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Have you ever barked a squirrel?
When woodsmen carried muzzel loaders and hunted for their food lead we scarce and not to be waisted. In addition you really wouldn't want to hit small game with a large ball if you were trying for dinner. I heard somewhere it was common pratice to bark squirrels. The woodsmen would aim at the branch under the squirrel so the concussion and spintering would dispatch his dinner with little or no damage to the meatand the lead could be recovered. That was aurban legend....or so I thought.
While deer hunting and scouting the squirrels have been my curse. Let one see me and they'll follow me for a mile letting the entire world know they saw me. One afternoon I was scouting a new area. Where I hunt there are a lot of cougar so I never enter the woods without a side arm and a knife. I had just crossed a ridge when a hudge squirrel saw me. She wasn't far from me and started the alert call. I decided to ignor her as I moved slowly along but after fifteen minutes I got tired of her. I threw some rocks at her which make her bark even more. Ten minutes later I figured I'd put a start in her engine. I really didn't want to kill her so I figured I would shoot the branch under her. I was carrying a 6" Ruger Security Six and figured since she was less than 25 yards away I could make a shot that would put her world in order. I drew the revolver, steadied against a small tree, cocked the hammer and aimed the shot into a two inch branch. The bark of that gun was the only thing in the woods that morning that was louder than her and when the bullet impacted the branch she launched herself to the trunk of the tree. She stood there attached to to it looking up silent for the first time since she saw me. I was pleased with the shot and thought that will teach you to mess with me! she stood there silent for about ten seconds. Then she fell to the ground:yikes:
I was dumbfounded! The shot was good, in the top center of the branch. What happened? I walk over to her and hoisted her by the tail. There wasn't a mark on her but there she was dead as a door nail (or door knocker). It's not a legend it can be done! I barked a squirrel!
Have you ever barked a squirrel?
While deer hunting and scouting the squirrels have been my curse. Let one see me and they'll follow me for a mile letting the entire world know they saw me. One afternoon I was scouting a new area. Where I hunt there are a lot of cougar so I never enter the woods without a side arm and a knife. I had just crossed a ridge when a hudge squirrel saw me. She wasn't far from me and started the alert call. I decided to ignor her as I moved slowly along but after fifteen minutes I got tired of her. I threw some rocks at her which make her bark even more. Ten minutes later I figured I'd put a start in her engine. I really didn't want to kill her so I figured I would shoot the branch under her. I was carrying a 6" Ruger Security Six and figured since she was less than 25 yards away I could make a shot that would put her world in order. I drew the revolver, steadied against a small tree, cocked the hammer and aimed the shot into a two inch branch. The bark of that gun was the only thing in the woods that morning that was louder than her and when the bullet impacted the branch she launched herself to the trunk of the tree. She stood there attached to to it looking up silent for the first time since she saw me. I was pleased with the shot and thought that will teach you to mess with me! she stood there silent for about ten seconds. Then she fell to the ground:yikes:
I was dumbfounded! The shot was good, in the top center of the branch. What happened? I walk over to her and hoisted her by the tail. There wasn't a mark on her but there she was dead as a door nail (or door knocker). It's not a legend it can be done! I barked a squirrel!
Have you ever barked a squirrel?
I like Elmer Keith; I married his daughter 

Replies
And as for recovering lead.....you can do this with a large animal like a deer or bear or hog, but never with a "barking" shot on a squirrel. I've recovered lead numbers of times from the animals I mentioned. The old-timers (me included, I guess) thought that it was "Lucky Lead" and if you cast more round balls with it, why you'd score again when you shot at something
Jerry
It woke up after 30 min and I had to shoot it again.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
a shot gun and skipping the deformed shot into the squirrel.
I never did that.
The method probably has some merit if your rabbit hunting small shot
loads and find a squirrel and want fewer bigger pellets to hit the rat. In this case bigger
means diameter from deformation.
Closest I've come to barking a squirrel is with my .32 cal. muzzle loader. I hit the branch a little low, and the ball smacked them in the head or shoulder area as it bounced off the branch.
― Douglas Adams
I did make a shot one day that surprised me. The ball took off the top of the skull, but left the brain intact as well as the dura-mater membrane covering the brain! The poor creature was out cold, but if there had been a way or recovering the skull cap and replacing it, the darn thing might have lived! I finished it before it could wake up.
Dan
Remington in .243 Winchester. I had taken 4 of my 5 squirrel limit, when a big fox squirrel appeared at about 30 yards. A carefully aimed shot, and he fell to the ground. I sat for a few minutes, watching the squirrels
play tag, when I saw the last one shot jump up and began running in circles. When he jumped onto the side of a tree, I shot him again, aiming at the eye. When I went to retrieve him, I saw a bloody crease on the
top of his head, as well as the hole through the eyes. Apparently, I had just knocked him out, with the first shot......Robin
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO