Because j0e_bl0ggs asked...

[gitano]

He wanted to see 'the carnage':



It was CRAWLING with fleas!








Aguila SSS went through it like a hot knife through butter. As you can see, no sign of a 'hole', entrance or exit. Absolutely no 'blow-out'. Which, on a critter as small as this, that's "good".

Paul

[sakorick]

Very good!

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Cool! Squizzers hedgepigs and mogs = flea magnets!
Not a big squizzer or the Alaskan fleas are yuuuuuge..

[gitano]

It's not a big 'squizzer', but these were pretty big fleas. I'd say approaching two mm in length. Honestly, this is only the third time I've seen fleas in AK, and one of the other times was when I had shot a couple of these squirrels. The pine squirrels I shot in Fairbanks did NOT have fleas.

Never see them on ANY of the state's ungulates or bears. I never saw them on the wolves, foxes or cats I trapped. There was an infestation on the Kenai peninsula and one in Juneau. The one on the Kenai turned into a real problem for the wolf packs down there. The one in Juneau was a "cat problem" that impacted the humans rather severely. I don't THINK Alaska had fleas until The Pipe got started, but I could be mistaken about that. I certainly never knew of them from '58 through '85.

Paul

[JaDub]

Close range my .22s go right thru....... distant shots ( 20 yds ) usually end up against the skin on the opposite  side of the entrance wound side.

NASTY fleas !!!

[gitano]

What ammo do you use most?

Paul

[JaDub]

If you`re asking me , I use the heaviest pellet I can find ....... usually 14 to 16 grn. The rounded hunting pellets seem to be more accurate and penetrate farther than the lighter  pellets. They definitely carry more punch that a lighter pellet. Squirrels don`t have a chance against these.  My Gammo Whisper  .22 is pretty lethal.

[gitano]

I didn't know you were talking about a "air rifle" when you said, "my .22s". "Small" caliber air rifles are great squirrel guns.

Paul

[recoil junky]

A 40 grain Vmax is pretty lethal too. Ruins the back straps every time though.

RJ

[JaDub]

That squirrel looks too `clean` to have been shot by a .22 rifle.  I assumed ( wrongly ) that it had been done in by a pellet gun.  My bad, since I use the .22 pellet in the back yard for tree rats.

[gitano]

Yeah, the 60-grain Aguila SSS goes through stuff (like 2x6s, for example) like a hot knife through butter. This squirrel was shot at about 20 feet, "behind the shoulder", and if its arm didn't 'flop' around, (and the bloody nose and mouth), I would have thought it died of fright.

"Pellet guns" are a better choice for this kind of 'back yard' shooting of squirrels and other small vermin, but the air-rifle I have needs new seals - at least. I shot a squirrel with it at about 10 FEET. At the shot, the squirrel was knocked off the deck rail, but the pellet DIDN'T BREAK THE SKIN! (In fairness, the gun is about 55 to 60 years old.)

Paul

[JaDub]

I have to say that squirrel hide is about as tough as it comes here in Colorado. You DO need a healthy air rifle to get the job done.
 
   As far as  my .22 rifle goes......   I`m a believer in the CCI Mini Mag 36 grn.

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Yeah we have Muntjac over here that anything less than 8mm rem mag is not enough gun as they are so tough to kill - apparently...

The CCI quiet are surprisingly accurate out of the rimfire adaptor I made for the hornet - thought they would pattern like a scattergun - was hoping for all on A4 paper but they hold within 1/2" at 25yds! Deffo squizzer fodder!

[JaDub]

My .22 Glenfield / Marlin  shooting the Mini Mag will basically put 5 shots in the same hole at 50 yards.........  no joke.

[gitano]

I've heard that many people get good precision from Mini Mags, so your comment isn't really hard to believe, JaDub.

Paul

[JaDub]

Couldn`t believe my eyes when I saw the target.  `Course I was shooting off my bench fixture.  Shooting off hand I`m afraid  I induce a bit of `scatter`.  

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Someone around here was muttering something along the lines of '....must have fell out the tree and banged its nose'

[gitano]

Tell him he's a coward for not posting it himself. My skin's thicker than the squirrel's!

Paul

[Hunterbug]

I like Mini-Mags in my 10/22. In my Winchester 67 I use CCI standard velocity for rabbits. I only take dead shots but I've always had them pass right through and the rabbits die right there.

[gitano]

I only take dead shots too.

Paul

[jaeger88]

Ah, must I be plagued in this journey through life, forever being misquoted, & accused of sarcasm ?.

I distinctly recall my actual words were, "If it wasn't Gitano that posted this, I could be forgiven for believing that the poor defenseless flea ridden tree rat, departed its lofty perch in such fear & haste when the SSS bullet tumbled past, that it lost its footing, fell to the ground and departed this life with a broken neck & a bloody nose".

Unfortunately, j0e_bl0ggs, who is I believe partially deaf, due to exposure to loud noises, ( though hes not married, & now in the UK we can sport sound moderators on all our rifles, admittedly at the extortionate average price of about 300 quid for a center fire mod & 35 for rim-fire ), must have miss heard my mumbled words !.

A simple mistake !.  

I rest my case.

[sakorick]

Secret ballot time. Two thumbs up for Guilty, Greentoung for not guilty.

Drumroll............

[JaDub]

I'm a firm believer in  blind voting.  
 
   " Alright,  EVERYONE cover your  eyes and raise your hand. "

[gitano]

What are we voting for? J0e_bl0gg's version, or jaeger88's version. Knowing j0e_bl0ggs, I'm going with jeager88.

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Wow, that wasn't very Christian of you...

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

If you look up sarcasm in the dictionary it says 'see: jaeger88'

[sakorick]

[gitano]

This is the SECOND squirrel I have shot SINCE the one in the picture above! I don't know where they're all coming from! I saw this one doing "funny" stuff on the branches of the trees near the feeder. As I watched it for a bit, I realized that it was robbing all the little stashes of the birds! They come to the feeder and fill up, then continue to take suet and seeds and stash them around for a "rainy" day. The blasted squirrel was robbing all their stashes! Time to die.

There's even a little blood for those of you 'doubting' my ability to actually hit them.

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Nice one another expired tree-rat!

As would be said on a uk forum 'well you shot that a little far back...harumph harumph'...

Dead squizzer is a dead squizzer as far as I am concerned, shame they munch on softwoods.

Have not seen the hi-speed Usain Bolt style squizzer in my back yard lately prolly will appear when dickybird feeders get filled.

[gitano]

Actually, that was the exit. The entrance was right behind the shoulder.

Paul

[jaeger88]

j0e_bl0ggs suggested that it looked like an "almost the classic hoof shot".

I have no idea what hes talking about.

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Gonna get me in trouble there....

[jaeger88]

:devil: