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Sight in that .22 Rifle Fall is here and so are the hunting seasons. This weekend marks the opening of the Squirrel season and I’ll bet that there are a lot of you planning on hitting the pine forests in search of those tasty little critters. Bet you have visions of Squirrel Stew, simmering on the stove. Mmmmm..sounds good doesn’t it? Makes you mouth water just to think of it.
Well, I’ll tell ya what DOESN’T taste very good and that’s a gut shot Squirrel. I know, I’m guilty of that sin myself and I know how to correct the problem too. Sight in your .22 rifle before going hunting using the ammunition that you will be using in the field. It’s as simple as that. Most of us take for granted that our little .22 is accurate. So, we just drag it out of the closet, dust it off, go buy a box or two of what ever’s on sale and head for the woods. Since the majority of us probably use open or peep lights on our .22s we don’t think about why we missed. It was just a bad hold. Well, WAS IT?
Several years ago I was Deer hunting in North Kaibab. I got my Deer on opening day but still had two other members of my party who hadn’t scored. So, while I waited for them to fill their tags, I went Squirrel hunting. I was using a little open sighted Remington pump .22 that had always produced exceptional accuracy and fully expected to have a one shot—one kill hunt. Didn’t turn out that way. I missed the first Squirrel completely and made poor hits on two others. To say the least, I wasn’t happy with my shooting and it didn’t dawn on me until several weeks later what the problem was.
It wasn’t that my shooting was poor. It was because I was using a different brand of ammunition than I usually used and hadn’t taken the time to sight in using that particular ammo. Now, whenever I go to the range for a sighting in session I include my .22 if I plan on taking it along on a hunt. Just like your favorite big game rifle, a .22 needs to be sighted in and that sighting checked before a hunt. Nobody would consider hunting Deer or Elk with a rifle that hasn’t been sighted in but most of us think nothing of going hunting with a .22 that hasn’t been sighted in. I don’t like wounded animals. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Deer, an Elk, or a Squirrel. I want to make a quick, clean, kill. That should be everyone’s desire.
So, take some advice from someone who knows…sight that .22 in before you take it hunting. Sight in with the ammo that you will use to hunt with. You’ll be amazed at the differences in impact point between brands of ammunition. Have a great hunt. AZOD
Tom Kampert Staff writer…AZOD
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