Anyone Squirrel hunting?

Bull Nutria said:

After a 40 year pause, I am getting back into chasing squirrels. I have hunted 4 mornings and killed 19 grey squirrels. All but 2 have been with a Browning SA 22 with a 1x4 Leupold scope. I had forgotten how much of a challenge it was to hunt Squirrels with a 22. My buddy and i went this morning he shot 8 with a new Yildiz 28ga O/U. He shot 12 times and lost 2!! I shot 7 with my 22.
These are not park squirrels they are wild and skittish!!

Here In south Louisiana the leaves are very thick until late December, it doesn't take long for a squirrel to disappear in all that foliage. If the wind is blowing it is damn near impossible to spot a squirrel in the tree tops. We hunted early and quit when the wind picked up mid morning!

We had a great day!

What say you?

Bull

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If you want a real challenge, try hunting squirrels with an open sighted .32 or .36 flint lock muzzleloader. I am a squirrel hunting fanatic, and in my early years I used a .22 rifle. Then for more of a challenge I moved on to a .22 Handgun. Now all my squirrel hunting is with a .32 flint lock muzzle loader. I enjoy the challenge of getting close and making a good shot, and it also preps me for deer season. By hunting squirrels you learn to stalk slowly and quietly, watch for motion, and take careful shots.

Used to love squirrel hunting. Started out with a pellet rifle then a single shot 410. Haven't been in a few years. They are fun to hunt and tasty. Taught me to stalk through the woods. And patience. Kids are 12-11 time to start them out.

Though I have not dedicated time to it in many years, squirrel hunting is a loved pastime of mine. I do shoot them occasionally while hog hunting state land with a 22 Magnum.

I remember when I was younger, I missed several before I got my first one....with a 20 ha shotgun. Haha. It was an H&R Topper pre-transfer bar gun. My dad still uses that for primary vermin control around his house.

I really enjoy squirrel hunting. My dad and I would look forward to opening day like itcwas Christmas.
If you really like a challenge, go get your limit with a .32 muzzleloader.
FUN!

My mrs won't cook squirrel (rodent), so I have to handicap myself!
My mom still fries two or three every year that I supply them.
Squirrel and gravy is pretty good.

I’m am a big squirrel guy. I’m in Washington state and grey squirrels are invasive here so I hunt them nearly all year. Shotgun is my preferred tool for the job loaded with #4s in 12ga and #5s for 20ga. Only recently got into hunting them with the .22 it certainly is a challenge most days.
People look at me like I have two heads when I tell them I eat them. There is no squirrel hunting tradition out here like back east.

I had planned on going to my Sister's property and shoot, (or shoot at), some squirrels, but I have a problem with my right eye and can't shoot worth a toot. Have an eye Doctor appointment next week. We used to hunt them, and eat them. A young squirrel fried with gravy and biscuits is a fine meal.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

I do, but usually not once deer season starts.
I like squirrel and dumplings better than chicken and dumplings.

I'm getting back into squirrel hunting after very little for the last 20 years or so. Lately It's while I'm out swapping SD cards on trail cams. Been carrying a .22 cal. Ruger Single 6 revolver and have managed to miss a couple at 30-35 yds. recently due to my lousy pistolero skills. Gonna start bringing the CZ-455 22LR with 2-7x Vortex scope. That'll teach 'em! My last squirrel harvest was a couple years ago with a Benjamin Trail .22 cal pellet rifle, (legal in NY state). Worked O.K. at 20 yds. but I'm itching to get back to a 22LR rifle or a shotgun. Most of the leaves are already down and the next big wind will take care of the rest and things will get a bit easier. Season is open until the end of February. Hope to see some squirrel pix here in the future.

Squirrel hunting is some of my favorite to do, unfortunately I have not been able to get out much this year. Plus there's no one in my area that likes hunting them that are my age, don't mind going with the older guys( I prefer the old timers) but they can't make it out to often.

There great eating to, losts of good dishes can be made. I used to save there tails and send them in to meps for spinners, or use them for tieing flys.

troy fairweather said:

Squirrel hunting is some of my favorite to do, unfortunately I have not been able to get out much this year. Plus there's no one in my area that likes hunting them that are my age, don't mind going with the older guys( I prefer the old timers) but they can't make it out to often.

