Anyone doin squirrel hunting?

[Robhuntandfish]

41 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Saw three squirrels but couldn’t get a bead on them.
Then a Funny looking squirrel jumped out of a blowdown pile today ..hope he eats good!



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Nice bunny!    This would've made a great first post in a 2022 live from the woods thread.... Just sayin.  Someone's gotta open it. 

I haven't gotten a rabbit in many years now.  I usually go once a year just kinda walk about....but would be great to get one. Awesome. 

[Liquidonyx]

44 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Saw three squirrels but couldn’t get a bead on them.
Then a Funny looking squirrel jumped out of a blowdown pile today ..hope he eats good!



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Excellent!

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Nice bunny!    This would've made a great first post in a 2022 live from the woods thread.... Just sayin.  Someone's gotta open it. 

I haven't gotten a rabbit in many years now.  I usually go once a year just kinda walk about....but would be great to get one. Awesome. 

You will find a live 2022 thread in the deer hunting section, if you scroll down a ways.  It often takes folks a while to flip their calendars. 

[Paula]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

Saw three squirrels but couldn’t get a bead on them.
Then a Funny looking squirrel jumped out of a blowdown pile today ..hope he eats good!



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Nice

[Five Seasons]

Much of it had to do with cooking techniques and the way the fish is handled prior to cooking.  If you deep fry the fish in oil, then I agree that perch or walleye are better, because the meat contains very little “fish oil”, compared to bass. 
 
With the  healthier cooking methods, like grilling, baking, or broiling, then I like bass better because it has more fish oil in it, which keeps it moist thru those process, whereas perch and walleye tend to get too dry.
Eating bass is a win win deal because fish oil is actually good for you and deep frying in animal fat is bad for you.
Most folks have no clue how to handle bass meat though.  The fish should be kept as healthy as possible and the meat should still be twitching when it is removed.  Letting them die, full of guts, in a cooler is asking for trouble. It should also be vacuum sealed if frozen. 
 
Get it now ?

No I don’t. You’re cooking walleye wrong. That fish is moist and delicious even with just some lemon on the grill.

Saw this the other day and thought of you bud.



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[Five Seasons]

For the record I ear bass on occasion, it’s not bad but it’s not better.


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[Five Seasons]

Yes I prefer rabbit to squirrel, but I won't go out of my way to seek out either. Squirrels are a pain to clean and I don't have enough rabbits around to really bother with them.

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Practice. My first few were a mess. It gets easier and the pants method never turned me wrong. If there’s an issue with squirrel it’s that you really need 3 or more for a decent meal and that’s not as easy as some think in the winter.


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[Five Seasons]

Nice bunny!    This would've made a great first post in a 2022 live from the woods thread.... Just sayin.  Someone's gotta open it. 
I haven't gotten a rabbit in many years now.  I usually go once a year just kinda walk about....but would be great to get one. Awesome. 

I’d say April makes sense and we can’t have it in the deer section, maybe general.


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[Steve D]

12 minutes ago, Belo said:

No I don’t. You’re cooking walleye wrong. That fish is moist and delicious even with just some lemon on the grill.

Pretty good batter for all fish:

 

[Grouse]

This time of year on concentrate on thinning out the red squirrel population living in the pines right next to my house.  They start working on the house when there's too many of them in the pines.  I have to admit, it is a lot of fun sitting in there, full camo with binocs, just waiting for them to make a move so I can knock them down with the single shot .410.  I send my nephew the tails to use for fly tying.

[crappyice]

Practice. My first few were a mess. It gets easier and the pants method never turned me wrong. If there’s an issue with squirrel it’s that you really need 3 or more for a decent meal and that’s not as easy as some think in the winter.


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Truth I realized yesterday. I saw almost as many rabbits as I did squirrel yesterday since I can kick them from their warm beds…can’t quite kick that high for squirrel


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[wolc123]

5 hours ago, Grouse said:

This time of year on concentrate on thinning out the red squirrel population living in the pines right next to my house.  They start working on the house when there's too many of them in the pines.  I have to admit, it is a lot of fun sitting in there, full camo with binocs, just waiting for them to make a move so I can knock them down with the single shot .410.  I send my nephew the tails to use for fly tying.

That’s all I have done with the reds.   I think this year, during deer season, I am going to bring along my pellet gun (as a second “squirrel” weapon) on some deer hunts, beginning with the early September antlerless season.   The silent report won’t spook off deer, and that will give me some squirrel time, when they are most active.    

[Northcountryman]

15 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

That’s all I have done with the reds.   I think this year, during deer season, I am going to bring along my pellet gun (as a second “squirrel” weapon) on some deer hunts, beginning with the early September antlerless season.   The silent report won’t spook off deer, and that will give me some squirrel time, when they are most active.    

Not a bad idea, but I think the deer might hear the pop when you shoot.

[wolc123]

44 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Not a bad idea, but I think the deer might hear the pop when you shoot.

Maybe so, but I have a 2 years supply of vacuum sealed venison stocked up in our freezers now, so I am not overly concerned if a few get tipped off in the early fall this year.  Topping the freezers off with venison, before next winter, should not be a problem if we have that beloved Holiday ML season again.  
 

