Some time ago, one of my neighbors began killing squirrels because they are a nuisance. He had great intentions. He knew that I also do some squirrel control and he enjoyed talking about the project.
Not long after he began, I started seeing things that made me think he wasn't terribly accurate. It culminated when I saw a bloody, injured squirrel limping up my driveway. I live maybe 100 yards from him. I walked down to his house that night and curtly told him that his cripples are ending up in my driveway and that I'm having to finish them off. I wasn't terribly hard on him, but I was direct in my communication that he needed to work on his marksmanship if he was going to keep doing this. There's no room to be sloppy with it, and he need to be killing them, not wounding them only to have them slink off to suffer and become a spawning ground for flies.
Later in the day I was talking with one of my close hunting partners and explained the situation to him. This guy is the biggest ambassador of the outdoors that I've ever seen. I take a lot of people hunting, and I've taught countless numbers to shoot, fish, and hunt, but this guy takes it to the next level. He is just super nice and polite, selfless to a fault, quiet, but is an absolute hardcore outdoorsman...a beast in the woods. He listened to me rant a little bit, and when I stopped, he asked me a question. "Well have you thought about going down and asking him if he needs help getting his rifle set up? He might not know as much as you do about it, and that might be all it takes. Maybe just give him some pointers and get him going in the right direction."
Hmmm. I didn't like admitting it right away, but he had a great point. It could be that the guy doesn't know how to make the situation better. That evening I walked down there and brought the subject up again. "I've been thinking about your squirrel problem, man. Where did you zero your scope?" That started a 15 minute conversation that led to me helping him zero the thing properly. We talked about ammo, shot placement, distance to target, proper backstops, all kinds of stuff. He said he grew up hunting ducks but never owned a rifle in his life so he was just kind of guessing at what he should do. Heck, he never even zero'd it. Just started shooting it at squirrels as soon as he took it out of the box.
I left him with a pellet trap, a properly zero'd rifle, a bunch of shoot 'n see targets, and around six different styles of pellets for him to test. Every pellet gun is different, and a gun might appear to be a lemon, shooting terrible groups, until you find the right pellet. Then the thing might print super tight all day long.
I was pushed a little to change my perspective. I did, and in doing so I was able to help a guy out instead of just leaving him criticized and still in the dark. I haven't seen any more cripples either.
Not long after he began, I started seeing things that made me think he wasn't terribly accurate. It culminated when I saw a bloody, injured squirrel limping up my driveway. I live maybe 100 yards from him. I walked down to his house that night and curtly told him that his cripples are ending up in my driveway and that I'm having to finish them off. I wasn't terribly hard on him, but I was direct in my communication that he needed to work on his marksmanship if he was going to keep doing this. There's no room to be sloppy with it, and he need to be killing them, not wounding them only to have them slink off to suffer and become a spawning ground for flies.
Later in the day I was talking with one of my close hunting partners and explained the situation to him. This guy is the biggest ambassador of the outdoors that I've ever seen. I take a lot of people hunting, and I've taught countless numbers to shoot, fish, and hunt, but this guy takes it to the next level. He is just super nice and polite, selfless to a fault, quiet, but is an absolute hardcore outdoorsman...a beast in the woods. He listened to me rant a little bit, and when I stopped, he asked me a question. "Well have you thought about going down and asking him if he needs help getting his rifle set up? He might not know as much as you do about it, and that might be all it takes. Maybe just give him some pointers and get him going in the right direction."
Hmmm. I didn't like admitting it right away, but he had a great point. It could be that the guy doesn't know how to make the situation better. That evening I walked down there and brought the subject up again. "I've been thinking about your squirrel problem, man. Where did you zero your scope?" That started a 15 minute conversation that led to me helping him zero the thing properly. We talked about ammo, shot placement, distance to target, proper backstops, all kinds of stuff. He said he grew up hunting ducks but never owned a rifle in his life so he was just kind of guessing at what he should do. Heck, he never even zero'd it. Just started shooting it at squirrels as soon as he took it out of the box.
I left him with a pellet trap, a properly zero'd rifle, a bunch of shoot 'n see targets, and around six different styles of pellets for him to test. Every pellet gun is different, and a gun might appear to be a lemon, shooting terrible groups, until you find the right pellet. Then the thing might print super tight all day long.
I was pushed a little to change my perspective. I did, and in doing so I was able to help a guy out instead of just leaving him criticized and still in the dark. I haven't seen any more cripples either.
