Squirrel hunting story

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Vern Humphrey

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We've been talking about squirrel hunting in another thread (Two part question, .22 hornet and TC Encore) so I thought I'd start a new thread here.

I live on 185 mostly wooded acres, deep in the Ozarks. My wife is nurse, and try as I might, I can't get her to retire. She was up before dawn, getting ready to go into the nursing home. I let her use the bath and get dressed, and then rolled out of bed to kiss her good bye, and got dressed.

It was a beautiful morning -- blue sky, cold and crisp. There was frost on everything. I took the Gae Bolga (my M82 Kimber in .22LR -- the Irish will know what the name means) and my claymore bandoleer and started down to the little creek -- that's an intermittent creek flowing into my pond.

Crossing the creek on stepping stones and starting up the hill on the other side, everything was still -- a bit early for squirrels. I walked slowly, just barely ambling along, and after a few minutes spotted a gray squirrel feeding on the ground. I put a stalk on him, and as I got closer, he would move away -- but didn't take alarm.

Then a big, red fox squirrel appeared. He spotted me as I was stalking him, but didn't know what I was. He went up a tree, but kept stopping and peeking around the trunk. This tree, like a lot of them around here, lost limbs in the ice storm a couple of years ago, so there was a lot of trunk. I "took a lean" against a smaller tree and aimed where I though he'd appear next. Sure enough, he was right there, head and shoulders in the cross hairs. It was a classic head shot at about 20 yards, and he peeled off the tree and fell about 20 feet to the leaves with a nice "Thunk!"

I dropped him in the claymore bandolier and continued on the way I'd been moving. In about 50 yards, I spotted a ground-feeding gray and stalked him successfully, shooting him on the ground.

I spotted and stalked three more grays, without success, and finally came to an old logging road, looping back toward the house. Just across the road, I spotted another gray, and stalked him. He alerted and made for a tree -- but stopped about two feet up the trunk and looked back at me. Squirrel number three.

I was back at the house in less than 30 minutes total time. I fed the horses, and dressed the squirrels while they ate, then turned them out, put the carcasses in the sink to soak, and there will be fried squirrel for lunch.

I was using WalMart Winchester hollowpoints -- they seemed more destructive than I'd like on these squirrels -- even the head shots went right through, emerging farther down the body. I lost a couple of front legs that way. I think I'll switch back to the old Winchester Wildcat solids -- I still have a couple of cases of them stored in the basement.
 
Out of curiosity, do you use ear protection/eye protection when you do this, or do you just do it?
 
Third_Rail - I can't speak for him but I don't. I wear glasses all the time so they give some protection but I haven't found a practical way to wear real eye and ear protection when hunting yet.

Even with a high power rifle I have never really heard the shot or felt the recoil. There have been times that I could have sworn that the rifle didn't fire at all until I eject a spent casing.

I also hunt squirrels with a .22LR (CZ-452). I use Wolf target ammo and the report is so mild that I don't worry about it.
 
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Out of curiosity, do you use ear protection/eye protection when you do this, or do you just do it?
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I just do it.

I habitually wear ear protection when shooting targets, but out in the open, with only a few shots to fire, from a .22 rifle, I don't see it as necessary.

I HAVE been tempted to get electronic ear protectors -- the kind that provides stereo hearing enhancement, and blocks out loud noises. That would be the best of both worlds -- you could hear the squirrels much better, and still have ear protection.

However, whenever I have the money to spend, I usually find something else I want more.
 
Well, as long as you don't do it all the time (at the range too) then it's probably no worse than hearing damage from loud music or the like.


Do you consider using lower velocity .22s?
 
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Do you consider using lower velocity .22s?
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I mostly use whatever's cheapest -- since I shoot a LOT of .22s. :cool:

My favorite game is to shoot at an 11-bull, 50 foot target from the standing, unsupported (offhand) postion. I empty the rifle (a 5-shot magazine) into one bull, never taking the buttplate from my shoulder, working the bolt rapidly. I don't hurry, but I don't waste time, either. I will put two magazines into each bull -- trying to keep everything inside the 8-ring.

