Improving the hunting performance of .22LR ammunition?

[Dale Alan]

Thanks for the link , I had never heard of them .

 

[UrbanHermit]

I made a simple flat point tool like the one shown with a hardened bushing. You can find them at the hardware store in the little specialty drawers. I found one the cartridge slips into and cut the length until I got it right. I wrapped it with black cloth tape for a better grip. Cost about a buck. Small but works great. Flat point sure "whaaaps" water bottles more than the rounded point. Just make sure to check feeding in your gun before to take too much off the nose,

Those drawers always have the perfect little thing hidden somewhere in them.

 

[UrbanHermit]

You do you then. I have never had much issue moving quite in the wood carrying a rifle or shotgun and wearing modern boots. Practice makes perfect...

You're cheating though. You live in Tennessee. The wild game population, especially deer, is literally 5X what it is up here in northern New England, and they're half as smart. I know because I've hunted there.

 

[Jim Watson]

Russell Moccasins used to make a Bowhunter's Shoe with soft construction. Not on their www today.

 

[UrbanHermit]

Russell Moccasins used to make a Bowhunter's Shoe with soft construction. Not on their www today.

For that kind of money the shoes had better allow me to hover above the ground.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I've lost very few squirrels too, but they've all been with roundnosed bullets.

I've tried for years to incorporate rifles and shotguns into my routines, but have continually found them to cause more problems than they solve. I prefer to hunt by silently navigating through animal habitats against the wind rather than waiting in some stand hoping game magically walks out in front of me. I have significantly more success this way. Because shot opportunities in the forest are generally less than 20 yards for small game and 60 yards for larger game, and because moving silently through the forest is very physically challenging like ballet and requires the constant use of all four limbs, handguns just make more sense to me, and I have far more success using them. Most people view handgun hunting as a special challenge, but in my experience it is far more challenging to shoot animals with rifles because carrying something that large and heavy changes my body mechanics in a way that makes it extremely difficult to move gracefully enough to get within sight of animals without spooking them. I also don't know how people can shoot animals while wearing any kind of footwear sold in sporting goods stores, I would sooner just go barefoot.

If you move into an area and sit still for 15 minutes the squirrels start moving again. You can pick your shots a lot better that way.
Blowing the guts out of squirrels shouldn't be considered an option unless they're invading your house or garage.

 

[UrbanHermit]

If you move into an area and sit still for 15 minutes the squirrels start moving again. You can pick your shots a lot better that way.
Blowing the guts out of squirrels shouldn't be considered an option unless they're invading your house or garage.

I don't hunt small game like that. Waste of time. I take game like that opportunistically while I'm doing other things or just hiking.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I don't hunt small game like that. Waste of time. I take game like that opportunistically while I'm doing other things or just hiking.

I've hunted with people who have that philosophy. But at the end of the day I always had more squirrels.
Hunting with a good sight dog is a whole different story.

 

[UrbanHermit]

I've hunted with people who have that philosophy. But at the end of the day I always had more squirrels.
Hunting with a good sight dog is a whole different story.

Well, yeah, if you actively hunt squirrels and devote your time to that, I suppose you could get more of them than someone who gathers them almost passively just by being quick with a .22 pistol.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Well, yeah, if you actively hunt squirrels and devote your time to that, I suppose you could get more of them than someone who gathers them almost passively just by being quick with a .22 pistol.

Sorry. My comment was based off what you wrote in post 18. I thought you were hunting them. Not just wandering around.

Flat points do have a much better terminal effect than round nose.
As a kid I carefully filed flat points on round nose bullets. It helped and didn't hurt accuracy to a noticable extent inside 25 yards.