I’m getting ready for my first squirrel hunt of the 20-21 season, traveling to Nebraska to take advantage of their early August 1 opener as I write this. It got me to thinking about the guns I used last season and the hunts I took them on, and I started thinking about a tough one!
It was late in the winter and the squirrels had been pretty well hammered in many of my local haunts, but I decided to go out for a morning hunt in the snow. I decided that the snow was packed enough that I didn’t need snowshoes, on the other hand I expected it to be tough going and didn’t want to carry a lot of excess weight.
The Prophet is compact, but performs big! 
I really like the attention to detail that goes into this bullpup design!
I’d been shooting the RTI Arms Prophet for a few months and had taken it out to Texas on a couple jackrabbit hunts and South Dakota for long range prairie dogs, and the gun had done a good job for me on all these excursions. This seemed like a hunt that was well suited to a compact arm that I knew had the accuracy and power to get the job done. The gun had also proven very reliable, which is important to me when driving and hour to hunt and another hour to hike across snow covered fields.
Just stuck the de-mounted scope back on to see where it was hitting. 
A little low, 6 clicks up and I was ready to go!
This might also be my last chance to use the gun for awhile as it was a loaner gun from Airguns of Arizona that needed to be returned, and though I’d placed an order for one of my own in .30 caliber, it might be awhile before the new gun arrived. I’d taken the scope off the rifle in preparation to ship it out, so need to quickly mount another scope and zero it in.
I’d had the scope that had been mounted still sitting on my workbench, so remounted it and quickly checked to see where it was hitting …. still pretty much on at 50 yards but a little low, 6 clicks up and I was ready to go!
I hiked in on the crusty snow in the frozen over corn fields, every once in a while falling through up to my knees. Finally I reached the woods and headed in. I sat and scanned the area but there was nothing happening, so I got up and moved on.
Hiking into the woods 
Finally spot a squirrel chattering away 
I dropped to the deck, lined up the shot, and had a squirrel in the bag
After about 15 minutes I heard chattering and spotted a fox squirrel sitting on a broken off branch about 30 yards away and 20 feet up a tree. I sat on the spot and pulled out my Bog sticks, resting the rifle and lining up my shot. I aimed low on the squirrels head and squeezed the flay blade of the Prophets 2 stage trigger, and as it broke I watched the squirrel drop out of the tree anchored to the spot he hit the ground.
I spent another hour searching the 40 acre plot of WMA woods without spotting another squirrel, so saddled up and headed back to the car. I quickly cleaned the bushytail using a set of shears and threw 5 chunks of nice meat into a plastic bag then exchanged it for a Coke Zero in the small ice box.
Even though I’d only bagged one squirrel on this short trip, it had gotten me out of the house and into the outdoors for a couple hours, and I was still home in time to join my family for brunch at a local eatery.
I’m a big fan of the Prophet, and think RTI Arms has hit it out of the park with this one! The only difference I’d make is that I want my personal gun to be in .30 caliber, and have the option for the adjustable regulator. When my gun arrives for next season, I will use it for some predator hunting as well as small game, and am anticipating some great trigger time with it!
