Shooting Squirrels in the Head at 100 Feet Offhand...Fantasy or Reality?

[nikonNUT]

Wow what can I say! All the years of shooting squirrels with a 22 while I hunted against Browning A5 high brass guys they preferred to eat mine ! Unless they wanted fried brains they were outta luck! It was my goal to wait for the right moment to shoot from just a few feet to 50 plus yards 99.9% head shots or neck, guns Browning scoped 22 , Anchutz 1614 , 541s , 581 and 10/22 you name normally wearing full camo. Yes alot got away because the shot never presented itself.

And then there was that one day in Texas when I jinxed you bad!!! Good to see you posting, sir! Wondered where you had gotten off to!

P.S. Got this little bugger at 30 yards (LRF to his perch) opening day...

 

[Rimdenter]

And then there was that one day in Texas when I jinxed you bad!!! Good to see you posting, sir! Wondered where you had gotten off to!

P.S. Got this little bugger at 30 yards (LRF to his perch) opening day...
View attachment 7915689

Lost that nice lease on the Lake, but I've got other places

 

[Rimdenter]

Only if y'er family RD.

But ya know, that might make an interesting addition to the whole box at 100 yards thread.
How many hits could you keep inside a 1 inch circle at 100 yards?
Not just a group but hit where y'er aiming.
Any takers? Won't be easy, not even off a bench.

Man let me tell ya ifin I ain't had my coffee! NONE! bench or not! That's why I ask if you was supplying the lead!

 

[Cowpokey]

Being an annoying old coot, I've developed some nifty ways
to irritate my younger family members after a morning hunt.
When one gets a bit froggy, explaining just how he picked off that grey squirrel
at 114 yards, no problem at all, I'll wait until he's dug in too deep to back out
and challenge him to a quick check of his skills. Pride gets 'em every time.

The kill zone on the skull of a southern grey squirrel is about the same diameter as a nickle.
About 3/4 of an inch. Just so happens I keep a roll of 3/4 inch diameter orange stickers
in my hunting bag, and it doesn't take long to peel and paste 5 to a chunk of cardboard
then tack it to a stump. There's those 5 tiny stickers and there's the family
counting off the 114 steps that that squirrel was taken at. The look on the youngsters face
when he has to back up the brag can be very entertaining.

Some times, one of the 5 stickers will get tagged during the challenge,
but usually it's a series of clean misses across the board.
Offhand, braced or prone, the killzone on a squirrel skull at 100 yards is a submoa target.
Outdoors with a Sporter rifle it most definitely is not a gimme.

Hey, I still have that roll of stickers, anyone wanna try a 100 yard challenge?
See how many shots it takes to punch 5 orange 3/4 inch stickers, offhand?

"I used-a-could", in my own mind mind when I was young and full of gumption...No, not really. Shooting off hand unsupported is quite a challenge, especially now that I've turned fifty. I do "ok" but a squirrel head shot at 100 yards, unsupported? The phone ought to be ringing off the wall for Olympic team recruiters.

 

[Cowpokey]

At 100 feet, I can still do it, but I would use a tree or shooting sticks for support.

 

[Sasquatch-148]

I have really offended people by suggesting that anyone who claims to shoot little grey squirrels in the head, offhand, at 100 feet, with an ordinary .22, killing them CONSISTENTLY, is either lying or letting pride warp his memory.

I'm not talking about shooting the best match ammo from a bench, using a great scope and an expensive rifle. I mean a typical $250 Bass Pro rifle with ordinary ammunition. I'm talking about an ordinary guy who doesn't shoot competitively, with a Skoal circle on the back pocket of his jeans. Standing with the rifle at his shoulder. Not leaning on anything. In the woods. Aiming at an animal that will run off if he takes his time.

I'm wondering...what do people here think?

A squirrel's brain is less than 1/2" from top to bottom, and it's slightly over an inch long. You can shoot a squirrel in the head and injure it badly and not kill it. I shot a squirrel's lower jaw off one day and saw it wandering around trying to feed the next day, which is why I now use a shotgun for standing shots. I put a spinner target 100 feet from my bedroom door, and I aimed at it with a scope. Even when I lean on a doorway, I find that the point of aim wobbles around in about a 1-1/2" circle, making an ethical shot impossible. With no support at all, things are even worse. Then there is the .22 ammo, which is doing great if it gives you 1/2" groups, rested, at 100 feet.

What do the rest of you think?

 

[Sasquatch-148]

I have really offended people by suggesting that anyone who claims to shoot little grey squirrels in the head, offhand, at 100 feet, with an ordinary .22, killing them CONSISTENTLY, is either lying or letting pride warp his memory.

