2024/2025 Squirrel Hunting Thread...........

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Aug 15-Jan 31 squirrel season in Indiana

Can't wait to use my new to me Seneca 36!
👍 If you dont mind, can you please post a full-length lock-side photo of your rifle? With your horn & possibles? I'm still trying to decide what to get. Thanks, yellowhammer
 
Last edited:

My thing with wearing orange is. If I’m squirrel hunting, I have to wear it from Sep to end of Feb. I have to wear it if there’s nothing else in season.

But in our flintlock deer season after Christmas you can wear buckskins and hunt. No orange but I have to wear orange to hunt squirrels at that same time.

Why in archery season must I wear it to hunt squirrels but I can wear camo to hunt deer. Makes no sense.
No doubt about it, Jim. The powers that be are trying to get rid of all you pesky flintlock fellas due to emitting too much smoke into the air every time you shoot.

Yes sir, they are sneaky but they ain’t fooling us none. 😁
 
Last edited:
No doubt about it, Jim. The powers that be are trying to get rid of all you pesky flintlock fellas due to emitting too much smoke into the air every time you shoot.

Yes sir, they are sneaky but they ain’t fooling us none. 😁
Yessir Ed. They went from save the trees, to save the rocks. I think it was AOC in her going green push who said, "rocks have feelings too". 🤣
 
Yessir Ed. They went from save the trees, to save the rocks. I think it was AOC in her going green push who said, "rocks have feelings too". 🤣
How dare they use rocks on their rifles to ignite powder. Those poor flint rocks.

I mean, they were perfectly content being happy little rocks just lying around for thousands of years before Indians and white men decided to use them. Then, before they even realized it, they were picked up, chipped away, and made into objects that helped kill things.

My gosh, how terrible! What’s the world coming to?
 
Last edited:
Okay guys, here’s the situation. I finally got an updated prescription for my glasses. I ordered two pair. One pair was ready a couple of days ago so I picked them up. I’m sad to report that even though I can actually see better overall, the end bead on both of my Crockett squirrel rifles is blurry. This has been my greatest concern. Depending on the light conditions, I can see the end bead fairly clear, but as of now, in poor light conditions, the end bead is nothing more than a blur.

I’m not sure what to do about this as of now. I do know that it is almost entirely due to cataract that neither insurance companies will pay for until my vision gets worse. This is a real kick in the gut.

I do have another pair of glasses to pick up next week. So, I think I’m going to wait until then before moving to the next option. The other pair might be better, IDK.?
 
Last edited:
I’m not an eye doctor but before I had my cataract surgery done my eyes could only be corrected so much. I like you was kind of stuck with it for a year or two before my eye doc could get the surgery approved by insurance.
 
Well, boys I got one. It was this morning a little after 8am. Although I've had a few days off of work, it's been very little time in the woods.
I've been out early mornings and late afternoons. Very little time in the woods with either.
I saw one very small squirrel, too small to shoot. He made his way, tree to tree went off to my right. About 15 minutes later I noticed movement in the same area I lost sight of the little one. I figured same squirrel, but as he got closer I realized it was a mature squirrel. He basically followed the sane path as the little one. After making his way across some vines about 8 feet up, he climbed into a bigger tree, consistently moving. He reach a crook in the tree and stopped. He was up about 10 or 12 feet above the ground, and a bit over 15 yards away. I had raised the Crockett Rifle to my shoulder, little bit before he stopped, pulled back the hammer and sighted him in a Bang. He stiffed up curled his tail and fell to the ground.
He fell on the east side of the tree. I looked where he fell and he wasn't there... what the heck I know he didn't run off. So I looked all the way around the tree. Mostly favoring the eastside.
I spent a few minutes and was getting, well,ya know!!!! I thought by God I'm going in and get Ole Henry. Hooked him up to the leash, getting all pumped up by telling him, Get'em Boy, and Where's he at over and over, he was very excited by the time I took him to the tree. Got to the base of the tree pointing and telling him Find him boy , mind him. He sniffed around, leaned up on the tree sniffing and looking up and down and all around. Then his nose hit the ground and he picked up the scent, he stated to pull me and he was quivering. He was taking me to the west side of the tree. He sniffed he is way the root base of good size vines, and stated flinching and twitching back and forth at the vines. I looked down in amongst them and there was the squirrel dead as a door knobb. He pawed him out grabbed him, turn towards look all proud, it was great. That little was very happy with finding that squirrel, and so was I. I coaxed it away from him. Praised him and got him a treat.
I finally got one. And I will be going again before returning to work on Monday. Although I've shoot a plenty of squirrel with my muzzleloading shotgun, this is my first with a PRB. Thanks to all of the folks on the forum, that the main reason I wanted to pursue hunting with a PRB. Also a special thanks to ETipp for taking the time to share some real good advice when I reached out to him with a PM asking questions about hunting with a PRB and the Crockett Rifle....

