Rifle: CZ 452 American “Squirrel Whisperer”
Scope: Clearidge Ultra XP 6-20x40AO Mildot
Ammo: SK SS HP 40 grain
Well I was certainly expecting more activity out of this day than we encountered. It was quite cold at 25 degrees and the leaves had a frozen layer of ice on them from the rain the previous day. Kinda hard to move through the woods with any stealth. We covered lots of ground and rang many “doorbells” to see if we could drum up some activity. The dogs thought they were just on a walk in the woods, but that was probably due to the lack of activity. Our first activity didn’t come until about 9:00 am.
We came to a old maple tree that was missing the upper half and had a hole running down in the trunk to the ground. My brother picked up a dead branch and chuncked it up to the open hole. Well the stick went straight into the hole and out came a squirrel. We came up with a game plan to take it, as it bladed itself from me to make an effective shot. My brother had a shot but the squirrel would have fallen into the void in the maple tree. So back to tossing sticks up in that direction. The first stick made the squirrel move but it went immediately back to its original position. The second stick made the squirrel come completely out into a position where I made a shot at about 20 yards.
The next squirrel showed itself as we were talking about how funny it was that the stick trick worked to get this squirrel. It was just across the creek. Kevin prepped for a shot as I ran film. He made a fairly easy 25 yard shot that sent the squirrel out of the tree. In taking this squirrel he found out his scope had shifted and become crooked. Along with that his crosshairs had shifted the opposite, which was very weird. We’re only talking about a $15 scope from the 1980’s is my guess. He did make the comment that it’s probably time to “upgrade” in the scope area. That was good to hear for me.
Next we moved on over to my brother’s house for some semi-urban squirrel eradication. My brother’s lot runs down to a swamp and a large wooded area. He’s aggravated every year that the squirrels get all his plums. This is another advantage for the suppressor. I can keep things quiet in the area while getting rid of some pests for him. I did end up getting two and saw three. I just failed to take pictures of those. Both shot once each in the head between 25-30 yards.
From here I rushed over to the family farm to make an afternoon hunt before Thanksgiving supper. I didn’t make the woods until 4:40 pm which only gave me about 50 minutes of light. My technique was to slow move until I caught activity. I move over 150 yards before I heard movement in the creek bottom. That squirrel evaded me by making it’s way to a nest. As I crossed the creek I heard two squirrels begin to chase one another. As I moved in the squirrels hid themselves. I quickly started to glass the area, and saw the silhouette of a squirrel about midway up a poplar tree. I settled in for a shot as light was fading quickly. I decided to range the squirrel, and the reading came back as 43.5 yards. I powered up to 20 and settled into my stix for a shot. I fired and missed, which was weird, but over powering your scope has a habit of showing you how much you wobble. The squirrel remained still, and my next shot sounded like it made contact. The squirrel ran part of the way down the tree and bailed into another. The squirrel then began barking at me.
I moved in for a better look and found the squirrel. Light was really fading now. I settled in again to my stix and fired another shot, that sounded like it connected. The squirrel came out of the tree and ran over to the base of a tree and hunched up. I was finally able to take the squirrel with the forth shot from about 20 yards. I could only find one hit of the squirrel, which was my last. I have done some reading that SK ammo’s accuracy will fall off at sub 50 degree temperatures. The temperatures at the time were around 40 and falling. I’m not making an excuse for my misses, because it certainly could have been me.
Overall it was certainly a day to be thankful for. Anytime spent chasing game in the creation of our Lord is a great day. Followed up by a great meal and time spent with family. It’s what Thanksgiving is all about.
Shots fired by myself: 7
Squirrels taken by myself: 4
