Anyone hunting squirrels in ut./elsewhere

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Getting ready to hunt squirrels, any advice?
I live in UT.
We do not have hogs,darn, or I would hunt them.

[x101airborne]

Careful what you wish for, sooner or later they are coming. In summer I prefer a shotgun, in winter I prefer a rimfire. Standards apply, look for hardwood covered creek bottoms near some type of water. Full cammo is of course ultra-necessary. I like to arrive an hour before first light, find a covered place to sit, and wait for dawn. Sometimes I get lucky and get a coyote or other varmint while waiting. Any chance you have a terrier? Most terriers I know have a squirrel hunting sense built right in. Especially helpful in locating downed game. If you are walking, look on the ground under trees for cracked nuts, chewed on limbs, etc. and up in the trees for jumping squirrels and hollows where they like to hide. Often I hear squirrels before I see them. They chatter kinda like a woodpecker. Keep the sun to your back while sitting. I may be wrong, but it is my experience that squirrels dont pay a lot of attention to small movements in the shadows. You can get away with a lot more than if you are lit up. I also grab a handful of rocks the size of golfballs and keep em in my pocket. If a squirrel is on the other side of the tree and wont come out for a shot, throw rocks at the bushes on his side of the tree. He will think a predator is there and will move to your side while watching the bush. Easy shot. Pack about 50 foot of small bio-degradable cord and a couple 4 oz fishing weights. Sometimes the squirrels will fall from one limb and get caught in another on the way down. Throw the weighted cord over the limb and give it a good jerk. The squirrel will come loose. If the weight gets tangeled, break or cut the line. Biodegradable cord will rot completely in about 3 months and is not strong enough to hurt other animals. I prefer eighth inch natural cotton line that we use for sausage. Works very well. I use an upland bird verst for my squirrels usually. Be sure to line it with a plastic trashbag or a large ziplock. Squirrels contain quite a bit of blood for their size and it can leak all over your back. Gives a nasty feeling when that isn't sweat going down your pants. Go to the hardware store and get some hook blades for a carpenters knife. that is about the easiest way to cut squirrel hide. look on youtube for the squirrel skinning videos. There is a guy that skins a squirrel in about 4 seconds by cutting under the tail, stepping on the legs, and pulling up. Neatest thing I've seen yet. Im afraid that is about the extent of my knowledge, but if I think of anything else, I will re-post.

[MtGun44]

Agree on the terrier, watched one work around the tree, pushing the squirrel to the hunter.
Never had one of my own. Rarely wear camo, if you hold real still they often will come and
chatter at you, giving you a shot. We have the normal small gray squirrels, which is what
I normally shoot, but have shot a few of the much bigger red ones, too. In FLA when I was
a boy, there were enough huge fox squirrels to hunt legally, but I never shot one. They
are like 3 times the size of a grey squirrel. I think they are getting more rare in FLA now,
but not sure.

I prefer to use .22 RF handgun, but use .22 rifle some too. Try for head shots always. To
me squirrel hunting is more about hunting than about squirrels.

I like to shoot and eat tree rats. I won't leave the skin on more than about 1/2 hr or they
get MUCH harder to skin. I will pull back from hunting site about 50 yds or more and skin
and gut one, rinse slightly with bottle of water, then into a ziplock to keep moist and clean.
Then slip quietly back and find another spot.

It is mostly about sitting in the woods for me. Bring a stool or good foam pad, take a nap
and enjoy. If I bring home a few squirrels, it is a nice bonus.

Bill

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Got a small game proclamation yesterday. They were not listed.
Have seen several as I went up to do accuracy testing on my old S7W K-22 & new CZ rifle.
Also saw a wild turkey.:Fire::Fire:

[CATS]

The guys here have really given some good advice. I would add bug spray to keep ticks and mosqueeeetos from biting. I wear light gloves and a face net. It is much nicer to sit and wait game out when the bugs are not biting your face or hands. Also wear a hat or cap with a brim, it will shade the sun so you can see and you can hide your eyes from game when you tilt your head. I like a shot gun when there are leaves and a .22LR when there are no leaves. Keep in mind to look for movement and not the whole tree rat. They give themselves away with their tails. If they see you they may lie flat on a branch to hide from you, if you know he is up there and you you can not find him look for a branch that is fatter in one spot. If he is on the other side of the trunk toss your hat over and he will scoot around to you.

