Hoosier Squirrel Hunt

What's everyone's favorite hunting ammo.

I preference accuracy over any ammo first, but if they shoot good I like.
In modern rifles, cci velocitor 40 gr hp
Strong older guns cci 36 gr mini mag
Very old, cci standard, longs, or shorts.

head shots of chest of only shot.
 
I've focused on head shots if possible but will use chest shots if the best option. Through the shoulders if so. For me the back and hind legs are the most meat.
I'm trying to avoid the high velocity .22 LR loads and hope the subsonic work well on not shedding lead. I've not tried the lead free loadings so can't comment. I miss the Winchester Dynapoint from the 1980's, was a good squirrel and cottontail rabbit bullet in my opinion. Rimfire ammo quality not as good now.
Magnum rimfire or even HV 22LR haven't worked for me and my squirrel cleaning methods either. I too try to wait for the head shot, but if never presented, body shots with high velocity hollow points just do way too much damage to their torso/abdomen and they just pull in two when I try to peel them out of their skins. A shoulder shot with a std vel lead round nose always sails through and minimizes the body damage where they won't just pull in two.

My hunting buddy tried 17hmr for a while on squirrel and quickly abandoned it in favor of greater patience and marksmanship with 22LR.
 
Got to take my older two boys out this afternoon. I was pretty proud of them, they were a couple of sneaky little Indians. We had to talk about our volume level and unnecessary movements many times! But they did really well for their ages. Two of the squirrels fed toward us and we took one inside of 5 yards unawares-it was very exciting for them. It was a good lesson for them in how close one can get to game if you are quiet and still. On the walk home, my retired neighbor was on his porch and treated them to hot chocolate while we visited and they got to see some of his collection of flintlocks, old toy cannons, pipes, arrowheads, possibles equipment, etc. and hear some of his hunting stories. Very fun afternoon!
-BrentView attachment 434069

That is such a cool photo! Great memories for dad and the kids. Respect for the way you bring them up Sir.
 
What's everyone's favorite hunting ammo.

I preference accuracy over any ammo first, but if they shoot good I like.
In modern rifles, cci velocitor 40 gr hp
Strong older guns cci 36 gr mini mag
Very old, cci standard, longs, or shorts.

head shots of chest of only shot.
@TroyF
Mine used to be the old Remington yellow jacket truncated cone.
Now the Winchester black box 42 gn.
 
What's everyone's favorite hunting ammo.

I preference accuracy over any ammo first, but if they shoot good I like.
In modern rifles, cci velocitor 40 gr hp
Strong older guns cci 36 gr mini mag
Very old, cci standard, longs, or shorts.

head shots of chest of only shot.
CCI SGB I had wanted to try but doesn't shoot well in my rifle. Sort of a round nose flat point 40 grain 22 LR bullet.
The CCI subsonic HP has best accuracy for me.
Previously used CCI Minimag hollowpoints.
 
Magnum rimfire or even HV 22LR haven't worked for me and my squirrel cleaning methods either. I too try to wait for the head shot, but if never presented, body shots with high velocity hollow points just do way too much damage to their torso/abdomen and they just pull in two when I try to peel them out of their skins. A shoulder shot with a std vel lead round nose always sails through and minimizes the body damage where they won't just pull in two.

My hunting buddy tried 17hmr for a while on squirrel and quickly abandoned it in favor of greater patience and marksmanship with 22LR.
I also tried a .17 hmr. Much too explosive in the animal.
Ive been using CCI lead free ammo. I bought a bunch a few years ago. Now I wish I had bought more!
 
Fantastic! I didn't pick up squirrel hunting until I was an adult, but am looking forward to passing on the tradition to my boys and making memories. In some ways, particularly the shot angles, hasty rests and target size/movement, I think squirrel hunting is prob a bigger learning curve than deer hunting from a tree stand.

I'm in north central Indiana, so not as much contiguous woods for the grey's, but when we've hunted the Hoosier NF down southern part of the state, they are pretty predominant there. I like both species and enjoy watching them from the deer stand, until one busts me and won't stop barking!

