My deer hunt got rained out here Saturday so I turned lemons into lemonade and hunted squirrels instead.
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/IMG_0269_zpstvxpggvc.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/IMG_0269_zpstvxpggvc.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/52d212a4-e15f-46e8-93f5-098cbb5d5b3d_zpssmgc7qyf.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/52d212a4-e15f-46e8-93f5-098cbb5d5b3d_zpssmgc7qyf.jpg.html)
Got lucky enough to anchor this fine specimen with a blunt while I was moving through the woods. I barely missed one earlier with my broadhead from the tree...man I love taking squirrels with the bow.
Part of the reason I carry so many arrows when deer hunting.
Let's talk all things squirrel!
I have shot them with just about every head including modified field points, .38 shell hulls with a nail in the end, ones with sharpened banding steel, blunts and braodheads and they are tough customers no matter what you hit them with. I shot one last year completely through the body with a ace standard that broke off behind the point on a rock after going through the squirrel. Dang fella managed to crawl off my arrow and run away down a hole before I got my climber down to the bottom of the tree.
I think if you can constantly kill squirrels with the bow deer are no trouble at all. The only practice better than stump shooting I think!
Man O Man!
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/102612001.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/102612001.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/102612002.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/102612002.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/102612003.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/102612003.jpg.html)
Some of my past squirrel head projects....
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/110612005.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/110612005.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/flu005.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/flu005.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/006_zpse78cc041.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/006_zpse78cc041.jpg.html)
Looks like a fun thread. I'm planning on trying my hand at squirrel huntin with my longbow this year. I've read how tough they are to kill, so I tried to come up with something for maximum squirrel destruction. Hopefully I'll get to test them this year. Here's the before and after of what I came up with.
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-45.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-45.jpg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-46.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-46.jpg.html)
Hey Greg, I agree, squirrels are it!
Shot my first of the season last saturday!
Storms were all around with lightning, dead still and nothing making a sound!
Then I heard cutting close buy. I moved closer to the sound and then here he came bouncing thru the limbs to check me out!
Started barking, then shortly settled back to knawing on the walnut.
I slowly moved on down the trail past him, checking, and looking for a shot. Hoping to get the big catalpa tree directly in line with the shot. I made it about 10 yards past and he was still occupied with his meal.
I found the setup and made slight adjustments, he was about 20 ft. up.
Drew back the Bear Grizzly, shooting a pine, 635 gr. shaft with a field 160 gr. field pt.
A quiet shot, thru the arm pit and down he came! He's now in my daughter's freezer!
Nice sequence of pictures two4hooking! Great shot on a tough little target! :thumbsup:
Bernie
Last year I hit four, two with judos, two with broadheads and recovered none until the fifth. (//%5Burl=http://s1228.photobucket.com/user/jimavelis/media/1sttrad.jpg.html%5D%20%20%5Bimg%5Dhttp://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee458/jimavelis/1sttrad.jpg)[/url] [/IMG]
I gave it to the couple who let me hunt their land. She is old school and really likes the tree rats. My first shot with my new Thunderchild this year drew blood, but it got back to its den :(
Just need a couple more for the crock pot.
[ (http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee434/Catchump/101_0364_zpsd9de5795.jpg)
Nice thread.....I need to take time to start shooting them....been a while since I've eaten one....bet my Treager grill would really make them even tastier.
two4hooking
That looks like a darn fine evening... squirrel, a brew, and a little traditional bowhunter!
I had one last year that I knocked off a branch from a tree with my hex blunts. He was 10 feet up, and he hit the ground with a thud! Suddenly, he shook to life and headed for his home tree.
I couldn't believe he survived it all.
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/pinesquirrelfall387.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/groversquirrel1.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/Foxsquirrelnov05.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/fallingsquirrel1-640.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/2013SquirrelnMyrtlenquiver.jpg)
Great pics, Charlie!
And this thread makes me want to get out and hunt some squirrels!
My wife and I when out for squirrel this weekend. Never even saw one, we did get a few doves, they were everywhere, so were the mosquitoes in the trees.
Now we are talking! Love that old black and white photo of the squirrel falling Charlie!
Here are a few from past seasons.
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/20141106_161006_zpsfe74b356.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/20141106_161006_zpsfe74b356.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/20130914_090558_zpsff881172.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/20130914_090558_zpsff881172.jpg.html)
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/100112009.jpg) (http://s481.photobucket.com/user/two4hooking/media/100112009.jpg.html)
No joke....I would rather eat squirrels than anything else in the woods.
That's it, I'm hitting the woods this evening. The fried squirrel pics got me. It is the opener after all... :archer2:
Even notice the spots that have lots of squirrel also have lots of deer activity.... :coffee:
Anyone have a GOOD squirrel skinning process? I have seen the vids of cutting across the vent/tail and standing on the tail and pulling the legs... with Northern winter squirrels (thick hide I guess) all I got was a ripped off hing "quarter"! :(
I've tried it several times and always had dismal results so I don't shoot them perishers...
