Squirrels

[JJB11B]

That's outstanding.  I used to love that back in the Midwest.  It was always the first season to open up and you could really hone your rifle skills on the little buggers.  I loved eating them too.

We have a growing, no make that exploding eastern Gray population around our house.  It really irritates my wife as she has had to give up on Bird Feeders.  I tried everything (except the electric whirlygigs) to keep them out but eventually they got to the food.  And every time I'd shoot one, another would move in.  It was just a constant cycle.

make a squirrel pole, put 6 or 7 noose snares on it

[BOWHUNTER45]

Right on ...Squirrel hunting will be always be one of most memorable days spent in the woods as a kid !  I sure miss those days in the eastern woods ! Especially now that the leaves are turning fall colors .  Nothing like squirrel hunting ...I really want to go pop a few ..My favorite is the Fox Squirrel ...They get the heart beating ...Hopefully I can get back there before the end of the year ...GOOD JOB !

[BOWHUNTER45]

I grew up hunting those bushy-tails in Connecticut.  My mom use to make them with polenta and spaghetti sauce ........  yummy.

I remember when I first got married and went hunting with a couple of buddies and brought home my days catch of eight of those little buggers.  I said to my wife; boy we're going to have some good eating.  She said I'm not cooking those "tree rats"    So I cooked them and she enjoyed the meal.
Thanks for sharing.
JC   

nICE ...We done that sometimes too !! But I like them fried like chicken ...Goodness I am getting hungry !

[Fl0und3rz]

Air rifles legal for some squirrels in WA.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,53782.msg2416485.html#msg2416485

Another squirrel hunting in WA thread.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=163331.0

[Axle]

Death to the eastern gray squirrel! 
Those tree rats are a  in the west!

[tgomez]

Good shooting. I have never hunted or had any desire to hunt a squirrel, but you sure look like you had a blast. Cool picture and congradulations on your limit.

[ztirffritz]

My opinion on the ultimate squirrel gun is a .22 or .25 cal airgun.  My favorite is the Benjamin Marauder PCP Pistol in .22cal with the carbine stock.  It's lightweight, quiet, and has plenty of power for squirrels.

[BiggLuke]

cool pic bro.   You will definitely remember that hunt

[Wacenturion]

I grew up hunting the bushytails. Miss it. Thanks for sharing, good stuff right there........

So did I.  Last time I had a chance to squirrel hunt was when I was stationed at Charleston A.F.B South Carolina in the 60's.  I used to call it the Big Game Hunting of the Small Game World.  Great eating.  One of my favorite ways was to boil the quarters, then put on a rack in the oven with BQ sauce and the meat would literally fall off the bone.

Was always fun watching a first time squirrel hunter try to pick one up by the tail that was playing dead.

[Wacenturion]

You got the wrong gun for squirrel hunting.  You should have a scoped .22 in that picture but if you did you'd be hooked on squirrels.   My last squirrel season was 1967 when uncle sam messed with my living locations.  If I had to give up all types of hunting but one the one I'd take would be squirrels with a .22.  Just something about sneaking along looking for a head or ear.

Perhaps, but a .22 rimfire down south where you have spanish moss hanging from every tree is not the way to go, believe me.

[pianoman9701]

Found a great recipe for a white chili with chicken. Just swapped out the chicken with squirrel and it tasted awesome! Now hoping to try my hand at some Alabama whitetails here in a couple months.

Now you can swap the whities in for the squirrels. They're freakishly small deer and I think you can kill something like 4 a day, some ridiculous number.

[lokidog]

They are probably still bigger than the WTs we saw in Costa Rica, honestly, they were lab sized in height and not nearly as heavy.   

[Weresquatch]

That's awesome. I've never tried hunting but I think it'd be fun to take the .22 and go after a few. I understand they're tasty.

[O. hemionus]

Went out for squirrels again about a month and a half ago and got a few, but haven't been back out since. I went hunting for whitetails a couple weeks ago and sat in a tree stand on an open, mature hardwood ridge for 12 hours, didn't see any deer, but saw a TON of enormous bushytails. Of course all I had with me was my deer rifle  But as soon as I return from my visit back to Washington over Christmas, I know where I'll be going to limit out on squirrels. I'll post some more pictures when I go. Hopefully I will be able to get a fox squirrel or two as well.

On a side note, I did eventually shoot my first Alabama whitetail last week. Pianoman they actually aren't too small - a little bit bigger than mainland blacktails probably. And no, can't shoot 4 a day...only one doe a day this year from mid-October through mid-February, and ONLY three bucks/year  . Two years ago you could shoot two does a day for the entirety of the season. It is actually quite amazing - a lot of folks down here think that the state shouldn't be regulating deer harvest at all - many want to be able to harvest 5 bucks/year and to harvest as many does as they want. What is also interesting down here is that your buck harvest record is a regular printed sheet of white paper with three open slots where you record the date you shot your bucks and the number of points each one had . But there is no mandatory harvest reporting...and when some folks down here fill out their three slots, they can just print another blank record off...or make a bunch of photocopies of blank forms before they start hunting...

[jaymark6655]

Shotgun is good, but if you can get a kayak in somewhere and paddle down a creek or river; its the best hunting ever with a shotgun.  For on land I either sneak under and hit them with a 22 short or 22 subsonic or sit beneath a tree and shoot them long range with a scoped .17 (note do not take anything but a head shot with a .17, it makes a mess).  Tried a scoped gun in the kayak once, guaranteed way to get wet.  I always shoot grays; they suck to eat, but they seem to drive away everything else.   Seems like any chicken stew or soup recipe can use a tree rat.