[JeffinNZ]

OK guys. I am hooked. If I give you a FedEx account number would someone be good enough to send me a breeding pair of each variety please?

[x101airborne]

OK guys. I am hooked. If I give you a FedEx account number would someone be good enough to send me a breeding pair of each variety please?

Last time I grabbed a squirrel that was not dead all the way, it came alive in my hand and I cracked myself between the eyes with the barrel of my 22. Rear sight cut my forehead and I lost the squirrel because of the blood in my eyes.

After the first, I am hesitant to grab a not so dead squirrel much less two. I will probably loose an eye, recieve a perforated nipple, and be shot by my partner out of pity. No thank you. :oops:

I still cut their throats before I pick em up.

[high standard 40]

Last time I grabbed a squirrel that was not dead all the way, it came alive in my hand.................................

I still cut their throats before I pick em up.

I usually just put the heel of my boot on their head and apply pressure till I feel a crunch. Then it's safe to pick them up.

[EMC45]

They are very hardy. They die hard. I like a 12ga with a full choke with 7s. The reason for this is I like to do pushes. They will scatter when they see you coming, which makes it hard for a rimfire. I also use a bark bellows call and a young squirrel distress whistle. The bark call gets them "talking" to you and the distress whistle willl make them think their young are hurt. I usually go around November. Anything before that and it is hot out (GA) and I really don't fancy the idea of stepping on a venomous snake. I have had them climb up my leg, arm/hand after I thought they were dead. Have seen them take a full blast of 1 1/8oz. of 7s and run off. THEY ARE TOUGH!!!!

[michiganvet]

I have done well for many years with .22 CB longs. Head shots and lung shots put them right down and the old Marlin I use doesn't make enough noise to scare of the others. Fox squirrels are easier than greys because they aren't as nervous.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Well one time when my 2 kid brothers were out here, I took them out shooting/hunting on Mt. Timpanogous, I loaned them my 2 -22 rifles & I took my 7MM MAG with cast. Carl had my 22 pistol, George had a 9MM, & I took my 44 mag. with cast.
They got a little annoyed at me for killing more squirrels.
In fact none even crawled away wounded.
Wasn't much left to eat though.
George swore he would get a 600 Nitro for our next hunt. :Fire::Fire:

[x101airborne]

BOOM BOOM..... Thats funny. I have used a 308 Win to shoot squirrels tearing up my deer feeders. Just gotta wait till they stop and remove the head. Back when I was young and used to hunt over a feeder at 100 yards, I killed 7 while in the deer stand all with head shots. Dad saw what I did and he said it was no longer necessary to hunt over a feeder if I could shoot that well. Best thing he ever did for me.

He is certainly planning on using enough gun, eh??

[Longwood]

A wrist rocket is a handy item to take along. When I see a squirrel nest in a tree, I put a marble through it. The squirrel comes right out to see what is going on.

[CWME]

Hunting Reds is easy. The little buggers arch their back and bark at you acting all tough while you take careful aim.
Grays are smart. As was stated before a Dog makes it a whole lot esier. Without the dog they will stay on the other side of the tree as you walk around. I normally use a 223 or 204 Ruger for grays now. If they start to run I have more range for the inevitable pause... The 204 makes a mess if you don't hit them in the head. I turned one nearly inside out with a chest shot.
My Weimaraner loves hunting either species. He goes absolutely nuts when I get out the rifle and tell him to go find them.
For grays I look for Oak trees and acorns. Reds like to hang out in Hemlock trees.

[DrB]

Grew up hunting grays and foxes in the southeast, still do.

+1 on the hooked utility knife blade. Cut under the tail and back along the haunches about three quarter inch. Step on the tail (sometime I hold the end too so it doesn't pull out) and pull by the hind feet. When the skin reaches the neck and wrists, work the hind socks up to the ankles and cut em all off with the hide. This keeps everything together and is easier to hold on to. The hook makes it easier to cut the skin and abdominals without cutting the meat or guts, and it'll snick off the paws easily... Always have a little bit of grief otherwise if I'm doing them all in hand. A gerber oloo knife also works well.

For mosquitos the thermacell hunting repellant is awesome. Doesn't stink and it works... Used it in the georgia swamps with those big mosquitoes with the white spot... Its a life saver. A lot of folks swear by them for deer hunting, supposedly any scent is that innocuous.

