I use a Remington 582. I bought it at a flea market about 15 years ago complete with sling and Tasco 4x32 for $100. I switched the the scope a couple of years ago to a Simmons 22Mag. The 581/582 series from Remington were real shooters. I have been around a couple of them and most will shoot some type of ammo into one ragged hole at 25 yards. Last Saturdays results:


Last Saturday Dad gave me a Weaver Marksman 4x32. I mounted it and sighted in. Looks great on the old girl and works very well.

Wet rainy morning today so I went out for an hour. The results:


They are cleaned and ready to eat. Time head to Blacksburg for Hokies vs Huskers, Go Tech!

Fried squirrel with rice and gray and a biscuit is fine eating.

Going to take my boy out this evening to see what kind of squirrel destruction we can cause...
I would have gone this morning but I woke up with a splitting headache.

i too went squirrel hunting this am. used a shotgun this morning, but will go again this afternoon and use my ruger 10/22. i have a rem 581 that i have owned for over 30 years. it wears an old weaver 4x on it but i rarely hunt with the gun. next to elk, i prefer squirrel hunting.

Agreed! It is also good cooked like buffalo wings with the sauce, these are getting that treatment tomorrow.

our skwirls ain't fit to eat. unless real hungry........And their tails are kinda short to hold 'em for the hero shot.......



ruger 77/17 TC silver lynx .22

I will be taking a dinky 20 gauge out this evening.

I hope your signature doesn't read stupid squirrels tomorrow!

Lol....me too.

Come on Tom, leave the 20, grab the 22. Feel free to shoot em anywhere in the eye.

Took out 6 grays last evening with a Rem 541T that I bought from pullit on the campfire last year. Topped with a 2-7 Leupie VXII ultralight, it is incredibly accurate. I never knew how sweet a quality 22 could be, it would be one of the last rifles I would sell. The grays are hitting the hickory nuts pretty hard right now here in TN.

IMHO, JMB did it best...................



Then later that nite, over a "modest" flame, I try out my Chef skills.................

Looking forward to a little squirrel hunting this year but it's entirely too warm for it.

Open's 10/1 here and I agree it's still to hot....not to say I wouldn't be going if was open though.

CZ452 Varmint topped with an older 6x36 Leupold with fine cross hairs. The heavy 21 inch barrel holds very steady, shoots great, and is around 7 1/2lbs scoped. For the past several years it's been my choice for a tree rat popper.

JCM

Over the years while I've been milling wood in the shop, I've occasionally run across some shot or a small slug (likely .22) in the stick I'm cutting up.. Usually in Cherry or Walnut.

Copper and lead don't hurt the knives and blades, and I've always wondered with a smile about the results of that particular squirrel hunting trip some years in the past.

Just musing on a nice Mexican Saturday afternoon..

Laffin...

In the years I've been in the plywood business (and most of that time dealing with veneer of some sort) I've literally lost count of the amount of bullets in trees I've seen.

Lead and copper don't get picked up by the metal detector...

MAking me miss the old days when I lived iin an area that HAD grey squirrels to shoot and eat. Yep, few meals better than that one. Sigh...........

Anyone in Eastern WA or OR know where there are a few of these to hunt?

Great posts and pics guys, even though they are making me a bit homesick.... and hungry!

Sub fried potatoes for the rice and I'm there! Nice to see some folks harassing the grays. Anyone getting after the red/fox squirrels. We have a few tree squirrels in UT, but they're not even mentioned in the upland game proc so I doubt we can even shoot 'em here.

Also hunt with an old 582 Rem, bought in about '67. Has always been very accurate, though nothing I've tried as accurate as the old Hodgdon ammo I could get in the 70's. It has developed the bad habit of the firing pin not rebounding after the shot, making it ride up on the top of the next cartridge rim. I've cleaned it, replaced the firing pin and the retainer spring clip, nothing seems to help. Anybody have any ideas?

Shot 3 fox squirrels yesterday afternoon while scouting for a place to put up a deer blind. Used an old Mossberg 44 with a 4X Mossberg scope that you have to put your eye right against to see through it. That rifle is the most accurate 22 I own though.

I like the Ruger Huntsman, been trying to talk myself into one. The Browning is sweet, my Granddad had one.

I'm with Docdb. Use a Browning .22 auto with a 4 power scope when I ain't cheating and blowing them out of the trees with a shotgun.

My dad makes a great squirrel sauce picante. Our season opens first week of October.

JM.

Nice head shots and nice rifle. Well done.

