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It’s definitely overkill, but my go-to night rig for just about anything is my .357 Western Rattler. I went out to secure my chicken coop since I neglected to do it earlier. I have a general idea of the window that predators drop in so thankfully they still appear to be on schedule and I beat them. In the process I caught a pair of eyes staring towards me when I turned on my flashlight. I immediately started heading in the house in the event that it was a predator eating a chicken. Turns out it was a deer bedded down. Then I scanned the yard and something else caught my eye through my PulsarThermion thermal riflescope.
As I scanned the yard I saw an image around my coop. I was hoping that it wasn’t a possum. I had to angle myself to clear the wire fence. It also worth mentioning I’d been noticing that my yard’s been getting ripped up over the past week and I’d been unable to catch the culprit. I’d come out at various times last week and saw nothing. Turns out it was an armadillo that I was looking at and lead was on the menu. 110 grains to be precise. I didn’t range or record it. I took an unobstructed quartering shot as it was walking while it was available. The first shot I’m unsure of where I hit it. After thinking about it and reviewing the photos, it has to be in the hind quarters due to the direction it was walking when I shot. There’s another hole in the middle of its body (opposite side of the photo) and it sprung a leak there. It’s an exit hole. After the first shot the dillo got up after being knocked down and crawled a few steps. I put a second shot in its shoulder once I saw it get up and take a step or two. It didn’t get up again. I saw one pass through that showed up on my thermal scope. The slug was hit and lodged into a wooden post.
In the photo below I flipped the dillo over with a shovel.
Edited to add that both shots were taken offhand.
As I scanned the yard I saw an image around my coop. I was hoping that it wasn’t a possum. I had to angle myself to clear the wire fence. It also worth mentioning I’d been noticing that my yard’s been getting ripped up over the past week and I’d been unable to catch the culprit. I’d come out at various times last week and saw nothing. Turns out it was an armadillo that I was looking at and lead was on the menu. 110 grains to be precise. I didn’t range or record it. I took an unobstructed quartering shot as it was walking while it was available. The first shot I’m unsure of where I hit it. After thinking about it and reviewing the photos, it has to be in the hind quarters due to the direction it was walking when I shot. There’s another hole in the middle of its body (opposite side of the photo) and it sprung a leak there. It’s an exit hole. After the first shot the dillo got up after being knocked down and crawled a few steps. I put a second shot in its shoulder once I saw it get up and take a step or two. It didn’t get up again. I saw one pass through that showed up on my thermal scope. The slug was hit and lodged into a wooden post.
In the photo below I flipped the dillo over with a shovel.
Edited to add that both shots were taken offhand.