I usually use number fours on greys when the leaves are still on or I'm jump shooting tame squirrels. They are way too tough for dove shot, imho. Any 22 that's accurate for your gun, though I don't like solids. If you ever take a body shot on purpose or accident I don't find they kill well.

[DrB]

Oh yeah, most importantly... The eating. Get a dozen and brunswick stew, my friend. If you fry I strongly suggest parboiling till tender. Squirrels are the gymnast trapeze artists of the rodent world, and they are TOUGH little fellas.

[Multigunner]

I haven't hunted Squirrel since I was a youngster, but just today I was telling someone about the stain on the ceiling of the back bedroom. Its a kind of funny story.

Anyway one reason I don't hunt squirrel is because you can't toss a rock in the back yard without hitting one. The neighborhood is just plain eat up with squirrels. I got so used to them I don't think about hunting them anymore than I would shoot songbirds with a BB gun.

These are big hefty critters, most could whup a dog.

I'd been hearing noises in the attic above the back room and thought it was birds or maybe mice.
Then one day a big storm came up and I looked out the window to see a dozen or more big squirrels making their way along my power line towards the house. When they got to the roof they quickly made their way through a hole in the sofit and into the attic.
I had the hole fixed. then years later the joint of the roof of the addition began to leak. A dark stain appeared on the ceiling. Since the roof of the older part of the house was in sad shape I had a new roof put on.
When they were replacing some sheathing a roofer asked me to look at the corner of the attic where the stain was. There was about a hundred pounds of rotted walnuts up there. Rain water leaking on the walnuts had left a walnut stain in the ceiling tiles.

The upside is that since I had huge piles of old walnuts from the six walnut trees in my back yard, I started experimenting with making my own walnut stains for restoring furniture and finishing gun stocks.
I'll have to make up a new batch soon, when I do I'll try to post a tutorial.

I found several methods of producing varying shades and coloration. It works pretty good and by thining and blending you can match repairs to antique stocks invisibly.

[JeffinNZ]

Anyway one reason I don't hunt squirrel is because you can't toss a rock in the back yard without hitting one.

Right, so clip their toe nails so I don't get scratched up and send me some. I will inform MAF biosecurity that Elvin and the Chipmunks are doing a NZ tour. Your average border person wouldn't know the difference.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Well Carl my other younger brother said he was getting a .45-110-500 Sharps, as we had just watched the movie Valdez Is Coming.
It just seemed to annoy them that I killed more than they did combined with the 7MM MAG &44 MAG. But hay, I was only using a cast 168gr in the rifle, and only a 250 gr. in the pistol, gee. Aren't cast a handicap?:bigsmyl2:
Plus some of theirs got away wounded.
Mine were all DRT.:Fire::Fire:

[Longwood]

I used to think the little ground squirrels here were cute until I took me nearly three days to figure out why my car would not do much more than idle.
The little guys had filled the muffler with dry dog food.:x
I like them better that the Packrats that only work at night and love the wiring in my vehicles. I had one chew a hole right through the middle of a 3/4" piece of plywood that I tried to block his nest access hole with. I don't think a squirrel can do that.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Well I hope to learn how to be a good squirrel & rabbit hunter, for food.
With a 22.
No one I know does that. Some (few) just shoot them as varmints.

[Mk42gunner]

Right, so clip their toe nails so I don't get scratched up and send me some. I will inform MAF biosecurity that Elvin and the Chipmunks are doing a NZ tour. Your average border person wouldn't know the difference.

Jeff,

It isn't so much the claws you have to worry about, it's the teeth. The average fox squirrel has better choppers than a two pound rat.

I'd like to help you out, really I would, but I made a solemn promise to my dog when I was a kid that I would never try to touch a live squirrel. Story follows:

I knocked one out of a tree that wasn't quite dead once. Luckily my dog (German Shepard/ Collie cross) got to it first. When she picked it up it bent around and bit her on the nose. Needless to say this made her mad and she ensured it was thoroughly dead before she let me get close to it. I don't think there was an unbroken bone by the time she got done with it.

That was thirty two or three years ago, and I can still see Molly shaking that squirrel.

Ever since that day, I always make sure they are beyond biting before I get my body parts within range.

