Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game General squirrel hunting observations

Small game hunting around here is considered a "childrens sport". When you get all grown up, you throw your .22's in the back of the closet, buy a .30-06 Rem. 742 with a Chinese import scope, buy a tree stand and a case of beer, and become a "deeeyur huntur". You can see that even on this board, interest is practically zero on small game hunting. Guess we can't endlessly discuss the virtues of humpteen zillion nearly identically performing centerfire rifle calibers and fight over Leupold vs Zeiss Conquest, we'll have to just stick to shooting our little tree rats and bunny wabbits! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Nothing to add, just want to keep it going.
Sounds like 50+ years of experience in this short thread.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Keep it coming.
Doc

Doc, Here is the plan: Contact the ATF and get started on the paper work for a Class III. When you get cleared, get a tricked out 10/22 with a suppressor. Find some sub-sonic long rifle ammo and sneak into deepest, darkest Central Park next October. You will have a squirrel hunting paradise all to yourself and nobody will be the wiser! RS <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

By the way Doc, welcome to the Campfire! RS

Do keep on providing information about small game hunting. I don't have any wisdom to contribute on the topic, but I love to hunt small game because small game hunting is fun, affordable and available. Oh, I hunt deer too, but once that critter hits the deck, the fun is over and the work begins. Small game hunting offers the same hunting challenge without the massive workload afterward. To me, a squirrel taken with a .22 is just as much of a challenge as a deer taken with a centerfire. Maybe that's because I hunt in SW MO Ozark pin oaks and brush. Regardless, I hunt for fun and small game offers me fun by the bushel. And reading about small game hunting is informative and enjoyable. I need all the help I can get; I refuse to discuss how throughly foolish a squirrel can make a hunter feel and how easily the squirrel can accomplish this. Part of the fun!

Hey Twentytwo, we're lucky to live in squirrel heaven aren't we. Squirrels are what the conservation guys call an "underutilized resource" in Missouri. Here in the Ozarks, there are thousands of acres of public hardwood forests in the Mark Twain national forest, and squirrels aren't exactly rare.

The top ten reasons squirrel hunting is better than deer hunting:

10. The season is 8 months long.

9. The daily limit is 6.

8. You don't have to wear an orange clown suit.

7. Recoil is not an issue.

6. The license is cheaper.

5. The ammo is a LOT cheaper.

4. Packing out is easier.

3. You don't have to take your game to a check station.

2. Unless you're trespassing on a meth lab, odds are slim that a bullet will zip past you.

1. You don't have to climb trees.

Why deer hunting is better: ticks.

i love squirrel hunting above all else (except grouse of course), my golden excells at small game, squirrel and rabbit, and holds his own at grouse (my hunting pal runs a brittiny and he is hard to top) anyway with the dog i usually walk the logging roads in the wma(public land here in va, and empty until deer season), we usually walk fifty or 100 yards, then i signal him to sit (he is usualy 20 yards ahead), once they start moving i wait until he locates them and set him free. if they are on the ground they usually run 20 yards until they realize they cant outrun him, then they head up a tree. this usualy puts them right at the edge of shotgun distance ( i use a franchi al48 28 gauge), so i stalk until they are within range. luckily the dog barks the entire time and they never notice me. throughout the early season it is a matter of a few hours until we get our limit (6 fox and grey combined).
NOTE: soon as deer season opens the dog stays home, he wears a bell and a blaze vest anytime he is in the woods, but he looks to much like a deer.
later in the season i love to use the nef 22 hornet with a 6x weaver, i usually find a good stand on an outcropping and bag 2-3 per location. with head and front shoulder shots.
have fun out there, and if any of you are in northern va dont overlook the great squirrel hunting at guy thompson wma, and phelps wma. thompson is my favorite because it has more of the fox squirrels

Well, squirrel (and all other small game seasons too) season is over with for the year here in Alabama. I SAW a grand total of 18, and only managed to get 11 this year. Worst squirrel season tally ever for me. What's puzzling is that I hunted more this year than I have ever before. I went every weekend possible, and didn't miss going at least three times a month from October through February. Last year we had severe troubles in the family, and I was preindisposed for many weekends and didn't get to go much at all, and still beat what I did this year. I went out several trips and saw absolutely nothing in the woods at all, just plain desolate. When I go out and don't even see any birds flying about, it gets pretty boring. I need some fresh places to hunt at, but the deer hunter clubs have every square inch of land leased around here. I wish I owned a hundred acres of hardwoods, I would dissappear and never come out again! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

its been a poor season for most of the east cost as a result of the hurricanes. they swept through when the squirrels were having their little uns (or so i heard) but squirrel populations are quick to comeback so next year should be better. luckilly my hunting area (on the wv-va line in northern va) was outside the worst of the high winds and rain.

