First squirrel with a 308!

[Bookworm]

Can't use centerfire for squirrel here in Okieland. Dang shame.

Good in you, davidheart, for taking the time and making the effort to become proficient with that rifle and load. It takes confidence to take a shot at a squirrel head at distance.

[Texas by God]

This makes me want to develop a round ball load for my 38-55! And I know from experience that a 50 caliber Muzzleloader will kill squirrels.....

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[Bookworm]

This makes me want to develop a round ball load for my 38-55! And I know from experience that a 50 caliber Muzzleloader will kill squirrels.....

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That just reminded me, years ago I was hot on the idea of a .36 flintlock for squirrel. I was single, and looking for something to fill my time.

Then, I found something to fill my time, and ended up married. It'll be 21 years in January.

I haven't thought of that .36 muzzle loader since, until just now....

[nagantguy]

The idea of one rifle to do it all has always been my dads philosophy; I have an assortment of rifles and it seems to grow every year but in the smaller house and as I get older/wiser? I’m looking seriously into one rifle
For about everything; you work up was great thanks for sharing and it’s hard to argue against .308 for just about everything!

[Rizzo]

Nice rifle and nice shooting!
But, a 308 seems a bit overkill for a squirrel.
Wouldn't a 22LR, such as the Ruger 10/22 be more fitted for small game.....and cheaper to shoot, even with reloads.
Do you have a 22LR rifle?

[iamdrglass]

Nice rifle and nice shooting!
But, a 308 seems a bit overkill for a squirrel.
Wouldn't a 22LR, such as the Ruger 10/22 be more fitted for small game.....and cheaper to shoot, even with reloads.
Do you have a 22LR rifle?

My personal experience with shooting small game (mostly jack rabbits) The .44spl loaded with Skeeter loads, .357 loaded at 1050ish with rnfp/tlswc, Do a lot less meat damage on small game than my .22 lrf hp bullets. I have not shot as many with the 30/30 loaded at 1000-1200fps as the others but the results are similar. Me personally shoot cast at comparable prices to .22lrf (excluding labor). Two more comments. When the game that I have shot with the center fire rounds have all been drt, They have not needed a follow up even center punched in the mid section. The jacks hit with a 22 stinger or velocity are a bit more spectacular visually and some needed a follow up shot or a Jack Russel to finish the job...... And yes I do eat a lot of my jacks. If you can legally use a CF to hunt small game try it out and see for your self.

[trapper9260]

I had set up my 308 win and 30-30 and 30-06 to shoot 00 buck shot size to .310 for a small game load

[robinsroost]

I took 5 fox squirrels with a Model 700 Remington BDL .243, using 75 grain JHP's, all head shots, over IMR 30-31. The woods was so dry you couldn't get within 75 yards of a squirrel. I have loaded up some 85 grain LRNGC's over 4 grains of Clays to try next. Indiana has no regulations on caliber used to hunt squirrels, my favorite wild meat...…….robin

[Cary Gunn]

Gents,

"Davidheart's" use of his little Remington .308 carbine to secure a skillet of fried squirrel sure puts a glow in my aging eyes. It conjures images galore of quiet, happy hunts in pretty hardwood timber, and many truly memorable meals of fried squirrel, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Dang me, but I think I can actually hear the bushytails cutting nuts high in the hickories.

My .308 Win. small-game load, by the way, uses the Lee "trashcan" bullet -- a 113-grainer with a flat nose that I prod toward the tree tops with small dabs of Bullseye, or Unique, or almost any other of the faster-burning Alliant pistol/shotgun powders. The flat nose -- at a velocity of, maybe, 1000 fps -- puts a hard smack on squirrel and rabbits without destroying edibles.

I also have a lot of fun with the .270 Win and another Lee cast bullet of about 100 grains, also propelled to plinking/target velocities by the faster-burning Alliant powders.

The same .270 bullet, clothed with a gas check, also shoots fine for me with a somewhat heavier load of Alliant 2400. This load is too energetic, though, for use on small things for the table. I think it's the unprotected nose of this bullet, coupled with velocities in the neighborhood of 1900 FPS, that causes too much hurt to be placed on the little fuzzies.

Strangely, though, in what I considered an interesting study in bullet construction and wound ballistics, I once saw a buddy place a 130-grain .270 big-game bullet on a Wyoming cottontail about 20 yards away along a dusty two-track. A huge cloud of dust and debris arose behind the little fellow, and I thought my friend had somehow missed the easy shot, since the rabbit just sat there.

But, moments later, the grass-muncher took a couple of short hops -- and fell over dead.

Rather than blowing the tender target to kingdom-come, as some might expect, the jacketed spitzer big-game bullet cleanly pierced the critter's chest, leaving little more than an ice-pick sort of hole through the ribs. The big-game spitzer obviously didn't even begin to expand on its short, rapid passage through the two-pound bunny.

The dressed rabbit was later added to a steaming pot of camp chilli and simmered for another half-hour or so. Later, the conglomeration was dumped atop a big mound of spaghetti, producing probably the best camp meal three hungry hunters had on that year's week-long pronghorn/mule deer jaunt.

Anyway, Davidheart, thanks for the memories.

Happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --

[davidheart]

Nice rifle and nice shooting!
But, a 308 seems a bit overkill for a squirrel.... Do you have a 22LR rifle?

