hunterbob
Well-Known Member
I love fried squirrels and rabbits ... My wife likes the squirrel heads,,,, Never mess with here. lol
How Do You Hunt Squirrels?
- Thread starter Len Backus
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I love fried squirrels and rabbits ... My wife likes the squirrel heads,,,, Never mess with here. lol
Old Hickory
Well-Known Member
Yuck! My dad loved squirrel heads but the rest of us were glad to leave them for him.
hunterbob
Well-Known Member
Yuck! My dad loved squirrel heads but the rest of us were glad to leave them for him.
I never been that hungry to eat squirrel heads
My grey squirrel hunting here in the Northeast serves as my "scaled down" long range hunting practice. My hunting consists of mostly sitting in one of the numerous hardwood/oak stands where my visibility can reach 100+ yards. Hunting can be productive all day, overcast or sunny. Lots of glassing. My hunting rifle is a Savage BVSS 22LR loaded with Remington 36gr HP's. My scope is a Leupold VX3 6x20 EFR with target turrets usually set at 6x. I use my Terrapin RF/Shooter BC, and dial for the long shots. Makes for a great LR hunting simulation with a bonus of feasting on some Squirrel Cattiatore!
200 yard groups with this set-up:
200 yard groups with this set-up:
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Old Hickory
Well-Known Member
I would say you are mighty fine set up for squirrels, Grayfox. Most of your shots are on your lowest scope setting?
Scope on my.17 WSM is 6.5X-20X but most of my shots are taken on the 6.5 setting. Some squirrel shots are 200 yard shots.
My HMR is topped with a 6X-24X. Most shots again, at the lowest setting. I wish my scopes would adjust down to 3X for those sneakers that are close shots.
I carry a Browning BuckMark .22 for the sneaky close ones.
Your hardwood timbers sounds a lot like our hardwood timbers.
Do you have any fox squirrels?
I would say you are mighty fine set up for squirrels, Grayfox. Most of your shots are on your lowest scope setting?
Scope on my.17 WSM is 6.5X-20X but most of my shots are taken on the 6.5 setting. Some squirrel shots are 200 yard shots.
My HMR is topped with a 6X-24X. Most shots again, at the lowest setting. I wish my scopes would adjust down to 3X for those sneakers that are close shots.
I carry a Browning BuckMark .22 for the sneaky close ones.
Your hardwood timbers sounds a lot like our hardwood timbers.
Do you have any fox squirrels?
Old Hickory, yes, I use the lowest setting(it's 6.5, not 6x, my error)for two reasons. I like the larger field of view for getting on the squirrels quickly in the thick. Also, the size of a squirrel at the lower power is comparable to the size of medium big game at the longer ranges. It's good training for me. I have seen a few fox squirrels over the years, but they are pretty rare in these parts. Lots of red squirrels though.
Old Hickory
Well-Known Member
That is certainly good thinking equating the size compared to big game, Greyfox.
How has your squirrel population been this last season? Ours has been very low numbers.
You also have little pesky pine red squirrels? Not the fox squirrels we talked about earlier.
Both my .17 rifles are Savage rifles. We know a good thing concerning Savage rifles.
My HMR and Marlin 60 .22 are safe queens since I bought the .17 WSM when Savage started selling them.
Squirrel population had been pretty good here since the acorn mast has been constant. I'm a real fan of the Savage rifles. The accuracy is hard to beat even with much more expensive rifles.
Old Hickory
Well-Known Member
Yeah on that, Greyfox.
My Savage 93 blued varmint barreled HMR shoots one hole groups at 100 meters, not cloverleaf groups. A lot of that is due to an aftermarket Basix Sear Kit installed. The rifle is the first model 93 without the Accu Trigger. It took two mules and a boy to pull the original trigger.
First gen black BMAG with skinny barrel shoots really good, although some owners had problems. It's my go to small game rifle. Yeah, head shots are a must. It also works great for occasional varmints I cross paths with.
Wow Grandpa would of whupped my butt if he caught me shooting squirrels with a shotgun. Lots of people did but not me. Grandpa Probably didn't like eating shot or something like that. My favorite way to hunt squirrels is in an area along a creek bottom covered with Walnut and Oak trees. Walk slow. I use one of those disk squirrel calls that sound like a baby squirrel in trouble. Listen carefully for them running through the trees or barking at you. Head shots only (Again Grandpa) Stay away from shooting the big old males. Their Nuts hang below the branches and shoot only the young ones of either sex. They taste a lot better and are not tough. Remington pump .22 loaded with standard load .22 LR's (lot more accurate than the faster ones)
Best way to cook them is a coffee can full of Frying Magic breading and throw in the pieces of butchered squirrel and shake the hell out it. Throw them in a cast iron skillet over a camp fire of hot coals with lots of peanut oil and fry them till they float. I fed 27 people squirrel and fried tatters one sunday night after a weekend hunt and not one person complained about tough squirrel or anything else for that matter. Course some Tomato Beers goes good with it too. Gotta love those big red Fox Squirrels fed on Oak and walnut nuts and corn.
Probably didn't like eating shot or something like that. My favorite way to hunt squirrels is in an area along a creek bottom covered with Walnut and Oak trees. Walk slow. I use one of those disk squirrel calls that sound like a baby squirrel in trouble. Listen carefully for them running through the trees or barking at you. Head shots only (Again Grandpa) Stay away from shooting the big old males. Their Nuts hang below the branches and shoot only the young ones of either sex. They taste a lot better and are not tough. Remington pump .22 loaded with standard load .22 LR's (lot more accurate than the faster ones) Best way to cook them is a coffee can full of Frying Magic breading and throw in the pieces of butchered squirrel and shake the hell out it. Throw them in a cast iron skillet over a camp fire of hot coals with lots of peanut oil and fry them till they float. I fed 27 people squirrel and fried tatters one sunday night after a weekend hunt and not one person complained about tough squirrel or anything else for that matter. Course some Tomato Beers goes good with it too. Gotta love those big red Fox Squirrels fed on Oak and walnut nuts and corn.
Ya maybe but the area I hunt them is sparsely populated. One of the larger counties in the state and the population is down to 11,000 last I looked from the 21,000 at its peak about 30 years ago. Everyone moved to the city for work it seems. So it makes for a great place to hunt with .22's. I think the largest town in the whole county is about 1,200 people. It's a bit of Red Neck heaven.
You could always hunt them like the old fellow did at the local VA hospital where he lived in the dormitory. People always fed the squirrels peanuts and they are pretty tame so this guy gets one used to him and it starts coming up and taking a peanut out of his hand. One day when it comes up to get a nut he whacks on the head with his cane and kills it. He then takes it down to the kitchen where a friend of mine worked and wanted them to cook it for him. Needless to say they did not and he spent some time with the psych people.