Do that three or four times a week, and you'll burn a lot of .22 shells.

I find that I can't blame the ammo on any bad shooting -- if I ever get to the point where from the off-hand position I can tell the difference between WalMart specials and match grade ammo, then I'll start buying the expensive stuff. :D
 
Good squirrel story. I love every account I can find of being in the woods, and hunting greys, or fox squirrels.
I prefer a .22 myself, over shotguns. Lately, I have been using a Ruger 10/22 International carbine. Darn little rifle is much more accurate than I ever thought it would be.
I don't use hearing protection either. You cannot hunt squirrel wearing ear plugs. You won't hear any of the chittering, cutting, tail swishes or the pitter patter of tiny feet in the leaf cover. Frankly, a good squirrel hunt can take hours, and produce only a few for the pot. That amount of shooting won't trouble even the most PC of firearm alarmists.
 
I love Squirrel Hunting

In fact, Squirrel and Hog are the only game around here that I care to hunt.

I too prefer using a rifle to hunt them as opposed to a scattergun. Every now and then I will use a shotgun to hunt them if it's all I have with me at the time, and I started as a kid hunting them with a .410. Rifles are just more fun.


It sounds like you have quite a nice place there Mr. Humphrey.
 
The Ozarks are prime squirrel habitat -- although in drought, the river bottoms are better. For the last few years, we'd had lots of squirrels -- great hunting.

A shotgun is the way to go if you want squirrels -- I could have killed twice as many with a shotgun -- just shoot at the flicker of a tail. No need to stalk for a good, clear shot.

But for HUNTING, a rifle -- or even a handgun -- is the way to go.

I bought this place in 1969, when I got back from my second tour in Vietnam, and squirreled it away (pun intended) until I could retire and build on it.

Coming home from church today, I found a flock of turkies in the middle of the county road. I instinctively reached for my .45 -- but don't carry in church, dang it! Anyway, I already have a turkey in the freezer, and it wasn't REALLY turkey season. :D
 
That story takes me back to where it all began for me. Hunting those lil bushytails is a good place to start young hunters and get them interested in the outdoors and shooting. Thanks for the memories!
 
:)

Thanks for sharing. You are in beautiful part of the state.

I'm about 3 hrs south of you as the crow flies. Something about taking a .22 handgun for squirrels stirs me up. I have two quarters with a hole in them , pc of rawhide slipped thru the two bit pcs . I rub these together, Mr. Bushy Tail "just has to take a peeK" , the rawhide dangles from my weakhand pinkie when I shoot, If I do my part -that is the last "peeking" Mr Bushy Tail will do.

Being caught with only a 1911, BTDT, Bark them squirrels... ;)
 