That and the hair gets all over the meat! Nasty!
Flavor wise, better then rabbit which I like a lot!
I use a little hanger made just for that. Can't remember where it came from. You hang them by the back legs and start the way you said, by cutting under the tail, then pulling the skin downward. You'll sometimes have to cut the skin around under the belly to keep from tearing the tougher ones in half. He'll be left with just a pair of pants on. Flip him around and the hanger has another notch that his neck fits in so you can take his pants off. I've seen people do it alone using their hands and feet, but I never could. A small sharp knife helps a lot. Don't know your age, but a grandson makes a pretty good hanger as well. I learned by holding them for both of my grandfathers and will probably start letting my son help me some this year.
Our wildlife dept. has a tv show called Outdoor Oklahoma and they filmed three of us squirrel hunting with bows last year. The show should air at the end of this month or the first of next month. It will be available on a podcast. I don't know how it will turn out but we had pretty good success and a lot of fun. Since it is for the general public, they don't show kill shots but there are plenty of misses they can show. ;)
I'm gonna try to get out tomorrow. Damn its been hot and I've been working too hard. Almost hate to see deer season start up sometimes cause I feel like I can't shoot squirrel while I'm deer hunting.
Doc, another great way to clean them is,
put in some water. A 5 gal. bucket or I throw em the creek, which is what I do!
Cut the feet, tail, and head off. Then make a complete cut around the middle of the body, and pull skin off one end, and then the other.
The remove the entrails.
Wetting the hide first, will allow any loose hair to be removed or wiped cleaner from the body!
Always helps to skin soon while the body is still warm and pliable, too.
I think I'll not be shooting squirrels this year. I'm in the middle of raising one that was found orphaned. It's like a sort of penance for the four or five hundred I have shot and eaten over the years. If I can release this one or once it passes on I'll probably hunt them again.
Never heard that one, Frank!
Thanks. I used to chop off the head, feet, then circle the middle and pull both directions, but the arms do NOT care for that motion anymore...or I should say the shoulders...
those Vids of the step on tail and pull the legs sure made it look easy...but it werent for me! :(
This guy makes it look easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZB7iE2b21M
Blaine,
You aint whistlin Dixie to say he makes it LOOK easy.
The T shirt sleeves might be a give away.
TWo I tried in PA were both dead of winter with their winter coats on! I managed to do exactly what he did and stepped on the tail and pulled and ripped on rear ham right off the squirrel...the hide never budged.
Second one I tried that way, the tail kept slipping out from under my boot and the hide wouldn't budge... but again, both were dead of winter... and PA gets some cold at times!
They sure didn't look like the squirrels were fresh killed, but the weather appeared mild with a t-shirt w/ short sleeves! Might be key!
QuoteOriginally posted by tomsm44:
Looks like a fun thread. I'm planning on trying my hand at squirrel huntin with my longbow this year. I've read how tough they are to kill, so I tried to come up with something for maximum squirrel destruction. Hopefully I'll get to test them this year. Here's the before and after of what I came up with.
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-45.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-45.jpg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-46.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-46.jpg.html)
Hey.. neat looking heads but IMHO.. you'll leave the woods minus a lot of arrows.. they'll all be stuck into the trees!
QuoteOriginally posted by tomsm44:
Looks like a fun thread. I'm planning on trying my hand at squirrel huntin with my longbow this year. I've read how tough they are to kill, so I tried to come up with something for maximum squirrel destruction. Hopefully I'll get to test them this year. Here's the before and after of what I came up with.
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-45.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-45.jpg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image-46.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image-46.jpg.html)
Hey.. neat looking heads but IMHO.. you'll leave the woods minus a lot of arrows.. they'll all be stuck into the trees!
I don't plan to squirrel hunt until the acorns and leaves are off and the squirrels are on the ground for that very reason. If they didn't get stuck in the tree, I'd probably never see them again anyway. Guess I need to build me some flu flus.
Also, the ferrules are aluminum, so a shot to a tree will probably pretty well do the head in. If I get to try them and they work well, I may try to build a one piece steel head of a similar design.
Doc, the squirrel he is cleaning is a grey! Thinner skin then a fox!
Skinning when warm is important!
Another reason why the Indians liked fox squirrels for their hide.
Doc, the squirrel he is cleaning is a grey! Thinner skin then a fox!
Skinning when warm is important!
Another reason why the Indians liked fox squirrels for their hide.
Yup, Frank, both my Squirrel-asters were greys!(as in disasters!) January though...
Fox Squirrel is not only tough to skin and a durable hide, so can the critter meat be tough... Older neighbor lady cooked one her hubby shot...said she cooked it for 2 hrs slow in a pot of water and it never got tender...told him to never bring home another Fox Squirrel.
