.20 Tactical draws first blood: 13-lined ground squirrel (striped gopher)

[slancey]

I was out with my daughter hunting chucks today and didn’t have any luck. The place is crawling with 13-lined ground squirrels so I took this target of opportunity. This is the first varmint taken with my new Dakota in .20 Tactical. We couldn’t find the other two legs, just what you see in the pictures. And even those pieces were 10 feet apart.

 

[Rustytigwire]

Rest
In
Pieces
Thats just awful.
Hahahaha
Good looking rifle!

 

[jpx2rk]

Congrats on having a good day out busting some varmints.

 

[slancey]

It was a good day. Any day busting varmints is good. Now I have a hunting partner who gets just as excited as I do when something shows up. She gets even more excited than I do when we connect on one. You never know if your kids are going to enjoy your pursuits with you. To have at least one turn out to be as loony as me is beyond words.

 

[jpx2rk]

Yeah, I've been accused of being a bad influence on several people, some not even related.

 

[Yamess191]

Good shooting! Would love to see the whole rifle, not just a tease...

 

[slancey]

Here's a better picture.

 

[sundance]

I tried to shoot some ground squirrels in a dog town I was shooting a few days ago. They would run 20-30 feet and then sit up on their hind legs for 3 seconds and then run again and sit up for 3 seconds and on and on.... I was never fast enough to keep up with them. Prairie dogs are much bigger and slower - my type of shooting.