As far as the rifle, it is a Steyr-Mannlicher Zephyr II in 22LR with a Leupold fixed 4 power (fixed focus set for rimfire distances). I have several other CZ rimfires, telescoped and open sighted, that have served very well as squirrel rifles before this one, and I think this rifle is slightly more accurate. It has a fantastic trigger out of the box and the length of pull, palm swell and general fit when I throw it up to my shoulder is superb-for me. A lefty def could not shoot this rifle though because of the palm swell. The narrow, V-shaped, Schnabel forend is perfect for some of the field positions when using hands in awkward positions to get a rest alongside a tree for shots up into tree tops or otherwise. The scope is growing on me. The reticle is very fine and I typically like a low, fixed power scope with a coarser cross hair, even for big game when distances get a little further. I didn't get to do as much early season squirrel hunting this year, but I have a feeling I will lose the reticle somewhat in tree tops.
Losing the reticle was driving me nuts. I have a 4-16x50 on my 10/22 which works really well on ground vermin especially in low light. I could not get the focus right for the close range squirrel hunting is and on vertical shots the bore offset was driving me crazy.
You have a big advantage going subsonic suppressed. Do you find that they hold closer during multiple squirrel engagement or do they still scatter?
A serious question: with a .22, I have started using all copper rounds to avoid lead getting in the food. Is anyone concerned with lead in squirrel meat?
Nope. I'm not eating the shot parts.
@Forrest Halley
What's happened to your new squirrel gun that takes you 8 shots per animal. Bullet proof branches, odd angles and hiding spots are a polite way of say I can't hit the little buggers.
I'm telling you Bob there were some tight shots involved. I'll take a partial head shot on squirrel. You would have loved all the Korean the gun was speaking though. Pyong! Yang! Haha! With electronic muffs on you can hear the impacts.
What's everyone's favorite hunting ammo.

I preference accuracy over any ammo first, but if they shoot good I like.
In modern rifles, cci velocitor 40 gr hp
Strong older guns cci 36 gr mini mag
Very old, cci standard, longs, or shorts.

head shots of chest of only shot.
My favorite ammo is whatever I have in the gun. Right now it's some variation of a 36 gr HP high velocity. Federal Bulk or Browning. I like the Golden Bullet too. I take head or chest shots.

I was not impressed with the 22 short CB as I don't think it possesses enough energy for the job.
@TroyF
Mine used to be the old Remington yellow jacket truncated cone.
Now the Winchester black box 42 gn.
I love the Yellow Jackets. They are super accurate in my target pistol oddly enough.
 
Anyone use the cci segmenting, I've wanted to try some but never see any local, think there's a none lead Version to.

Over the last 3 years after woodcucks found are shed as a new home I've been using the last box of Aquila sss the 60gr there stupid quiet, most guns can't shoot them but my old Remington model 33 will put 10 under a dime at 50 yards.

I've shot 21 or 22 in the 3 years all but one was drt the one made it to the shed and died just under it.
 
What about air rifles guys? My FX Royale with it's Swarovski scope would make short work of these little guys, safe for urban work and silent too
 
Losing the reticle was driving me nuts. I have a 4-16x50 on my 10/22 which works really well on ground vermin especially in low light. I could not get the focus right for the close range squirrel hunting is and on vertical shots the bore offset was driving me crazy.
You have a big advantage going subsonic suppressed. Do you find that they hold closer during multiple squirrel engagement or do they still scatter?
@Forrest Halley
I have a Bushnell on another squirrel rifle that focuses much closer. The Leupold, you just have to aim over top of their head and "fuzzy them off" up close. I have a Sightron I just mounted on another I haven't tried out yet.

Yes, the suppressed, std velocity ammo is very quiet. It is quieter than an air rifle. I feel like it keeps the squirrel woods more sedate and shootable, yes.
 
Losing the reticle was driving me nuts. I have a 4-16x50 on my 10/22 which works really well on ground vermin especially in low light. I could not get the focus right for the close range squirrel hunting is and on vertical shots the bore offset was driving me crazy.
You have a big advantage going subsonic suppressed. Do you find that they hold closer during multiple squirrel engagement or do they still scatter?

Nope. I'm not eating the shot parts.

I'm telling you Bob there were some tight shots involved. I'll take a partial head shot on squirrel. You would have loved all the Korean the gun was speaking though. Pyong! Yang! Haha! With electronic muffs on you can hear the impacts.

My favorite ammo is whatever I have in the gun. Right now it's some variation of a 36 gr HP high velocity. Federal Bulk or Browning. I like the Golden Bullet too. I take head or chest shots.

I was not impressed with the 22 short CB as I don't think it possesses enough energy for the job.

I love the Yellow Jackets. They are super accurate in my target pistol oddly enough.
@Forret Halley
Maybe you could down load the 458 Lott with trailboss. No more bullet proof branches. Suppress it as well then nice and quiet.
500 grains at 1000fps, suppressed, ideal squirrel gun.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Bob
 
@Forret Halley
Maybe you could down load the 458 Lott with trailboss. No more bullet proof branches. Suppress it as well then nice and quiet.
500 grains at 1000fps, suppressed, ideal squirrel gun.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Bob
I can see it now, miss the squirrel, cut the top out of the tree as it rides it down and gives me the salute before running away.
 
