Squirrel season is here!

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GojuBrian

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I'm in Arkansas and squirrel season has started. (sept 5 - feb 28)

I have a few questions before gathering tree rats this year.

Do you hunt squirrel before the first frost?

Is there any danger of getting worms from warm weather squirrels?

I've never had a problem and there is even a spring squirrel season here.

Just taking a sort of poll.

Thanks! :)

p.s. I use a remington 597 w 3-9X32 scope. It's challenging with all the foliage.
 
worms aren't the problem... Wolves are... by Wolves I dont mean the dog... they have a larval form of beetle that burrows into their skin... same thing happens to cats.. the first frost kills them. I dont think it would hurt much, just cook it extra:D

i have seen them on several occasions... pretty gross...
 
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GojuBrian,

I've never waited until the first frost, but I do wait for cooler weather for personal comfort reasons. I was tempted to go out Sunday morning. This weekend looks halfway decent with chance of storms and highs in the lower eighties. I look forward to the crisp mornings and lukewarm afternoons though. That's when I'll be in the woods the most.

As far as worms, I've never had a problem with worms though. The average first frost in central Arkansas is late October, and I surely am not giving up almost two months of hunting if the weather is right.

Now rabbits are a different story. I do not care what anyone says, I just won't eat a rabbit before a good frost!
 
Im going out tomorrow morning if its not raining and see if I can get a couple myself.
Im going to try this new box of 1 1/8oz #4 Steel 1500fps and see if its as good on squirrel as a few guys around the web have been claiming.
:)
 
You don't need much firepower for squirrels. I use to hunt them with my 600fps .177 pellet gun and it worked fine. :)

Now, I use this, but with the legal magazine.

597.gif

Might try to take one with my browning buckmark as well. :cool:
 
Squirrel season started here in Ohio a week ago today... yesterday was my first chance to get out. Never been out this early in the season before, usually its late October/early November.

I only stayed for about an hour; just harvested one and went home. Definitely too hot and muggy for my liking on this particular day, and I wanted to get that sucker cleaned and in the freezer as soon as possible. BTW - Looked as healthy as any I'd ever seen.

With the leaves still on the trees, I sure as hell can't spot them up there like normal. Seemed like a good idea to sit still and wait for a squirrel or two to go to breakfast under a big hickory... which worked. Anyone else have different techniques in the warm weather? Maybe its common sense, maybe I got lucky...
 
I picked up my Wildlife Management Area (WMA) small game permit today. There is a WMA about 10 miles from where I work during the week. I'm planning on going out there tomorrow after work and trying for some squirrels and/or rabbits.

I'll be using my old Savage SA 187 with iron sites. It should do just fine for what I am after.

I'm planning on using CCI Minimag copper plated ammo. No sense using hollow points. They are just squirrels...

I want to get some hunting in before Deer season starts. No sense in me ruining someones deer hunt by tramping around trying to find tree rats!

Now to figure out what I am going to do with them once I get them...
I guess I need to learn to:
Skin
Clean
Cook
Preserve the skins

-Jim
 
I also live in ohio, and have gone squirrel hunting in the morning, afternoon and just befor dusk. I had found out that it was easy pickens when i would stay in the apple orchard behind the house , then go deep into the woods to find them....but the time of day also effected on whether i would fill my daily limit. Far as waiting for first frost...i get at it now, it sharpens me up for when turkey and deer seasons roll in.
 
Anyone else have different techniques in the warm weather? Maybe its common sense, maybe I got lucky...
Take field glasses/binoculars. Look for the critters laying flat on branches close to the trunk with their tails pretty much motionless. For some reason they seem to do that a lot, especially when theyre trying to 'hide'.
I followed one big grey last year who ran up a tree and tucked his rear up against the trunk of the tree, laying flat on a branch. Had I not known he ran up that tree specifically It would have been really hard to just see him sitting there. Ive got a few more of them doing the same thing, just laying there motionless.

The other thing is a squirrel call. Didnt think they were of much use till I started using one. Goofy squirrels.
If you do the call right and they believe its one of their buddies they will start barking back at you and give their position away.
 
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I don’t know why they are called wolves, but the larvae of the botfly is disgusting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botfly

In Alabama they are still in the tree rats when the season opens 1 Oct. Wolves are very common down here. I have dumped squirrels out of the game bag, and found wolves crawling around on the table. I guess when the host gets cold, some decide to leave for warmer surroundings.

It must be very painful for the squirrels, they will scratch until the fur is gone. I shot one old squirrel, he had lots of healed holes and hardly any fur left on his body.

If you have ever skinned and quartered a squirrel, you know just how tough it is to remove the feet and head with a pocket knife.

A military bud who had been to Germany brought back a set of poultry shears. This is the ticket to faster and easier squirrel cleaning.

Once you snip off the head and feet with these, you will only use your knife for gutting and skinning.

1072292_3a_1.jpg
 
the larvae things make me almost puke while cleaning. How my buddy can still eat the squirrels is beyond me. More power to him

Im interested if anyone has a trained squirrel dog. There was a recent show on american gun dog where he used a Cur I believe. Definitely interested in getting in contact with a trainer/breeder.
 
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