I go back to work tomorrow morning so I decided first thing this morning that I was gonna get in some target shooting today and enjoy myself. I wanted to do some pellet grouping tests with my .22 cal QB-57 so I grabbed a sampling of every .22 cal pellet on my shelf, set up my target bench, hung some targets and got to work.
I had been sitting there for over an hour shooting different pellets when I happened to glance up into the row of large oak trees that border the woods at the back of my property. Something up there just caught my eye. There was a shape at the base of a large branch that I had never noticed before. I put the 4x scope on the 57 up to my eye and instantly made out a squirrel all curled into a ball right where the branch met the main trunk of the tree. I could see his beady little dark eye peering down.
I just happen to be shooting Crosman Hollow Points prior to noticing the squirrel so I loaded up a CPH, got up from my shooting bench and slowly made my way towards the tree line. The squirrel didn't move a muscle as I approached,, he just sat there perfectly still. I finally got into a good shooting position that gave me a 20 yard clean shot at his head. I put the crosshairs of the GAMO 4x just below his ear and fired. The CPH hit home with a loud "POP" and the squirrel slid around the branch upside down then fell like a stone. He hit the ground with a loud "Thud" and just layed there,,,, didn't even twitch. As I was walking over to retrieve my future lunch I heard claws scraping bark above my head. As I looked up there was another tree rat scrambling from one branch to another in an attempt to get out of range. The second tree rat didn't stop until he was far back into the woods and safe. I'm sure I'll see him another day :)
After I finished my grouping tests with the 57 I decided to take the .22 cal Panther down to the tract of state owned land at the end of my street for some more squirrel hunting, but before I left I took a couple of pics of the QB-57 and her latest kill. The CPH entered just behind the right ear and traveled through his head, coming to rest just underneath the skin on the other side of his head taking out his "circuit board" in the process.
My hunt with the Panther was a nice 2 hours of peace and quiet in the woods, but I never even saw a tree rat. I brought my camera with me to the woods and figured I'd take some pics since it's one of my favorite places to hunt, but as luck would have it the batteries in the camera went dead after just a couple of pics,,,, "murphy's law" :(
Anyway, the couple of pics I took are of the trails running through the land and some of the woods. Hope ya like em.....
Jeff
