Hit the woods to hunt yesterday for the first time in about 10 yrs. Felt good to be out there again... I seen quite a few more squirrels than I got but, that's a good thing. At the end of the day I came out of the woods with 4 Fox and 1 Red. I found most of my shots were on the ground which is a good thing as I was using a .22. Of course a lot of shots missed there intended target. But a few of them did reach there destination.
Thanks!!! Here in Ohio, we can shoot fox, gray, and reds. Although I have never seen a gray... It will get better after I get enough shoot time in, hoping I'll be a better shot. Then I'll be able to hopefully get the ones that I miss, or not destroy as much meat with some good head shots.
I was out yesterday with my .17 WSM and had some older garbage ammo. Six to eight misfires in a row! Grrrrr! It cost me my limit of six. Later, I dug around in my bag and found enough other ammo to slay one gray and one fox squirrel. By the time I got home in the evening, I was glad I had only two to clean. Both shots were about 100 yards distance, no challenge for the rifle. Tiny .17 hole in the heads, then an explosion with 20gr fodder. The gray was a tougher one to hunt and I dedicated a whole hour for him. He knew I was near because of his barking but the heavy cover protected him while he ran all over the place until he made the fatal error of pausing on a branch with his tail showing. I guessed where his head was and put a bullet where his head used to be. I felt great while hooking him onto my belt.
It sounds like you managed to salvage the day's hunt and had a good time as well! Not to hijack the thread but do you know the reason for all those misfires? I'm wondering if the ammo got wet? Or storage temperatures got too high? An occasional failure to fire can happen, but 6 to 8 in a row is rare. So, I'm curious if you know the cause.
The thread was a necro thread from Oct. 2010 until yesterday when it rose from the ashes like a Phoenix... Sometimes these threads yield some good info and input though.
Old Winchester ammo. We have a lot of trouble with it. Winchester makes ALL .17 WSM ammo, no matter what the label says. Our local Wallyworld sells the bad stuff and I brought it up with the manager of the sporting goods dept. I also informed her Winchester would trade their trash ammo for later good stuff but the lady just blew it off. They still carry that garbage ammo on their shelf. I store my ammo properly so that is not an issue. I also had my rifle checked out by gunsmiths twice and it is not a rifle problem. Winchester has also given free license to anyone that would like to produce it but as far as I know, no takers yet. The only ammo I can find better is sold at a couple of other stores in our general area. That is what I discovered in my belt bag and dipped into later during my hunt.
