Mr.Brown16
Member
Nope my province doesnt allow suppressors.
Squirrel Hunting?
- Thread starter Mr.Brown16
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one-shot-one
Member
MCgunner
be aware that iirc texas no longer allows air rifles to take game.
double check the reg's!
be aware that iirc texas no longer allows air rifles to take game.
double check the reg's!
cpttango30
Member
I grew up in CA and you can not eat digger squirrels (Ground squirrels) but gray or fox squirrels are good to go. I would go with a 22 with shorts or CB longs and keep it in close if in a populated area if you are in a sparsly populated area go with 22 lg. I think Savage make a combo gun that has a 22lr 20ga O/U
Big Daddy K
Member
Look out you tree rats, I'm ready this time!
Charles S
Member
1911 guy, that sounds like a great recipe....
I am with you, I prefer a shotgun for early in the season prior to the leaves falling off, and a 22 after the leaves are gone. I prefer the 20 ga with #5 for most situations, although a 16 ga with #5 is really nice if you are hunting big virgin timber with longer shots. I do love to hunt and eat squirrels. Young squirrels for breakfast with biscuits and gravy!
When I have all the squirrel in the freezer I want I will often hunt with my Thompson Center Contender with the 22 LR pistol barrel, if I really want a challenge I switch to my Ruger 22/45 with open sights.
Try this recipe..
3 squirrels cleaned and cut up in frying size pieces.
Fry 4 slices of bacon in your dutch oven, remove and set aside. Pour out 1/2 of the bacon grease and save. Season the squirrel with salt and pepper then brown each piece of squirrel without crowding the pan. Remove and set aside. Add the rest of the bacon grease back and sauté a couple of stalks of celery, an onion, a bell pepper, and some garlic that have all been chopped in the bacon grease until clear. Put the squirrel back on top, then the bacon crumbled and 1/2 a cup of red wine. Cover the top with foil, then the lid and bake at about 375 for 1 hour.
Serve with rice....a glass of iced tea or a nice soft red wine accompanies this well.
One can totally change the character of the above recipe by adding about 1/2 a cup of flour prior to the sautéing of the vegetables and browning it to make a chocolate rue. After the rue is browned to your liking then add the vegetables and cook until clear. Omit the wine at the end and add about 1 cup or squirrel or chicken stock. Finish the recipe in the same manner.
I am with you, I prefer a shotgun for early in the season prior to the leaves falling off, and a 22 after the leaves are gone. I prefer the 20 ga with #5 for most situations, although a 16 ga with #5 is really nice if you are hunting big virgin timber with longer shots. I do love to hunt and eat squirrels. Young squirrels for breakfast with biscuits and gravy!
When I have all the squirrel in the freezer I want I will often hunt with my Thompson Center Contender with the 22 LR pistol barrel, if I really want a challenge I switch to my Ruger 22/45 with open sights.
Try this recipe..
3 squirrels cleaned and cut up in frying size pieces.
Fry 4 slices of bacon in your dutch oven, remove and set aside. Pour out 1/2 of the bacon grease and save. Season the squirrel with salt and pepper then brown each piece of squirrel without crowding the pan. Remove and set aside. Add the rest of the bacon grease back and sauté a couple of stalks of celery, an onion, a bell pepper, and some garlic that have all been chopped in the bacon grease until clear. Put the squirrel back on top, then the bacon crumbled and 1/2 a cup of red wine. Cover the top with foil, then the lid and bake at about 375 for 1 hour.
Serve with rice....a glass of iced tea or a nice soft red wine accompanies this well.
One can totally change the character of the above recipe by adding about 1/2 a cup of flour prior to the sautéing of the vegetables and browning it to make a chocolate rue. After the rue is browned to your liking then add the vegetables and cook until clear. Omit the wine at the end and add about 1 cup or squirrel or chicken stock. Finish the recipe in the same manner.
