Finally - double header!

[only1harry]

Today I didn't have to be at work until after 10am.  As soon as I got my son on the bus I take position at the window and wait for that lowly squirrel that 's been literally running through my property without stopping to get across it the last couple of weeks.  He 's a smart one and I know he 's witnessed some of his buddies' untimely death so he is very cautious.    

As usual around 8:30am I see him coming from the neighbor's.  I know it's the same one because he has a short tail.  He is behind all the trees walking/running on the ground on the top of the hill.  I watch him for a full minute or so while while he hopped through about 35yds without stopping and is getting ready to get out of my sight.  All of a sudden he stops and starts coming down the hill a little.  What's this? a change in his routine?  Too bad for him.  I had him on my croshairs 4-5 times but he wouldn't stay still more than a second or so while he was jumping from one fallen limb to another and often stopped behind a tree where I couldn't see him.  I realized that I was going to have to shoot fast because he was out almost 35yds and very close to getting out of visual.  The porch on the left is blocking my view of the rest of my property which is ok because the neighbor on the left can't see me shooting out back.  I lowered the magnification to the lowest setting 6X so I can acquire him faster.  He pauses one more time on the ground and I immediately get the crosshairs on him and squeeze the trigger.  I hear a loud "CRACK" and he jumps up about a foot off the limb he was on and drops with no movement!  I wait a few secs but nothing.  Wow I didn't think I got his head because I kind of rushed the shot and I thought he might have also started moving as I pulled the trigger and released the mighty Kodiak.

My wife yells that she is making breakfast.  I said ok I 'll go out and snap some pics and be right back.  I get the camera and go outside with the Condor in hand.  As I am approaching the squirrel I see the neighbor's big male cat a few feet from the squirrel!  I start running but can't get to the nutter in time because he 's all the way up the hill and it's very slippery with all the wet leaves on it.  The cat quickly grabs him by the neck and takes off!  I ran after the cat the best I could and he now crosses into the neighbor's yard.  I put the Condor down on my loan and take off after her all PO'd that he stole my squirrel..  After another 20yd chase he finally dropped the squirrel and I recovered him.  He ran back to his own house and up the deck looking at me like "what did I do?".  This is the 2nd time he stole a squirrel from me and I was not as lucky the first time.  I was seriously considering shooting him the next time but I calmed down and thought maybe I 'll just put a little hole in his ear next time he tries this :)

My wife calls and says breakfast is ready so i put the squirrel on the table out back to clean him later.  I go in have my breakfast and I was drinking my coffee when I hear crows outside!  The crows sounded pretty close, and I have not heard them this close since last winter.  Then all of a sudden they got quiet.  It then occured to me they could be after the squirrel I left on the table in the back yard in the middle of the lawn, and that's why they are now quiet.  They don't want to attract any attention.  They are always quiet when they visit my property or when feeding.  I go to load the Condor and can't find the tin of Kodiaks so I reach for a tin of 28.4gr EunJins!  I load one and slowly approach the window which I had left opened earlier after I shot the squirrel.  I see 3-4 crows up high on a couple of my trees about 35-40yds out.  I was getting ready to get on my knees so I can shoot up at them when I noticed a BIG crow straight ahead in front me, just a few feet higher than my position on the 2nd floor.  This crow was only about 25-26yds out and she seemed to be looking at the squirrel on the table not more than 15yds from her.  I quickly adjust the A/O down from 35 to I don't know what.. I just moved the A/O knob down like a 1/4 of turn fast and mag. was still 6X.  I quickly put the bipod legs on the window sill and acquired the crow.  Put the crosshairs straight in the middle of her body/mass.  I did not want to miss with this shot!  I 've been waiting for a couple of months for a crow kill.  It seems I got lucky because her head was behind a branch and she did not notice me right away.  Now the others up high saw me and took off.  Now she knew something was up because her bodies took off, but by the time she saw me it was too late.  I squeezed the trigger at the same time she was getting ready to leap forward and fly away.  I heard like a "muffled sound" that pellets make when they hit feathers and flesh, and then the typical sound of the pellet hitting the tree trunk behind her.  She fell straight down and did not move.  I reloaded, waited for some movement but she was done with.  

