Squirrel Season

[Sobrbiker]

Squirrels are fun to hunt and tasty.
I love folks that diminish what squirrel hunting is, especially when they come from places where a deer hunt is sitting in a blind over a feed plot 30yds away

 

[mingc]

I wouldn't think squirrels are good enough eating to be worth the effort to shoot them. Is the fur useful?

 

[Sig]

It’s the same thing here.
They make it over to our spread every evening and during hunting season they practically live here full time. Same thing with the neighbor's property which is an enormous farm. Fortunately the Bear stay on her spread for the most part although I lose an occasional feeder I consider it a trade off for solitude and distance from the burbs.

The wildlife on our property and our dogs have an odd relationship. I didn't consciously teach them this, but everything is allowed in the yard except bears and raccoons....and yotes, more on that later.
At night the raccoons better run or they're gonna have a rough time. The bears know the dogs are here, so they stay away for the most part. This time of year they cruise through looking for a place to sleep.
With coons the dogs are dead quiet and stealthy. With the bears they are loud and aggressive. They taught themselves all this.
Raccoons sometimes stop to fight, bears always run and never want a fight. I know when the dogs catch a bear. I have to go save the dumb thing from the onslaught.
Coyotes are another story. Im not going to get into it, but the coyotes are immediately dealt with by the dogs. The coyote population has exploded around here. At least half a dozen neighbors have lost dogs, and countless cats, chickens, lambs....
A few years ago my wife was confronted by 3 coyotes in our yard. Our 15 pound Chihuahua/Corgi mix was with her. The coyotes were after the dog. The wife was holding the dog above her head while the coyotes jumped for him. The wife got scratched up by the coyotes.
I had a couple dogs in the house with me, lord only knows where the farm dogs were.
I heard her screaming, opened the door and our 2 Mastiffs went after the coyotes. Two were eliminated in the yard, the third was ran down in the woods and eliminated.
This sounds harsh, but when coyotes get brazen enough to enter your yard and injure a human, its us or them.
I really dont care if "they were here first", I conquered this tiny bit of land and if they cant behave, they gotta go.

 

[Sig]

I wouldn't think squirrels are good enough eating to be worth the effort to shoot them. Is the fur useful?

That depends on if you like the taste or not. Its pretty easy to get half a dozen squirrels in a few hours. That's a hearty meal for 2-3 people. They taste fine. Im not a huge fan, but they are a good source of nutrition.
This is where the "entertainment" comes in. Hunting is fun...period.
Its also grest exercise, great relaxation, and a great way to get out in nature.
I pretty much only hunt white tail, porcupine, and birds....turkey, pheasant, grouse, but occasionally get some squirrels or rabbits. Wild rabbit is absolutely delicious. But they are not plentiful around here.
The best tasting meat in the NE where I live is definitely porcupine. In fact, its my favorite game meat. If they were easier to find, I'd probably give up on deer.

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

I wouldn't think squirrels are good enough eating to be worth the effort to shoot them. Is the fur useful?

The fur and tails of squirrel pelts are commonly used for tying fishing flies.

I’ve caught trout with flies I tied from squirrel fur and tails.

Here is a good example.

https://davewhitlock.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/RFSHN-story-and-tying.pdf

 

[Mortar0341]

Looks like a good plan.

I've cooked some pretty terrible squirrel dishes before, it can be tricky.

I usually boil 'em, then fry, then simmer in gravy... It's always pretty not great, but still fun to eat meat you went out and got yourself.

Yeah buddy! That's the ticket there.

 

[Mortar0341]

Killing harmless little animals for no good reason but entertainment is barbaric and simply wrong !

I agree, I'm not a fan of sport hunting. But regular hunting is great, fishing too. If your putting food on the table that's a great thing. I love to fish and hunt but I'd never kill something I wasn't going to eat or use in someway like make a pair of boots or a coat or something maybe but use it you know don't just kill stuff because we can. I'd love to have some gator boots and some gator steaks though ya know.

 

[Mortar0341]

I love squirrels in gravy over rice. My house eats way more rabbit than we eat squirrel but we do have it from time to time.

 

[mingc]

That depends on if you like the taste or not. Its pretty easy to get half a dozen squirrels in a few hours. That's a hearty meal for 2-3 people. They taste fine. Im not a huge fan, but they are a good source of nutrition.
This is where the "entertainment" comes in. Hunting is fun...period.
Its also grest exercise, great relaxation, and a great way to get out in nature.
I pretty much only hunt white tail, porcupine, and birds....turkey, pheasant, grouse, but occasionally get some squirrels or rabbits. Wild rabbit is absolutely delicious. But they are not plentiful around here.
The best tasting meat in the NE where I live is definitely porcupine. In fact, its my favorite game meat. If they were easier to find, I'd probably give up on deer.

I've had squirrel once but that was over 40 years ago. All I can remember is that I didn't like it enough to want it again.