I need to check the zero on my pellet gun with the open sights before I squirrel hunt with it.  It has nice looking fiber optics on it.  It also came with a cheap 4x scope ($39 special package price, .177 cal Marksman at Dick’s a couple years ago), and I had it sighted in with that.   
 

I pulled the scope off, because it has a horrible trigger pull (I guess there is a limit to what the Asians can do for $ 39), so that seemed to be “overkill”, plus it was mounted on the receiver and the barrel swings down to cock it.   The open sights are mounted to the barrel.

 It has sling swivels on it and is not heavy, so it shouldn’t be too bad to carry to my roomier stands, in addition to my slug gun, crossbow, or ML.  I have around 10 stands, with plenty of room for the 2nd “squirrel gun”, and just two that are too small.  I think it would be legal, but a .22 rimfire would not be.

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by wolc123

[Paula]

7 hours ago, Belo said:

Practice. My first few were a mess. It gets easier and the pants method never turned me wrong. If there’s an issue with squirrel it’s that you really need 3 or more for a decent meal and that’s not as easy as some think in the winter.


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I have used a air compressor, make a small hole, push the hose in and it just loosens the hide from the body. Skinning with the tail method is much easier

[Grouse]

9 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Not a bad idea, but I think the deer might hear the pop when you shoot.

Years ago I used to carry a "Wrist Rocket" slingshot and small ball bearings to kill squirrels when deer hunting.  It also served to shoot past deer in the brush to make noise beyond them, hoping they would move away from the noise and come in my direction.  It often worked.

[airedale]

On 1/22/2022 at 9:55 AM, wolc123 said:

It seems to me that a red squirrel is closer in size to a chipmunk than a grey squirrel.  Do any of you red-eaters eat those and if so how do they taste ?  I think they may also be killed in unlimited quantity and year round.  
 

I wouldn’t bother with chipmunks, with the current cost and availability of .22 ammo, but a pellet gun might do the trick,

I think I may have mentioned it here once before, years ago myself and some of my hunting compadres went on a Squirrel hunt and it was anything goes, Grays, Reds and Chipmunks. We got ourselves quite the pile of rodents, cleaned them all up and one of the guys took them all home and his wife made up a big stew and did some up in tomato sauce.  We were all invited over for a Squirrel feast, the eating was good and other than body size I could not tell the difference in taste between any of them.

Chipmunks are on the small side but when you think about it I would say they amount to be about the same size wise as Quail. Ammo is a little tight these days so a good quality pellet rifle would do the trick hunting Chipmunks on the cheap.

My little Benjamin P-Rod parlor gun would be just the ticket for them as it will easily shoot dime size groups at 30 yds, should be plenty good on Squirrels at moderate range also.

[airedale]

A couple of more Squirrel hunting tidbits.

Al

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361

[Northcountryman]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:14 AM, airedale said:

A couple of more Squirrel hunting tidbits.

Al

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361

Good stuff!! So, are these Fox Squirrels relted to Greys and a bit smaller ? Looks pretty much like a Grey to me.  Thanks for the links

 

[Paula]

3 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Good stuff!! So, are these Fox Squirrels relted to Greys and a bit smaller ? Looks pretty much like a Grey to me.  Thanks for the links

 

Fox squirrel are bigger by 2 inches I think. 

[Steuben Jerry]

19 hours ago, Paula said:

Fox squirrel are bigger by 2 inches I think. 

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a fox squirrel in the woods. I've gotten some quick looks over the years at what I thought were really big grays. 

We have a giant gray that makes an occasional appearance around the bird feeders this year, almost 2X bigger than the other gray and black squirrels. I'll have to see if I can get a good pic of him and a regular size one together.

[Pygmy]

1 hour ago, Steuben Jerry said:

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a fox squirrel in the woods. I've gotten some quick looks over the years at what I thought were really big grays. 

We have a giant gray that makes an occasional appearance around the bird feeders this year, almost 2X bigger than the other gray and black squirrels. I'll have to see if I can get a good pic of him and a regular size one together.

I'd be interested to see the picture if you get it, Jerry...Most fox squirrels I have seen here locally are along the rivers, but I was gobbler hunting on a hilltop along the PA border south of Dogpatch, and I  set up in a hickory grove and saw several fox squirrels..About the only ones I have ever seen on the hilltops around here..

Al Strouse , a local taxidermist , showed me a huge mount of a fox squirrel he shot while duck hunting the Tioga River near Lawrenceville..It looked almost as big as a cottontail  !!

[Paula]

2 hours ago, Steuben Jerry said:

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a fox squirrel in the woods. I've gotten some quick looks over the years at what I thought were really big grays. 

We have a giant gray that makes an occasional appearance around the bird feeders this year, almost 2X bigger than the other gray and black squirrels. I'll have to see if I can get a good pic of him and a regular size one together.

They have with orangeish or blonde tails. The first time I seen one I thought it was a prehistoric squirrel. I know it sounds foolish, but there is a noticeable size difference

[airedale]

I have only saw one Fox Squirrel ever, it was of the gray colored variety and was probably twice the size of an average Gray Squirrel. I have seen plenty of photos of them and they come in a wide variety of colors some of which are quite striking. Don't need many to make a good meal.

Al

[The_Real_TCIII]

I had a fox squirrel mount but my friends little girl liked it so much I let her have it


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