RipSnort,
Thanks for the welcome.

By the way, you don't need a suppressor in Central Park,
in fact, it sounds suspicious next to all the actual
gunfire going on in the park. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Doc

hey guy great topic,

Where i hunt in south Texas, we can hunt squirrels year round with no limit.
What are your seasons and when do you like to eat them? Are there better times of the year?
Growing up we seemed to only hunt them in the spring time. I have not been in several years now, but my little girl is wanting to go hunting with me and i think that this spring will be a good time to start her off. She is only 4 so she will not be shooting just yet but i need to get her out. She is also wanting to good turkey hunting and love to paly with the call.

Thanks for all the info letts keep it coming.
sako

I bought a Ruger Slabside Target .22 pistol last Dec.. It's got a red dot sight on it and I'm ready to try it out. I'll have to wait until Oct. when the season comes in. I just got the trigger in my M52B rifle adjusted down to 3# pull. I'll have to sight it in again. I use target velocity ammo in the rifle and high speed in the pistol. I've used a handgun for squirrel hunting before and it's fun. I don't get as many but I have more enjoyment.

Dave, you'll love the slabside for squirrels. I dont squirrel hunt much anymore because of bowhunting, but Ive used my slabsided Ruger a few times and its a blast (pun intended).
Dave.

conhntr,

Not sure why hurricane season we had would affect squirrels? All a squirrel has to do is run and hide where they normally sleep. But my guess is you are talking about the nuts and mast that has fallen when hurricane hits, and leaving alot less mast for the squirrels?

BTW, I have not hunted squirrels for oh-so-many-years, but I recently got a new CZ American 22Mag, and the first thing comes to my mind is fall squirrels! Crisp days in the woods!

My mother grew up on squirrels and she said back then these were the table fare for a large family with very little money and 10 brothers and sisters.

I will try to convince my wife to eat a squirrel for breakfast! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

valad

Glad to see a small game board! Havent had a place to go since Marlin Talk died.

Interesting reading here. I have visited 24hourcampfire before, but only decided to post after I saw this small game thread.

Like many hear, I am a squirrel hunter. Been looking for the perfect squirrel rifle, and the perfect hunt all of my life.

I have traded a bunch of good rifles, but now have the best I have ever shot. Hope to get to hunt this year.

Good Shooting,

Rex

[quote]conhntr,

Not sure why hurricane season we had would affect squirrels? All a squirrel has to do is run and hide where they normally sleep. But my guess is you are talking about the nuts and mast that has fallen when hurricane hits, and leaving alot less mast for the squirrels?

the biologist told me that they hit during weaning time for the young, and alot of the nest were torn up, from what i saw this past season i agree with him

Rex, Welcome to the Campfire! You mention that you now have your best ever squirrel rifle---How about some details? What scope? What ammo? You also mention your search for "the perfect hunt". To you, what would constitute such a hunt? Cheers, RS

RipSnort, Thanks for the welcome.



The rifle I spoke of is a Kimber Hunter. It handles like a magic wand and has a real nice trigger. For some reason I can shoot it pretty good from field postions despite the slim barrel. It may be the perfect still-hunting rifle.



I by no means have the perfect scope though. I have a Simmons 1.5-5x on it. It works, but I would really like the Leupold 2-7 RF to complete the package.



The perfect hunt to me would be on a cool misty fall morning among the hills of TN. Make it in an area that has old growth hardwood forest and plenty of clean running water. You know, one of those days when it all comes together; the squirrels are everywhere, you can move quietly through the woods, the stalk goes perfectly, and you cant miss. Life is very good on days like that!

Rex,

If you find such a place, don't tell a soul (unless it's us <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />), 'cause if you do, somebody will want to put a house or Wallymart right in the middle of it.

Seriously, there's just about nothing closer to a Southern boy's heart than squirrel woods on just such a morning with your favorite (or your daddy/grandaddy's favorite) squirrel gun in hand, and a bunch of bushy-tails feeding and barking.

Me, I'll take the old Win. Model 60A singleshot that's been in the family since it was made in 1932 and a pocket full of shells. And on days like that, I wouldn't mind a bit if I just kept on following the daylight until the end.

Now you've done it; gone and got me all sentimental and homesick... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I, for another one, am real glad that there is this thread around the campfire. Nothing wrong with talking ballistics, or big bucks, or self-defense, or long-range stuff (or even politics if we run out of decent talk), but talking squirrel hunting is just one of those simple pleasures. Kinda like sippin' branchwater and catfishin'...

It is good to know that when the burdens of the adult world start to weigh heavy, a .22 and a slow walk through the squirrel woods can remind me not to take myself too seriously. And provide the ingredients for a fine stew as well.