 

[blab77]

My boys and I hunt squirrels in the mountains of eastern AZ every fall. Our season opens a week from today, and we'll be up there in two weeks for our first trip of the season. Where we hunt it's very remote, nothing like having an entire national forest all to yourself, or at least it feels that way. And we always eat the meat...squirrel goulash...so good.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Food is easier, cheaper, and better at the grocery store... But IMO you should keep those skills sharp. One day you might need them. And like I said, to ME it's important that my son has a little self reliance, and knows how to shoot.

In our modern world hunting is a sport, but never forget that we are just one natural disaster away from it being a necessity.

Three days no of trucks running and squirrel hunting would have a different look to it.

Nothing wrong with hunting in my eyes... But each man can have his own opinion.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I've had squirrel once but that was over 40 years ago. All I can remember is that I didn't like it enough to want it again.

If it was good like chicken or beef they'd have it at the grocery store. Haha

It ain't bad though, if you cook it right.

If you cook it wrong, it's about as tough as wood.

 

[mingc]

If it was good like chicken or beef they'd have it at the grocery store. Haha

Good point!

 

[BCF]

I wouldn't think squirrels are good enough eating to be worth the effort to shoot them. Is the fur useful?

We used to send the tails off to Mepps in exchange for spinners. I don't if you still can, but that was a fun part of it all. As mentioned above, a lot of guys tie flies with the tails and the fur. I still do.

 

[prairiedruid]

Yep Mepps still buys tails.

Sell Your Squirrel Tails to Mepps for Fishing Lures | Mepps - https://www.mepps.com/squirrel-tail/

I keep the tails in my freezer until I have 20 or so to send in. My grandfather kept his tackle box filled with spinners from Mepps thanks to squirrel hunting. I like mine wrapped in bacon and baked with a side of applesauce.

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

We used to send the tails off to Mepps in exchange for spinners. I don't if you still can, but that was a fun part of it all. As mentioned above, a lot of guys tie flies with the tails and the fur. I still do.

@BCF I found a size 10 Whitlock’s Red Fox Squirrel Nymph to be a great prospecting nymph on the freestone streams back East when nothing obvious was happening. I suppose because it is a reasonable representation of a golden stonefly nymph or a molting black stonefly nymph. It is a fly worth having in your box.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

When I was a kid I had shoe boxes full of tails. I wonder where those ended up...

I bet my mom threw them out at some point.

Back the she would complain that it was nasty to just have them drying out in a shoe box. They never smelled or anything though.

If I wanted to start a new collection my wife will be in opposition. Haha

 

[PaulRVA]

The wildlife on our property and our dogs have an odd relationship. I didn't consciously teach them this, but everything is allowed in the yard except bears and raccoons....and yotes, more on that later.
At night the raccoons better run or they're gonna have a rough time. The bears know the dogs are here, so they stay away for the most part. This time of year they cruise through looking for a place to sleep.
With coons the dogs are dead quiet and stealthy. With the bears they are loud and aggressive. They taught themselves all this.
Raccoons sometimes stop to fight, bears always run and never want a fight. I know when the dogs catch a bear. I have to go save the dumb thing from the onslaught.
Coyotes are another story. Im not going to get into it, but the coyotes are immediately dealt with by the dogs. The coyote population has exploded around here. At least half a dozen neighbors have lost dogs, and countless cats, chickens, lambs....
A few years ago my wife was confronted by 3 coyotes in our yard. Our 15 pound Chihuahua/Corgi mix was with her. The coyotes were after the dog. The wife was holding the dog above her head while the coyotes jumped for him. The wife got scratched up by the coyotes.
I had a couple dogs in the house with me, lord only knows where the farm dogs were.
I heard her screaming, opened the door and our 2 Mastiffs went after the coyotes. Two were eliminated in the yard, the third was ran down in the woods and eliminated.
This sounds harsh, but when coyotes get brazen enough to enter your yard and injure a human, its us or them.
I really dont care if "they were here first", I conquered this tiny bit of land and if they cant behave, they gotta go.

Yotes around here get their choice of 204,22-250,270,308,300WM and with No Quarter given.
I haven’t seen any this year fortunately but across the river from us they’re having some issues as the population is heavier.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Everyone thinks it’s easy, but as soon as you step into the woods with a gun, there’s not a damned squirrel to be seen.

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

When I was a kid I had shoe boxes full of tails. I wonder where those ended up...

I bet my mom threw them out at some point.

Back the she would complain that it was nasty to just have them drying out in a shoe box. They never smelled or anything though.

If I wanted to start a new collection my wife will be in opposition. Haha

Yeah, some wives are funny like that. My father-in-law was an avid fly fisherman and fly tyer. He tied flies commercially on the side for years. He was always skinning something. He had totes full of pelts and bird skins. He had everything from mole to moose. He was known to have skinned a road killed skunk or two. I guess the last straw for my mother-in-law was when he put the fresh deer hide in her washing machine.