SJ, did you hear the impact?
You can shoot at long distances far better than me, so you know that when you shoot up or down, your POI will be higher than expected. Now when you use an airgun all these influences are much bigger. So it's possible you just shot over the squirel (or maybe it just wasn't its time yet and fe. a small dent in the pellet made it miss the target)
And last Thursday there was a lot of wind and I couldn't get my shots where I wanted them to be (I rather blame the wind than my poor shooting
) resulting in a big increase of lost rabbits. Only got 11 in the bag. So for a rabbit is not only the head you have to hit, but the head behind the eye under the ear. (The neck or the spine will also be ok, with a flatnose you can also try the chest. But with a FN you have to stay closer than 25 yards to hit what you're aiming at).
And 1 last advice: there 's a big difference between a springer and a PCP. A springer is much more sensitive for how you hold it. So when you normally shoot offhanded and for your squirel you wanted to increase your 'luck' and used a support, you just might miss because your hold was much more steady!
But 1 big advantage with airrifles: you can run your science tests in your backyard and don't have to go to the range everytime
(and because you normally don't have to worry when you're using an airrifle in yur backyard, it's much more rewarding and I have to admit that I use my airrifles more than any other thing in my safe.) And for you: I'm just wondering when you're going to make your step-up to a PCP in .22, because that's where you're going to be in the near future