Indiana may not have P-Dogs..........

[Swift One]

.......but we sure have our share of 13 striped ground squirrels.  If you varmint hunters haven't tried your hands at these, you need to.  It's a hoot.  And quite a challenging target.  I have a land owner that has a field or two just packed with these guys. All my shots were at around 80yds and with a 22mag.  I had left to right winds at 15MPH with 20MPH gusts.  That makes for quite a challenging shoot- and a fun one.  I shot 5 of these guys and recovered 4. Missed another 6.  The CCI 40gr HP made short work of them when they did connect.  I will be doing this again!!! Hopefully with calmer winds .

[Hairtrigger]

I have these living in the backstop I shoot into. They will sit still watching me mow grass long enough to stop mowing, open the safe and select a gun, grab some ammo and kill them. It is common to see them in the same place for 15 minutes with out moving.
They are fun targets

[mrbigtexan]

them suckers can bite real hard too. caught one by the tail in the school playground when i was about 8. he can do a backflip and bite you faster than you can let him go.

[bigvarmnt]

If they are what I call chipmunks, they never stand still very long. I've never seen them in fields mostly in woods or around flowerbeds. Maybe there is a squirrel I don't know about. When I was 15, I shot a few in the woods around Fish Lake. Shot one in the face with 22 short HP and it shredded it into four sections from head to tail. Shot a few others that day and was a lot of fun Been wanting to try that again. Been gonna sit up in the tree stand as they are always running around below. I see them in the edge of the woods all the time.
I do have a brick of short HPs
If these are different than chipmunks, Let Me Know.

[Old Syko]

Seeing these pics reminded me of a guy who moved out here into the sticks not too far from where I live.  A buddy of mine and myself stopped in to see him one day and as we walked onto the porch I noticed a bunch of little bowls across the end of the porch.  I had to ask what they were for.  The answer was that they filled them with dog food every evening and sat on the porch watching the cute little chipmunks feed.  When I told him he should add some type of poison to the dog food he and his wife thought I was the most terrible person on earth.  A few months later I spoke to him again and he told me he then understood why I said what I did.  It seemed they had gotten inside his walls and done over $30,000 worth of damage.  When the insurance company discovered he was caring for them like pets, they refused to pay for the repairs.  I've since seen him actually run one down and stomp it to death even though he has gotten pretty good with a 10-22.  Tell him how cute they are and he goes on a cussing tirade.  You CAN teach city boys.  You just have to get into their back pocket to do it.   

[rdmallory]

I remember shooting them out my bedroom window with 22CB caps and my lever action Winchester.

Doug

[Glanceblamm]

Have been busy but took the time to take a few as I promised upon recieving a phone call. Sent the sil out yesterday, he did ok but says we need to go back!

Mine is the .22 WMR with the CCI 40gr hp and he is using a .17hmr

[Swift One]

Here ya go bigvrmnt,
The chipmunk does hang out in the woods and doesn't sit still for long.  It can be identified by the solid black and white stripes going down it's back:


The 13 Striped Ground Squirrel is more prone to set up shop in grass fields or even homeowners lawns.  They are quick movers but do stand still for long periods of time.  When they are sitting on their back legs, they look a little like malnourished Prarie Dogs. They can be identified by their long slender bodies and the white solid and dotted stripes going down their backs.


Hope this helps.  It's a fun and challenging target to shoot.  When you find one, thre is almost always several of them.  In fact, I have never seen just one. When I go out and pick up the one I shot, I discover several of their holes.  They are quick to come back out to after shooting.

[bigvarmnt]

Thanks Swift, I didn't think the dead ones in your 1st pic looked quite the same.
Odd I've never run across those around here before. Do you think they're on the east side of the state? I'll be looking for them. Might make a NICE HAT for somebody

Still think I'm gonna try to pop a couple of those Alvin rascals

I was in Arizona a few years ago at a nice range. I was shooting steel targets on the rimfire range and the guy that took care of the place pointed out some similar squirrels darting around the backstop. About 100+ yds. He said he couldn't tell me to shoot them but he wouldn't mind if a few died. He said they dig in the backstops. I had a good time trying to help him out. There were several of them.
Fun to shoot with 22 lr at 100+ yds. Pretty much held where the big post meets the crosshair on a duplex. They became more fun than the steel targets Hope they weren't protected

[oldandslow]

Ground squirrels (local name) were plentiful where I grew up and I sent a lot of them to squirrel heaven. They are very scarce where I live now and I doubt I've seen a dozen total over all the years I've lived here. I kind of miss them. They were a fun target.

When I go to the mountains on vacation I enjoy watching the chipmunks and squirrels. Of course I don't have to live with the destructive little devils either. 

[Swift One]

I used to hunt with a guy in Angola and we would shoot them out of his grass fields while Ghog hunting.  I'm sure they are plentiful out there too. When you run into one of them, they usually have several living in close proximity.

[alleyyooper]

Here in Michigan we call them gophers.
I hate red squirrels and shoot them on sight any time of the day or year. Boy do they make a mess of a place if they get into it.

   Al