Young ones are a lot better for frying, more tender.

Robert

[Blammer]

I like hunting squirrels a bunch!
30-06 and 311284's work fine.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/2008%20Deer/DSCN7412.jpg

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Now you tell me!
I could have saved over $300 on that CZ 22.
COULD HAVE USED MY 7mm/06.:bigsmyl2:
Of course that would have still pissed off my 2 kid brothers.:Fire::Fire:

[stana]

CZ 22, Perfect. Lots of ground squirrels "pot guts" in Ut. this time of year, at all elevations. My son went fish'n at Cleavland res. Ended up shoot'n potguts somewhere between Fairview and Cleavland. He said there were lots. Also other potgut hunters everwhere! (hawks)

be safe.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I was thinking tree/gray squirrels. To eat.:Fire::Fire:

[DrB]

My dad, at 67, still has a scar on his hand from picking up a "dead" squirrel.

I learned the lesson from his scar to avoid one of my own. :)

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
IT IS MY INTENTION TO BITE INTO THEM.:Fire::Fire:

[Stick_man]

Boom Boom, I'd recommend making sure they are dead and cooked before you bite into them. :kidding: BTW, what part of UT are you in? Sounds like you may be in northern UT County, not too far from me.

I have never tried eating any of the squirrels around here, although the .223 does a fine number on them. :) You may want to check with the DWR to find out if it is legal to hunt the grey squirrels though. I know the "pot-guts" are fair game, but not sure about the bushy-tails.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I am in Provo.
I checked, it is legal, to hunt gray squirrel all yr around.:Fire::Fire:

[Mk42gunner]

HI,
Now you tell me!
I could have saved over $300 on that CZ 22.
COULD HAVE USED MY 7mm/06.:bigsmyl2:
Of course that would have still pissed off my 2 kid brothers.:Fire::Fire:

Speaking as a younger brother, I thought that was the big brothers main purpose in life.[smilie=1:

Robert

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I did not do it on purpose, they were using both my 22 rifles, so I needed a rifle & the 7MM MAG ( WITH CAST BULLETS of course) is what I had.:bigsmyl2:
They had my 22 & 357 pistols, so that left me with the 44mag.(with cast boolits):bigsmyl2:
What other choice did I have?:Fire::Fire:

[onondaga]

I am going to say hunting squirrels with archery equipment is the most exciting hunting in my life. I also hunt them with .22 and a rock lock Pennsylvania Squirrel Rifle with round balls. Archery is the most fun when in an area where plenty of shots will present ; I use blunt tipped arrows that pound them to death and won't stick in the trees..

Gary

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
ONE OF MY STUDENTS IN THE BYU JUJITSU CLUB IS FROM ILLINOIS, HE WANTS TO GO SQUIRREL HUNTING, BUT HE USES A SHOTGUN.
SPIT, PHATUWE , SHOT PELLETS IN THE FOOD.:Fire::Fire:

[longbow]

onondaga:

What squirrels are you hunting?

I just came back from the North American Longbow Safari (archery shoot) last weekend and was in a group with a fellow from Idaho. He said that fox squirrels (I think) were introduced to Idaho and populations are booming so he hunts them with a bow but says he uses broadheads because blunts don't kill them. He says he has tried rubber blunts, .38 brass, steel blunts and none do the job so old braodheads it is... and some tree climbing.

I am just curious because I grew up on the West coast and couldn't figure out for the longest time why anyone would hunt squirrels. Well, where I grew up squirrels are like mice with bushy tails (well, maybe small rats). I didn't realize for a long time how big Eastern squirrels get.

I think they would be fun to hunt.

Longbow

[onondaga]

Perhaps the guy is just a duff or too cheap to get good points . The blunt points I use are terrific on squirrels. Here is a link to picture of them:

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=633&q=judo+point&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&oq=judo+point&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=undefined&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=2383l8292l0l12l12l1l2l2l0l263l1805l0.5.4l9

These are world famous blunt points for being devastating on squirrels and rabbits.They have been available for over half a century. They don't stick in trees and they flip the arrow tail up in the ground if you miss a rabbit. I have been using them over 50 years and just got a new half dozen of them last season for my grandson. He murders squirrels with them. We both use compound bows at 45 pound peak draw and graphite arrows, but I used the Judo points 40 years ago with longbows and cedar arrows and they worked just fine then too.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/Squirrel.jpg

Black Squirrel skin from one I took last fall with a Judo Point head shot. The Blacks in my area are generally 10% or so smaller than the Grays in size. Squirrel was taken near my hunt camp in Lyndon, NY.