We have fox (red) squirrels here in SE KS. Just over the line in MO they have gray's. One town in southern MO has white squirrels and in Council Bluffs, IA, they are black. I love to hunt them, I love to eat them with gravy, but need I need Scotty to beam the hide off. They look like a porcupine when I am through cleaning. Folks here started using .22mags when buddies started gambling on squirrel numbers vs shots fired and head shots. On crisp Sat mornings some guys loaded their golf carts and others loaded their rifles. My squirrel rifle now is a scoped Rem 597 in .22mag. It shoots better than me.

MM; Back in the day my Tree Squirrel Rifle was a Winchester 72A with a 3x9 scope..
Nowadays my Ground Squirrel rifle is a Ruger 77/22 VBBZ with a 3x9 Burris FFII Ballistic Plex...
Ingwe

Well we did it.
We got 2 of em tonight.

First one....head shot too.

Second one.

Both together.

Ahhh! I feel better now.

Oh, good....

No " Stupid Squirrels" in your signature...

Ingwe

Give me a sec..........

What time will they be fried up???

Might hafta darken your doorstep...

Ingwe

Prolly tomorrow.....might have to beat my son to em first.
He's a squirrel eating machine.

Tell him he needs to respect his elders!

And if that doesn't work, tell him I'm fat and will sit on him....
Ingwe

Great pics!!! The only thing I hated about early season squirrel hunting in IN was walking through the spider webs!

Lol, One day last year my wife and daughter left for some little shindig, I fried up 4 squirrels and ordered some Papa Johns pizza....he wouldnt touch the pizza but scarfed down 3 of the squirrels.....I felt bad, cause he wouldnt share.

Yes I hate that too but tonight wasnt too bad.

Grew up chasing those, but moved west. We don't eat ours either, but can take up to a bricks worth in a single day. Some hay growers will furnish ammo if the know someone is a real shooter.

I'd be inclined to step up a bit in magnification to confidently facilitate shots up around 100 yards if the rifle is a tack driver. 1Minute

Glad ya'll had a good day.

JM.

Thanks, I feel like I'm redeemed.

This is a good thread. Get's me in the mood to go Squirrel hunting here.
Great pix too, especially of the little guy holding the squirrel. Gotta take kids hunting. It's something the kid will remember forever.
Love the Rem 580 series too. I have a single shot 580, with iron sights. It's very accurate too.

Way to go Tom and son!!! I like the John Deere camo shirt, very cool. May you son never have stupid geese in his sig line

Thanks for compliments Hawk.

Ingwe I had a 77/22 when they first came out. That's one I wished that I had kept, another one will find it's way here someday.

Yeah, I bought the first one I could get my mitts on back when they first came out.Excellent shooter. Then in 1997 they introduced their Varmint version, laminated, heavy Bbl and I sold my original 77/22 to get one of those, hoping devoutly I hadn't made a mistake..... For once...I hadn't!
When they came out with the 77/17vbbz in 17 HMR I snapped one of those up too...have not been dissappointed. Have killed thousands of "gophers" ( Colombian Ground Squirrels) with both of them....
As someone mentioned, you'll go through a brick of shells on a good day. On a real good day, you can shoot 2-3 bricks....
Ingwe

Thinking I need a 77/22.

I wish we had gophers like that, my wife's agrarian family not so much . A great day for groundhogs for me is 5 or 6.

I'm thinking Santa needs to leave a 77/22 under the tree this year.

Yep, the gophers are a fun thing...I think a "personal best" for me was to take the 77/22 vbbz for a walk one morning in a new alfalfa field with a brick of shells. I wanted to DRT the gophers so confined my shots to under 75 yds, head, and CNS shots only. HIGH shot-to-kill ratio. I was out of shells and back at the truck in 90 minutes flat....
Ingwe

Well, I have several (Marlin Model 60 (my first rifle), Remington Nylon 66, Winchester M52 reproduction, Marlin Model 7000, Ruger Mark II Gov't (sorry, had to include the pistol)) . . . need to dust 'em off this year, been awhile since I did much squirrel hunting.

I grew up squirrel hunting (NE Arkansas). We had grays and fox squirrels. No telling how many of those things I took while in junior high & high school.

I picked up a used 77/22 mag this year and it's been a fun little rifle. Gophers sure don't like it, and it sure puts a "THWOP!" on 'em. Big plus in the deal was the Fullfield 3-9 with dotz that came on it. That scope sits on my 7mm saum now...

Now I've got to decide if i want to put a 17 hmr barrel on it.

The cool thing about squirrel hunting for me is I feel like I'm 12 again!

I have one. You can try it out if you like.