2 critters and both by exactly 9am.  Took pics of both but now I was running late for work.  I did not clean the squirrel and hid him to use him again tomorrow to possibly attract more crows.  The squirrel had gotten hit in the shoulder bone and the Kodiak went through her spine and neck and exited the other side under the ear leaving a very tiny bloodless hole.  There wasn't a drop of blood anywhere on this squirrel but the Kodiak hit a lot of different bone because of the angle I shot it from.  No wonder he expired right away.  
Sorry about the long post but it was a "double-header" :-)  Finally some normal prey that doesn't stink!!  hehehe,  but my car still does! :(

[dave2288]

NICE SHOOTING!  i wish i could get a few crows...they are so annoying...lol

[longislandhunter]

Great shooting Harry,,,,, a smart squirrel and crow,,,, quite a hunt.  Great pic too !!

You and that Condor continue to maintain your standing as a lethal combination  :)

I can never get enough pics of your condor and harvested critters,,,, keep em coming :)

Jeff

[dave2288]

...when can we see some pics here of the new condor .25 with some kills?

[gunsup0331]

man your hunts get crazier every time! Keep up the good work!

[glyconny]

Thats what I call a morning pick me up!  Great shooting, especially on that crow.

[shadow]

Great shootin and pic's Harry and I can just see you chasing this cat around trying to get your squirrel back lol. The neighbors were probably looking out there window watching the whole thing lol lol. Ed

[crazy4salmon]

Harry, your chasing a cat all PO'd with the Condor in hand. Next time put one between the eye and the ear. ;-) Sorry cat lovers, just kiddin. Nice shooting, great pics, and funny story. Thanks Harry.

[only1harry]

Thanks guys.  

Yeah I thought that was funny which is why I don't leave any parts out from my stories.  I figured you guys would get a kick out of me chasing the cat with my squirrel in her mouth.  We aim to please :-)   I realized I had crossed into the neighbor's yard with a gun in my hand, so I stopped, walked back a few steps, put the gun down on my lawn, and went back to chasing the cat.  Let me tell you, it's times like these that your realize how out of shape you are :-)  and the cat wasn't even running fast with the squirrel in her mouth.

Last night I almost shot my wife :-)  I had put out more turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving in hopes to get a racoon.  I did my normal routine, turned the light on outside in the back, put the storm window up, and then the inside window up about 1/2" just enough to get my fingers under it when the time comes.  Well, around 1am the receiver inside the house is going off telling something is at the bait side munching on the Turkey.  I go look and it's the HUGE racoon I 've been waiting for.  It dwarfs the other 3 racoonds that came by the other night.  So I go to put the window up and it's shut!  Hmm.. I could swear I left that opened..  So I put the window up slowly and the racoon doesn't hear anything.  Then I realize the storm window is down too!  That's the one that makes all the noise.  My wife must 've put everything down..dang!  I start raising the storm window slowly and it's squeacking with metal against metal sounds every 1-2"!  The racoon kept looking around to see where the sound is coming from.  I had about 2 more inches to go before it locked into place high enough but it made one last big squeak and the racoon looked straight at me.  I froze.  It didn't fool him.  He turned around and I locked it into place and by the time I had the Condor's barrel out the window he again was walking away showing his big fat rear end for the 2nd time!!.  I cannot believe how big this racoon is.  I wonder if I have one for the record books here :-)  Anyways, I woke up my wife and complained which was not a good idea.  I had to sleep in another room and I 'm now in the dog house.  I tried to explain to her that touching my "setup" is like re-zeroing a man's gun without permission.. didn't work.  Still in the dog house.. and no raccon :(

[gamo2hammerli]

Great double hunt story....you left out no details....probably scared the heck outta that cat.

Too bad your racoon hunt got blown....but if I was the wife....I`d slap you on the top of your head before sending you to the dog house for waking me up....

[dave2288]

why don't you st try to oil it all up so its quieter, like we do to our guns?

[only1harry]

Stanley:  I 'm glad you 're not my wife  :-)

Dave:  I keep forgetting to buy WD40!  I went without it all summer too.  You should see me take 5min. in the summer to put a window up (slowly) so I could shoot a Groundhog.  I was able to get a LOT of them so it worked out ok, it was just a lot of work :-)
I 'm writing down as we speak, "get  WD40 you dummy!!  hehehe

Oh and the .25 will see some action as soon as it gets a shroud.  It's way too LOUD.  I 'm working on that right now but it will take some time to get if I go with Tony at Talon Tunes.  I may just try and get an Airhog shrould again if it's possible and quicker..  I 'm hoping by January to have the .25 working "quietly".