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Ethics of Squirrel Head Shots

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I shot a squirrel in the head, and it lived until I shot it again the next day. It was still wandering around the yard. I haven't seen that happen with shots through the chest.

As for having to hit the aorta, well, I dispute that. Squirrels have lungs, hearts, spines, diaphragms...lots of vital stuff in there. If you miss all those things and screw up the shoulders, it will still fall and wait for you to finish it off.
 
I do head shots when I'm absolutely sure I can connect, but mostly body shots. A .22 compared to an average squirrel is like a buffalo or elephant round.
 
I said aim for the aorta. There is logic behind this:
  1. If you hit the aorta (which you should), fastest bleedout hit possible.
  2. If you hit low you hit the heart, again, fastest bleedout.
  3. If you hit high or behind, solid lung shot. Fatal, but not optimal.
  4. If you hit really high, spine shot. Immobilizes target until your second shot causes death, if the first does not. (Usually with squirrels it does.)
  5. if you hit forward, shoulder shot anchors target until better aimed second shot dispatches target.
Aim small, miss small.
The ballistics of .22LR vs. a squrrel's physiology makes head shots much more viable on them than say deer with most deer rounds, or coyote with most varmint rounds, though I admit to a few head shots on coyotes, too.
 
stevehgraham said:
No, the chest is better.
Click to expand...
Maybe for you. You have yet to show us any real life information of the advantages of shooting for the body over shooting for the brain, other than it's a bigger target and easier for you, to hit. But the body, because it has more margin for error when it comes to making a hit, also has more area for non-lethal hits. Whereas, the head itself, has very little area on it that is not a lethal hit. Those areas are very small and would only be consistently hit, if one is aiming at the wrong spot. Hitting a squirrel in the front shoulders with a .22 is like hitting a deer in the shoulders with a 4" cannon. Claiming one can not only eat right up to the hole, but the hole itself, does not really appeal to me.

Hunting ethics are a very individual and personal thing. Most of the time, ethics, when related to hunting, means doing the right thing, even when no one else is looking. Humane killing, while going hand in hand with ethics, is not entirely dependent on it. One can have all the ethics in the world and still be a poor shot. We as responsible and ethical hunters strive to make all our kills fast and painless. But reality tells us that ain't always gonna happen, even for the best of shooters. If one's accuracy is limited, then yes, they should aim for a bigger kill area. If folks have better success with one type of kill shot over another, then again, that's what they should do. But they should not try to impose their choices on others, only based on their own skill level.

Before hunting squirrels, I grew up hunting tweety birds with a BB gun. A smaller target, using a much less precise firearm. Still, I aimed for the head and a quick and humane kill. It took knowing where you gun shoots and it's/your effective range. Became quite easy after a while. Same when I was hunting squirrels and would come across a Grouse in a tree or sitting on the ground. Sure, it would be easier to shoot for the body, but the head is where I was taught to aim. Grouse brain area is much smaller than a squirrel, yet many was the time when grouse were plentiful, that they went home with me....headless. Thing was, if I missed the head, they were still around to hunt another day.
 
I can aim for the center of the chest or the middle of the shoulders. I can't aim for something I can't see.
 
stevehgraham said:
I can aim for the center of the chest or the middle of the shoulders. I can't aim for something I can't see.
Click to expand...
That's why people say to learn the anatomy of your prey.
If you know what's under the skin, you know where to aim.
Like aiming at the crease of the shoulder on a deer if you want to take the lungs out. Base of the ear equals brains. Lower front shoulder is heart.
 
To tell y'all the truth I think squirrels are cool little animals and are fun to hunt and good to eat. But those little @#*#^%, Tree Rats, that live around my house must all die. They got in my attic one year and caused a lot of hell. I tried all different ways to get rid of them, but what did the trick was 38 rat shot out of a 4" S&W . I had to change the duct work when I was done. Thank God my buddy does AC work.
Whenever I see them playing in my yard I shoot them with Aguila Super Colibri . I would use an AR, but my neighbors might get upset. :(
 
I did a lot of squirrel hunting when I was young. It was before Al Gore invented the internet or at least before most people knew about it or him.
Nobody spoke about ethics we just wanted to kill them quick and not ruin meat or make a mess with a gut shot.
It was considered the most sporting to use a 22 although when grouse were abundant you got a pass for using a shotgun (because it was even less sporting to shoot a grouse with a rifle). With a rifle a shot anywhere but in the head was embarrassing and trying to justify it would only make it worse. If a shotgun was used we tried to hit with the edge of the pattern to avoid having to pick much shot out of the meat.
I don't wish to inflict undue suffering on any animal but it happens when you hunt and it will happen again. Knowing that means I place the pleasure I get from hunting above the suffering of my quarry. Is that unethical? I don't even pretend to care.
 
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Bfh_auto said:
That's why people say to learn the anatomy of your prey.
If you know what's under the skin, you know where to aim.
Like aiming at the crease of the shoulder on a deer if you want to take the lungs out. Base of the ear equals brains. Lower front shoulder is heart.
Click to expand...

Welcome to last week!
 
A couple thoughts:

1. Squirrels are resilient little beggars. I've plowed 3 shots of 22LR into some of them, and they just kept on running. They can soak up
a lot of damage, and keep going. I shot can kill them, but be ready to follow up with extra shots.

2. Put them all the way down, regardless of where you shoot them, in a humane manner. Like all game animals, they deserve the respect of
a quick death. There was one clown on the internet who was you-tubing a video of wounded squirrels, like it was the Nature Channel,
and smugly bragging about it. This was just plain wrong.

3. I've had better success with shooting the body cavity. Shot them thru the nose before, and also had them get up and run off, only to prolong their
pain and suffering.
 
stevehgraham said:
I have put the advantage in boldface.
Click to expand...


As have I......

You have yet to show us any real life information of the advantages of shooting for the body over shooting for the brain, other than it's a bigger target and easier for you, to hit.
Click to expand...

As I said before, do not try and impose your ethics on others, based solely on the amount of skill you have. It's readily apparent that many folks here do not think it that difficult to hit the brain when taking head shots on squirrels, and many are very adept at it. Just because you cannot regularly hit a target that small, gives you no real basis to claim none of us can, even if we aren't Annie Oakley. I cannot perform brain surgery, but there are many that can. Would be foolish to claim they can't, solely based on my skill level.
 
With so much concern about ethics in hunting squirrels, it occurred to me that some may not know:
If you watch a squirrel long enough, you will see it rape or be raped.
 
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