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re: How to get started hunting squirrels?
Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:43 am to TJack
Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:43 am to TJack
If you have just about any dog that you can control - sit, stay, come - that sort of control...take them with you. They will chase the squirrel, the squirrel will run about 20 feet up a tree and start chewing the dogs arse out for disturbing it and present you with about as good a shot as you can get. If you run them up a tree they will do the same thing but they will be on the opposite side of the tree....the dog will follow them around the tree until the squirrel eventually is on the same side you are on. There are specially trained squirrel dogs that will do unbeleivable things but any dog that don't run off and will stay close and behave will work...its funner with a dog.
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Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:49 am to TJack
Sit in my attic and listen for the royal rumble that they have with my Christmas decorations.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:51 am to Tbone2
quote:
Don't get a .22. The rnge is too great. It might not be leagle. Get a shotgun, 20 ga on up, with hi powered 6's. Slip in 30 min before legal and start slow creeping
If you haven't got a lot of sense a .22 is a bad idea...if you are shooting squirrels out of trees by the time the projectile returns to earth it will have hit so many limbs and leaves and all manner of shite in a typical river bottom that it wouldn't hurt anything. Its unlikely to hurt anything on its way up for the same reasons. Shooting them on the ground is also pretty safe unless you are shooting at them without any idea what might be behind them. Thats when sense comes in...if you ain't got enough discipline to pass up questionable shots you probably ought not be in the woods with any gun but a shotgun will be infinitely safer than a rifle in that situation.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s in metro Atlanta and from the time I was 8 or 9 years old I was shooting squirrels with a .22 and had enough sense not to level off without any clue of what was behind where I was shooting. Most of the time I was shooting at about a 60 degree angle. There would be 4-5 or more us doing this and if anyone leveled off and fired a shot he'd have had to fight all of us...but if you ain't got good sense a shotgun is far less likely to hurt someone.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:56 am to TJack
I had a savage .22 long rifle / 20 gauge over/under. Iron sights. That thing was a squirrel killing machine. Hammer gun with a selector on the hammer for each barrel. I usually shot at them with the .22 and if I missed that 20 with #6s in it would take 'em out. It was also handy for knocking them the rest of way to the ground. Anyone who has ever hunted them knows they can get tangled up out of reach sometimes...just blast them again with the shotgun and they'll come down. The down side of that gun was that most people who had one would blast their nests with the shotgun (illegal in Georgia back in the day) and most of the time it'd kill the squirrel but you'd never know it. I was taught not to do that...but a lot of folks did.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 10:59 am to TJack
Not sure why anyone is down voting using a shot gun to shoot squirrels.
I feel like a shotgun give you more versatility. Sometimes you have to run and gun to get them and waiting for them to stop long enough for you to bullseye them on a tree limb isn't practical.
If you are hunting is big woods where the squirrels haven't been hunted too much then a .22 will work great.
I feel like a shotgun give you more versatility. Sometimes you have to run and gun to get them and waiting for them to stop long enough for you to bullseye them on a tree limb isn't practical.
If you are hunting is big woods where the squirrels haven't been hunted too much then a .22 will work great.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 11:00 am to TJack
quote:
Haven’t been hunting in years. Live in BR and would like to start hunting squirrels again in the fall. Suggestions?
One of my favorite past times as a kid was floating Sweetwater Creek on the west side of Atlanta in a 10 foot jon boat, shooting squirrels, catching shell cracker and taking a shot at the occasional wood duck. My grandfather's house was only about a mile down a pipe line to the creek and from there to what is now a state park was about a 4 hour float if you just floated...we never did, so it would take us from sun up to sundown. We would carry the boat down the pipe line, spend the day having a damned ball, stop about halfway, build a fire and eat whatever we managed to catch/kill (usually burnt fish or squirrell sushi LOL) and it'd be dark as pitch by the time we got to the take out. It was about 3 miles from the house...we'd walk home, get the truck, go back and get the boat and do it all over again the next day. It was a BLAST. A kid would get tossed under the Douglas County jail for that today...
Posted on 2/26/24 at 11:02 am to RummelTiger
quote:
Get a .22 and look for squirrels...
Whatchou gonna do with 'em?
Squirrell and dumplings. Also a real brunswick stew calls for a couple of tree rats...we'd skin 'em and roast them on sticks over a fire. No seasoning at all...never thought to bring any. They were about as fine eating as you could ask for alongside a creek in the fall....