Squirrel is an acquired taste. Generally I boil the meat, strip it from the bones and put it in pasta sauce to have with spaghetti.

You have to be a really no-nonsense good shot with a bow to hit squirrels. I have been a serious competitor and in 1972 I placed 6th in the New York State Field Archery Championship. At 20 yards or less, I can usually pick a spot and hit them in the heart or the head at will and the Judo Points just plain kill them immediately with a head or heart shot. If you can't put 10 shots in a row into a 4 inch circle at 20 yards, you aren't going to get very many Squirrels.

I hunt Gray Squirrels and Black Squirrels here in Western New York, when I have the opportunity to head East to the Adirondack Region of NY, Fox Squirrels are in that area. I don't hunt the very small Red Squirrels that are numerous or the Ground Squirrels (Chipmunks) in my state.

Hunting Squirrels with broadheads is something I couldn't call anything other than stupid. That would cost you a new point nearly every shot. I have Judo Pointed arrows that have each taken dozens of squirrels and sustained no damage. What you heard about broadheads for Squirrels was from a guy that does not know what he is talking about.

The Judo points are certainly fine for Fox Squirrels, I have also killed Marmot ( Woodchuck ) and Opossum with Judo Points and those are certainly larger than the largest Fox Squirrel. I do use Broadheads for Raccoon.


Gary

[white eagle]

I have cazillions on squirrels on my land
I just never found a way to cook them
that made them palatable

[m1g]

White Eagle, I used to hunt squirrel but don't anymore. I always pressure cooked them for about 25 or 30 min. and they would fall off the bone. Super tender. Save the stock. Used to always roll and cut my own noodles for them until my sister told me what she used for dumplings. Just buy the cheapest buttermilk biscuits and tear them in half and add to the squirrel stock. Cheap biscuits don't taste so good by themselves but are great in squirrel and dumplings. I also added chicken bullion to the squirrel stock for more robust taste and plenty of butter, MMMMMMM.

[longbow]

onondaga:

Good info.

While I don't know this guy very well he is an avid hunter and knows his stuff. He is also a pretty reasonable shot.

Not sure if he has tried Judo points. I know about them but have never used them myself. He did say he had tried steel blunts with little success so used broadheads. His choice I guess. I tend to agree with you as they would go through and pin the squirrel to the tree which might make for exciting recovery of both squirrel and arrow.

I use rubber blunts for grouse and they do a fine job without ruining meat.

I have also used rubber blunts on a couple of bears in our yard but certainly the intent wasn't to poke an arrow into them just to "persuade" them to leave (which worked by the way). There is a pretty good story to one of those shots involving early morning, bathrobe and disturbingly close shooting at a very large bear but we'd both need a few beers to get into that one.

Anyway, back to hunting squirrels. I just think it sounds like lots of fun and with the big squirrels there must be as much meat on them as a grouse... maybe more, our grouse are small (like our squirrels).

Longbow

[onondaga]

I have heard of bow-hunters using broad-heads for squirrel. This is nothing new, just something I see as foolish. One hunter I know uses them because of the blade size giving him a better chance of getting a kill with bleed-out even with a poor hit. My guess is that the guy couldn't make a head shot with a blunt at 10 yards if he had to and is trying to compensate for his skill level.

I gotta take the opportunity to brag here too. Twenty-five dollar bet at a field competition between targets. My competitive nemesis at the time egged me on for what he thought was an impossible shot. I told him OK, if he made it worth while with a wager. It cost him $25 to see me hit a bumble bee at 12 yards. It cost me my #1 arrow, but it was worth it.

Gary

[CATS]

Birds, Bees, and things up in trees are what Flu-Flu blunts are for. Judos can get hung up on leaves, so ground work for them. Port Orford cedar shafts and Zwicky blades rule.

[onondaga]

Yes, Cedar shafts, Flu Flu Fletch and blunts are terrific for squirrel. If I had a traditional bow, I'd love to go back to that again. I only have a compound now and they don't work together with traditional arrows and 6 Fletch Flu Flu. I had a lot of misses years ago trying , but I actually got one Pheasant on the wing with a Flu Flu Blunt. Now that is hard!

