding me from about 20 yards away. I found him about 15 feet up perched on limb, his tail twitching gave him away. I was next to a small tree and was able to get a supported shot, and settled for a heart/lung shot. One shot and he fell dead within a few seconds.
After retrieving this one, I snuck along for another 75 yards or so, all the while scanning the treetops. For whatever reason, something caught my eye in the fork of a big oak, waaaayyy up top. There was a lump, right in the fork. A quick glance through my binos confirmed it was a big grey trying to keep a low profile. I was able to sneak next to a big pine and steady my shot. It was quite a stretch, but the way the squirrel was positioned it was either going to be a clean miss, or a clean lung hit. I aimed dead on and squeezed off a shot, THACK! Hit low, nothing but tree bark. I quickly reloaded, looked through the binos to see where I hit, and aimed again. THUD. I added some elevation and the shot hit true right in the shoulder. The squirrel fell dead, for what looked to be a three second fall lol.
I gathered up my prize, and headed for the car. My Thermacell was running low, and it was getting dim out. I didn't quite make the hole in my new aperture big enough for low light hunting, that was blatantly obvious soon as the light started fading.
Anyway, shooting open sights from time to time sure keeps you humble. Oh and the gun only puts out about 10.5fpe. And that big grey hit in the shoulder? He must have been 30 yards or better and the pellet passed through breaking both shoulders the heart, and was hanging under the skin on the far side. Sounds like plenty to me.
Anyway, thanks for tagging along. I'm not much for remembering to take pics.
, very nice. 