Posted on 2/26/24 at 11:04 am to Barneyrb
quote:
Find you a nearby refuge or private land you have access too and even better if it has native pecans on it. Sit
We still hunted. Walk in the woods, hug a tree and wait. Listen for them if they don't show up. Head toward them and repeat. Remember where the truck is...easy to get lost doing this LOL...
Posted on 2/26/24 at 11:09 am to TigerDeacon
quote:
Not sure why anyone is down voting using a shot gun to shoot squirrels.
I feel like a shotgun give you more versatility. Sometimes you have to run and gun to get them and waiting for them to stop long enough for you to bullseye them on a tree limb isn't practical.
If you are hunting is big woods where the squirrels haven't been hunted too much then a .22 will work great.
Thats why we used .22s. It seemed more sporting. When I was hunting them regularly they weren't pressured...most of the time they'd run up a tree and turn around to see what was after them...from the other side of the tree. You could toss a limb or something on the other side and they'd come around to your side if they hadn't seen you...shooting them in the back with a shotgun while they are peering around a tree just never seemed sporting to me. I would blast them with the shotgun though if they were running through the treetops. I don't think I ever hit a moving squirrel with a .22. I think I would remember such a remarkable feat LOL...probably ought to claim I did regularly in the spirit of a true outdoorsman LOL....
Posted on 2/26/24 at 11:10 am to AwgustaDawg
I used to eat squirrel, but now that I'm older, I don't want to mess with it. There are so many other animals I can hunt that taste better and have more meat.
Now they're food for my 2 barn cats. My female goes crazy and hardly let's me skin them before she's ready to eat. The male is kind of dumb and would rather just play with their tails.
Now they're food for my 2 barn cats. My female goes crazy and hardly let's me skin them before she's ready to eat. The male is kind of dumb and would rather just play with their tails.
This post was edited on 2/26/24 at 11:12 am
Posted on 2/26/24 at 3:30 pm to AwgustaDawg
If you have ever stood beside a kid emptying his .22 at a squirrel, you will understand the pure satisfaction of dropping a squirrel right before he makes it to the hole in a beech tree.
Something about "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, (tension builds . . . must not make kid mad) pop, pop, pop BOOM! (pure rage from kid while you try not to laugh).
Also, I feel like shotguns are better options in the early season while .22s may be better when the leaves fall.
Something about "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, (tension builds . . . must not make kid mad) pop, pop, pop BOOM! (pure rage from kid while you try not to laugh).
Also, I feel like shotguns are better options in the early season while .22s may be better when the leaves fall.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 7:23 pm to KemoSabe65
quote:
two guys I knew in Ellick got busted for hunting squirrels back in the eighties
Good luck finding squirrels in any numbers up here in Cenla, other than city parks, subdivisions, etc. Ice storm and hurricanes took a toll on critters and hardwoods.
Posted on 2/26/24 at 7:25 pm to TJack
Buy my NIB Annie 1502HB 17m2 bolt rifle - shoots flat to 125 yds. Have several bricks of Eley ammo also.
This post was edited on 2/26/24 at 8:17 pm
Posted on 2/26/24 at 7:35 pm to TJack
Scout for a good hardwood and pine mix. You’re looking for their food source and also signs of their presence; acorn and pine cone cuttings, squirrel nests etc.
Observe when the squirrels in your neighborhood are moving most. If you’re still hunting get there plenty early. Cat (gray) squirrels are nosy and will show themselves quicker than fox squirrels, especially after a shot. Foxes can lay up a long time waiting for the woods to settle. If you see hawks or other big birds circling move to another spot. Dog hunting is a lot of fun but be prepared to cover a lot of ground. Perfect for younger kids because they don’t have to be still or quiet. Enjoy, bring mosquito spray, TP and keep an eye out for snakes and yellow jackets if it’s sunny.
Observe when the squirrels in your neighborhood are moving most. If you’re still hunting get there plenty early. Cat (gray) squirrels are nosy and will show themselves quicker than fox squirrels, especially after a shot. Foxes can lay up a long time waiting for the woods to settle. If you see hawks or other big birds circling move to another spot. Dog hunting is a lot of fun but be prepared to cover a lot of ground. Perfect for younger kids because they don’t have to be still or quiet. Enjoy, bring mosquito spray, TP and keep an eye out for snakes and yellow jackets if it’s sunny.
Posted on 2/27/24 at 8:56 am to TJack
Three Rivers / Richard K Yancy WMA not to far from you. Remember when we deer hunted there squirrels were very abundant. Plenty of fox and if I remember correctly, black squirrels in there as well.
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