5 big fox squirrels with my crockett .32 this morning,

[Howie1968]

Nicely done! I can't wait to get out for squirrel but unfortunately we have no spring season in my state. Gonna have to wait until the Fall. How are the foxes any different than grays in taste? Any tougher or easier skinning them?

To me fox squirrels are easy to skin. I have cutters I snip wall the feet off the tail off make a slit on the squirrels back put both hands on the slit and pull apart. Skin comes right off gut it wash it and ready to cook or freeze

 

[Howie1968]

A town near where I live is home to a healthy population of all black squirrels but most of central Indiana has fox squirrels with pockets of grays here and there. I really like hunting all of them but my late father preferred grays and we used to drive to southern Indiana each year to hunt a few.

I'm from Northern Indiana seen a few black squirrels growing up around Walkerton Indiana

 

[Howie1968]

This thread prompted me to look up some more information about fox squirrels. It looks like we have one species here in the south, but several subspecies. It looks like the Eastern Fox Squirrel, or Bryant's Fox Squirrel, has a pretty wide distribution in the eastern US, and is considered a "species of least concern," which explains how Howie was able to find and bag thirteen of 'em in the past week. However, the subspecies we have living in my area, the Sherman's Fox Squirrel, is considered threatened, and is now protected in the state of Florida.

I see one or two of them around my area once in a great while. I took these snapshots out of my car window a couple of years ago:

View attachment 30769View attachment 30771

The top board on the fence is a rough-cut 1x6. The horizontal fence wires are four inches apart. This should give an idea of the size. these are big squirrels!

Notchy Bob

Surprising Mr Bob is people don't hunt them like they used to.. East Texas is known for squirrel hunters and Squirrel hunting. In the last 15 yrs I seldom seen or heard people hunting them. I myself haven't hunted them much until now. I've noticed tons of squirrels the last few years. My friend smoking feathers on the forum sold me his 32 crockett so I started hunting them

 

[Cowboy]

Great job Howie! Nothing better than fried squirrel, potatoes topped with squirrel gravy.

Gonna have to come down to see ya and eat some of everything you’re always catching or shooting! lol.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Eterry]

Good going Howie, at least its something different than pork!!
We squirrel hunted while Deer hunting in East Texas, but those little Grey's as Tough to kill with a rifle. They start out running from limb to limb and don't stop until they are out of sight. This was on the Neches River.
My pet load for my 40 is 25 grs fffg. Now i just need the local Fox squirrels to cooperate.

 

[Howie1968]

Starry you are right about cat squirrels my misses have been about by cat squirrels luckily the part of the property I'm hunting I'm seeing more fox squirrels

 

[Bassdog1]

Cant remember the last time I saw another squirrel hunter in my area. As soon as I get a buck and doe down in the fall squirrel hunting starts. I have a few tree stands that I can sit in and spend a couple hours and shoot a few squirrels just like I am deer hunting. After late muzzle loader season is over I will walk the woods and creek bottoms still hunting them. I only take head shots and will admit that I miss a few. I used my 32 Seneca last year which likes 20 grains of Olde Eynsford and a .310 swaged ball with a .015 patch and my success went up some.

 

[Smokinfeathers]

A lot more get killed in etx than you think!! Especially Jan n feb, these mine but I got buddies that dog hunt as well with some jam up dogs n kill 70+ in a day, but of course not with smoke poles

 

[hanshi]

In my native Georgia I hunted both fox and grey squirrels. I have one fox squirrel mounted and consider them beautiful critters. The one I have mounted is what I call the "standard" coloration. But some were solid black and there were even quite a few "silver" ones.

As far as "barking" a squirrel is concerned if you can shoot well enough to hit the head, why would you shoot at the limb in hopes of maybe killing one?

 

[Notchy Bob]

Surprising Mr Bob is people don't hunt them like they used to.. East Texas is known for squirrel hunters and Squirrel hunting. In the last 15 yrs I seldom seen or heard people hunting them. I myself haven't hunted them much until now. I've noticed tons of squirrels the last few years. My friend smoking feathers on the forum sold me his 32 crockett so I started hunting them

Thanks, Howie

I grew up hunting squirrels, rabbits, and birds with my dad, in north central Florida. Those were good days, with happy memories.

We skinned squirrels just as you describe, except we would nip off the feet, head, and tail after peeling back the skin, so they would come off attached to the skin. I wanted to keep my fox squirrel skins, though, because they were bigger, so we skinned those like a deer, with a slit up the belly from the vent to the chin.

I haven't hunted in a long time. We had two million residents in Florida when I was a kid. Now we have 22.5 million, and our old hunting ground is now all residential.

Keep those stories coming!

Notchy Bob

 

[thompson50]

Nice bunch of squirrels! I just got got a 32. Cal this year and I can’t wait to chase the grays with it.

 

[hanshi]

Nice bunch of squirrels! I just got got a 32. Cal this year and I can’t wait to chase the grays with it.

A .32 and squirrels is a match made, if not in heaven, at least close by.

 

[Dillon W.]

The more and more of these Muzzleloading squirrel hunt posts I see the more and more I want a Crockett 32. There’s nothing better than a good squirrel hunt, and even better a plate of fried squirrel

 

[Eterry]

A lot more get killed in etx than you think!! Especially Jan n feb, these mine but I got buddies that dog hunt as well with some jam up dogs n kill 70+ in a day, but of course not with smoke poles

Man thats a mess of squirrel. I know guys who'd give their left...um...leg for a good squirrel dog. That one looks like he has some brindle Plott in him. Grandpa had some great Plott hounds. Ferocious, would put a bear to bay pretty quick.
I remember buying a fishing lure and the box told about buying squirrel tails. I thought I'd be rich in a month. I had about 100 in the freezer when i got the letter back from the company, said they'd pay a penny each!! 22's were $.75 for 50, plus postage. I folded like a Ponzi scheme.

 

[Smokinfeathers]

Original mountain cur, lol yeah mepps lures lol, I always took the baits instead of the $ came out better!

 

[sawyer04]

YEP, that time of year again. Tree rats everywhere.

 

[Bob McBride]

I love seeing them Limb Chickens in a pile. Getting out soon myself.

 

[Christophero]

I really should pull my old Cherokee out again and hunt squirrels in the Fall. My load is 20 grains of fffg and a roundball. That was decidedly more effective in stopping a squirrel than just a plain jane 22 LR. Head shots were best, but as mentioned above, behind the shoulders on a body shot if you want the front leg meat.
Have considered taking it after coyotes called in close, but never have. That would be a fun winter activity.
As for Barking Squirrels: From what I was told that was done by the frontiersmen who carried larger caliber rifles that would blow small game to bits. Aiming for the bark of the tree just below the head was said to cause the bark to impale the squirrel with flying debris, dropping it to the ground. I never tried, have a dandy .32 for the job.

My Grandfather always said greys are more tasty than fox squirrels. Where I hunted we only had Foxes to shoot.

 

[Bob McBride]

Barking is a real thing. My grandfather used to say he 'wasn't impressed' if he saw a squirrel I brought in with a .22 hole in it. "You're rurnin meat, boy". Him and my uncles only barked them. It didn't necessarily kill them but with a bigger bore gun it was fairly easy to knock them out of the tree so the dogs could finish them up. They were occasionally killed but often just knocked silly. It was braggin rights for who barked em the best.

 

[wry]

My goodness that squirrel looks to be the size of a house cat!