What if question

[Pilgrim]

You’re squirrel hunting with a .32 SMR PRB your usual small game load. White tail season is in along with squirrel. A white tail walks out at around 25 yards. Would you take a broad side shot? If so where? Me probably not. I don’t think an ethical kill is likely with my typical small game load of around 28 grains. Heavier load, 32-35 grains probably. Any conversation over coffee?

 

[Kansas Jake]

A .36 maybe but not a 32 unless I was confident of a killing head shot which is unlikely for me.

 

[azmntman]

At 25 yds I could hit an eyeball in any gun (rifle) I will be found in the woods with so YA. BUT if it was white tail season I would have the .54 (or .45 or .50 or .58) and my handy BP pistol for squirrels. I have the good news from Mike my Sherrif is in the mal today! I expect it should be good for a tree rat at 20 yds. I shoot a pistol more accurately than a rifle. I shoot pistols offhand way better. Most always will shoot my rifles off a solid rest while hunting bigger stuff.

BTW its MHO 28 grains of powder in a .32 would whack the snot outta a deer's vitals. I used 12rg in the Crockett when I had it and the results mimicked or exceeded a .22WMR.

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

Not unless I was starving.

 

[Thingamajiggy]

Would not be legal here, minimum for deer is .45 in rifle but to play along, If I was trying to put meat in my freezer, would definitely take a head shot.

 

[Sam squanch]

A lot of deer were taken with .36-.32 rifles in the old days. But they were good shots , probably knew how their rifle would perform, and could get CLOSE, failure could mean starvation.

 

[Spikebuck]

Minnesota's minimum is .40 rifled or .45 in smooth, so no.

That aside, a .32 RB is a pretty small pill for a big northern whitetail

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Lots of deer have been taken (jacked) with a .22 LR. Are you a poacher or a sportsman?

ADK Bigfoot

 

[oldwood]

.32 not for deer.

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

In VT you couldn’t legally use a .32 muzzleloader during muzzleloader season because we have a .43 bore minimum , but you could during the regular firearms season where we have no minimum at all.

 

[necchi]

If it was Whitetail season and I had a license for WT , I wouldn't be in the field with a squirrel gun.
But to answer, No I wouldn't, unless like someone else said I "had to" feed my starving family.

Flip the question, I wouldn't have a problem shooting the squirrel with my .54, I know I can take the head off with it.
(been there, done that)

 

[deerstalkert]

not with a prb in .32, but with the 125g conical my whatzit rifle likes i would if the meat was needed. have taken more than a few WT with a 32-20 out of a 1873 winchester. my whatzit matches or exceeds that.

 

[French Colonial]

Lots of deer have been taken (jacked) with a .22 LR. Are you a poacher or a sportsman?

ADK Bigfoot

Yep, I have a cousin who does it regularly with a .22

Not something I would do but his circumstances are different than mine.

 

[Christophero]

If permitted than with an appropriately shaped conical. Would a .315" PRB do it? Yes, but finding the deer after the run could be difficult. Not worth it unless a survival situation.

 

[smokepolehall]

Well now i know a man who owns n shoots a .32 for deer. He uses paper patch conical, but seems to always pot a few tree rats on some of his hunts.

 

[DementedMindOfJac]

You’re squirrel hunting with a .32 SMR PRB your usual small game load. White tail season is in along with squirrel. A white tail walks out at around 25 yards. Would you take a broad side shot? If so where? Me probably not. I don’t think an ethical kill is likely with my typical small game load of around 28 grains. Heavier load, 32-35 grains probably. Any conversation over coffee?

First hunt I went on I was 16 going after Kudu on the Highveld in South Africa. My Askari (what they call the Zulu guides) was an old grandfather who gave me more sage advice than I deserve, probably. His 2 BIG rules:
1) Take what you need, double up and add 1. Goes for food, water, ammo and socks, and
2) (in his own words for effect) "Bwana, today we will hunt him, then we shoot him. If we shoot him then we hunt him... Eish! the sun she is hot."

I'll leave you with that when you consider taking that shot. Eish! The sun she is hot.

 

[steak]

You’re squirrel hunting with a .32 SMR PRB your usual small game load. White tail season is in along with squirrel. A white tail walks out at around 25 yards. Would you take a broad side shot? If so where? Me probably not. I don’t think an ethical kill is likely with my typical small game load of around 28 grains. Heavier load, 32-35 grains probably. Any conversation over coffee?

Hey , from the Land of the Buckeye , I personally would not. Besides , in my state , to legally hunt whitetail must be a single ball of .38 or larger (but the state allows .350 legend ???!!!)

 

[BuffaloSoldier]

First hunt I went on I was 16 going after Kudu on the Highveld in South Africa. My Askari (what they call the Zulu guides) was an old grandfather who gave me more sage advice than I deserve, probably. His 2 BIG rules:
1) Take what you need, double up and add 1. Goes for food, water, ammo and socks, and
2) (in his own words for effect) "Bwana, today we will hunt him, then we shoot him. If we shoot him then we hunt him... Eish! the sun she is hot."

I'll leave you with that when you consider taking that shot. Eish! The sun she is hot.

Good advice from someone who knew what he was doing!

 

[PastorB]

Many years ago, I helped a 12 year old boy retrieve a large 10-point buck that he had killed on his family's land. His weapon that he used to kill that large bodied buck was a Crossman Pump master 760 BB/pellet gun. Muzzle velocity was maybe 600 fps. Somehow the BB penetrated the skin, slipped between ribs, and entered the heart, killing the deer instantly. An informal necropsy found the bb still inbedded in the heart. Point being, you can kill a deer with a thrown rock (witnessed that once as my great uncle threw a stone at a deer to chase is away from his fishing hole), a bb-gun, .22 short, and for sure a .32 prb. Is it a good idea or ethical, I say a hearty "No!". For every story of a "clean kill" using inappropriate methods, there are dozens of critters that run off and die a malingering, miserable death. Why would a fella even be tempted by such a thing, unless it was strictly for survival.

 

[Billy Boy]

You’re squirrel hunting with a .32 SMR PRB your usual small game load. White tail season is in along with squirrel. A white tail walks out at around 25 yards. Would you take a broad side shot? If so where? Me probably not. I don’t think an ethical kill is likely with my typical small game load of around 28 grains. Heavier load, 32-35 grains probably. Any conversation over coffee?

No