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Orr89rocz
Member
i love squirrel hunting.... i have taken them with my shotguns and 22's and air rifles. But now i like to hunt them with a bow, since squirrel season overlaps archery season. i have taken a few squirrels with a bow, its quite challenging and fun
308win
Member
I imagine bow hunting for squirrel is a challenge. If you hit them just behind the ribcage with a broadhead it probably just about cuts them in two doesn't it? We never used shotguns much unless the area we were hunting was getting a lot of pressure and the squirrel were prone to take off through the trees at the first distrubance - it is much easier for me to hit a running/jumping squirrel at 25-40 yards with a shotgun than a .22 (in fact have never accomplished that with a .22 and don't expect to).
Picknlittle
Member
This is true! And chicken taste like squirrel too!
U.S.SFC_RET
Member
Use CCI slow rounds that shoot 710 FPS. Those will never go a mile. Oftentimes will never penetrate through the squirrel.
351 WINCHESTER
Member
I used to love squirrel hunting when I was a kid. I had a remington single shot model 514. No scope, but the sights were dead on. Later on I took up deer/hog hunting. That was about 40 years ago and I'm thinking of letting the kids have the deer and the old man have the squirrel. I can think of nothing more challenging and sporting than shooting one with a good single shot with a nice scope. Well, I might take off to the woods with my .22 and my .30-30 or maybe my .303 cause you never know what lurks in them woods.
kir_kenix
Member
i like a .410's when the leaves are still up if im "stalking." otherwise i like to just pick a good spot and sit back and wait for them to come out. ive used and had excelent resuts with .22 shorts, .22 lr, .17 mach 2, .17 hmr, .22wmr and .410 bore shotguns. its also alot of fun to bring someone along with u. it really makes it easer stalking because u can have ur buddy walk down the path a little bit and it ur still the squirrel will forget ur there and move around on ur side of the tree for a clear shot.
o, i like to field dress right away too, its so much easier then trying to gut 10 stiff squirrels when u get back home.
o, i like to field dress right away too, its so much easier then trying to gut 10 stiff squirrels when u get back home.
WuzYoungOnceToo
member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2007
- Messages
- 225
My $0.02 worth:
- Pound-for-pound, squirrels are the best game animal in North America. While not inherently difficult to bag, doing so involves all the best features of true hunting. A morning of stalking bushy-tails in the woods is, for my money, far more fun than sitting in a blind waiting for a whitetail to wander into view.
- Generally speaking, I prefer a .22 rifle for fox squirrels. By using calls I can usually get them to hold still long enough for a clean shot. This offers a decent challenge and the advantage of no potential for lead pellets in the meat.
- Greys/cats, on the other hand, tend to be more skittish and won't hold still for long, so I like a shotgun (20 or 12 ga.) w/#6 and a mod. choke for them. I've not had any problem with locating more greys after a shotgun blast, provided I hold still and wait a few minutes afterward.
- Squirrel tastes nothing like chicken. It's more reminiscent of turkey dark meat than any other domesticated food animal.
- If the weather is sufficiently cool that you can delay skinning your squirrels until you can get them someplace with clean water you'll be doing yourself a favor. Squirrel fur has the adhesive properties of Super Glue, and if it gets on the meat (and it will, especially during your first few attempts at cleaning them) it's a major pain in the arse to remove, which essentially requires that you pick it off one or two hairs at a time. Dunking the squirrel in water first (or hosing it down) mats the fur down and helps prevent it from coming loose and sticking to the meat when skinning.
- Here's the best tip I can give you, and one I doubt you'll hear from anyone else: My son (the real squirrel predator in the family) and I discovered that the greatest delicacy squirrels have to offer is their liver and, to a slightly lesser extent, heart. When cleaning your squirrels, locate these organs and save them in a platic baggie for later. When ready to cook them (we like them as an appetizer) rinse them in cold water, slice the hearts in half length-wise, and *lightly* dredge everything in some flour with a little of your favorite seasoning mixed in (we like a Cajun mix, but to each their own.) Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat (I suppose you could use olive oil or some such if you're trying to avoid butter and margarine, though we've not tried that yet) and sauté the livers and hearts for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel to drain and immediately salt to taste. The results are magnificent. I detest beef liver, which is strong and bitter to my tastes...but squirrel livers have a delicate, soft flavor that is similar to goose and duck livers. Most types of heart are delicious, and squirrels' are no exception. Try this once and you'll thank me.