Did a lot of it when I was a kid, too. I should definitely take it up again.

Johnny...when you headed back Norte?

Ingwe

To visit, or stay?

Somebody told me that Relocating Squirrls to a more perfered location was better than any tree

Quite Tasty!

I have looked at them for years, but never coughed up the price. Every time I mention the need for another 22, my wife raises her eyebrows, and hides the cheque book. I have a Browning trombone(1949) and BL22, Anshutz 1416, Brno #4,Stevens Favourite(1899), Winchester pump, Ruger 10-22, and a cooey single shot bolt. She seems to think I have enough.

I broached the subject again last night, thank you guys, and was informed we had only 20 mortgage payments to go. I let on I am hard done by, but it just ain't so.

Randy

Either one....Sam wants to go chase goats with you...
I wanna buy you a beer...
Ingwe

This "BIG Brown" and location sound familiar....

Yes, relocating squirrels...to a pan of hot butter works great!

New Guy... would you by chance be this dude???



Dats a funny looking squirrel....

Ingwe

Nice Brownie....

I'm workin' on getting out of here!! I'm tired of sweating!!!

Well, its finally getting nice up here, leaves turning, 75 degrees in daytime, blue skies, trout wanting to be caught and goats wanting to be shot....
Ingwe

Tom264;
Thanks for putting up the photos of your fine looking son with the defunct squirrels.

Please tell him I think the camo John Deere shirt is too cool! - and I was a Case or Verastile guy.

It�s always a grand thing to see folks like you Tom, taking our hunting future out and getting them trained up right. Well done again sir!

My guess is if it means he gets first crack at the proceeds of the hunt at meal time, you�ll be able to live through it, eh?

Again well done and thanks, seeing the photos of your squirrel expedition with your son made my Sunday.

Dwayne

Tom264,

Great shot of the little man....thats what its all about right there! Enjoy those days while they are here, you blink your eyes and he will be 16 chasing girls and everything else will be on the back burner.

Squirrel hunting is one of my favorite things to do, I would put it 2nd to a hot afternoon South Texas Dove hunt near a water tank when the birds are flying. I wish I had a dime for all the squirrels I took with my Browning T-bolt when I was a kid. Brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for posting. The smile on the boys face is priceless.

Thanks guys, I dont want to take from Magmarc's thread so for one I started my own down in the small game section and another, my thought's of a perfect squirrel getter.
.17 HM2

Looks very cool, what is it?

Ruger 10/22
Majestic Arms Aluma barrel with a Volquartzen cantilever mated to with Leupold scope and bases.
Bell and Carlson stock too.

Weight?

any old .22 LR that shoots straight. As a teen had a lever action .22 from Sears. As an adult a Rem 552 semi auto. Can hit empty shotgun shells with that at 50 yards.

That's all you need.

My Kimber from AK should be here this week.................

I don't think squirrels will like it any.

That, nor the 1939 vintage Stevens .22/.410...........

At least one of those two is going with me PDQ for some bushytail blastin'..........

Still gettin' it done after all these years, Marlin M39A with Williams FP rear aperture sight and Marbles flat faced gold bead up front. A true natural in the woods...

I don't understand the seasons set by the various states. Our squirrel season in Oklahoma opens May 15th and runs through January 31st.

Just picked up a Remington 550 at a gun show yesterday. If it shoots, it will probably be that or a model 24 in .22/20.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3094617/1

I see a photo of a Browning Semi Auto.....yup....that is what I use for squirrels....mine is a 60's vintage, made in Belgium, and still going strong after thousands of rounds.

Honestly dont know but its light.
Problem is, is I sold it.

Who cares Jerkbait!

Each to their own but a 10/22 is hard to beat for tree rats. I have one with a 16.5" barrel. I got it off of the used rack at the local gun shop and it's accurate. I put a Bushnell 1.75x4.5 scope on it with the circle-x reticle and it works great. I use Federal Target ammo in it. A semi-auto with standard velocity ammo allows you to get more than one squirrel sometimes.

I also have a Winchester 52B repro with a Leupold 3x9 EEFR scope. I use CCI standard velocity ammo in it.

You do not want to be undergunned.

Sam, did you ask him "Do you feel lucky punk"?

Sam, didja eat 'im?......

Think ya used enough Dynamite there Butch....?

Ingwe

MM, I shoulda!

Don, I never turn down a good meal of squirrel grits!

Absolutely! There is nothing more dangerous than going after a wounded squirrel in the tall grass.

(laughin')


You obviously haven't been charged by one!

Oh, but I have, I have....

