[submin]

Squirrel hunting from a boat, that is. I talked to a local fisherman who claims he has been popping them with 22lr on a local lake/WMA for years. I know of an area that has lots of walnut and hickory trees along the shore of another lake about an hour and a half away. As far as state law reads, I can hunt from a boat as long as all motion from the motor has stopped.
Just wondering how many have tried this and how did you do. Do you think a shotgun would be better suited for the job? Have you tried it from a kayak? This guy made it sound like sooo much fun that I can’t wait. Getting my equipment together. I’m open to suggestions.:cool:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/165680/sniper.gif

[Old Pa]

Makes sense + Sounds like fun = Must violate a game law :banghead: :D

[Art Eatman]

I don't think a kayak would be an answer, unless you're highly skilled. On lakes, canoes are easy. Or, oars with your small motorboat.

But always discipline your own wildebeest*.

:), Art

*Paddle your own gnu.

[sm]

In my youth...wait- scratch that.

I used to take a single shot 22 bolt action rifle and /or handgun along when I used a canoe to fish some small waters. I had very good luck and lots of fun. Before the game laws changed I used a 22 pistol on some streams while I waded-- fly fishing -some spinning.
Still hunt with handgun...just can't on some lands/waters anymore.

[Newt]

My dad told me he used to do that when he was a child. He said he would do that every morning with his dad before school started. Evidently, they were in a pretty good hole of them lil buggers. He liked it and it still sounds fun today.

Newt

[submin]

From what I’ve gathered, the critters don’t associate danger from water-born predators. You don’t really have to sneak up on them. I’ve read that the critical part is getting to them after you shoot them because they sink so fast (squirrels have very little fat). What a waste of good dumplings and gravy that would be.

But always discipline your own wildebeest*.
:D
I have a Tarpon 120 made by Wilderness Systems (http://www.wildernesssystems.com/kayaks/sitontop.php#tarpon120) that I fish slow-moving rivers from that will probably have to pull double duty as a shooting platform. I can’t afford a canoe and rigging this year. As for the gun, I will probably use a 10/22 simply because it cost but a fraction of the cheapest shotgun I own. I will still have to tether it to my yak just in case the inevitable happens.
I’m still kicking ideas around and am still watching this thread for more suggestions.
Thanks all.
Doug

[Art Eatman]

I've done a lot of canoing down the canyons of the Rio Grande, out here. I've only played once with a kayak, setting new records for holding one's breath while under water. (No prior training.) It's the balancing while not moving that created my problems.

Even as stable as my canoe is, I think that were I going to hunt or do serious fishing from it, I'd rig some sort of "Quick Detachable" outriggers. Heck, even a couple of one-gallon milk jugs a few feet out is a lot of leverage against tipping too far. 3/4" pvc pipe, bungee cords; cheap and easy...

:), Art

[sm]

Granted I was younger and stupider... I could do the rapids and put in when the people weren't looking during flood stage...that's how one could get to the areas not usually accessed. I'd use a a big ol limb as outrigger ( plenty handy).

Other times so shallow I'd have to portage to find water.

Didn't have a motor, before trolling motors we sculled the resevoirs and small streams in a johnboat. There might have been room for an ice chest and ...well...it was warmish out. ;)

[submin]

I wouldn’t even consider yaking fast water. The river I use the Tarpon 120 on flows slower than walking speed at the fastest. Much slower along the banks.
Art, was the kayak you used a sit in (SIK) type or sit on top (SOT) type? The Tarpon is a SOT type meaning that your body is outside of the boat. If you capsize, you fall out automatically. None of that upside down stuff. To date, the only time I’ve been wet is when I pull a deliberate dismount. I’m not knocking the sit in yaks, they just aren’t for me.
Doug
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/165680/rambo.gif

[Poodleshooter]

Sounds like a good way to hunt bushytails. Unfortunately, rifle and pistols aren't allowed for hunting from boats here in VA. I hunt geese from my(unpowered) canoe currently. Jump shooting them is easy because, as you mentioned with squirrels, they don't associate waterborne humans with predators.
No need for an outrigger on the James River!

