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

[longcruise]

I have eaten them and was surprised that they tasted pretty good.

Yes! I never hunted them for years for that reason. Then my grandkids wanted to vent their bloodthirst so it was on. I made it clear that they were to be eaten and they did cook them up and I was surprised at how tasty they were. I still only hunt them with the kids so I can send them home with mine to do the cooking, etc. On a good day we can collect quite a few. The other confession I must make is I generally shoot them with a Ruger Mk II and only head shots I've shot a few with 50 and 54 which is very effective but very much a head shooting prospect. I'm getting a 40 flinter together so that will become the go-to, lest you all think I'm a hopelessly lost soul.

 

[ETipp]

Yes! I never hunted them for years for that reason. Then my grandkids wanted to vent their bloodthirst so it was on. I made it clear that they were to be eaten and they did cook them up and I was surprised at how tasty they were. I still only hunt them with the kids so I can send them home with mine to do the cooking, etc. On a good day we can collect quite a few. The other confession I must make is I generally shoot them with a Ruger Mk II and only head shots I've shot a few with 50 and 54 which is very effective but very much a head shooting prospect. I'm getting a 40 flinter together so that will become the go-to, lest you all think I'm a hopelessly lost soul.

To be honest, I found the taste of those little piny squirrels to be about like a southern gray squirrel. That’s what surprised me most. It does take a few to make a mess.

A .40 for pine squirrels? I hope you download or are good at head shots. The good thing is, it’s pretty easy to get close to them.

Nah, not hopelessly lost. Maybe a bit bewildered, as Henry Frap would say.

Henry Frap is still my hero, don't cha ya know?

 

[Trigger]

Here's a good one.

my wife seen one being used for hanging deer and go figure the neighbor was throwing this away.

I hang them in my garage so..

 

[ETipp]

Here's a good one.

my wife seen one being used for hanging deer and go figure the neighbor was throwing this away.

I hang them in my garage so..

What is it?

 

[Trigger]

Little Kids pool

 

[yellowhammer]

I have seen allot of squirrel in the orange coat.

You see squirrels wearing orange coats!?!? Around here they wear gray fur

Wild Turkey at it again...

 

[Jim K]

Here in PA they’re called red squirrels. They can be a pain if you’re bow hunting and they see you. But I haven’t seen one here in years.

 

[ETipp]

Here in PA they’re called red squirrels. They can be a pain if you’re bow hunting and they see you. But I haven’t seen one here in years.

They have those up in the northern part of MI as well. Once they see you, they just wont give up telling the entire country about your presence. At least gray squirrels will usually stop their complaining after a few minutes. I feel blessed that all I see here are gray squirrels.

 

[ETipp]

Little Kids pool

That would help keep the mess off of the floor. Anything like that will work. I use large oil catch pans or a rubber matt. Both easily washed off.

 

[Trigger]

They have those up in the northern part of MI as well. Once they see you, they just wont give up telling the entire country about your presence. At least gray squirrels will usually stop their complaining after a few minutes. I feel blessed that all I see here are gray squirrels.

They have those all black squirrels.

I only saw them in MI.

Only place I've seen them.. just driven threw town. There was one in every yard.

I didn't see any in the woods.

 

[ETipp]

They have those all black squirrels.

I only saw them in MI.

Only place I've seen them.. just driven threw town. There was one in every yard.

I didn't see any in the woods.

Yep, in certain locations they have black squirrels as well. Fox squirrels are mostly seen in much of the state.

 

[Ditt44]

Here in PA they’re called red squirrels. They can be a pain if you’re bow hunting and they see you. But I haven’t seen one here in years.

Jim, just saw one on my cam the other day. I see a couple a season, usually around the ironstone outcrops. I'm in the Etown area, north-western Lancaster County.

 

[yellowhammer]

I recently saw 2 of the classic Alabama fox squirrels with the black heads and white ears and noses, crossing the road side by side right in front of me, after I crossed North in my truck thru the Tumlin Gap.

It's a beautiful coloration variant, is it not? Physically larger than the typical gray, they have a distinctive characteristic plodding gait on the ground.

I saw one meandering through the back of my yard a year or two ago.

 

[yellowhammer]

[ from: https://www.johndenney.com/foxsquirrel2291 ]

Honorable Mention - 2023 Outdoor Alabama Magazine Photo Of The Year:

 

[smokepolehall]

Plenty of Black Fox Squirrels in the Ms. Delta, used hunt them with my Pa. We hunted mostly in Delta National Forest, we could take 8 each. We would go on the weekends & seldom did we not get 32 tree rats.

 

[yellowhammer]

I already discussed it with my taxidermist guy - I'm mounting a fox squirrel if I can get one...

Ever since I was a small boy they fascinated me. I think I told this in here before - I cornered a baby one on a limb 50 feet up in a loblolly, and was reaching out to grab him, and he did a swan dive, belly flopped on the ground, and got away. I couldn't have been more than 8-9 years old. He probably would have bit the pee out of me LOL.

 

[ETipp]

They are beautiful, no doubt.

 

[ETipp]

[ from: https://www.johndenney.com/foxsquirrel2291 ]

Honorable Mention - 2023 Outdoor Alabama Magazine Photo Of The Year:

View attachment 349746

That’s most likely the prettiest squirrel I’ve ever seen.

 

[longcruise]

Here in PA they’re called red squirrels. They can be a pain if you’re bow hunting and they see you. But I haven’t seen one here in years.

Growing up in "Da UP" we had quite a few of them. Only where there are cone bearing evergreens. We had some extensive maple forests and never seen there.

Much more common here in the west where evergreens are predominant. Also, not red out here but Grey. Don't see them amongst the ponderosa pines though.

In the ponderosa we find the Aberts squirrel which is black and about the size of a fox squirrel. They have funny behaviors. For example, most ponderosa growth is pretty spread out . Often so much that they can't travel from tree to tree so they go on the ground. Most of the time when you spot one they are on the ground and running for a tree. Once they get in the tree they usually go straight to the top and are easily spotted by backing up so the top of the tree is visible. I'm not really willing to shoot them out of the tree top with anything other than a shotgun or pellet gun because that will have a projectile launched far and away in case of a miss.

 

[yellowhammer]

That’s most likely the prettiest squirrel I’ve ever seen.

The question is, how to you bag one for mounting? A head shot would be a crime.