The pictures are after Slough Dog drug him out of the vines.

To all
Take Care Stay Safe...
 

Attachments

  • 20240719_084217.jpg
    20240719_084217.jpg
    1.5 MB
  • 20240719_085035.jpg
    20240719_085035.jpg
    2.7 MB
  • 20240719_084209.jpg
    20240719_084209.jpg
    1.4 MB
Okay guys, here’s the situation. I finally got an updated prescription for my glasses. I ordered two pair. One pair was ready a couple of days ago so I picked them up. I’m sad to report that even though I can actually see better overall, the end bead on both of my Crockett squirrel rifles is slurry. This has been my greatest concern. Depending on the light conditions, I can see the end bead fairly clear, but as of now, in poor light conditions, the end bead is nothing more than a blur.

I’m not sure what to do about this as of now. I do know that it is almost entirely due to cataract that neither insurance companies will pay for until my vision gets worse. This is a real kick in the gut.

I do have another pair of glasses to pick up next week. So, I think I’m going to wait until then before moving to the next option. The other pair might be better, IDK.?
I hope the best for ya Ed. That eye sight is something I too think about, mine are slightly fuzzy now. Hope the other glasses help ya.
 
Well, boys I got one. It was this morning a little after 8am. Although I've had a few days off of work, it's been very little time in the woods.
I've been out early mornings and late afternoons. Very little time in the woods with either.
I saw one very small squirrel, too small to shoot. He made his way, tree to tree went off to my right. About 15 minutes later I noticed movement in the same area I lost sight of the little one. I figured same squirrel, but as he got closer I realized it was a mature squirrel. He basically followed the sane path as the little one. After making his way across some vines about 8 feet up, he climbed into a bigger tree, consistently moving. He reach a crook in the tree and stopped. He was up about 10 or 12 feet above the ground, and a bit over 15 yards away. I had raised the Crockett Rifle to my shoulder, little bit before he stopped, pulled back the hammer and sighted him in a Bang. He stiffed up curled his tail and fell to the ground.
He fell on the east side of the tree. I looked where he fell and he wasn't there... what the heck I know he didn't run off. So I looked all the way around the tree. Mostly favoring the eastside.
I spent a few minutes and was getting, well,ya know!!!! I thought by God I'm going in and get Ole Henry. Hooked him up to the leash, getting all pumped up by telling him, Get'em Boy, and Where's he at over and over, he was very excited by the time I took him to the tree. Got to the base of the tree pointing and telling him Find him boy , mind him. He sniffed around, leaned up on the tree sniffing and looking up and down and all around. Then his nose hit the ground and he picked up the scent, he stated to pull me and he was quivering. He was taking me to the west side of the tree. He sniffed he is way the root base of good size vines, and stated flinching and twitching back and forth at the vines. I looked down in amongst them and there was the squirrel dead as a door knobb. He pawed him out grabbed him, turn towards look all proud, it was great. That little was very happy with finding that squirrel, and so was I. I coaxed it away from him. Praised him and got him a treat.
I finally got one. And I will be going again before returning to work on Monday. Although I've shoot a plenty of squirrel with my muzzleloading shotgun, this is my first with a PRB. Thanks to all of the folks on the forum, that the main reason I wanted to pursue hunting with a PRB. Also a special thanks to ETipp for taking the time to share some real good advice when I reached out to him with a PM asking questions about hunting with a PRB and the Crockett Rifle....

The pictures are after Slough Dog drug him out of the vines.

To all
Take Care Stay Safe...
The Crockett curse is NO MORE! Well done amigo. Knew you still had some feral Illinois kid left in you!
 
Duk is spot on.

Ed, I use them. Highly recommended. They really do work.
I put a peep sight on my pennsylvania hunter it made all the difference in the world , I couldn't focus on the rear sight front sight and target at the same time.
Guys, I’ve long been an advocate of peep sights. Been using them for a long time. It’s not the rear sight I have issues with. It is now the front sight. It’s blurry. Wasn’t that way last year. It’s absolutely cataract that’s causing this situation.

Crockett rifle wearing a Tom A Hawks folding peep. Left.

TC New Englander wearing an original TC peep. Right.

GPR wearing a Lyman 57 peep. Bottom.

There’s no doubt about it, for a hunting application under all the different light conditions hunters experience, a proper size peep with the proper size front sight is superior to fixed, open sights. That’s especially true during poor light conditions.

There was a good reason why militaries used peeps for so many years.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1149.jpeg
    IMG_1149.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1397.jpeg
    IMG_1397.jpeg
    2.5 MB
  • IMG_1390.jpeg
    IMG_1390.jpeg
    1.7 MB
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top