[ontario boss gobler]

Hello I am new to this forum and I am a canadian.I just wanted to know how well did you guys do on the squirrels this year.:hide:

 

[Floyd D]

Squirrels

I to am new to this site, we in Mich. are enjoying a good squirrel season with the warm weather. Hoping to meet some squirrel hunters here in Ind.

 

[goggleye57]

Indiana's squirrel season ended Dec 31. I think the Indiana DNR needs to look at extending the season. Its pretty clear from research most wildlife populations are limited more by habitat than over hunting. I think in Indiana squirrels are an underutilized wildlife resource. They sure taste good!:tongue:

 

[MrBuckfly]

We can still hunt Squirrels below U.S.40 but As Goggleye57 stated the season just went out 12-31-2004 for all areas above it.Sure like hunting them busytails, in fact they are my favorite small game.There is hardly a better breakfast than Squirrel and gravy.The tails also make decent Fly and Jig dressings.What weapon do you guys like hunting them with and what time of the season do you prefer to hunt them?

 

[ontario boss gobler]

I like to use a 16 gauge single shot coeey if I can fibd the shell [the 16 gauge shells here in canada are really hard to get]or my 12 gauge pump.I like to hunt them in mid fall when the leafs are starting to fall.:yikes: you should post the recipe
for you squirrel and gravy.

 

[Floyd D]

We in mich. do enjoy a long season, Sept.15-Mar.1 I prefer nov.-dec. but have to tip toe thru deer hunters, normally I won't hunt during the firearm season, so that gives me 6wks of squirrel hunting. I ran a small fiest thats 3yrs only shoot a single shot 22 bolt action, with cci-minnie mags, head shots only their deadly. In Jan. it's normall to see breeding activity, so I leave them alone, just me,

 

[Jack Ryan]

This season was terrible,(grin).

I've lived and hunted squirrels here for five years now. Killing all I care to eat right from the front porch. Always had plenty to eat and plenty to shoot at.

I made a big "mistake" this year. Bought one of those 17HRM Marlin rifles.

I think I may have killed them ALL!

 

[Floyd D]

A buddy of mine had to have 17 an I'll tell ya, you have to hit above the shoulders, a lot of over kill there.

 

[Jack Ryan]

A buddy of mine had to have 17 an I'll tell ya, you have to hit above the shoulders, a lot of over kill there.

Do people shoot them anywhere else?

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't usually put my shoes on until I've finished my Cheerios and have to go out and pick up the days limit. 5 a day is all we are allowed.

 

[MrBuckfly]

Hi ontario boss gobler,Floyd D and Jack Ryan ,Good to hear from a group of Squirrel hunters.I am also a Deer Hunter so most of my Squirrel hunting is done after Deer Season in December.When I was a kid I could never sleep the night before Squirrel season came in.I was just too excited and ready to hunt.I still enjoy Hunting them to this day.I guess I have shot them with about every weapon.Bowhunting them is great fun but I get real hungry before I can get one but every now and then I do get one.I mostly use a scoped 22 bolt action rifle and shoot 36 gr.Mini Mag Hollow Points.If I am in smaller Woods or near houses I use a 12 ga. mossberg ulti-mag with # 6 field loads. Ontario Boss Gobler my Squirrel and gravy recipe is pretty simple.I put the cut Squirrel pieces in to a pan of salt water and after it comes to a boil I leave them there for 15 minutes.I then change the water on them 3 times before flouring the pieces and slow frying them.When they are done,I turn the heat back and add 3 tablespoons of flour to the skillet mixing it with the contents.When it gets thicker I add as much milk as needed to make a healthy serving.Turn the heat back up and stir constantly until it begins to thicken.The trick is to take it off the heat before it gets too thick.It will get thicker even after being removed from the heat.Put it on some drop bisquits and your in business.Jack D,I bet hunting squirrels with a dog is great fun.I have owned a dog or two that would tree a Squirrel but I have never had a real good one.Jack ryan,it sounds like you are over run with Squirrels in your neck of the woods.Must be nice,I don't see how you could have too many though.Just keep eating them.How do you like that 17 H.M.R.?If it isn't a head shot I bet it tears them up pretty bad doesn't it?Well,looks like I have wrote a small book.Catch you later.-Scotty

 

[MrBuckfly]

Opps,sorry Jack d.You made your post before I made mine and I had not seen it.Good pictures and great shooting.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Nothing there I see to be sorry about.

