Squirrels

[Cynical]

Had a new boss since mar. I had the courage to ask to hunt his land and bagged 5 tree rats in two hours. Man, I love my new job.

 

[SwampDude]

Squirrel hunting, at least on a good day like you had, is kinda like a religious experience. Being alone in the woods, with nature all around, is pretty heavenly when the cuttings are raining down and the hickory branches are shaking everywhere. Amen.

I must say, however, I never liked the term 'tree rats'. Its sort of disrespectful of those furry little critters that give us so much pleasure in the woods and on our dinner plate.

You did real good. I'm jealous.

 

[Cynical]

Squirrel hunting, at least on a good day like you had, is kinda like a religious experience. Being alone in the woods, with nature all around, is pretty heavenly when the cuttings are raining down and the hickory branches are shaking everywhere. Amen.

I must say, however, I never liked the term 'tree rats'. Its sort of disrespectful of those furry little critters that give us so much pleasure in the woods and on our dinner plate.

You did real good. I'm jealous.

yep,you're right. My oldest leaves for college on Saturday and she wanted her favorite dinner as a going away present. Squirrel, mashed potatoes and gravy with peas. Tree rat is disrespectful to those of us that enjoy them but let's face it, they do a lot of damage unless kept in check. I kept them in check with my browning BAR-.22 , a trusted friend since 1985.

 

[smith7.3]

I went out last night and tonight, didn't hear or see much. I will have to try in morning. My 8yr old is ready to go!

 

[SwampDude]

When I was in my teens and twenties, squirrel hunting was my favorite outdoor sport and I could hardly wait for hunting season. As a kid I often rode my bike to the woods in total darkness with my single shot shotgun across the handle bars.

Nothing better than young gray squirrel fried in a cast iron skillet, served with milk gravy, sliced tomatoes and biscuits.

In those days, squirrels were hunted hard enough that they didn't leave the woods to cause damage. Maybe light hunting pressure today allows them to get into mischief.

 

[Bravo-4-2]

Here's today's dinner.

 

[SwampDude]

What gun do you hunt squirrels with, Cynical? I used to prefer a shotgun for grays high up in big hickory and beech trees, but a .22 with a scope is my preferred squirrel shooter now.

I've changed from trying to fill the limit every hunt to making clean, meat-saving head shots. Belly shots let too many get away. Putting good meat in the pot is better than just filling the pot.

 

[Hookeye]

Saw 3 fox squirrel and 4 pineys. All faster than greased lightning.
Buddy runs a Ruger 77/22 with .17 Mach 2 bbl.............nuked a fox squirrel way out (close to 70), and pinged a piney at 50 yards, took a knee and WHAM! Down he fell.
Interesting report, more of a slap, different sound than .22 lr that's for sure.
I did manage to miss, totally torqued me off. 50 yards offhand.............dunno what happened. Was a piney, but I redeemed myself later.

 

[Hookeye]

They timbered part of the woods, had a lane cutting between the edge and a big walnut that's always been loaded with tree rats. About 50 yards in from where we set up the "blind". Figured more breeze and less skeeters, we had a pretty sweet setup

Proly could use more brushing in though.

Buddy watching for the critters.....

 

[Hookeye]

Not from the "blind" but he did alright..... rather enjoyed watching him dump the piney

 

[buckstopshere]

Awesome pics and narrative hookeye!

congrats OP on the new job, cool boss and new hunting grounds.

 

[CBR1000rr]

Put one in the fridge today with a little salt and water. About to go change it out and get ready for tomorrow mornings hunt.

Made a rookie mistake and picked up the magazine with only 3 rounds in it and then forgot the rest of my ammo in the truck. Missed one on the ground, hit one at the base of a tree and passed on two in the top of a hickory tree.

 

[indiucky]

"And in local NYC news two Hoosiers were busted shooting squirrels in Central Park...When asked why? One of the hunters, who would only identify himself as "Hookeye" said, "I figgered you city folk were too busy banning sodas and killing each other and being a good midwesterner I decided to come up here and give y'all a hand with your tree rat problem...I was just being neighborly..."

 

[Hookeye]

Landowner does keep his place tidy

Sitting in the open kept the skeeters off, they were pretty horrible in the woods over the hill (no air movement).

 

[TGUNTER]

Before.

After.

End.

 

[Trigger Time]

This thread is porn to me!! I hate ****ing squirrels! Living in the city they eat my flowers and garden and burry nuts all over my yard.
I wish I had land for some squirrel payback!!

 

[dtkw]

Get an air rifle with a little scope on it, I have this setup and killed many many squirrels in the past. My mother hated them too. She loved her garden and I guess that reason is good enough for me to use my skill to keep the squirrels from coming back.

 

[ScouT6a]

[/IMG]
.36 caliber Issac Haines squirrel rifle that I built a couple of years ago that quickly became my favorite squirrel rifle.

 

[TGUNTER]

That muzzle loader looks great.

 

[ScouT6a]

The son and I hit the woods this morning. I had my .36 flintlock pictured above and he had his scoped 10/22. Problem, for him, is we now have more Grays in our hunting woods than Fox squirrels. The son doesn't have enough squirrel hunting experience to make a shot happen as soon as you get any kind of opportunity. He is still waiting for the "perfect" shot. But he has a ball doing it and I have a ball watching him. Time comes when you just have to put meat in the pot though. LOL Two shots from the flintlock had two squirrels on the ground. We crept in on a medium sized Hickory that had four Grays working in it. I gave the son the first shot and a second later one of the squirrels jumped to the neighboring tree and was sitting in the fork of a Maple cutting on a Hickory nut. He caught me without a rest and all I could see was his head. I settled the front sight on his head and squeezed the trigger. The squirrel hung upside down for a few seconds before falling to the ground. When I walked over and picked it up, the left side of his head was gone. It looked like someone hammered an M80 into his ear and lit the fuse.
After I reloaded, I found out that my son had missed his squirrel. :0 (
We also walked in on a really nice buck. I saw this buck in almost the same spot last year and his rack is even bigger this year.
Will post some pics.