- Pound-for-pound, squirrels are the best game animal in North America. While not inherently difficult to bag, doing so involves all the best features of true hunting. A morning of stalking bushy-tails in the woods is, for my money, far more fun than sitting in a blind waiting for a whitetail to wander into view.
- Generally speaking, I prefer a .22 rifle for fox squirrels. By using calls I can usually get them to hold still long enough for a clean shot. This offers a decent challenge and the advantage of no potential for lead pellets in the meat.
- Greys/cats, on the other hand, tend to be more skittish and won't hold still for long, so I like a shotgun (20 or 12 ga.) w/#6 and a mod. choke for them. I've not had any problem with locating more greys after a shotgun blast, provided I hold still and wait a few minutes afterward.
- Squirrel tastes nothing like chicken. It's more reminiscent of turkey dark meat than any other domesticated food animal.
- If the weather is sufficiently cool that you can delay skinning your squirrels until you can get them someplace with clean water you'll be doing yourself a favor. Squirrel fur has the adhesive properties of Super Glue, and if it gets on the meat (and it will, especially during your first few attempts at cleaning them) it's a major pain in the arse to remove, which essentially requires that you pick it off one or two hairs at a time. Dunking the squirrel in water first (or hosing it down) mats the fur down and helps prevent it from coming loose and sticking to the meat when skinning.
- Here's the best tip I can give you, and one I doubt you'll hear from anyone else: My son (the real squirrel predator in the family) and I discovered that the greatest delicacy squirrels have to offer is their liver and, to a slightly lesser extent, heart. When cleaning your squirrels, locate these organs and save them in a platic baggie for later. When ready to cook them (we like them as an appetizer) rinse them in cold water, slice the hearts in half length-wise, and *lightly* dredge everything in some flour with a little of your favorite seasoning mixed in (we like a Cajun mix, but to each their own.) Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat (I suppose you could use olive oil or some such if you're trying to avoid butter and margarine, though we've not tried that yet) and sauté the livers and hearts for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel to drain and immediately salt to taste. The results are magnificent. I detest beef liver, which is strong and bitter to my tastes...but squirrel livers have a delicate, soft flavor that is similar to goose and duck livers. Most types of heart are delicious, and squirrels' are no exception. Try this once and you'll thank me.
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Vern Humphrey
Member
What I like about squirrel hunting is that you get so much more hunting. The bag limit allows you to stalk all you want, and go out the next day and hunt more. And you don't worry about messing up your one chance, so you can try things that you wouldn't dare if your quarry was a 6X6 bull elk.
Yeah, squirrel hunting is quite fun, unfortunately I haven't been able to get out to my cousin's in awhile, so I just settle for taking out rabbits and tree rats in my back yard with an air rifle. Not quite as fun though .
Though catching a rabbit in the act of eating the roses or a squirrel messing with the bird feeder is pretty satisfying.
Only problem is, I feel a little guilty just wasting the meat, anyone know if there is anything city cottontails and grays carry that rural critter don't?
. Though catching a rabbit in the act of eating the roses or a squirrel messing with the bird feeder is pretty satisfying
.Only problem is, I feel a little guilty just wasting the meat, anyone know if there is anything city cottontails and grays carry that rural critter don't?
WuzYoungOnceToo
member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2007
- Messages
- 225
Then by all means, don't waste it. You do have some flour and a skillet, don't you?
Not that I'm aware of. The only serious problem I know of is Tularemia in rabbits, and even that is fairly rare.
Vern Humphrey
Member
Are you sure? Pimps wear fur coats, you know.
