Favorite non big game animals to hunt?

[Rpod86]

What is your favorite non big game animal to hunt and why mine is split between watching a group of ducks work perfectly into a decoy spread and the fun hunts in a dove field with buddies

 

[troy fairweather]

Probably squirrel, it's really more then just small game hunting. Often it's the first thing open for the new hunting season, it gets us out for some exercise and Scenery. Also it's good for some early scouting for deer season, there good eating and you can have some good fun.

 

[Frulk]

Ruffed grouse in fresh snow

 

[CraigC]

Honestly, I'd rather hunt birds and rabbits than anything.

 

[Atavar]

Definitely squirrel. It uses all the hunting skills - stealth, tracking, calling, marksmanship. Even field dressing the little buggers is good training for bigger game. Plus they are yummy. The grey tuft eared squirrels while almost too pretty to kill are arguably the best table fare game in North America. I enjoy them more than partridge or elk.

 

[Barbaroja]

Honestly, I'd rather hunt birds and rabbits than anything.

I’m with you actually. Small game hunting is far more fun to me than hunting deer.

 

[mcb]

I really enjoy early season squirrel when the leaves are still on the trees and they are cutting nuts up in the tops of the canopies.

This summer/fall it has been armadillo hunting. Not terribly difficult but still fun and their population needed some reduction.

 

[Fyrstyk]

As said in previous posts, squirrel hunting is my second favorite. Squirrel hunting is my primer for deer hunting. I only hunt with muzzle loaders, both flint & percussion, and squirrel hunting gets me into stealthy hunting mode, checking for deer sign and becoming familiar with carrying the various tools and possibles for use of a muzzle loader. I would say that my other favorite is calling in coyotes, especially after the deer season has concluded.

 

[Chuck R.]

Squirrels, without a doubt.

But I also do upland quail and pheasants. When I was stationed at Ft. Riley, I thought of deer hunting more as a chore that kept me from chasing roosters.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I also say squirrel. But rabbit is far more fun to me than deer. The couple times I bear hunted i didn't care for it either.

 

[mcb]

I haven't done it in years but growing up we mostly did rabbit hunting over beagles and that was a heap of fun when the rabbits were running.

 

[jmorris]

Hands down dove hunting. The best hunting for many other species is generally the worst time for a human being to be out in the elements.

I have had very fun and successful dove hunts wearing shorts and a tee shirt, sitting on a tail gate talking with friends.

 

[Armored farmer]

Quail hunting is my favorite thing.
A good dog and a sub-gauge shotgun like a light 20ga sxs or a 28ga o/u. Minimum gear. Just good boots, chaps, gloves, and a hunting vest.
Give me a mile of fencerows with a waterway or a stream to circle back to the truck on.....and I'm happy.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Loved jump shooting rabbits when I lived in MI.

Just walk through some brushy areas and maybe stomp on a brush pile. Fun and fast shooting.

Squirrel definitely takes a close second.

Also, deer are medium game not big game so deer could probably also count as not big game but we all knew what you meant.

 

[wankerjake]

I’d say predator calling for me but I used to love bird hunting. I should do more of that. Birds are so much fun when you’re into them, I can see why a lot of people only do that

 

[brewer12345]

Squirrels are great fun, but I really don't have a good place to hunt them.

These days the most fun non big game I hunt is beavers. Generally a night hunt, it requires a good ambush spot and very careful marksmanship, as you are trying to hit a moving dollar bill at up to 50 yards in the dark.

 

[red rick]

It is rabbit hunting for me with my hounds . It’s more about the dogs run than killing the rabbit . I run my dogs all year long and rarely shoot a rabbit at my house . I do shoot them at other places that I run , but I have shot so many that I try to give the other hunters the shot , especially the kids and first time hunters . I took a disabled hunter on his first hunt ever last season and he got 2 rabbits . We let the rabbit pass on the first rabbit , but he got the 2nd one on his own . He lost his legs trying to help someone stuck in the snow . A out of control driver pinned him between the car that he was pushing . You talking about a man with a positive attitude , that is him . I meet him at the LGS , where he now works after his injury . Before the accident he worked for the State Police . I will add , that he was the best worker in that LGS when I first saw him . He impressed me . I said to myself , that man in the wheelchair is out working all of the other employees .

 

[geo57]

Rudy's for me for over 55 years. 1979 pic, 2004 pic, 2005 pic and one last Sunday.

 

[.38 Special]

I've been having a blast hunting small game with a longbow. Desert jackrabbits are a real challenge - I have a grand total of two so far! - and I've been nailing rattlesnakes on a regular basis (properly prepared they make for a very good pot of chili.)

My favorite has been quail. Using the wide wire "Kondor" heads, it is enough of a challenge to make it really worthwhile, but not so much of one that I expect to come home empty-handed. And good hunting can be had with a ten minute drive from my home!

 

[Choctaw]

Dove. Dove, dove, dove.

 

[Patocazador]

#1 = ducks, #2 = doves, #3 = quail (only because quail are just about extinct here. Otherwise quail would be #1), #4 = rabbits, #5 = squirrels.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Mousing/Ratting - I have only engaged in it a couple of times with 'wild' mice and rats and haven't done it on a grander scale like the Brits do with air rifles, night vision, and a barn full of rats. The notion of showing up to somebody's barnyard and spending a few hours shooting 50-150 rats would be beneficial to the landowner and would be a blast.

BTW, males are bucks and females are does. It is Big game hunting in miniature.

 

[jak67429]

Prairie dogs. Love sitting on my bench out on prairie shooting all day long. And you don't have to clean them, the hawks and yotes take care of that for you.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Pheasants for me. We raised 500 of them for the state of Pa for 15 years while I was a youngster.
Many fond memories of Dad's Weimaraner catching the birds in the air when they launched.

 

[Fyrstyk]

As said in previous posts, squirrel hunting is my second favorite. Squirrel hunting is my primer for deer hunting. I only hunt with muzzle loaders, both flint & percussion, and squirrel hunting gets me into stealthy hunting mode, checking for deer sign and becoming familiar with carrying the various tools and possibles for use of a muzzle loader. I would say that my other favorite is calling in coyotes, especially after the deer season has concluded.

After thinking about this topic some more, I have to add to my post that I truly love stalking snow shoe hares in the snow on snow shoes with my .36 caliber flint lock. Great cold weather winter hunting.