Squirrel Hunting
 

Do any of you hunters use a .22 air rifle to hunt squirrels with?

I have one and got my scope and all set just now to find the squirrels..

Thanks for any advice you can give. :)

I have hunted squirrles for years using a powerline 880 and BBs as well as a 22 short
go out early in the morning near a nut tree or oak grove and sit quietly the squirrles wont even notice you . Ive had them within arms reach , they can be a real pain when deer hunting.

PyroDon

About what time in the morn?

I have all kinds of nut trees on my land so I hope to get one in a few days. I haven't been hunting in over 15 year so now is time for me to start back

Around here get out just as its starting to get light until about 9AM.

big rockpile

If you have a nut tree grove, you can hunt them tree rats all day. I personally bowhunt till around 10am and then head back in and eat then grab the 22 or pellet rifle and head out for an hour or so of relaxing hunting. Sunday morning went out for a walk and was back in cleaning my daily bag limit of 5 within 30 mins. Biggest thing is just find the nuts or the edge of a cornfield, find a tree to sit next to and have fun. They are active all day. And to boot darn good eating.

big rockpiles right if your out before the sun comes up your gonna have some good luck . I take a camera to get picks of other wldlife as well .
You'll know when the squirrels start moving they make nearly as much noise as a covy of quial of flock of turkeys and a lot more than deer .
you can also get a sqeaker sqirrel call (Ive used Kids sqeeze sqeaker toys before) or just mimiced their calls . males get real nosy if they think another is in there territory.
Our timber is full of squirrels and other small game though I admit I cheata bit and walk the trails with a broadcast spreader full of hen scratch about twice a month. Guess Im just a lazy hunter but I dont have to spend weeks in the cold during deer or turkey season . also dont spend a lot on camo or fancy scents .
Ill sometimes hang a dirty shirt in another area of the timber , animals see it moving in the breeze and give it a wide birth basicly moving towards where Iam .

Air rifles are illegal here but I use a regular 22 rifle. Its more fun to me than using a shotgun. I sometimes use a 22 pistol too

Well went out this evening to hunt for a bit and seen 3 deers and then later seen 2 squirrels but couldn't get a shot in. The wind started blowing also and it made it worse. I also took my DD on the trip but where the wind had picked up you couldn't hear a pin drop so guess I try it in the morn earlier.

Forgot to ask this question.. I hope this doesn't sound stupid but can you trap squirrels also?

If so what can you use for bait. I have a live trap so at least on my land I can do a few tricks to get meat if can.

Thanks but of course I want to score a few on shooting.

Just go out and find a good spot and sit very still. After a few minutes the squirrels If there are any) will start moving. Remain still and try to locate several. When you shoot one, the others will freeze for a few moments and you may be able to get more than one. my record is six. while you are setting quietly, listen for squirrel sign (barking chucking and growling) and if you don't see any squirrels, move after 30 minutes or so. You can hear them for quite some distance, so just move toward the sounds.
You can also just creep through the woods and keep your eyes open for movement.
I got rid of all my scopes. I have just never been any good with a scope. You sight it in and they work fine on the range, but then I miss perfect shots. With iron sights I'm much better. The last straw was last fall, I was trying to "harvest" a chicken with a head shot. I had just sighted in my .22 bolt action the day before. I missed 3 times from a rest. I (In discust) came in and grabbed an old .22 that didn't even have the stock on it, walked out and shot the thing's head off, off hand , from about 35 yards.

I get in the woods just before the sky starts to light up. My preferred weapon is a CVA .32 caliber "squirrel" rifle, I built from a kit nearly 20 years ago.

Let me say this. If squirrels grew as big as deer, I'd never eat any other meat, and I'd never hunt anything but suirrels.

Have to agree Im not much for scopes either the only deer Ive missed was with a scope and missed three times at least . of course my family swares I cant hit anything aiming any way but can snap shoot a fly

With the price of some of those air guns I would think that they had better be able to kill a squirrel.

Here's an ideal since you are just now learning to hunt. Carry a notepad and pencil with you and write down everything you observe when hunting.

Such as 7:45 a.m., "Got to my hunt area and noticed the squirrels were already running everywhere". "Must come earlier next time". Or, "found cracked nut shells all around this particular hickory tree". "Must be feeding here every morning".

Just keep a list of everything you observed while hunting and study the info periodically and it will make you a hunter.

but can you trap squirrels also?

Sure can ..

I use a 'hav-a-heart' trap ..
use a rice cake or a stale english muffin smeared with peanut butter ..
I hang the bait with a piece of coat hanger ..
Caught two at once and six in one day with this set up ..

They can't resist it ..

Triff ..

Well I was going to hit the woods early this morn but it was to windy and still windy.. Dang I wanted to get a early start to get some squirrel. Now have to wait another day :-(


Triffin I may set up my live soon to catch a few squirrels because where I live there are all kinds of nut trees and I may can put the cage on a grass spot close to the trees and catch one or 2 what you think..

When I put peanut butter on the bread and then put the peanutbutter bread on the tricker you think that be ok?

I use a piece of coathanger wire shaped
like a hook ( any small gauge wire will work )
to suspend the 'bait' just above the 'tripper plate' ..
The squirrel will stand on the tripper plate when
nibbling on the bait and usually that's enough to
spring shut the trap ..

Triff ..

sure wish that would work around here
doesnt matter what ya bait a trap with all ya catch here are wild house cats .

Got my first squrriel this evening.. NOw I got a question do any of you have a sight I can go to. To see how to skin squrriel?

