Lee PrecisionRepackboxTitan ReloadingRotoMetals2
WidenersInline FabricationLoad DataReloading Everything
MidSouth Shooters Supply
Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 61

Thread: Squirrel hunting

  1. #1
    Banned



    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    7,068

    Squirrel hunting

    Our season ends at the end of February, so tomorrow will be the last day I can hunt them. Went out this afternoon with cast in my old Savage 219 and did last Sunday as well. Love that rifle. I haven't done as much of it this year as I'd figured I would have last year, and a lot of it this year was with a Savage 94 in 16 gauge I picked up a few months ago I've become rather fond of. Our season opens up in mid Summer again, but I can't stand to do it when it's hot and buggy (squirrel season always seemed weird to me in Kansas). I've got the itch for a .25-20 or similar and will probably have and use one on them next Fall, but the .22 Hornet has proven to be a real winner with cast.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Squirrel 11FEB18.jpeg 
Views:	117 
Size:	37.1 KB 
ID:	215040

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    216
    Nice lil rifle,I love rats with rifles.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


    Bookworm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Central Oklahoma, on a dirt road.
    Posts
    1,186
    I've always likes squirrel season here in Okieland. It closes for about 2 months in Jan-Mar, to allow the li'l buggers to breed. Then it's open the rest of the year.

  4. #4
    Banned



    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    7,068
    That's the way it is here. I grew up in S.C. and don't remember the season, but nobody hunted them unless it was cold (relatively speaking). They had gray squirrels, we have fox squirrels and the daily limit there was 12, it's five here. October and November would be the best time, but it seems I'm focused on deer hunting then.

  5. #5
    In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    fairbanks
    Posts
    9,015
    In Texas I always hunted them in winter, I wouldn't say it was cold, but cooler.
    If using a dog it was much better hunting after the leaves fell anyway.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Near Enterprise Landing
    Posts
    1,182
    We always hunted after it frosted several times to kill the wolves in the warbles. South Carolina.

    762
    Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
    My amendment can beat up your amendment.

  7. #7
    Banned



    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    7,068
    Quote Originally Posted by 762 shooter View Post
    We always hunted after it frosted several times to kill the wolves in the warbles. South Carolina.

    762
    For some reason, those don't seem to be a problem here, I have no idea why. It really never gets cold in S.C., nothing like here, but it gets plenty hot enough in Kansas and the growing season even for cold blooded things is pretty long. I remember those warbles things as being pretty nasty, though I'm told they usually don't kill the host or do long term damage either.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Communism running rampant!
    Posts
    4,729
    Here in Central Wa. we do not have the desirable squirrels anymore. Instead we have the “deplorable and irredeemable” ground squirrel. Nobody sets a season and they are great target practice. They hibernate through the winter and also tend to go back underground in the hottest part of the summer. Other than that they are prime target practice.

    Nobody eats them as they are related to rats and also eat one another.

    I have been yearning for the grand little .25-20 for long time and fullfilled that wish with a carbine barrel for the Contender platform a while back. Have not done cast yet or drawn blood with it yet either.

    Three44s

  9. #9
    Banned



    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    7,068
    I like these fox squirrels here, a good bit bigger than the grays back east and don't generally seem to take as much killing to get it done. Boiler room shots with that light .22 Hornet load usually put them down decisively.

    I recently have gotten the urge for a .25 small game round. Been watching Savage Model 23s, but in the end, I'll likely get MGM to make me a Contender barrel. I like the rifle, but it's a .17 HMR which is almost worthless for me. It would be great for small varmints like those ground squirrels.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Denver Metro Area
    Posts
    1,266
    Fox and Abert's squirrels here. I happily bag Abert's during their fairly limited season, although my honey hole for them was pretty thin this year. If I am not popping them with shorts in a Marlin 39A I use a 38 revolver or lever with cast. The cast are nice because they make a clean hole right on through, just be careful with your backstop.

    One of these days I will make it far enough east to bag a gray squirrel.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  11. #11
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    14,333
    Our squirrel season has been No Closed Season, No Bag Limit as long as I can remember. And we still have plenty! I develop a squirrel load for most of my guns, naturally.

  12. #12
    In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    fairbanks
    Posts
    9,015
    My squirrel hunting days were in Texas, we sure had seasons though, I do not remember having a bag limit.

  13. #13
    Boolit Bub Catpop's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    coastal NC
    Posts
    47
    Quote Originally Posted by 762 shooter View Post
    We always hunted after it frosted several times to kill the wolves in the warbles. South Carolina.

    762
    as in NC also!

  14. #14
    In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    fairbanks
    Posts
    9,015
    I grew up hunting fox and grays, more grays than there were fox it always seemed like. I never noticed the grays, took any more killing than the fox, but they were harder to get a shot at, them little boogers were quick, where the fox squirrels would more often as not just lay there and give you a shot. Even though the fox were considerably bigger, I prefered eating the grays, the fox were good with dumplings though.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master trapper9260's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    3,402
    Back in MA where I grew up we had reds and grays and there was some flying.Not many of the flying.The greys where alot bigger then the reds. Good eat also both of them. Here in Iowa , we got the greys and fox and the greys is bigger then the fox. good eat both of them and also able to sell the skins also. Pay for the ammo and then some.You put them up like the old way of mink on the same boards.They use them for fly tying. Also woodchuck skins also.Are use for flying tying.You put them up like a coyote but you use a coon board and keep the tail bone and just slit the tail.They are good eating also .
    Life Member of NRA,NTA,DAV ,ITA. Also member of FTA,CBA

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy

    45&30-30's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Montana, USA
    Posts
    191
    Wow. That sounds fun. Great picture, it says a lot.
    I Like Guns - Steve Lee

  17. #17
    In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    fairbanks
    Posts
    9,015
    We called the grays in Texas cat squirrels . Probably a regional term, but the grays were considerably smaller that the fox squirrels though. We had flying squirrels too, but you rarely seen them, so maybe not many. We do not have eating squirrels here in the interior, but I do know where there was a nest of flying squirrels a couple of years ago.
    I never knew anybody in Texas that sold squirrel skins, but tails were a different story, every out door magazine had an add to buy them, when I was growing up.

  18. #18
    Banned



    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    7,068
    Well, the season is over here now. I said I was gonna do it this year, but maybe next year I'll spend less time deer hunting and more squirrel hunting. Sure is easier on your body. Where I deer hunt on a big tract of public land on the north end of the lake, I see lots of squirrels, just never seem to go specifically hunting them.

    My house is on a few acres out in the sticks which was a rock quarry that was abandoned maybe 60 years ago, long enough for a lot of big trees, mostly cottonwoods but enough hackberry and osage to make it good squirrel territory. Because of the quarry, it's pretty rolling and I can position up on one of the ridges or hillocks here and just wait, usually doesn't take long for me to get a shot at one. I don't shoot a lot of them this ay, if I ever do make a day of it and spend the time out on that public land now and then, pretty sure I'd shoot a lot more.

    I have eight or ten in the freezer right now. I think I'm going to try making a pot of white chili with some soon and see how that turns out.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy c1skout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Hills of PA
    Posts
    374
    Our season here in PA jut ended too. I took a walk after work on the last day of the season but didn't see any to shoot at, so I shot my gun out and headed home.
    I built a .32 cap lock traditions kit for my squirrel gun, it's lotsa fun!

  20. #20
    In Remembrance
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    fairbanks
    Posts
    9,015
    It has been so long, the wife has probably forgot how she cooked them, but she used to bread them, then fry them up smothered in gravy, makes me hungry even thinking about it.

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check