Bartkowski
Member
For some reason around me, 7 1/2 shot is more common and cheaper, so I buy it mostly for small game, and it works fine for rabbit and squirrels.
birddog
Member
I've killed most of my squirrels with a 22LR or 22 MAG. On single outings though, I've killed MORE squirrels with my full-choked .410 loaded with 2.5 inch #6 shot. It's still a challenge, but the kill / shot ratio is much much higher. If you want to hone your shooting skills, go rimfire. If you want a bag full of squirrels to clean, use a shotgun. I've killed several with 20 and 12gauge loads too (I'm very opportunistic while bird and rabbit hunting) and have never thought either one of those loads were overkill either.
Squirrels are fun to chase, and great on the table.
Squirrels are fun to chase, and great on the table.
borrowedtime69
Member
fanatical squirrel hunter
as the title says, i hunt squirrels, almost to the exclution of all else. i used to hunt them in SD where they were big, fat, corn-fed beasts. now im stuck in CO hunting those little REd or Pine squirrels.
i had been a .22 rifle hunter scince the begining and had always used the .22's. lately, to add some pazzaz to the experiance, ive started using my Ruger 678 MK II 22/45 w/ a trueglo 2X red dot scope. handgunning for squirrel is very challanging!
as for a good tree rat reciepe, i fix them up as hot wings. just clean and quarter them, mix up some butter and hot sauce to flavor for taste and heat. put them in a glass cassarole dish and baste heavily with the hot sausce mix. place in the oven at 400 degrees and baste occationally. - Eric
as the title says, i hunt squirrels, almost to the exclution of all else. i used to hunt them in SD where they were big, fat, corn-fed beasts. now im stuck in CO hunting those little REd or Pine squirrels.
i had been a .22 rifle hunter scince the begining and had always used the .22's. lately, to add some pazzaz to the experiance, ive started using my Ruger 678 MK II 22/45 w/ a trueglo 2X red dot scope. handgunning for squirrel is very challanging!
as for a good tree rat reciepe, i fix them up as hot wings. just clean and quarter them, mix up some butter and hot sauce to flavor for taste and heat. put them in a glass cassarole dish and baste heavily with the hot sausce mix. place in the oven at 400 degrees and baste occationally. - Eric
ruger_martin_mastermag
Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2007
- Messages
- 80
I shoot 12 ga. at them and they were just fine if you aim alittle toward there head. I have also shot them so bad you couldnt tell it was a squiral
Selfdfenz
Member
Speaking of diseases....
There is evidence in the literature that eating squirrel brains may be a poor gastronomic option unless getting something akin to mad cow disease is an acceptable risk.
I haven’t followed this topic too closely in the last couple of years but IIRC hunters in MS and KY that consumed squirrel brains developed an affliction/dementia very much like mad cow in humans. Must be either a regional deal with the prion or a cultural deal with the frying pan but tossing the head [which is what most folks do anyway] is probably a smart move. Frankly eating the brain of any animal may be a wise move as more prions are being discovered in more species as time goes on.
Having said that, late fall squirrel hunting with a rimfire near a spent cornfield that’s next to a stand of hardwoods is just about as much sport as you can find anywhere.
Almost forgot...there is a short video clip linked up over on rimfirecentral if you poke around a bit that shows a very slick way to skin a squirrel w/o getting a ton of hair on it....and it's way fast. I could never explain the process as well as that video.
Best,
S-
There is evidence in the literature that eating squirrel brains may be a poor gastronomic option unless getting something akin to mad cow disease is an acceptable risk.
I haven’t followed this topic too closely in the last couple of years but IIRC hunters in MS and KY that consumed squirrel brains developed an affliction/dementia very much like mad cow in humans. Must be either a regional deal with the prion or a cultural deal with the frying pan but tossing the head [which is what most folks do anyway] is probably a smart move. Frankly eating the brain of any animal may be a wise move as more prions are being discovered in more species as time goes on.
Having said that, late fall squirrel hunting with a rimfire near a spent cornfield that’s next to a stand of hardwoods is just about as much sport as you can find anywhere.
Almost forgot...there is a short video clip linked up over on rimfirecentral if you poke around a bit that shows a very slick way to skin a squirrel w/o getting a ton of hair on it....and it's way fast. I could never explain the process as well as that video.
Best,
S-
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