OBTW I know where to go and get them little guys tomorrow. I sit right under 3 trees this evening and seen a big red squrriel but didn't get to get him. Maybe tomorrow I will being in 2 and soon have dumplings..MMM

Oh one more question if I freeze squirrel how long is it good for?


Thanks..

Every site that I found that described how to skin a squirrel was one either needing 2 people or one that assures getting more hair on the meat than is left on the skin! At the same time, I went over and over in my mind about how to explain the important part, getting started. Finally found a video that uses the method that I was taught 60 years ago and the one that I've taught to many others. You need Real Player in your computer to see it but it's the best that I can find that shows how to start.
http://members.localnet.com/~nickdd/

That hunter reaches down and strips the front legs and head out of the skin while leaving the "pants" on. Before I do that, I grip the "V" of the belly skin and pull the pants off the hind legs. Then the front legs but not the head. I slice the head off while still in the skin. After a few thousand, it's a snap!

Martin

basket ball needle and an air compressor . insert needle under the skin shoot the air to it when its blown up like a ballon remove the needle chop off the feet and head slice down each leg "Y" and pullout the body.

I finally got my squrriel skinned but boy did it take me some time. I have a question for you or anyone.

Is it ok now to hunt squrriels because one person told me that right now isn't a good time to do hunting for squrriels because of fleas and wols.. I went ahead and skinned my squrriel and cleaned it and in the freezer it went. Can you all tell me what all I need to do to butcher a squrriel correctly?

We cut the head off and feet and opened up it bottom side and tookout all the guts and etc.. What all can we save to eat besides just the meat?

Thanks for all the help and advice you all can give. I'm new to hunting and hate to ask so many questions but if don't I will do something wrong be my luck.

I does seem a bit early to be hunting , we are still infested with tiny deer ticksin this area hoping a hard frost will ake care of them but in no hurry for cold weather. I'll stick with fishing for a while

The weather here is already getting colder it was down in the lower 40's this morn and right now it is 45.. Suppose to get colder to close to 40 tonight brrr

My FIL looked at the squrriel and he said it look good no problems.

If a squirrel has fleas in the summer, it's still going to have fleas in the winter. Just like coon fleas, they are there 12 months of a year. You don't see as many as they aren't breeding as actively as in warm months.

If you have a "mess" of them and plan to make squirrel stew or pot pie, you can also save the hearts. Some real oldtimers would also save the heads to go into that stewpot but not our family!

Once you have the squirrel reduced to a carcass, you can make 5 pieces for stew. Cut through the spine where the ribs end. Take the front half and lay it on its back. With a cleaver, split it as close to the middle as you can. You end up with 2 pieces with ribs and a leg on each.

For rear half, cut through spine just ahead of the legs to give you a nice meaty back piece. Then split what's left into 2 legs.

Some hunters may not save the rib part of the carcass but we always did. Picking those out of ones mouth was perfectly acceptable table manners!

Martin

Here is our hunting season for them
Bag Limit
All squirrels combined - six per day.
Seasons
September 2-January 31

Thanks for the information on that..

And thanks everyone else also for the help and advice you have given. I'm planning on going back hunting tomorrow all day and then take my DD in the evening. Done found a great nut tree that the squrriels are at.. I may have to wear a hard hat because of all the nuts falling out of tree.. LOL.

If you will can you pm me some informtion about saving the hide and tail also. Any information will be greatly accepted..

Thanks. I gone back hunting..

We're not allowed to use a .22 to hunt anything other than racoons or woodchucks here in NJ. For squirrel the options are muzzleloader under .36 cal or a shotgun. I love squirrel hunting and go out at least a few times every year early in season to sharpen my skills before the "big" seasons start. Squirrel chili mmmmmmm

Well went out this morn hunting and wasn't even out in the woods 20mins til I got 2 nice squrriels. Went back out this evening to take my DD and we seen a few but to small to get so we came back home. Done skinned the ones I got this morn and put in freezer hope to get more later.

Hey I killed a few yesterday me and my son did anyways. If anybody has any good simple fried suirrel recipes start a thread. Its been a while since I fixed em. Also how to make it with gravy. If there is a thread can someone post the link.

Way to go Allwolf! I now declare you a bonifide squirrel hunter. Enjoy it for years to come.

Now you will be on your way to finding out the best way to cook them. Trial and error will teach you. You will soon learn that older squirrels are tough in the frying pan and that those small squirrels that you have been letting go free are the ones you want to fry up in the pan. The older ones are the ones you want to stew, pressure cook, or grind up for burger/sausage.

Forgot to add. There's not much you can do with the hides. You can salt dry them out. Cut them up in a spiral circle and you will have boot laces or a bow string. The tails, cut them off and dip the flesh end in salt and let dry out straight. At the end of the season you can sell all your squirrel and deer tails to Mepps Fishing Lure Co. They will buy your tails from you and will double the price if you order fishing lures from them. Do a google search on Mepps and they should have a website to check the info out.

I wanted to go hunting today but only one problem and have you all had this problem..

My DD said to me this morn mommie do not go hunting because I can't go. So now I have to wait until next week to go so my DD can go with me. I have gotten so use to going now I'm about to go nuts in house and it has been raining to so it wouldn't do me much good to go now anyways I wouldn't think. Can't go hunting this weekend ither because my DD is gone with other parts of family for weekend. So I was ordered by DD not to go hunting.. :rolleyes:


But have you all had your DS or DD say that to you?

Kids sure can fool you at times.

Ive had many discussions with DD why sometimes daddy will go hunting or fishing alone , I just promiss to take her along next time . She knows Daddy always keeps his promiss .