There great eating to, losts of good dishes can be made. I used to save there tails and send them in to meps for spinners, or use them for tieing flys.

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Shoebox full of tails in my freezer as well

Barbaroja said:

Shoebox full of tails in my freezer as well

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Do you just freeze them or salt then freeze.

I just toss them right in the shoebox. The little nub of meat on it kinda freeze drys almost after a while.

Rifle is fun, shotgun is for meat. Highly under appreciated art these days.

I am apprehensive to shoot a .22 into the air in some locales but soon we’ll be able to see more on the ground as winter sets in.

Anyone using an 17hmr for squirrels, I know it's way over kill. But I just picked up a ruger american rimfire 17, and it carrys nice, I was thinking it maybe good for longer shots. Only do head shots anyway. And if I happen to see a coyote.

Saturday was my first day in the woods since April of 2016. It’s a new spot for me, in a state I haven’t hunted in, on terrain unlike most that I have hunted. New challenges! I absolutely went back to the basics. Flannel shirt, old jeans, ruger single six, old work boots, CaseXX muskrat. I almost took the sharp finger instead but I was carrying a small flashlight in a belt holster and didn’t want to overdo the belt. Saw some squirrels but was t willing to hike where they would have fell. That hillside is more of a bluff and I fell a couple times and was sore before I got all the way down. I now know where a path is that’s not so steep, and a path down to the other side of the farm. I really need boots on the ground to learn this place. Now I need a new holster because one of my tumbles ripped the belt loop completely off and the gun was on the ground when I stood up from the last fall.

I love squirrel hunting. And rabbit hunting too. Cool fall days, leaves falling, quiet woods... I've hunted them with various .22's to my 12 GA Browning Auto 5. Have a new (to me) Franchi 48 AL 20 GA that I haven't even fired yet that would be awesome for squirrels. Once I get 'em I skin them & field dress them right away and at the end of the day put them in the slow cooker with Stubbs* BBQ sauce.

*We like Stubbs because it has less sugar than many of the other sauces like Sweet Baby Ray's.

Still have not had a frost here in SC. Gonna wait for a couple of more weeks, then dedicate a morning to getting the fixings for fried squirrel and gravy. I have a den tree I have been watching from my deer stand and there are 4 young of the year squirrels using it - tender enough to not need boiling prior to cooking.

I have stalk hunted for squirrel since I was a kid using a single shot .22 short/long (Remington Targetmaster Model 510) rifle that I still own. I attribute my success as a marksman to those formative years. I also hunted dove and quail up into college using a bolt action 20g (Mossberg 185-KA) so "one shot one kill" was a necessity. Both guns were my grandfather's. He died in 1982 when I was in college and they are my most treasured firearms.
A few years ago a buddy got into squirrel dogs and we now hunt using 22lr, either suppressed or sub-sonic, and occasionally we use air rifles.
I took my first trip earlier this month to East Texas for a squirrel hunt and was told not to bring a 22 unless I wanted to get skunked. I took a Berretta a391 and 3" #4 shot to shoot the critters as they ran through the tops of the pin oaks. With a 22 I may have gotten 3 in two days of hunting.

My brother and I have hunted squirrels since we were young kids. He's now 84 and I'm 74. Until recently we hunted a lot together. Sadly, he's not able to now. We both shoot Remington 541-S .22LR. I've branched out and use a 17Mach2 and occasionally 17HMR. Also recently bought a Bergara BXR 22 semi-auto, which has killed my last 4 squirrels. Even though my brother and I have hunted all over the country for nearly every huntable critter and he has hunted a lot internationally, we always return to hunting squirrels as our favorite. I still get a rush of excitement when I have a good rifle in my hands and see a squirrel. And we eat every one. One real advantage to squirrel hunting is that since almost no one hunts them anymore, it has been easy for me to get permission to hunt prime woodlands that are off limits during deer and turkey seasons. Can't wait to get into the woods now here in NE Kansas and watch the leaves fall.