Earlier today I posted that I installed one of Charlies (Bob) GRT III triggers in my GAMO 1250 .22 caliber and how much I loved it. Well, I was supposed to go shopping this afternoon with the wife and daughter but they decided not to go which left the late afternoon all to myself. Here was my chance to test out the new trigger in the field. Around 1:30 I grabbed the 1250, my squirrel distress call, a container of JSB predators and hit the woods.
There is a small overgrown field that I have to walk through to get to the woods, and while there are some pine and small oak trees in the field I've never ever seen a squirrel there. Well, that changed today. As I was walking slowly down the path through the field I caught some movement in a small pine tree about 25 yards ahead of me. As I looked up I saw a squirrel feeding on pine cones in the top of the tree. I had to manuever a bit for a clear shot but finally got a clear line of sight between me and him. Gun went to my shoulder, crosshairs went on his head and my finger gently squeezed the GRT III trigger, BAM,,,, the gun fired and I heard the "thwack" as the pellet hit home. Squirrel dropped to the ground, quivered a few times then expired. Picked up my trophy and continued on to the woods.
Once I got to the woods I did my usual routine and slowly and quietly still hunted down the trails that meander throught the woods. After about an hour I saw a squirrel running through the tree tops about 30 yards up ahead of me. He had evidently heard or seen me first and was trying to get as much distance between us as he could. I hurried to the spot I had seen him cross over the patch and while I figured he was long gone I decided to take a stand and wait awhile while scanning the trees.
I scanned the tree tops for about 20 minutes without seeing anything when all of a sudden something in the crook of a large branch near the top of one of the pines caught my eye. It just didn't look right. I dialed the Leapers to 9x and took a look. Sure enough curled up in a ball where the the branch met the main tree trunk was my quarry just sitting tight. I set the AO for 25 yards and put the crosshairs on his noggin. All it took was gentle pressure on the trigger and the pellet was on it's way. The predator hit him just behind the left ear and he plummeted straight down without so much as a twitch.
I planned on hunting until dark, and hopefully get another bushytail or 2, but within a few minutes 4 bowhunters came down the trail. We talked for a few minutes, they planned on hunting the last hours of daylight and told me where they were going to set up their tree stands. I knew if I stayed in the woods walking around that I'd screw up their hunt so I told them I'd call it a day and let them have the woods. I wished them luck and headed back to the truck.
The new GRT III trigger was a pleasure compared to the factory trigger, and definately made my 1250 much easier to shoot accurately, which in turn makes it a more efficient hunting weapon for me. I wish I had installed one a long time ago. Now if I could just figure out a way to cock the 1250 that doesn't aggravate my bad shoulder, that thing really is a bruiser for me to cock but it's so worth it when your lookin down the barrel at mr. squirrel :)
I had my daughter take some pics of the nutters (and me).................................
Jeff
