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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: Tips for hunting squirrels: [Re: ashfiken]
#17611037 - 01/25/13 08:19 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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I hear they don't taste very good living on pine cones.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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MorphinTime
Tulpa



Registered: 09/05/11
Posts: 7,152
Loc: Angel Grove
Last seen: 4 months, 13 days
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Re: Tips for hunting squirrels: [Re: Icelander]
#17764296 - 02/07/13 08:56 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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If you're rimfire hunting try using subsonic ammo or CB caps since they're so quiet. I wouldn't use CB caps in longer barrels (18"+) though; I've heard cases of them getting stuck.
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GuruBushHippie
MountainMan


Registered: 04/28/11
Posts: 3,434
Loc: USA
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
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Re: Tips for hunting squirrels: [Re: MorphinTime]
#17769900 - 02/08/13 08:56 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Icelander said: I hear they don't taste very good living on pine cones.
Pine cones are not their primary food source by any means. More often they just chew them to keep their teeth from growing exponentially. A forest dwelling squirrel's main diet consists of nuts, seeds, and fruits. They are also known to eat fungi, bird eggs, and insects.
Quote:
MorphinTime said: If you're rimfire hunting try using subsonic ammo or CB caps since they're so quiet. I wouldn't use CB caps in longer barrels (18"+) though; I've heard cases of them getting stuck.
I typically use my .177 air gun, but I've taken plenty of squirrels with my .22 Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle. The noise from a standard .22 round really isn't an issue in my experience. The problem I have with the CB caps is the decreased velocity. They are pretty much all primer and no powder and have an average speed of around 500 fps which is horrible for distance shots. Hence the reason they sometimes get stuck. A well placed shot with a standard .22 round is more than adequate. I've actually had a lot of success with high velocity .22 rounds, especially when it comes to taking down rabbits.
-------------------- Two roads diverged in a wood, and I cut straight through the forest, and that has made all the difference.
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Turns out you're right.
Unlike the gray squirrel whose diet consists largely (although not exclusively) of nuts and seeds, red squirrels are complete omnivores, consuming a tremendous variety of food. In addition to nuts, seeds, buds, bark, fruits, mushrooms (which are often hung to dry in tree branches), they are successful predators on bird's eggs, nestlings, voles, young rabbits, frogs, salamanders, and insects. In fact, I recall reading that they will eat anything that will not eat them.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: Tips for hunting squirrels: [Re: Icelander]
#17773310 - 02/09/13 03:41 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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These delicate looking little animals, weighing not much more than about 230 g, are in fact aggressively fearless, not at all reluctant to chase intruders many times their size. People get a kick out of seeing these squirrels stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and scolding vociferously in what seems like a paroxysm of rage. Anyone who has ventured near one of their food caches has been treated to this display. At times they get so agitated that they nearly fall out of the tree in their anxiety to see the interloper off.
They can often be seen chasing away larger gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) who rarely put up a fight when confronted by these red terrors. A few years ago, I watched a red squirrel quite literally riding on the back of a gray squirrel and repeatedly biting its head. The gray was running, with difficulty, trying to shake the smaller animal from its back, with no success. I don't know what the outcome was because the gray managed to climb a tree and vanish, still with the red on its back! Was this simply a matter of chasing away an intruder taken to extreme, or was there a more insidious intent, with the gray being viewed as food?
Some years ago, I found a red squirrel feeding on the hindquarters of a gray squirrel (black phase). I never knew whether the gray squirrel had been killed by the red squirrel, or whether, as seems more likely, it had simply come across the animal already deceased and had taken advantage of a good source of protein (the flesh) and calcium and minerals (the bones). I watched this squirrel for a long time and it both ate the meaty part of the gray squirrel and gnawed on the bones. I have also seen red squirrels gnawing on bones of various animals, including those of a rabbit at the FWG.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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MorphinTime
Tulpa



Registered: 09/05/11
Posts: 7,152
Loc: Angel Grove
Last seen: 4 months, 13 days
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Quote:
GuruBushHippie said: I typically use my .177 air gun, but I've taken plenty of squirrels with my .22 Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle. The noise from a standard .22 round really isn't an issue in my experience. The problem I have with the CB caps is the decreased velocity. They are pretty much all primer and no powder and have an average speed of around 500 fps which is horrible for distance shots. Hence the reason they sometimes get stuck. A well placed shot with a standard .22 round is more than adequate. I've actually had a lot of success with high velocity .22 rounds, especially when it comes to taking down rabbits.
I usually just use standard velocity .22 lr, but in some places the squirrels are more skittish and subsonic rounds may be more suitable. I don't personally use CB caps, but they are really quiet. Not great for longer shots as you said, but the bullet has enough mass to do the job on closer shots.
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Boutang
AKMC




Registered: 01/25/06
Posts: 1,660
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They fucking love peanut butter.
When I was young I would put tons of peanut butter on paper plates around my property and sit on my porches and wait for them to come running over to it.
Not much of a need to bait them though since there's an insane amount of squirrels around where I live.
--------------------
  
North to the future is our motto I'm still up north no future to follow
We do these things and we don't give a fuck, we fire up a blunt in the car bumping Cougnut.
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gandalf579
Mushroom Hunter

Registered: 09/28/07
Posts: 907
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Tips for hunting squirrels: [Re: Boutang]
#17808044 - 02/15/13 03:38 PM (11 years, 10 months ago) |
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I love to hunt squirrels! Mainly greys but if I'm desperate I'll take a red. I only use my trusty Nylon 66 .22 LR (with scope). Slings are OK for short shots, say up to 50-75 feet away, but much further and they lose accuracy and velocity. With my .22 (with scope) I can tack drive at 250 feet, no need to get so close and risk "spooking" the squirrels.
If I'm camping or just making a quick lunch I just spit roast em over an open fire. At home I like to have em for breakfast.
I brown em in one pot and then boil em in another (using chicken broth or just plain water) until fully cooked. In the first pot I make a rue using the butter/oil that I browned the squirrel in and add flour, then cook the rue to a very light brown. While the rue is cooking I pick/pull the meat off the squirrel and set aside until the rue is cooked. After the rue is cooked I add some of the chicken broth (that I used to cook the squirrel) and a splash or two of whole milk to make a gravy. The amount of broth and milk I add all depends on how big of a pot of gravy I'm making. Right before the gravy is fully cooked I add the squirrel meat to it to heat through. The whole time seasoning to taste. I serve the gravy on a couple of slices of toasted white bread. Delicious!!!
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