"Squirrel Hunting" great training for the begining hunter

buckshot roberts · March 11, 2008, 08:07:27 PM

A squirrel wrap'ed in bacon.... is what went through my mind today when I saw one run across the one lane road were I live.....with a french fry in it mouth...roadside trash ?... I stopped an got out to take a pic........an found it had stopped at the base of tree an was looking back at me with my camra.....the fry was gone ?..... as I was bringing up the camra to take A pic....... he must to have thought I had 12 ga........ because it run about 50 feet. and hit this creek wide open... an up this hill an was across four trees in just a matter of seconds..... if season would have been in... an with a good 12 ga, or .22 he would have been chow.........................................
In my youth the squirrel was the first wild game I started out hunitng ........ an sadly the only other squirrel hunter I saw this past season was a bit older than me.........
squirrel season in most states run from steptember to february......
thats alot of time for a new hunter to hone his skills an get into liking the outdoors...
:) squirrel hunting isn't complicated an you don't need expensive gear to do it.........................................
squirrel hunting can be self taught.....you can learn as you go...
when you learn which trees squirrles like most..... like nut trees
:) you'll see that deer an turkeys like them also..................
crows will watch a squirrel bury a nut and will dig it back up after it leaves.............a crow call well lead to a turkey call..... in the past I have found were the turkeys are just by hearing a happy crow............. Ron

Paul Hoskins · March 12, 2008, 05:44:50 PM

Ron, squirrel hunting is one of my favorites. Practically cut my teeth on squirrel. I like squirrel no matter how it's cooked but prefer fried. Squirrel dumplings are delicious too. Just imagine fried squirrel and gravy with biscuits. Makes your mouth water doesn't it? I gotta quit thinking about it. ............Paul H

RatherBHuntin · March 12, 2008, 06:08:14 PM

I went twice this year with the boys, and only saw a couple squirrels. I don't know if the entourage was to blame or I'm just a poor hunter. Either way I didn't bring any home wiht me. Funny, when I'm deer hunting they are everywhere....but then I'm usually up a tree and quiet so I guess I need to work on my stalking skills.

Paul Hoskins · March 12, 2008, 06:54:19 PM

RBH, when I'm in the woods looking for squirrels, I find a likely looking spot and sit down and watch and listen. Make a small noise from time to time and if there is any around they usually move to see what's going on. Too late then. I see everything that moves in the woods but now I'm half deaf so that doesn't help in the audio department. I have to depend on my eyes entirely now. If I don't see anything, I move somewhere else. It's always good to take the kids even if you don't have any success. I love hunting with kids around 8 or 10 years old. .............Paul H

22hornet · March 12, 2008, 10:34:47 PM

Just a question, do you guys REALLY eat squirrel or is this just a set up? Sorry got to ask, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought squirrel would be regarded as table fare!

P.S. What does it taste like?

buckshot roberts · March 13, 2008, 07:10:42 AM

No......... it's no set up you'll find recipes for squirrel in copies of the book Joy of cooking............. hunters have been eat'n squirrel around many states for years.............. Ron

RatherBHuntin · March 13, 2008, 07:41:29 AM

Quote from: Paul Hoskins;75620 It's always good to take the kids even if you don't have any success. I love hunting with kids around 8 or 10 years old. .............Paul H

Me too, they don't expect much and are just happy to be in the woods. The older ones have to be able to measure their success, unfortunately, they haven't realized that the success is mental.

Clueless · March 13, 2008, 03:55:32 PM

Did my first big time hunting with squirrel and rabbit.

And it's no set up 22hornet. Squirrel is one of the best wild game around especially the a young fox squirrel.

You can fry, bake, boil and make dumplin's.

I don't like the brain but many do and find it wonderful.

Ron you hunt squirrel like I used to hunt...find a nice place to sit down and watch and listen. Make a sound from time to time..squirrels are inquisitive and nosey. Like to see what's going on with any sound.

Then I graduated to squirrel hunting with a squirrel dog. What a pleasure to watch a great squirrel dog doing it's thang. I had a dog who would climb a tree after a squirrel. She would twist her tail like a wine cork remover and away up that tree she would go.

Group of us got together one time and had a Squirrel Tournament to see who had the best dog....Mine won hands down. She was a winner!!!

I won the pot!!:biggthumpup:

22hornet · March 14, 2008, 01:34:35 AM

Well there you go. Never would have guessed.
A bloke I used to work with was from the UK and he used to rave on about carp fishing. Carp tournaments, specialised gear, the whole box and dice. Here we just knock them on the head and throw them up the bank.

Clueless · March 14, 2008, 02:08:58 PM

I thought I responded to you 22 but things are sorta in a mess computer wise today..have to figure out how to use this new fangled thang. LOL!!
It's got security out the yang yang..SHEEZ!!

Anyway, carp are fun to catch but there are pretty much "bottom feeders" and eat trash from the rivers and lakes. Some people would eat them but I would not.

Be like eating a roach or a rat.

But they put up a pretty good fight. And you can use anything as bait..corn, beans...anything you can get to hang on a hook and if you catch them up top eating trash you can just snag hook them.

Great for kids to learn how to fish. I perfer sock-eye to carp for kids but what ever works to get them "catching" instead of just fishing.

22hornet · March 14, 2008, 03:31:35 PM

No squirrels in Australia but rabbits were my bread and butter. Great fun rolling bunnys using my dads old Lithgow single shot with open sights.
Calici-virus was released by "accident" about 12 years ago? It wiped out almost all the rabbits in the area I usually hunt.:frown
I really miss them now, despite the damage they can cause. As the song goes, "you don't know what you got till it's gone".
Maybe we should introduce squirrels into Australia for abit of sporting fun! What could possibily go wrong???

22hornet · March 14, 2008, 03:34:18 PM

Quote from: Clueless;75764Be like eating a roach or a rat.

Thats what I thought squirrel would be like!!

Clueless · March 14, 2008, 05:31:21 PM

22 squirrels, as far as I know don't eat trash. They eat nuts and here they eat my cat food and corn.

I've got plenty; you want I should box up and few and send them to you?

I like rabbit too. I used to step out the door and shoot a rabbit for supper. Not many around here anymore either.

I noticed some around a cave I visit from time too time. There's a great cave I go to and do a little spelunking around. I'll have to post some pictures I've made of my trips into the cave.

I think we have too many raptors feeding off rabbits in and around my house, till they have cleaned them out.

I've not seen a sign of a rabbit in several years.

greywolf · March 25, 2008, 09:04:31 AM

We only have the little red squirrels here and in the south east corner of the province we have a bit of the big grey squirrels, never had the chance to cook and eat squirrel, BUT ! porcupine, beaver and muskrat we have plenty of and i hear they are supposed to be good eating as well, have a book that has recipes for anything worth eating. *sigh* I have cabin fever, still have 2 feet of snow on ground and just starting to warm up, i wanna go in the bush and kill sompin ......

M.