I'm not talking about shooting the best match ammo from a bench, using a great scope and an expensive rifle. I mean a typical $250 Bass Pro rifle with ordinary ammunition. I'm talking about an ordinary guy who doesn't shoot competitively, with a Skoal circle on the back pocket of his jeans. Standing with the rifle at his shoulder. Not leaning on anything. In the woods. Aiming at an animal that will run off if he takes his time.

I'm wondering...what do people here think?

A squirrel's brain is less than 1/2" from top to bottom, and it's slightly over an inch long. You can shoot a squirrel in the head and injure it badly and not kill it. I shot a squirrel's lower jaw off one day and saw it wandering around trying to feed the next day, which is why I now use a shotgun for standing shots. I put a spinner target 100 feet from my bedroom door, and I aimed at it with a scope. Even when I lean on a doorway, I find that the point of aim wobbles around in about a 1-1/2" circle, making an ethical shot impossible. With no support at all, things are even worse. Then there is the .22 ammo, which is doing great if it gives you 1/2" groups, rested, at 100 feet.

What do the rest of you think?

I posted two pics , one is my Ruger 10-22 at 50 yards , 5 shot group off my tripod I use on squirrels. The other is a 9 shot group at 100 yards using my 22 magnum off same tripod . Yes, I easily and routinely make 50-65 yard head shots with my 10-22 and 100 yard head shots with my 22 magnum which is a browning t bolt . Both rifles have good glass on them . If you upgrade your gun , glass and tactics and practice you can do this too . The 22 mag 9 shot group is about 3/4" , the 22 group at 50 yards is 1/2" .

 

[justin amateur]

With rimfire, the problem is not the rifles,
it's finding ammunition capable of the required accuracy to make those headshots.
I haven't found any 22wmr capable of consistent submoa at 50 or 100 yards.
Not even off the bench from a one piece ammo test platform.

22wmr

Armscor 40 grain jacketed hollow point Link to post

CCI A22 35 grain jacketed soft point Link to post

CCI Maxi-Mag 40 grain hollow point Link to post

CCI TNT Green 30 grain JHP Link to post

CCI V-Max 30 grain ballistic tip Link to post

Fiocchi-USA 40 grain jacketed soft point Link to post

Fiocchi-USA 40 grain total metal jacket Link to post

Norma 40 grain JHP Link to post

Winchester Varmint HE 34 grain jhp Link to post

Winchester Varmint HV 30 grain jhp Link to post

Winchester Super X 45 grain subsonic hp Link to post

99% of my rabbits and squirrels are taken at less than 20 yards.
Most rimfire cartridge will do the job at that distance.
Even with my less than skillful offhand talent.

Nobody is taking 100 yards shots in the Florida underbrush where I play.

Since we be talking hunting ammo, the accuracy requirement isn't groups.
The real question is: Can you hit what you aim at? So instead of groups,
maybe we should try a Grid at 100 yards and see how that works out.
50 shots at 50 individual bullseyes...I've got plenty of orange stickers.
Might have to try it myself.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Without reading every reply, a decent 22 should be able to hit a one inch target or less at 30 yards with hunting grade ammunition. 100 yards, that's a stretch. 30 yards, not a problem. With my first silhouette handgun, I could put five shots into one (large, ragged) hole at 50 yards on a good day. And it was a Savage Sport Striker shooting Federal rounds. So, with a nice, but hardly target grade rifle, thirty yards from a decent shooting position is certainly doable.

 

[RTH1800]

Recently as this spring I removed a couple of squirrels from a garden. By chance both offhand shots from the same limb. I estimated 50 yards. Later laser showed 51 yards. Shots fired about 10 seconds apart. I remembered this thread and decided to post a picture. So, 2 for 2 at 51 yards. @justin amateur did I hit what I aimed at?

 

[Gunnn]

Recently as this spring I removed a couple of squirrels from a garden. By chance both offhand shots from the same limb. I estimated 50 yards. Later laser showed 51 yards. Shots fired about 10 seconds apart. I remembered this thread and decided to post a picture. So, 2 for 2 at 51 yards. @justin amateur did I hit what I aimed at? View attachment 8407280View attachment 8407281

That's some fine shooting there brother

 

[RTH1800]

Some luck involved no doubt.

 

[NewsShooter]

Some luck involved no doubt.

I don't know, 50 yard headshots on a squirrel doesn't seem that hard. Used to cut weed stems and knock berries off trees with my benjamin 20 cal off hand at 15 yards all the time when I was growing up. I was shooting stuff off a tree from my apartment that backed up to an open area when my roommate came home. He didn't believe me when I told him. So I had him pick something out. Knocked off a few in a row, In a couple weeks I had him doing it too with open sights.

 

[wvfarrier]

We routinely shoot them in the head out to 40 yards with our compound bows. I would imagine a .22 would be just as effective.

 

[RTH1800]

^^^^
See, nothing to it!