Where I hunt ground squirrels is really unconventional. When most people think of hunting ground squirrels, they think of souped up hyper velocity rifles with high magnification telescopes on them. But my brother and I prefer a 12 gauge and an SKS. We hunt near some railroad tracks, in a forested area of fir and ponderosa. A long shot is 100 yards, and most are within 40. There is lots of undergrowth, so we usually find the squirrels by listening for them, and there are lots of running shots, very quick, and almost always offhand. I wanted to know if anyone else has hunted ground squirrels like this?
I use a Remington M870 Wingmaster Magnum with a 26" tube and RemChoke. I have a Super Full Turkey Choke in it that says it is approved for lead shot only. Partially for this reason, and partially because I get it for $5 a box of 25, I have been using Remington's 2 3/4" Light Game Load in #6 lead. This is the green box with the dove on it.
Anyone who has ever hunted ground squirrels has probably learned to respect their ability to soak up lead and still get away. I have had problems anchering the pesky buggers at ranges beyond 25 yards. Often they seem to vanish in the dust cloud, even though I am confident in my shot and nearly positive the squirrel received multiple hits. My pattern testing suggests I can expect between 6 and 8 strikes on that size a target from 30 yards. SO, I have a few questions:
1. Does a choke tube approved for lead shot mean "lead shot only" or just that you can't use steel shot? In other words, I can use the Heavy Shot and the tungsten polymer stuff? What about the nickle plated shot?
2. Any suggestions for ammo that I can depend on to anchor these ground squirrels beyong 25 yards?
3. Finally, in the recent issue of G&A, they suggest that the hulls from the cheaper ammo may not be reloadable. Since my ammo is pretty cheap, and we have literally about 5000 hulls laying around, I was wondering if they could be reloaded?
