newbieagainsttreerats

Hi gang,

Just discovered this site in some inquisitive browsing relating to my addiction to residential squirrel (tree rat) eradication. Eraditcation implement : Gamo Varmint break barrel (break barrel/air piston; 1250 fps w/ crappy Gamo 1x scope). My uninitiated butt rates this gun as (saved the optic) as being pretty darn lethal (ref. the 15 (est) tree rats I've dispatched. These have been over the past five or so months since I've owned this rifle.

Additionally, these kills have come primarily in opportunistic fashion combined with gradual tactical adaptation through trial & error. I finally got smart and stopped attempting to stalk this worthless vermin. My snipers nest is inside an enclosed room off the back of my house. About five years ago, we had reflective tint applied to the five-six large windows and sliding storm doors facing the back yard. This makes things almost unfair for said arboreal rodents.

Further frustration incurred through missed shots and ruined kill opportunities bourn from spooked quarry, I finally said "to hell with it, time to get serious." With neighborhood tranquility ranking chief among my priorities, I thoughtfully surveyed my backyard and drew out a designated "field of fire/kill zone." the zone is 12' x 80'. I shoot from a raised position of about four feet relative to shallow slope of my backyard.

After years of watching these incorrigible rodents pilfer 20-30% of the seed designated for our precious little songbird friends, I decided to go ahead and give the thieving tree rats their "cut" of food, but this time in the form of bait. I went to loading the above referenced kill zone with seed and nuts cast upon the ground proximate to the target I used to zero my scope.

Things soon began to get ugly for the soul-less thieving bastards. From then, and until points current, I've been eliminating them with Benjamin .177 cal. hunting hollow points. For short distances w/in the kill zone, the factory scope has been "adequate." For longer shots, I've had to rely on the 35 year-old pair of "Justin" binoculars gifted to me by my grandparents (God rest their souls). I think the 'nocs are 2x magnification (twice the power of the gamo eye piece).

Tonight, I "upped" my game with the following purchases: (1) CVLIFE Hunting Rifle Scope 6-24 x 50 (Green) w/ free mount ; (2) H&N Hunting Extreme Flat Head Pellets (ranked as one of the best varmint pellets w/in 40 yds).

I would be remiss in omitting the $65.00 I spent a couple of years ago in acquiring from the humane society a 13 week old male Catahoula hound. - more on the value of this regal animal in a moment.

I'm sure that most of the people on here are far more accomplished, skilled, and experienced hunters than this average, pasty middle- aged dude. Most of you can probably take all of your squirrels with deadly lethal head shots out to 100 yds on a moonless night with heavy fog, gale force winds, and after downing a quart of Wild Turkey 101 with a Percocet. I'm not one of those guys. I'm happy to score any hit on these rodent bastards. Granted, I've got a fair number of DRT (dead right there) kills, but by the same token, I've "winged" a few. Even still, I've "mortally wounded - MW'd" a comparable percentage.

The mortally wounded squirrel effects a temporary escape by virtue the instinctual adrenaline dump they get after being hit. In my theater of war, this takes the form of the insufferable god forsaken creature darting out of view (part of my house obstructs my view to the left just adjacent to the "kill zone." The MW'd filth mongers "run" or fast limp out of view en route to the hedges comprising the property line. I've MW'd some that actually got up one of the 7-8 mature oaks we have in our backyard. One recent MW'd odius tree bastard took a "thud" from about 30 feet and managed only to "squirrel" his way to the shelter of a dense bush about four feet to his right. The aforementioned kills that made it up to the trees later announced their expirations by way of a "thud" following a free fall from twenty-to-thirty feet.

I thought I'd actually missed them only to discover the 'houla hound traipsing about with the carcass in his mouth hours later.

Enter Catahoula hound. In the context of the MW event, Grant (that's his name) hauls ass from my hide after I open the sliding glass door. He bounds down the 5 wooden stairs into the backyard. He bays his ass off with that hair raising high pitched neurotic yelp a hound makes when it's obsessed with catching something live. The 84 lb two year old sprints abound the yard yelping his ass off (because he can't contain his obsessive prey instinct) until he snuffs out the MW victim. This time, after eliminating the rest of the 1/2 acre territory, he stopped near the bush and plunged his head into the fluffy pine needles at the base of the bush.

I knew from the violent back and forth thrashing of his head that the MW had to be re-classified as FAUD (fully and utterly deceased). After about ten minutes of sauntering around the yard with the FAUDed tree rat, I called an end to the party and made him hand over the plump, limp kill. No exit wound; pretty clear entrance wound in the flank. These pellets go in with a bunch of energy, proceeding to yaw, sheer, tumbled inside the rodent's anatomy. The unassuming piece of lead does everything except exit the victim.

I used to give these things a respectable burial in my garden (nice deep grave w/ their heads facing the east to meet the rising sun). Now I just chuck them into the kudzu infested creek bed at the back of the yard. Frankly, my back can't take the digging, and it's been an inordinately dry year, so I'm sure you can empathize with me on that score.

If you've read to the end of this endless, meandering post, "shoot" me your address, [just don't shoot me] and I'll send you the Tylenol (it's the least I can do for you, poor soul).

-Very kindly,

Newbieagainsttreerats

After enacting the measures outlined above, my existence with squirrels has become, for me, a far more amicable proposition.