Copied this from another site. This is my idea of a squirrel story :)
Enjoy

I never dreamed slowly cruising on my motorcycle through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Little did I suspect?
I was on Brice Street - a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me.
It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it -- it was that close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me.
I barely had time to brace for the impact. Animal lovers never fear. Squirrels, I discovered, can take care of themselves!
Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing my oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his beady little eyes.
His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt!
I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, "Bonsai!" or maybe, "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!" The leap was nothing short of spectacular...
He shot straight up, flew over my windshield, and impacted me squarely in the chest. Instantly, he set upon me. If I did not know better, I would have sworn he brought 20 of his little buddies along for the attack.
Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light T-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage!
Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and leather gloves, puttering at maybe 25 mph down a quiet residential street, and in the fight of his life with a squirrel.
And losing...
I grabbed for him with my left hand. After a few misses, I finally managed to snag his tail. With all my strength, I flung the evil rodent off to the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there.
It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser. But this was no ordinary squirrel. This was not even an ordinary angry squirrel. This was an EVIL MUTANT ATTACK SQUIRREL OF DEATH!
Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands and, with the force of the throw, swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact, he landed ! squarely on my BACK and resumed his rather antisocial and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him! The situation was not improved. Not improved at all.
His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled, to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle. A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result.
Torque, This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it.
The engine roared and the front wheel left the pavement.
The squirrel screamed in anger.
The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy.
I screamed in.. well.. I just plain screamed.
Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel-torn t-shirt! , wearing only one leather glove, and roaring at maybe 50 mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street on one wheel, with a demonic squirrel of death on his back.
The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder.
With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike.
This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle... my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little effect against the massive power of the big cruiser.
About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he was an evil mutant NAZI attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got INSIDE my full-face helmet with me.
As the faceplate closed part way, he began hissing in my face. I am quite sure my screaming changed intensity. It had little effect on the squirrel, however. The RPMs on the Dragon maxed out (since I was not bothering with shifting at the moment), so her front end started to drop.
Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very raggedly torn T-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, roaring at probably 80 mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel’s tail sticking out of the mostly closed full-face helmet. By now the screams are probably getting a little hoarse.
Finally I got the upper hand. I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked ... sort-of.
Spectacularly sort-of ...so to speak.
Picture a new scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn T-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing only one leather glove, moving at probably 80 mph on one heel, and screaming bloody murder roars by, and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car.
I heard screams.
They weren't mine...
I managed to get the big motorcycle under control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign of a busy cross street. I would have returned to 'fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really... Except for two things.
First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. When I looked back, the doors on both sides of the patrol car were flung wide open. The cop from the passenger side was on his back, doing a crab walk into somebody's front yard, quickly moving away from the car. The cop who had been in the driver’s seat was standing in the street, aiming a riot shotgun at his own police car.
So, the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to "let the professionals handle it" anyway.
That was one thing. The other?
Well, I could clearly see shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery from the back seat. But I could also swear I saw the squirrel in the back window, shaking his little fist at me. That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car. A somewhat shredded patrol car ... but it was all his.
I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made a gentle right turn off of Brice Street, and sedately left the neighborhood. I decided it was best to just buy myself a new pair of gloves. And a whole lot of Band-Aids
 
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I'm about 3 hrs south of you as the crow flies. Something about taking a .22 handgun for squirrels stirs me up. I have two quarters with a hole in them , pc of rawhide slipped thru the two bit pcs . I rub these together, Mr. Bushy Tail "just has to take a peeK" , the rawhide dangles from my weakhand pinkie when I shoot, If I do my part -that is the last "peeking" Mr Bushy Tail will do.
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That's a slick trick -- have you tried the Mr. Squirrel call? This is a little disk with a hole in it, and you suck air through it to make a SQE#EEK! Combine it with thrashing a branch, and sometimes squirrels will charge you.

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Being caught with only a 1911, BTDT, Bark them squirrels...
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I've been tempted to take a turkey or two with a .45. ;)

I've taken a lot of squirrels with a Colt Ace Conversion Kit mounted on a M1911 frame.
 
have you tried the Mr. Squirrel call? This is a little disk with a hole in it, and you suck air through it to make a SQE#EEK! Combine it with thrashing a branch, and sometimes squirrels will charge you.
Click to expand...

That's the truth! I still use the one my father bought years and years ago.
 
Mr. Humphrey,

NO I haven't tried the Mr. Squirrel call. Sounds a bit too high tech for this 49 y/o :D

Now how am I supposed to smoke , eat jerky , and use that kind of call all at the same time? :p

Multi-tasking is no problem , I'm just hard- headed and stubborn about what I multi- task on.

Turkeys...well lets see, I was supposed to be taking a looksee and if a deer happened to run into a loading from 1911 - so be it. I "was in fear" , must have been one of them "mutant Turkeys" known to roam...I had no choice but to defend myself... ;)

One gets a really dumb look from a property owner when you bring him a turkey...he gives you lessons like deer don't have feathers and beards...all the while he is laughing and plucking and his wife is most appreciative and bring you coffee.

