# When the 1st shot doesn't kill



## Specktur (Jun 10, 2009)

What do you do when your first shot doesn't kill a squirrel (or other small game for that matter)? I have been hunting with a 22-magnum rifle. To kill a wounded squirrel I have clubbed them with a stick. I have shot another bullet, but my scope doesn't focus well at close range and sometimes it is hard to get a clear head shot the way the animal is positioned. I almost bought a bb pistol for the purpose. I have thought of using a knife or a big adjustable wrench, but I don't like getting that close to those sharp claws.


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## ya13ya03 (Sep 21, 2010)

I just step on there chest until they stop moving. If you can't get close enough for that then another shot is what I do. I use a 22lr exclusively. So there's not much damage. I tell you what though. They are some tough critters.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Grab them by the tail and whack their head against a tree.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

I just step on the head. Not stomp, just put my weight down. If I can’t get to them and do that it’s gonna take a scatter gun to stop them. I don’t like stepping on their chest because most of my squirrels go to the crock pot and I don’t want to deal with a bunch of broken rib bones. Rabbits I just grab and twist the head. Sounds kinda gruesome but takes barely a second.


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

I don't use a 22 Mag but a 22 LR. I just do the execution style head shot with a log as a backstop, never next to a rock or in a rocky area. It's an angled shot too, not straight up and down.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

When the first shot doesn't kill them...
...then give them a booster shot.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

22lr hp head shot , mush the brain they dont go anywhere..... you need patience to wait for the right shot , just like any critter ....... patience


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## 87duckhead (Oct 28, 2021)

Take a pair of wire cutters and just clamp the back of the neck and a good squeeze.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Shad Rap said:


> Grab them by the tail and whack their head against a tree.


What we always did.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Saugeyefisher said:


> What we always did.


Easiest way to do it.


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