Squirrels

[Pygmy]

I  am going to check my favorite  hickory grove tomorrow morning at sunrise...It is on State park Land and is a full 5 minutes from my house...

Due to the heavy foliage, I'll be carrying my 1936 vintage  Winchester M12 16 gauge with  1 oz.  loads of # 6 shot....

[Lawdwaz]

Sounds like a heck of a way to kick off the day. 

So what will you do AFTER you kill your limit by 8am??

 

[Pygmy]

1 minute ago, Lawdwaz said:

Sounds like a heck of a way to kick off the day. 

So what will you do AFTER you kill your limit by 8am??

 

Clean them in the woods...I can do 6 in about a half hour.....Come home, maybe have some breakfast...Meet my  good buddy Pete at the Legion shortly after noon and perhaps play a few tickets......Life is GOOD  !!…...

[ANTLERS]

[ny hunter]

Good luck....Have fun............

[Nytracker]

No report .... hunting must have been bad ... bet he is still at the legion.... hope the beer was  cold and the tickets were paying.

[Pygmy]

12 minutes ago, Nytracker said:

No report .... hunting must have been bad ... bet he is still at the legion.... hope the beer was  cold and the tickets were paying.

Actually, at 9:00 AM I thought I might be skunked....Not a LOT of nuts, but some cuttings lying around  and I could hear cuttings dropping from the HIGH hickories and knew there were squirrels up there feeding.. Still, all I could was the occasional leaf  moving...

I finally identified a tree that had several squirrels working the upper branches...Moved back very slowly until I could see some of the upper limbs....I could tell by the foliage moving that there were several  squirrels feeding..

I finally got  a decent look at one and shot him....Within 5 seconds I shot 2 more, because they started abandoning the tree...Fun shooting....fast and instinctive shooting at squirrels running limb to limb...

By 9:30  I had six on the ground and went around to pick them up...Found 5      two blacks and 3 greys..  Could not find the 6th..He may have been.. just stunned and crawled into a hole...Happens sometimes...

Not a single bot fly larva in any of them...

 

 

[wolc123]

25 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Actually, at 9:00 AM I thought I might be skunked....Not a LOT of nuts, but some cuttings lying around  and I could hear cuttings dropping from the HIGH hickories and knew there were squirrels up there feeding.. Still, all I could was the occasional leaf  moving...

I finally identified a tree that had several squirrels working the upper branches...Moved back very slowly until I could see some of the upper limbs....I could tell by the foliage moving that there were several  squirrels feeding..

I finally got  a decent look at one and shot him....Within 5 seconds I shot 2 more, because they started abandoning the tree...Fun shooting....fast and instinctive shooting at squirrels running limb to limb...

By 9:30  I had six on the ground and went around to pick them up...Found 5      two blacks and 3 greys..  Could not find the 6th..He may have been.. just stunned and crawled into a hole...Happens sometimes...

Not a single bot fly larva in any of them...

 

 

Sounds like a good time.  I hope to find some time to get out there with my "Marksman" .177 cal pellet gun over the next few weeks.  It has the worst trigger that I have ever felt on a gun, but for $ 49 with scope, I guess I should not expect much.   If I keep my shots under 20 yards, I might do ok.    After turkey season opens up, I will be carrying my 870 12 gauge with 3" # 5 shot loads until my turkey tag is punched.    That got the job done on a squirrel "target of opportunity" last year, and that tasted very good in the crock-pot along with a couple of wild hen turkey drumsticks.    If the pellet gun works out alright, I may never hunt them tree rats with a .22 again.       

[Pygmy]

1 minute ago, wolc123 said:

Sounds like a good time.  I hope to find some time to get out there with my "Marksman" .177 cal pellet gun over the next few weeks.  It has the worst trigger that I have ever felt on a gun, but for $ 49 with scope, I guess I should not expect much.   If I keep my shots under 20 yards, I might do ok.    After turkey season opens up, I will be carrying my 870 12 gauge with 3" # 5 shot loads until my turkey tag is punched.    That got the job done on a squirrel "target of opportunity" last year, and that tasted very good in the crock-pot along with a couple of wild hen turkey drumsticks.    If the pellet gun works out alright, I may never hunt them tree rats with a .22 again.       

None of the squirrels I shot today could have been shot with a .22  ,( at least not by ME)  and certainly not a pellet gun....

They were in the tops of 50 foot high hickories, and running from limb to limb,,,

Later in the season, once the leaves are down and the squirrels are feeding on the ground, the pellet gun might get the job done...Good luck...

[Daveboone]

I used to love to hunt squirrel, preferably with a .22. I really haven't in years mainly because I have never found a recipe I thought was worthwhile. I have wanted to head to the western edge of the state for Fox squirrel, but understand they can be pretty tricky to find.

[Pygmy]

Most  complaints  about squirrel recipes is that they are not very tender...

Here is my go to recipe....

Clean and disjoint ...I discard the ribcage and neck and end up with 5 pieces, the 4 legs and the back...

Dust the pieces in flour, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning...Brown over medium heat in butter..

Place pieces in a baking dish ( I use a 9 x13  foil pan)….Slice up an onion or two over the meat..Fill the pan to perhaps 1/2 full of chicken broth...Cover and bake over low heat 280- 300 F) for about two hours...Uncover and turn up heat to reduce liquid and brown meat … Make gravy from the drippings if you want...The squirrel by now should  be  brown on top ,very tender and literally falling off the bones..  If you don't like that you are not American....<<grin>>….l 

[wolc123]

I toss them in a crockpot with some cream of mushroom soup.   Sometimes mixed with a rabbit or two.  The squirrel is always the best tasting and very tender after about 6 hours on "low".   For prep, all I do is skin, gut and cut off the head, feet and tail.  The remains goes into the crockpot as one big piece. Easy prep, easy cook, and great tasting "almost free" meal.  The squirrel tastes so good that I never mind spending the time to pick every last bit of meat off the bones.   

Edited September 7, 2019 by wolc123

[Hock3y24]

if you want tender squirrel cook them in some type of tomatoes in a slow cooker, the acidity breaks them down nice.