Squirrel at 43.9 yards with BB gun

[Way2slow]

Trying to discourage squirrels from coming into the back yard and raiding the bird feeders, I’ve tried several different things.  Not wanting to kill them or injure them, I tried my slingshot first with 10mm clay pellets, my 3/8” steel pellets and 00 buckshot would kill at the 30 to 40 feet.  I hunted them with it and have killed them at twice that distance with 00 buckshot.  The clay are too light and curve too much to be accurate at that distance. 

So, I thought about the 40 year old Daisy BB gun I used to teach my son and granddaughter to instinct shoot with.  The first thing I did when I bought it was to rip the rear sight off and saw the front one off so It’s strictly sight and muscle memory.  It hasn’t been shot in 10 years but squirted a little oil in it and it pumped up just fine.  Three pumps is all it takes to burn a squirrels butt.  After a couple of weeks of getting the butts burned, now all I have to do is pump it once, as soon as they hear that one, they are off and over the fence and gone like a rocket.

In instinct shooting, it’s all about visualization and muscle memory, so you are not really thinking about distance, your mind is doing what it takes to make the shot.  Yesterday, we were sitting out there talking and there was a squirrel sitting high up on a pine limb in the neighbor’s yard.  Just for kicks I figured I would try him.  I pumped it five times and the first shot didn’t drop quite as much as I thought it would and went just over his back.  The second shot nailed him and he dang near jumped out of the tree.  Sitting out there this morning, I kept looking at that limb and thinking, that’s a long shot, especially for a BB gun.  So, I got my rangefinder to check it and it showed it to be 43.9 yards.  That’s a LONG shot with a BB gun, and it only took two shots.  I guess at 73, I still have a little bit of that magic, and can still see the flight path of a BB that far.  

[TnRiver46]

Bird feeders are my main source of business as a trapper. If you feed birds, you feed mice, chipmunks, rats, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, and sometimes even groundhogs and bears. I keep a 901 daisy power line .177 at the ready for squirrels that avoid traps, it’s a tack driver 

[Jig Man]

Way to go sir.  I haven’t used mine in years.  It came with no sights.  I taught my grandson how to shoot instinctively.  I may have done it too well.  He turned out to be a swat sniper.

[looking45]

Be careful you aren't shooting a game animal out of season. The fine could ruin your day

[Way2slow]

I don't think I would have to worry about that.  I'm not really harming the squirrel, and who's going to hear a BB gun more than a few feet.

As for what I post, it's like the old joke about the guy bragging to a guy about the huge buck he just killed out of season.  The guy he was bragging to said "mister you must not know me, I'm the new Game Warden for this area".  The man responded "mister game warden, you much not know me, I'm the biggest liar in this area".