I was smoking, sitting on a stump, wearing khakis, LL Bean rubber soled boots , Forest green Woolrich shirt , and that turkey ran smack dab into a "flying ashtray" about 15 steps away. " I was in fear" ...honest. ;)
 
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NO I haven't tried the Mr. Squirrel call. Sounds a bit too high tech for this 49 y/o

Now how am I supposed to smoke , eat jerky , and use that kind of call all at the same time?
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You young 'uns just got to learn yer priorities. ;)

As for shooting turkies, or deer with a .45, it happens. I make it a point to always have a gun with me, no matter what I'm in the woods for, which has resulted in some strange hunting encounters -- there's an old saying, "Leave your gun at home and you'll jump a varmit from behind every bush."
 
Just my luck I'd bite the squirrel call and try to call bushy tails with the jerkey. :uhoh: :)

Oh so you too have noticed if you carry a firearm openly - there will be no critters. If you carry concealed , critters think you are not armed and come out to taunt, and such.

<bushy tail>
"Ma, some feller done shot brother with a concealed handgun, we were just playing Ma- honest!!!" :D
 
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Just my luck I'd bite the squirrel call and try to call bushy tails with the jerkey.
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Heat the jerky and remember, "Blow on the jerky, suck on the call." :D

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Oh so you too have noticed if you carry a firearm openly - there will be no critters. If you carry concealed , critters think you are not armed and come out to taunt, and such.
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I have faked out a bunch of critters.

When I was a boy, I'd sit on the bank of the pond and shoot at snapping turtles. When I got older, and put a scope on my .22, the turtles condsidered that unfair. :D
 
That means I got us off topic , again- right? :D

Okay , I prefer Win Power Points .22lr out of a handgun for most handgunning for squirrels. The Standard Velocity Dynapoints work really well in revolvers IME.

I grew with a High Standard Sentenial , 9 shot revolver. Basically used whatever the grocery store had , and sometimes the choice of .22 shorts ,longs or long rifle depended on how many coke bottles I had found @ 2cents a pc. Boy was I happy when they started giving 3 cents a bottle...then the ammo went up. Phooey , just my luck...from .15 to .17 for a box of shorts. A whole quarter for the long rifle.

.22 shorts work :D Something about being poor and hungry makes one learn to use stealth and get close before shooting.

I may forget to check my pockets for frogs , worms and such before going into the washing machine....I checked for them precious little ctgs. tho'.

Being a brat I didn't know all this "stuff" , I was taught safety , reliablilty and shot placement. I guess back then the critters didn't get "memo's" either, they fell when hit. Now they get memo's telling them they are supposed to run and not die because the wrong ammo was used or the shooter didn't wear the right camo. ;)

Squirrel hunting, I'll fess up. When I don't use a handgun....I like a single shot .22 rifle,or single shot .410 shotgun. I can't explain it - "Just Because" will have to do.

Later on I willshare about the Model 70 in '06 , farm ponds, squirrels, turtles...rabbits and a Willis Jeep.

Tip: Do put the wax ear plugs in if you decide to shoot out the back of a Willis Jeep. Lying prone and using a quilt for a shooting pad does NOT lessen noise - trust me.
 
I also prefer Winchester Power Point, and found it to be the most accurate high velocity .22 ammo in most any handgun or rifle I've shot, and the only ammo that will group out of my Old Model Single Six. It even rivals the target grade ammo in my Remington 541.
I started using it back when it came in the orange box, imported from Australia. Bought a bunch because word was Win. was going to stop importing it. I was glad when they started making it over here several years later. Good squirrel medicine.
 
Art,

Is the one that educated me on the proper term for the results of what happens when one attempts to bark a squirrel with a Mod 70 in '06 or a Mod 94 with 30-30 out deer hunting ( and the durn things will not shut up with all that racket) and ...err...you hit the squirrels.

Misty :D

Took ~ 30 yrs to learn what that was called.

Thanks Art. ;)

Gimme a break , I'm a shotgunner, I'm used to moving targets- it is the still ones that get me in trouble...all the bushy tails had to do was sit still. :p
 
Squirrel hunting is a ot of fun,and ,I think,at least,the best way to introduce a non hunter to hunting.Regarding omega5's squirrel story,an ex girlfriend of mine had a treerat get into her house.Man,what a mess that critter made in the whole place.It was funny to see her mom's reaction to it,though. :D
 
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