One time I loaded a slug by accident, I usually have one in my vest somewhere. The squirrel stoped on a limb of a tree just in front of the trunk, I was higher since I was on a run and the tree was in a ditch, well the d&h canal. The squirrel was the same height as me, was using the shotgun since it was early season and that spot was safer.
I pulled up put the bead just under him, thinking the no6 shot would do it's job. He was facing me head on. All I remember is a pink cloud with the sun rise behind. All I found was the tail, and seen the hole in the tree.
 
@Forrest Halley
I have a Bushnell on another squirrel rifle that focuses much closer. The Leupold, you just have to aim over top of their head and "fuzzy them off" up close. I have a Sightron I just mounted on another I haven't tried out yet.

Yes, the suppressed, std velocity ammo is very quiet. It is quieter than an air rifle. I feel like it keeps the squirrel woods more sedate and shootable, yes.
I think I just had the wrong glass for the job. No worry I have a bunch of .22 rifles to select from. This one was set up as a groundhog rifle. There's an older gun that's better for the job it would appear.
 
This brings back a lot of pleasant memories, so thanks to the original poster. Here are a couple of photos from an article I wrote many years ago for an outdoor magazine (Virginia Wildlife. 1987), As I explained in the article, hunting with a .22 pistol was never a reliable way to bring home many squirrels, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to hone other hunting skills. I'm the guy in the second photo;I had a lot more hair then. And better eyes. And better eye-hand coordination. Sigh. The pistol is a little Ruger Standard .22. (Hmmm. I don't know why the pictures are sideways. Jerome, can you fix it?)

IMG_2040.jpg
IMG_2042.jpg
 
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This brings back a lot of pleasant memories, so thanks to the original poster. Here are a couple of photos from an article I wrote many years ago for an outdoor magazine (Virginia Wildlife. 1987), As I explained in the article, hunting with a .22 pistol was never a reliable way to bring home many squirrels, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to hone other hunting skills. I'm the guy in the second photo;I had a lot more hair then. And better eyes. And better eye-hand coordination. Sigh. The pistol is a little Ruger Standard .22. (Hmmm. I don't know why the pictures are sideways. Jerome, can you fix it?)

View attachment 434270View attachment 434272
I love this! I’ve also squirrel hunted with a pistol. It is significantly more difficult, but a guy learns a lot about trigger pull, pistol accuracy, etc.

A few seasons ago I grilled the squirrels. The appearance on the grill was off putting, so I haven’t done it again. They look much better when broken down into pieces.

I would like to try squirrel hunting with .22 solids, but I’ve never seen any. I imagine it would have less meat damage.
 
guys,

the best guns are PCP air rifles, quiet and more accurate than a .22. go on youtube and look up airgunguntingSA, utah air guns, etc. they shoot all kinds of small and almost medium game with air rifles. shooting a squirrel in the head at 50 yards...no big deal
 
Ha! I love it! @Stephen Ausband I too have hunted squirrel with a pistol, specifically a Ruger Mark II Target. It was quite an interesting time. I tried the approach of hunting in a Canadian Tuxedo and went into area with a series of known den trees and sat down. Now I had the pistol tucked under my arm inside the coat which was some doing given the 10½" bull barrel. They proceeded to berate me giving alarm and general discontent from distant branches.

I ignored them and proceeded to lean back and cross my ankles carefully curling my left arm behind my head. Now the picture of relaxation would just not do for the arbor dwellers who sprang from limb to branch to bid me chastisement and good riddance. I soon had four or five squirrels within ten yards in various low branches chattering away becoming bolder and bolder. Slowly and deliberately I unbuttoned the coat and reached in to grip my Mark II.

Quietly I drew the pistol and took careful aim at the first squirrel and POP! It spun backward off the far side of the branch at the shot clinging slightly with its hind legs as it expired and swung toward me as it sailed to the ground. What happened next was something out of a comedy reel.

Imagine if you will a sixty foot tree with knot holes and squirrels running in and out of them like a real live whack-a-mole. I singled out my next quarry and proceeded to chase it through around the tree up and down with several shots much to the amusement of my ancestors. Finally I made a mortal wound and it bounced off various limbs to come to rest slumped over the crotch of a large limb.
Now the squirrel was stone dead, but stuck some twenty-five feet in the air. I tried throwing sticks to dislodge the prize without joy. The tree was too big around for me to climb, so I got the brilliant notion I would shoot the squirrel out of the tree. That squirrel soaked up three or four rounds with no effect and I was then in the midst of my second magazine change. Down to my last magazine, I decided I would get right under it and fire directly upward.

A few shots later I was able to cause it to dislodge and my bullet riddled quarry came crashing down to Earth worse for wear. I definitely enjoyed the hunting of squirrels with a pistol, but ask anyone that knows me and they'll tell you I like to shoot a lot. I found it a unique approach and welcome change from the tedium of shotgun hunting. Perhaps someday I'll try it again and find renewed joy in the laughter of my young son as he looks on at the struggle.
 
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