540 yard ground squirrel kill today

Rustydust

Rustydust

Active member
With near perfect weather today and sitting on top of a small rise shooting out and down I managed to make me a 540 yard ground squirrel kill today. Those of you that know how small those critters are are well aware how difficult a shot like that is. Had there been any wind today I doubt that I ever would have tried the shot. Because the rat was on a dirt area I was able to walk the shots up to him pretty easy. Why he kept letting me shoot at him as dirt kicked up all over him is beyond me.

When I found the squirrel I had to range back to shooting bench in two steps as my rangefinder would not go that far on a non reflective target but I managed it. I just had to know what the distance was. Guessing dont count when it comes to bragging rights.

And if anyone wants to know I was using my .220 Swift loaded with 40 grain Sierra Blitzkings at about 4000 FPS at the muzzle. I dont know what the speeds were at 540 yards but still plenty enough I guess.
 
Originally Posted By: chuck hunterWow

That swift can carry the mail down range.
CH


It sure can. And when you are able to see your bullet strikes it makes it a so easy to correct for your next shot. If it it a windy, forget it.

That Swift is not my usual ground squirrel gun but I sure do enjoy taking it out a few times during the season. Being able to take shots like this on occasion is one reason.
 
Great shot! Especially because your ground squirrels up there are really small compared to some of ours! The .220 Swift is KING!

Eric
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Good shot buddy. Funny how he never said HOW many shots it took to get the kill.Probably has no ammo left to take to Wyoming for our annual pdog shoot. Barrels probably shot out too.
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Originally Posted By: 1up5downGood shot buddy. Funny how he never said HOW many shots it took to get the kill.Probably has no ammo left to take to Wyoming for our annual pdog shoot. Barrels probably shot out too.
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Now that is just mean! I'm guessing that you will not need my pickup to ride around in again this year. But then again, no- someone has to keep showing you how to kill prairie dogs and it may as well be me once again. Maybe, just maybe this year will be the year that you find out how to do it. We can only hope.

And I will tell you how many shots it took to hit that dang squirrel Mr Smartypants. It took seven shots. But SIX of them were warning shots in which he paid no mind to so finally I had to show him once and for all that I meant business. Learned his lesson he did.

Barrel not shot out yet. Be good for you if it was then just maybe you might be able to out shoot me this time. Ha!
 
In artillery, they call that "bracketing"
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Glad you finally got him ranged :)

A 3 inch wide Skwerrl is a might challenging target at anything over 300 yards

When I was in Northern Ca, I hunted them pretty often and even took a bunch with a .22LR
The longest shot I ever made on one was a tad over 400 yards with a buddy's .17 Remington. I fell in love with that caliber!
 
Originally Posted By: 1up5downGood shot buddy. Funny how he never said HOW many shots it took to get the kill.Probably has no ammo left to take to Wyoming for our annual pdog shoot. Barrels probably shot out too.
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Oh man, that is COLD!!!! Heee Heee!!!
 
Rusty.. I shot lots of GS's while in Ca. What type of scope? Power etc if I may ask? I have scopes in the 16-18 Max power range, and Its tough to see those lil guys. Good shooting! I know that My Buckmaster with a target dot covers them up making them impossible to see at long range.
 
I have an older Bushnell 4200 (the old Bausch and Lomb 4000) 6-24X on my Swift. And it was cranked all the way up to max for the shot.

And thanks for the back slap. It pains me a bit to admit that it took me a lot of years before I finally was able to be positive that I hit one with it at that distance. Had it not been on a dirt road and easy to see then he would still be alive I guess.

I did hit one that far a year or two back with my .17 Remington too. But I really cant take much credit for a super shot on that one because I just lobbed a shot at one just to see how close that I could come and accidentally hit it. 1000 to 1 shot that one was. At least with the one I shot last week I'm fairly certain that I could do it again. Might take me a few shots to walk it in but doable I'm pretty sure.
 
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