[Art Eatman]

Buckshot, it was a sit-in type. This was back in the late 1970s. I was out here from Austin, canoing the Rio, and ran onto a buddy of mine and an instructor lady with a class of would-be kayak gals. He let me "wear" his kayak for a bit. I wound up playing "mother ship" with my canoe, carrying the coolers for the group.

Four- or five-day voyaging runs are better with a canoe, because of the cargo space. There's a limit to how rough I wanna rough it.

:), Art

[sm]

Agree with checking with reg's.

Its a shame its not legal anymore in most places. We weren't being sneaky, illegal, or anything like that. Instead we were away from crowds, fishing, hunting, having safe fun and making memories. Ethics and 4 rules always applied. Kinda sad some political/tree hugging types whom have never been in the "outdoors" other than what their monitor shows them--ruins the memories for the current crop growing up. Many only handle a gun ...when their computer mouse gets close to one...pointer probably the closest many have ever been to a gun...and make all this stuff up.

Art- I may have "shot" rapids in a canoe...I'm not even going to get in a yak...I'm not the brightest...ain't the dumbest either...:D

[H&Hhunter]

you tried it from a kayak?

Just reminds me of watching those old inuit men paddling out to sea in a skin kayak with some old rusty shooting iron lashed to the front of it muzzle sticking out one side and butt stock out the other. To go hunt seals and walrus. Those guys really go out there to like 15 or 20 miles by themselves. Sometimes they don't come back.

Not me pal I like wide beam and Evinrude.:)

[Dr.Rob]

You know I've seen far more wild turkey roosting from a canoe than I ever saw while walking around. Sounds like it might be a plan.

[clown714]

you could get,you one of those 10/22's

with the synthetic stocks with the boat paddle already
molded in:neener:

ok,someone had to say it:D

clown

[submin]

The idea about the kayak is a bust. I went to the lake today and experimented a bit. I used a one piece rifle stock as a rifle and simulated the hunting scenario. I simulated the shot and stashed the stock, grabbed the paddle, paddled to where the squirrel would have landed and switched to the six-foot net and by the time I did all of that the squirrel would’ve sunk out of sight. And this is without the adrenalin rush of the real thing. Bummer.

My budget won’t allow me to buy a canoe. Hmm . . . I might have to buy a trolling motor and rent a jon boat at the marina.

I still think that this is a viable technique to put food on the table. If only I could get my equipment sorted out.

Doug
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-6/165680/rambo.gif

[Art Eatman]

submin, check out a river trip outfitter. They sometimes have used canoes for sale. Some of them are pretty beat up, but for casual use they're okay.

Art

[DadOfThree]

Art was right.
You're new here so you didn't already know...... Art is almost always right :D :D :D

[submin]

Squirrel season in my state didn't start until Oct. 11 and my seasonal business has been swamped due to the rain this past spring/summer and has kept me from doing any hunting until yesterday. What a day. We each had filled our bag limit in an hour and 20 minutes. This despite the terrible mast year we had last year and the mediocre year this year. The number of grays is down.

I used a 12 ft. jon boat with a 7hp outboard and took my fishing buddy along to help with maneuvering the boat. We powered to the area of walnut trees, stopped (the law), and started to drift about 30 yards from shore. Quietly paddling while searching for grays. We did nothing as far as camouflage or stealth except quietness with the oars/boat.

I used a flea market 870 20 gauge and binocs while my buddy used a Marlin 22lr and an older model laser range finder. The rocking of the boat caused a few misses with the 22.

You can definitely feed the fam like this. It just isn’t my style. I like to hunt alone and when I go, I like to spend a little time at it. Like I said, we each had our bag limit in less than one and a half hour.

A few notes:

1.Only the front seater shoots. The backseat guy maneuvers the boat. His gun is unloaded and in its zipper case. Safety first.
2.Don’t take any gun that you can’t stand the thought of laying on the bottom of the lake. No heirlooms or Grand dads’ gun.
3.Mark any squirrels that falls to the ground with a buoy marker (common fishing equip.) and make a note of where he fell in a note book. Move on and come back to fetch ‘em. Squirrels that fall in water have to be gotten pronto or they’re lost.
4.Don’t over-hunt the same tree/area. Think about next year.
5.Have fun.

It works, Art.

[Art Eatman]

:)