Gary

[Buddy]

A bumble bee at 12yds. That's one to brag about. I shot alot of competition myself from '79 to '84. Won NFAA State Championship in '82 in the bowhunder limited class. By the way did you get the bumble bee mounted? On the serious side I used to watch the late Rev. Stacy Grosscup shoot aspirins his wife would toss in the air. He used a longbow. One particular time at the West Virginia Northern Bowhunters Rendevous he missed his first attempt and a couple of guys chuckled. He slowly turned and looked at them and smiled and said, "Hey everyone misses once in a while." He turned to his wife and nodded for another aspirin. She tossed it and he quickly reached behind his back, grabbed the string and powdered the aspirin. When he turned to say something to the hecklers they were staring at their feet. By the way, dear old grandma used to make the best squirrel gravy and biscuits I've ever had. Wish I would've let her show me how it was done. I've never been able to duplicate it.

[x101airborne]

I love eating squirrel. I cut mine into chicken quaters, then soak in regular milk for 24 hours. Fry in cornmeal until 3/4 done. Put squirrel into a glass baking pan. make gravy by adding chopped onion and garlic and butter to squirrel oil. Add one cup flour and one cup water for gravy. Pour gravy over squirrel, cover and bake at 350 for an hour. Bones will pull right out of the meat. MMMMMMM MMMMM MMMM!!

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Thanks for the cooking info ,X101 airborne, I will have to try it on our gray squirrels:Fire::Fire:.

[Blammer]

I cook mine in a crock pot with lots of other 'stew' type things. Long time, low heat, makes em come out tender and good.

[HotGuns]

I've recently started hunting with an integrally suppressed Ruger 10/22.
It's pretty quiet, the loudest sound be the bolt clacking back and forth, and the bullet whacking the target.

Its has added a completely different dimension to squirrel hunting. Most of my life hunting them was with a shotgun. Fire a shot and for 10 minutes everything would disappear. Not so with the .22, on several occasions I have killed several squirrels in the same tree, my record is 4.

The little critters don't know that they are being shot at. That thump of the bullet hitting them sounds about like an acorn hitting the ground.

I have actually busted out laughing a few times. A couple of weekends ago I shot two squirrels out of one tree. I walked around a big oak to pick one up and made eyeball contact with one of the biggest racked bucks I have ever seen. If I had been shooting the 12 gage, I doubt I would have ever seen him.

Squirrel hunting with suppressors is becoming very popular here, its fun, quiet and absolutely deadly on the them.

[corvette8n]

I use a Gamo Shadow .177 w/10gr pellet, I usually try a headshot as it is a hit or miss. last week I only had a body shot so I pulled the trigger and at first thought I missed as it walked about 30 feet and then fell over dead. I picked it up and I had a dime size exit hole and lots of blood pouring out, surprised me.

[300winmag]

OK guys. I am hooked. If I give you a FedEx account number would someone be good enough to send me a breeding pair of each variety please?
Those little critters will run over you like a sewing machine.
Shot 1 and thought it was dead, :holysheep it woke up in the pouch of my vest. You talk about a very wierd feeling, That vest came off a lot faster than it went on I will say.

[roverboy]

Never had'em come to in the pouch. Had a few come to when I picked'em up though. I put'em down fast.

[Moonglow]

I have found it convenient to load .22 cal airgun pellets in a primed .223 case used in my .223 rifle. Just the primer will easily propel the pellet and kill the squirrel, no powder needed. If you do hit a squirrel in the body very little damage is done. I've never had one return to life, perhaps because I grab their tail and step on their head breaking their neck.

Fried squirrel is among my favorite foods, and that includes potguts, especially in stews.

To the hunter in Utah, I recommend hunting reds near Lavan in the oak and maple brush.

I've killed dozens of potguts just sitting on a hill above their colony with a pellet gun. I use a Rugar springer type airgun now, but have used pump guns in the past.

Fun hunting!

Bob

[grullaguy]

I shot a squirrel one time and it dropped right out of the tree, kicked a couple times and was still. I walked over and picked it up around the body and it latched onto my thumb with it's teeth.
Turns out that I had shot it's eyes out with the .22 without hitting the brain.

I always pick them up by the tail now.