Henry Rifle Forums

I went out to hunt squirrels yesterday late after doing some things that needed done more than hunting.(Furnace work) I got in the woods about 10:45. Saw a couple squirrels out of range walking in. This is the third time this season I had a few hours to get out. I saw 14 squirrels the first trip out and was there about an hour until it started raining so I left. Second trip out the woods was dead with not even any birds out feeding. I took the rifle the first two trips and never got but one shot the day I saw the 14 squirrels and that was an off hand shot at about 50+ yds after walking up a hill and I would have missed the way I was wobbling around if that squirrel was the size of a ground hog. NCG would have probably put that one in the bag.
Yesterday was Remington 870 day. I was probably just in time to catch the the tail end of squirrel activity at this time of day with the moon so bright the night before they probably feed up at night. I did see six and shot at 5 and after getting the 5th one I decided that was enough to skin and headed back to the car. I was there an hour and 10 minutes so I did good for such a small amount of time. I got three grays and two very big fox squirrels. I hunted with a National Wild Turkey Federation 870 12 ga. with a 23 1/2" barrel with screw in chokes and synthetic camo stock and fore arm. I had the turkey full choke tube in and I used Remington Premier Nitro 27 yd handicap trap loads with 1 1/8 oz of 7 1/2 shot because of having some shoulder problems for a while now. They worked very well on the squirrels in this fairly thick woods and I also shot the last squirrel at 52 long steps and it dropped at the shot and never moved. This maybe the loads I have to use with my bad shoulder this season if I use the shotguns. They are light on recoil. Turkey comes in today but my wife and I are going to the stock/super stock drag races at Hagerstown, Md. Next three weeks will be hunting with my Sako 222 Remington while turkey season is in.

bandit1250 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 31, 2020 7:29 am

I used Remington Premier Nitro 27 yd handicap trap loads with 1 1/8 oz of 7 1/2 shot

congrats on your hunt .... the 870 has a long history of being a solid performer with (depending on the shell) a hard recoil .... back when I was an instructor in NC's prison system, it was our service shotgun .... I've never heard of handicap trap loads .... at a glance they appear to be a bit stronger than the Dove & Quail loads I use

Im sure its nice to get out Bandit. Take care of the shoulder.

Glad you're getting out and doing some hunting. A day in the squirrel wood's is hard to beat. Of all the types of hunting I did over the years, I probably miss those days wandering the hills and wood lots hunting squirrels the most. Lots of great memories.

Back in the day, I used all kinds of tools for my squirrel hunting and that included shotguns. Had a 20 gauge Ithaca 37 that was a delight to carry all day and fit me like a glove. If quail and pheasant were in season, I had the gun for them, too.

Glad you got out bandit. It’s more than what I did.

JEBar, I am not a trap shooter but I was told the 27 yd handicap loads are for trap shooting where the clay bird comes out of the trap house where it will be 27 yds when you first see it. I think he also said these are loaded with some harder lead shot for more uniform patterns. Only available in 7 1/2 and 8 shot. I bought several of the 100 rounds per case (4 boxes of 25 rounds) at Wally World for $24. They shoot hard for light loads with light recoil.

bandit1250 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:05 pm

JEBar, I am not a trap shooter but I was told the 27 yd handicap loads are for trap shooting where the clay bird comes out of the trap house where it will be 27 yds when you first see it. I think he also said these are loaded with some harder lead shot for more uniform patterns. Only available in 7 1/2 and 8 shot. I bought several of the 100 rounds per case (4 boxes of 25 rounds) at Wally World for $24. They shoot hard for light loads with light recoil.

info appreciated .... for trap I shoot Winchester Dove and Clay 7 1/2 shot and buy them buy the 100 at Walmart .... as I remember they cost $25+/- .... I'm going to make it a point to look for the ones you are using