Sounds great to me. Wish I had you around to cook them. I don't usually get to fancy, just soak them in a little salt water and flour them like chicken or change the water once and put them in the freezer.

If I'm in a gourme, gormay, gor something or other, I'll coat them with some kind of fish batter. Beer batter or shore lunch something like that and fry like chicken.

Don't really know what a body shot would do to them but it took a special effort to get all five laying so it could make a decent picture. Most head shots with this aren't very pretty. If you don't limit your self to head shots I believe you really could kill them all.

I have shot them with everything from bb guns, shorts all the way to 22 mag depending on how far I want to shoot. Where I live now it's 200 yards to the mail box by the road and I was only hitting about half what I shot at past 100 yards. So I wanted something better.

I read a lot about those pea shooters but I really wanted a Marlin 22 mag bolt action. The old one was a Mossberg. Well I searched for a couple months and didn't run across one, but Walmart had this 17HRM every time I walked in there.

I was at the point of ordering the 22 mag in stainless. Exactly what I wanted...

Until they told me it was 269 dollars. That made the 917V at 179 look pretty darn good and I'd read some pretty outlandish claims for their accuracy.

Bottom line is in those pix. I wouldn't trade now for every 22 mag I've ever owned now. Some of those heads were shot at over 150 yards and I didn't shot a squirrel for the last 2 months because new ones just started showing up the last week or two.

 

[MrBuckfly]

I have been hearing good things about the 17H.M.R.and I think you have convinced me.A 150 yard head shot on a Squirrel is very impressive indeed.I bought a 5mm magnum the year they were first introduced to hunt Ground Hogs with.My reason for buying it was the noise facter.Sometimes around more populated areas less noise is better.I shot 14 one shot Ground hog kills with it out to ranges exceeding 125 yards and then let a guy trade me out of it.Wish I had It back sometimes.I may just replace it with a 17H.M.R..

 

[Jack Ryan]

Check out what they are saying on Rimfire Central. That's where I got my info.

Everything I've gotton from those guys was straight up. No bull. Just good reliable information.

Varmint Al seems to have done some pretty extensive research on the 17 as well.

 

[tenring]

Squirrel hunting here in Central Indiana about 30 miles below Indianapolis was bad this year. A dry spell in the spring must have caused the nut crop to lessen. My favorite woods was the pits. Most of the bushytails were in 2 very old oak trees, my favorite Hickorys' were bare. Walnuts were nowhere, Poplars were good though, give them a little something to forage on. Ones behind my house are cleaning me out of eared corn that I have for my "backyard" rabbit. Gave up on shotguns years ago, now use a Remington 513-T, a Remington 541-X, both with 3-9X scopes. Got both rifles through the CMP. Have a standard barrel Remington 40-X [again from the CMP] with a 4-15 on it that I am going to try out before the 31 January deadline, shoots bugholes at 50 yds. with Wolf target ammo. Always go for head shots now, means I have to pass on a lot of shots though, will be 60 next year, in the 5th stage of hunting [also a HE instructor], means I have mellowed out and now enjoy the experience more than pulling the trigger. Must admit that 2003 produced 36 kills for me, even though my success rate was a little below 60 percent. Gawd, this getting old sucks!:banghead3

 

[MrBuckfly]

Ah Tenring you are not getting older you are getting better.I am just a little behind you in age and thats what I like to tell myself anyway.Boy,when the ole Eyes and Ears start going Squirrel hunting becomes more of a challenge.It doesn't matter,I will still hunt them even if I have to use a cane.You are right about the weak nut mast this year.One of my better Tactics this year was to simply hunt the open picked crop fields.One of my best locations this year was on a bean field.It also tested my rifle and shooting ability as some of the shooting was 40 plus yards.The rifle is a marlin 81t with a 3x9x32 Simmons scope.I usually leave the scope on 5 power but with longer shooting in the fields I opened it up.Let us know how you do with that Rem.40x in the late season.

 

[ontario boss gobler]

great pictures jack Do you guys get many big black ones.:yikes:

 

[Jack Ryan]

OK, I give up.

Big black ones?

Greys and fox squirrels but no big black ones.

I've really put the hurt on beavers around here with this 17 though. I'm keeping a running list of what I've killed on one set of Varmint Al's BiFurPod shooting sticks and the hash marks are getting pretty numerous.

Only two marks are NOT with the 17 and those were deer with my 870.

 

[ontario boss gobler]

The reason that I had asked about black ones is the part of ontario that I live in
as a big pollutation of black squirrels,and fox:yikes: