Winchester 1000 First Squirrel Kill

[longislandhunter]

Yesterday I gave the Predator pellets another try in the Daisy/Winchester 1000.  First time they didn't perform well, but it was windy so I thought I'd try them again.  Nice calm day, no wind, combined with me concentrating keenly on the trigger, resulted in the predators now grouping dime sized groups at 20 yards.  I think it had more to do with me practicing better trigger control, but they were now flying true.  I adjusted the scope for the predators and was all set.

This afternoon I grabbed the Daisy 1000, a pack of predators, and hit a small patch of woods down the street form my house.  There are usually a good supply of squirrels in these woods so I figured I'd see something.  Within 5 minutes of getting into the woods I saw a squirrel scurry up a large white oak.  He was hiding on the opposite side of the tree, but I could see part of his tail so I just took a seat and waited.  

Took about 10 minutes, but he finally got curious and poked his head around the trunk of the tree to take a peek and that gave me my shot.  Distance was 20 yards.  Put the crosshairs in between his ear and eye, pulled the trigger and heard the predator hit home.  Squirrel dropped straight down, twitched once, then died.  After retrieving my trophy I inspected where the predator hit.  It hit him right where I had aimed, the pellet went through his head and exited the other side of his head.  The predator pellet, combined with how hard the Daisy hits, seems to be an excellent combination so far.  I did see a couple of other squirrels during the next hour but I never had a good shot.  I plan on hitting the woods again tomorrow and doing some more "field testing" of the Daisy 1000 / predator combo, but so far I'm impressed with the performance.  

I snapped a couple of pics when I got home.    

Jeff

Nice pics, and I am glad to see someone using the Daisy/Winchester/Hatsan platform as well.

You are rigth its a hard hitting rifle, a little flasher than the models we have over here.

Predators work well in them huh?...........Hmmmmmmm now if we could only get our hand on some over here in NZ......

Enjoyed the pics and story very much.

Regards Adam.

Hey Jeff
I see that you and the predator were able to do a one shot kill without a head shot...Hmmmm...Lucky or good displacement of energy? What are your chrony numbers for the Daisy powerline/ predator combo?
Enjoyed the story and pics, keep them coming.
Bart

[longislandhunter]

Hey Bart,

I wish I could give you chrony numbers but I don't own one.  Not yet anyway.  I plan on buying one within the next week or so.  Once I get it I'll be glad to test it out and give you the numbers.  Maybe one of the other guys on the forum who have the same gun, and a chrony, could give you the data.  If not when my chrony gets here, and I learn how to use it, I'll test out the gun/pellets and post the results.

As for the performance of the predator pellets,,,, yes,, the other day I hit a squirrel in the right shoulder and the pellet blasted throught the shoulder meat, passed into the main body and shattered the spine with the pellet finally stopping just underneath the skin near the left shoulder.  That squirrel dropped like a sack of nickels.

The squirrel that I shot just yesterday at 20 was a head shot and the predator struck him on the right side of his face, passed through the entire head, and exited on the far side of the head leaving a good sized bleeding wound.  

I bagged another squirrel this afternoon with the .177 predators, a 20 yard shot in the upper shoulder that resulted in the squirrel dropping straight to the ground.  He was still breathing and twitching, but he certainly wasn't going anywhere and quickly died.  

The 3 squirrels I've bagged in the last 3 days with the .177 predators have convinced me that the pellets are more than up to the challenge of taking out a squirrel, provided of course you make a good shot.  Three dead squirrels with 3 shots, combined with the tissue damage I'm seeing when I skin them, has convinced me so far that it's not luck but rather the predator pellets efficiently displacing/transferring their energy into the target.

I'm very satisfied with the pellets performance on game, in both .22 and .177, and plan on sticking with them as my primary hunting pellet.   They've simply worked well for me.

Jeff

Jeff do you think we could get a few pics of the tissue damage at all?


Jason

[longislandhunter]

Hey Jason,

I haven't taken any pics of the tissue damage on the squirrels that I've bagged with the .177 cal Predators, but I did make a post on Nov. 1st entitled "Small Game Season Officially Opened" where I posted a pic of the tissue damage caused by a .22 cal Predator pellet fired from my GAMO 1250.  The post is still listed in the Hunting Gate. The pic you'll be looking at is of a squirrel I hit in the shoulder and the pellet blasted throught the shoulder and proceeded up towards the base of the skull.  You can see in the pic how the pellet just blasted through the muscle tissue.  

I realize there's a big difference between a .22 and a .177 cal pellet, but at least the pic will give you an indication as to what the predators can do.  The next bushytail I nail with the .177 predators I'll be sure to take a pic of the tissue damage and post it for ya.  

Jeff

Alright thanks Jeff. Looking forward to some pics and another story to read i know from the things ive hit with them they are fairly wicked little pellets. I jsut tryed them in my gun today and with a little more concentration and follow through they seem to group decent enough to hunt with.