Still wake up in a cold sweat screaming about it....

And then there was the VC ( Varmint Cong) who breached the perimeter, and got in the wire...


Ingwe

I have.

Bowhunting ground squirrels, Tejon Ranch 2008.

The simple act of trying to retrieve my arrow almost turned into a fight for my life.

Never again...

No back up?

A good sidearm like Sammo's, or, worst case scenario, a belt knife...

Ingwe

I had the same thing with a bow killed skunk, he ruined a preachers 4th of July cookout to. Whew!

.44 mag was back in the truck, and not a tree to climb in sight.

I don't want to talk about it anymore...

Ive been charged four different times by skunks...no schitt.

On one of them we really expended some ordnance as he was coming...to no avail....by the time he was 10 feet away I was laughing so hard I couldn't raise my gun....

Yep, he got me. Tomato juice, vinegar,Lysol, and a fresh pair of pants later, people would talk to me again....

Ingwe

Ingwe

The only time I've shot in self defense was a spotted skunk that "charged" me while bowhunting. I saw him coming for a long way, I waived and yelled as he got close. He just kept coming. A 160 grain Snuffer at 7 feet convinced him. I shot and bailed out sideways, he tried but didn't get me!

I "convinced " one with my Model 64 Win. in .30-30 on a deer hunt one evening...same scenario.
Don't know what it is about me that makes them run right at me....
must remind them of somebody...
Ingwe

I've had 3 interesting encounters all while I had a bow. You're right about the laughing all I could think is nobody will believe this chitt!

FWIW, a 12 gauge with No. 4s will stop a skunk charge................... but at about 10 feet, it'll let go the enemy ordinance, as it mists the striped dude but good......

Not pretty. Very not pretty...............

My favorite small game rifle is also my favorite rifle of all. The 20" Marlin Mountie:






Though sometimes a .44 is needed as Sam has pointed out. The trick is to shoot low and watch them do tricks in the air.
:

Sometimes when dealing with the killer squirrels, a precision rifle is needed to keep your distance, such as this Tikka .308.

My backyard .... don't think the city folks would like it too much ..... I really miss back east come bushy-tail season.

I dig the Remmy pump for sqwacks.

Oops..one of them fell in the swamp!
Ingwe

Yeup, happens about every year here.

I think he was pushed!

I'm a little curious why no one is field dressing their squirrels when they kill them. We always gut them, minus the heart and lungs, immediately upon shooting one. My dad goes a step further and stuffs the body cavity with hickory leaves. At any rate, I can't imagine carrying one around for any length of time with the guts still in them. Too funky for me.

Make that #4 Buck,gives a bit better range for fresh air! Tends to kill the grass in a wide swath though.

Here's mine. Marlin 980V "Squirrel Rifle". Here in usage against Mr. Porcupine. Was out hunting coons with my buddy's dad, and his dogs kept treeing porcupines, and I was sick of pulling out all the quills. With a Bausch and Lomb Elite 4000 1.5-6 scope it's pretty much perfect, for me at least.

I've got a couple that I have used over the years.




Marlin 2000

See Avatar for an earlier successful day.

Fast Ed

Ed, great avatar! The 541S and 94 are sweet!

The 2 favorite squirrel getters.




PITA to carry but once your in the rimrocks its perfect.

Ingwe, we have a few things in common. My father has a 72a, he had it reblued and redid the stock long ago, it still looks new, I will have it one day and it's a honey.

My squirrel rifle has a fat bbl on it like Tom264, a former Butler Creek 20" bull in SS, now it's been chopped and recut for the different extractor grooves for a 77/22. Zero tolerance chamber, it literally empties a clip of Powerpoints into a ragged hole at 50 yds, have shot 5shot groups from 1/4-1/2", the older lots, I think they were mfg. in Australia, or at least R&D'd there. Those 40gr Full speed HPs spin perfect out the 14" twisted bbl, faster than std. 16t rifles.

The Powerpoints kill better than anything I have used, the gun is short, hefty to steady and damned accurate. I would duplicate it again, save a fluted bbl in same 17" length.

Trigger honed and spring replaced thanks to a ballpoint pen spring.

Clarks not far from me builds a '10/22 Squirrel Special' and in the deep south here, a 16" fluted bull 10/22 is not a bad set up. If not for the custom price, I'd own one. I hear they shoot unreal.

Nice guns guys, like the Porcupine pic, we don't have those here.

I prefer my 77/22 but used an old Nylon 66 for years. The CZ is a 17HMR and is a little too messy for my taste on small game. It shoots lights out though.