Thank you for the compliment! Yes, I do. But I can't reasonably make my own ammo for it. I remember not long ago 22lr was scarce to come by any place you looked. If I could make my own ammo I could always provide for my family. Just another reason to be able to have my "do-all" rifle. Also, it'd be mighty hard to carry two rifles or a rifle and a shotgun in the woods on a hunt. This way I could use one rifle and bring two different rounds of ammo to hunt multiple species at the same time.

Great story Cary! I know about the Lee soup can, I've just never had the pleasure to try it! I believe they don't make that mold anymore?

Today I went bear hunting with a buddy of mine. While we didn't see a bear during our hunt time, I managed to head shot another squirrel. My friend was sitting about 200 yards away from me. Through text messages to each other he wanted to know if I saw anything. "No, but I just headshot a squirrel." Boy my friend was jealous! He never even heard it happen and couldn't believe I was able to do that with the same rifle I was bear hunting with.

An hour or so later I smelled a wet dog... that's a bear. I just never saw him. When we left we noticed a fresh pile of scat between the two of us. Oh well, that bear slipped right by us. At least I have more pot meat and my wife was happy.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Shot a squirrel with a full power 30-06 once. Head shot, nothing lost that I eat. Figured it was time to leave the woods, no deer, and I might as well walk out with meat. Now, the one I hit with a 20 ga. slug was another matter.
CF

[woody1]

Great story Cary! I know about the Lee soup can, I've just never had the pleasure to try it! I believe they don't make that mold anymore?

The Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C309-113-F 30 Caliber (309 Diameter) 113 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check is still being made.

[Cary Gunn]

Howdy again, gents,

Here's a culinary question related to "iamdrgrass's" Post # 26 above: what variety of jack rabbit are you shooting, in what part of the country are you finding him, and what's your favorite recipe to render said critter into tablefare?

My rabbit munching has been limited to the cottontail persuasion, whether found in the east, midwest or western states.

I've run across, but never eaten the huge whitetail jackrabbits of Great Plains and Inter-Mountain West. They seem to be a very robust animal with plenty of meat on them, but I've never had the opportunity to put one on the table. Am I missing a potentially good feed?

In my much younger service days, I used a .22 rimfire pistol to thin the population of antelope jackrabbits in the desert of west Texas and southern New Mexico. But those poor, scrawny things looked too unappetizing to consider for consumption. They seemed to be little more than fuzzy rawhide bags with big, long ears.

Maybe, though, I just wasn't hungry enough.

And, although, if I remember correctly, the skinny antelope jacks I shot had a bit of a black tail, I'm told that elsewhere in the west there exists another, separate jackrabbit species commonly known as the blacktail. I've had no personal experience at all with the blacktail bunnies, and don't know how they're viewed as human fodder.

But, it's my guess that the jackrabbits you're finding edible are the Great Plains whitetail jack.

I know that the whitetail changes colors -- from warm-weather brown to winter white -- and I'm also guessing that it's same creature called the varying hare, or snowshoe rabbit, in upper Great Lakes region and the Northeast.

I'm aware the snowshoe rabbit is considered decent tablefare, and maybe you're just dining on the western version of that big fellow with the long, wintertime white ears tipped in black.

Anyway, lemme know the species in your skillet, and pass along a couple recipes. I'll be much obliged.

Happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --

[Texas by God]

The Texas antelope Jacks taste just like fuzzy rawhide bags, Cary. Cottontail is pretty good like you said. "Jackelope" is survival food IME.

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[fiberoptik]

Knew a guy in Yuma, Az. would shoot jacks; skin with long rubber gloves , and cooked em in a pressure cooker till the meat fell off the bones . Made tacos from them.


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[GARD72977]

Knew a guy in Yuma, Az. would shoot jacks; skin with long rubber gloves , and cooked em in a pressure cooker till the meat fell off the bones . Made tacos from them.


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That sounds terrible.....

[davidheart]

We don't have jack rabbits where we are but we always put field rabbits in a crock pot/pressure cooker with seasoning, veggies, potatoes, etc and pull the meat off the bones for a stew.

[Jjed]

You never know when one of those Bull squirrel's will charge, it's best to have enough gun. plus the squirrel's have no idea if it's a center fire or rim fire. good job.

[Nrut]

Knew a guy in Yuma, Az. would shoot jacks; skin with long rubber gloves , and cooked em in a pressure cooker till the meat fell off the bones . Made tacos from them.


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I did the same except I used a crockpot and no gloves to butcher the Blacktail jackrabbits..
After the meat came off the bone and the bones taken out of the crockpot, I put in some chopped onions and cooked for awhile, then added, stewed tomatoes, a can of green chiles and a envelope of Taco or Fajita seasoning..
Fantastic!
The Blacktails south of the orange groves between 1E and 3E (Yuma) were huge, disease free and plentiful..
I got the recipe out of a IHMSA paper written up by a guy from Tucson..
So I wasn't the only guy eating Arizona Blacktails..
Live in northern BC now and sadly there are no Blacktails here..
The Hares are few and the lil' red tree rats aren't worth butchering..

[kavemankel]

I like the setup. Never really gave any thought to using subs on squirrel. Thanks for the inspiration. Is your suppressor setup overbore like .338, or have you had any baffle strikes with cast bullets. I have always been a little scared of that. I don't want to go through the "pita" to send one back to have it fixed.