Ground Squirrel can really absorb lead and run

Looks like he's down a quart.

I've shot a lots of ground squirrels over the years and IMO, they are the toughest critters, pound for pound. Like you, I've had many head shots where the squirrel was able to run back into the hole. Their brain is pretty small, so there's a good chance a head shot is not going to put the lights out right away. I've found the heart/lung shot is better the majority of time.

Holy moly Mike! You’re not kidding when you say those GS’s are TOUGH buggers!

@mikehunt, yippie that is a lot of blood there, and looks like an CSI seen. Though no body no crime ; )

@mikehunt, I love headshots too, but since there's an abundance of those ground squirrels, try some heart lung shots. Good way to assess what's more effective. 

I've shot a lots of ground squirrels over the years and IMO, they are the toughest critters, pound for pound. Like you, I've had many head shots where the squirrel was able to run back into the hole. Their brain is pretty small, so there's a good chance a head shot is not going to put the lights out right away. I've found the heart/lung shot is better the majority of time.

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I've sent a few California ground squirrels to the great beyond in my day and have found the broadside heart/lung shot to be very effective. Absent a dead-solid rest and a reasonable range, I don't aim for the head. A 25 caliber King Heavy through the boiler works folds squirrels up like a cheap suit. Makes one helluva "Wop" too...

Justin

I've shot a lots of ground squirrels over the years and IMO, they are the toughest critters, pound for pound. Like you, I've had many head shots where the squirrel was able to run back into the hole. Their brain is pretty small, so there's a good chance a head shot is not going to put the lights out right away. I've found the heart/lung shot is better the majority of time.

Click to expand...

I've sent a few California ground squirrels to the great beyond in my day and have found the broadside heart/lung shot to be very effective. Absent a dead-solid rest and a reasonable range, I don't aim for the head. A 25 caliber King Heavy through the boiler works folds squirrels up like a cheap suit. Makes one helluva "Wop" too...

Justin

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I use this same logic on groundhogs, which are another pound for pound tough SOB. The head moves to much to get a reliable hit on them, so I go for the boiler room almost every time with devastating effects.

90% of the ground squirrels I shot are on my permission. The ranch foreman is worried about the cattle breaking their legs by stepping into the holes, so he wants the squirrels gone. As long as I keep thinning the numbers, the foreman is happy. My "job" is to get rid of the squirrels. While head shots are great to see, heart/ling shots are a lot easier and get the job done. I don't want to miss and have the squirrel run down the burrow as it might not come back up while I'm there. Yes, they might still struggle after a heart shot and stumble back to the hole, but he isn't coming back up for breakfast the next day. I might be opening a can of worms, but when I'm at the permission, I'm not worried about ethical kills, I'm just worried about the end result. And yes, a .25 pellet to the chest usually ruins their day

I need a shot to the center of the head, ideally from the front, to guarantee a clean one shot kill of a squirrel. Body shots are successful less than 10% of the time and so I do not bother to shoot if I have any doubt about hitting the center of the head. A bait station with sunflower seeds helps a great deal as does a blind/hide. I have a new .25 that produces 50% more impact than my .22 rifle and so it may be more effective with a shoulder shot if I miss the head.

Haven't shot a ground squirrel less with a pellet gun but I found body shots to work much better on my Prod (22 caliber) when I tuned it up around 18 ft lbs. Last squirrel I shot with it was a side to side chest shot just behind the front leg. Squirrel went about 3 feet up the tree and then folded up and fell to the ground stone dead. It is the 8th one shot kill in a row. When it was only at 13 or 14 ft lbs, they would run sometimes. I use domed pellets and they shoot through on side to side shots. But if I go diagonally through the squirrel they may not exit but those squirrels still folded up right away too. The pellet still did a lot of damage.

My 25 penetrates about twice as far in wet paper so I am very confident of it's penetration and have to worry more about what is behind the squirrel. It's first squirrel took two shots, however. I hit it a bit far back and the squirrel would have died but was trying to move so I put another in it. Both shots crushed the same front leg but first angled back and out in front of the back leg on the other side. Second went forward and out the back of the head. It did a few "brain flips" after the second but didn't go anywhere. Shot placement is key.

It seems ground squirrels often sit right on top of their burrows making anchoring them especially challenging. Even with a brain shot they could flip and flop back into the burrow.

It's amazing how much damage a gs can take. If you think about it the projectile to body ratio is huge.. equivalent to being greased by an m830 anti tank round.. 

Somebody need to make an m830 equivalent pellet...