anyone still hunt and eat squirrels??

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Ah! I've hunted squirrels for over 53 years with mostly various .22s. Used a shotgun prior to that. For years, now, my gun of choice is either my .36 flintlock or my .32. Everything I hunt is with flintlocks.
 
Well, really forgot to add this. Many squirrels have fallen to my .45 flintlock, various .22LR revolvers and autos & Ruger single sixes, a .22mag S&W, various .38spl S&Ws, .45 Ruger BlackHawk and S&W M25, two different pellet guns, a .357mag Smith and a .58 Zouave. Probably others I forgot.

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.22 rifles from an old Winchester single shot, Remington 514, Nylon 66, Marlin 39A, Kimber M82 and a few others.
 
Never tried it. Had one that was causing damage to my property. Laid in wait, took him out. Had the thought that my family forefathers certainly ate squirrel, even to the point of depending on them from time to time - so I looked on youtube, determined how to properly skin & gut him, soaked the meat in salt water overnight, cut off the good bits the next day (rear haunches and the teeny backstraps), rubbed on some olive oil, rolled in flour/pepper/salt and fried in a pan with a little more olive oil.

It was fantastic - I was surprised how good!

QUESTION: there is no "season" in Texas, but is it wise to eat squirrel only at certain times of year? Why?

QUESTION #2: I fed the raw squirrel heart and liver to my appreciative dog. Any reason not to do that?
 
While i love to deer hunt and bag birds every chance i get, the majority of my hunting time is whacking tree rats. I cook them both in crock pots and stove top. Got a couple favorite recipes each cooking method.
 
i love to hunt them with my rem 581 .22 with a compact 3x9 leupold scope and to 75 yards head shots are common. but the old man i gave them to died and i don,t shoot much that don,t get eaten these days, as soon as i find someone who will eat them i,ll go hunting them, i even clean them . eastbank.
 
QUESTION: there is no "season" in Texas, but is it wise to eat squirrel only at certain times of year? Why?
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Some folks say they get wolf worms, a subcutaneous (under the skin) worm, actually an insect larvae, that comes off with the skin and isn't harmful. Seen a lot of 'em on Rabbits, but not often on squirrel. Rabbits have another problem, Tularemia, or rabbit fever, in summer months, good reason to leave them alone or at least clean 'em with plastic or rubber gloves on. Cooked thoroughly, that's not a problem, either, but I kinda avoid rabbits in the summer months, but not squirrel. I eat squirrel shot year around. To each his own. Haven't been hunting 'em lately because it's friggin' HOT and HUMID out there.

QUESTION #2: I fed the raw squirrel heart and liver to my appreciative dog. Any reason not to do that?
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To my knowledge, won't hurt him.
 
As a teenager I patrolled a lane between cornfields and woods in the fall.The squirrels would be up on the corn stalks eating the kernels off the cobs.I would sneak along quietly until they discovered me.I would hear a rustling in the corn and a squirrel would dash across the lane for the woods.I had about 30 feet to nail him with the 12 guage.Very similar to shooting running rabbits a month later.Grandad helped to skin them and grandmom fried them for dinner.Now I live in town and have oak trees.We are overrun with them.They chewed the wires in my van to the tune of $170.I've live trapped 21 of them and released them in the country.I should go there and hunt them again.
 
I have seen the "wolf worms" in squirrels, but up here we call them "warble worms". Clean the squirrel properly and it's not a problem. Ohio has a season, but I still wouldn't hunt them until July or August just to give the young the best chance at survival to maintain a population. Purely personal opinion and easily discarded if the choice was shooting them
In April or going without.
 
I never went as a kid, only deer hunted, so I gave it a shot last year. I seem 2, I missed both. The first was with my cylinder bore Mossberg 500 and the other with Marlin 55 GooseGun. The first time it was just too far and the 2nd it was running. I did blow a tree branch out. No worries though, my friend managed to shoot him and his buddy that ran off. I'm planning to go again this year. I might try my Savage 24 instead. I'm still undecided. What are you guys using for ammo? My friends use #4 3 inch shells out of full chokes with 12s, 16s, and 20s. My dad always uses #7 out of a 20 gauge and never anything as small as a full choke.
 
Conventional wisdom is that #6 shot is adequate -- dense patterns and good penetration.

I much prefer a .22 rifle or handgun. For some reason, it's hard to find solid .22 these days -- it's all hollowpoint. I find hollowpoints are a bit too destructive for my taste on body shots, and if you're making headshots you don't need an expanding bullet.
 
I much prefer a .22 rifle or handgun. For some reason, it's hard to find solid .22 these days -- it's all hollowpoint. I find hollowpoints are a bit too destructive for my taste on body shots, and if you're making headshots you don't need an expanding bullet.
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I made this conclusion when I was a kid in the 60s. And, I've shot a few with shotguns, but if I'm going to HUNT them, I'll take a .22, rifle or usually pistol.

When I was a kid, we lived in thick live oaks. Shots were closer than in the pines and i'd often shoot shorts. My little Remington bolt gun is quite accurate with shorts. Shorts are quiet and I'd often shoot one playing with another squirrel and get the other one because the shot didn't scare him off.
 
I've hunted squirrels for past three years with a ithaca model 37 20ga #6 shot. This year I want to go the .22 route. I purchased a 10/22 50th anniversary edition for this. Now I need some glass for it and sight this sucker in.
 
I made this conclusion when I was a kid in the 60s. And, I've shot a few with shotguns, but if I'm going to HUNT them, I'll take a .22, rifle or usually pistol.
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To me, it's the .22 that makes squirrel hunting so much fun. It's all about hunting -- finding the feeding areas, moving slowly, listening, watching, spotting and stalking. And with squirrels, you can do a LOT of hunting.
 
To me, it's the .22 that makes squirrel hunting so much fun. It's all about hunting -- finding the feeding areas, moving slowly, listening, watching, spotting and stalking. And with squirrels, you can do a LOT of hunting.
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And, for those reasons I was hooked on it as a kid. I think it made me a better hunter and marksman, too, in my formative years. I used to shun optics, but that's one thing that has changed since my eyes got older. :D
 
I'm with you. I have several .22s with peep sights, including a Springfield M1922 MKII and a Stevens Favorite with a tang sight, but my eyes were sharper when I used those rifles.

I mostly use a Kimber M82 with a Burris 4X scope, or a 1938 Colt Woodsman with a 6 7/8" barrel these days.
 
Squirrel was the first "go find it" meat (other than fish) I was able to contribute to the dinner table in significant quantities.

A Marlin 60 was my tool of choice ( aka: what I had available) for them through junior high & high school and a bit beyond. Didn't hunt them very much for several years after high school, then hunted them mostly with a Ruger MKII for a couple years.

Sure glad I didn't have to fill the fridge with a .22 pistol - I'm not near as efficient with a .22 pistol as some.

These days I use a 12 or 20 with 4 or 5 shot. Used to use 6, but don't like picking pellets out with my teeth.
 
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