My grandfather used to get on to my brother and myself when we brought him a fox squirrel. He said you wouldn't be able to cut the gravy with a fork when you got him cooked. :D
Well, I love the fox! They have gave much fun, and good eating!
I agree! I like the fox squirrels. Much bigger than the grey (more meat) and I had not experienced a big difference in meat quality compared. Squirrel is tough period, and deserves some special cooking techniques (slow and low). I read somewhere fox squirrels can be 12 years old in the wild (females). Perhaps a few individuals can get particularly tough and old? Like an old goose.
We have 99% greys around here with and odd fox (black head, grey body) mixed in...
Our squirrel season starts Oct. 1 and most of them have wolves on them now anyways... We always wait until after the 1st frost before we start hunting them.
Grandmamma always cooked them in a pressure cooker fist and then fried them or she'd make squirrel and biscuit dumplings. Man, that woman could cook!
Yep, Blaino, pressure cooker is great! I will put 'em in with a deer roast, little pork shoulder, carrots, onion and celery, and seasoning.
About 30 min. and good eating!
(//%5Burl=http://s1228.photobucket.com/user/jimavelis/media/RB5rat.jpg.html%5D%20%5Bimg%5Dhttp://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee458/jimavelis/RB5rat.jpg)[/url] [/IMG] Deer season starts 10/1 so squirrel are all I have right now. This guy was about 10 feet up ad 10 feet out barking at me... :archer:
Great shot Jim! Good luck with the coming season, too!
I got a shot on one yesterday, about the same way, he was carrying a pair of hick nuts, took the shot and busted the nuts right out of his mouth!
He must have been left with a headache :knothead:
Where along the Little Muddy are you?
Just north of ya , Jim.
Covington, along I-74.
Gotcha. Good luck come Thursday... :archer2:
DOC, its all in how you make the first cut that decides how well they are gonna peel down. Make the cut through the tail at the base and don't get into the hind quarters with your blade. After cutting thru the tail joint cut about 1" on both sides of the tail slightly angled downward. It doesn't happen over night but you will get the hang of it. I have literally skinned thousands this way and wont do it any other way. Hope this helps.
Great Thread
I see 50 squirrels a day
Maybe 1 deer.
Do the math :)
I love deer hunting
But going after these guys can be a nice change.
Bucknut,
Thanks. I hate to waste any game... and I've made such a mess of a couple of late season PA squirrels, I don't wish to mess up another.
Might be different story here in TN... I may have to give it another try or 2...
Thanks for the encouragement...and clarification on technique. I have a video somewhere I watched repeatedly from OH I think... the guy was slick, but in shirtsleeves making me think they were early season critters that skinned that sweet!
here is one from a few season back. (http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/ae226/jakeemt/image_zpsfffe0dc5.jpg)
try this video man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FofUTP2YpNw
I do the step and pull method, it's already been said but I'll repeat.
Cut full thru the tail base, but t
Do not cut the hide on the back side of the tail, then angle those started cuts a good ways down, pull steady up. Once you get it, it's like light goes off
Oh and jake,
OUTSTANDING video brother!! You did very good , and it's videos like this that really help people out
The location of the tail cut and not nicking the meat of the hind quarters, appears to be a key, if you will.
I won't do another winter Northern Squirrel that way, but might try a early season before they get the horrific thick hide!
Thanks guys!
Nice video , but FYI it is much easier to skin the back legs out before you cut the head off. It helps keep the body held down while you are pulling up and keeps the hair off the meat. When I'm done with one you could essentially take it straight to the pot. In my prime killing years I could skin one in less than a minute. Try it sometime! Like I said before I've skinned a pile of em'. Hope it helps.
Buck I used to do that too. However I found I like to remove the leg skin by wiggling my fingers underneath it. Just preference. I too have killed and skinned a pile of them. Before I quite hunting them with firearms I counted 84 that last season. Lol now I am lucky to snag 10 but, it sure is fun!
QuoteOriginally posted by Doc Nock:
Anyone have a GOOD squirrel skinning process? I have seen the vids of cutting across the vent/tail and standing on the tail and pulling the legs... with Northern winter squirrels (thick hide I guess) all I got was a ripped off hing "quarter"! :(
I've tried it several times and always had dismal results so I don't shoot them perishers...
That and the hair gets all over the meat! Nasty!
Flavor wise, better then rabbit which I like a lot!
Hey Doc,
Try the Koontz Squirrel Skinner...
QuoteOriginally posted by Gordon Jabben:
Our wildlife dept. has a tv show called Outdoor Oklahoma and they filmed three of us squirrel hunting with bows last year. The show should air at the end of this month or the first of next month. It will be available on a podcast. I don't know how it will turn out but we had pretty good success and a lot of fun. Since it is for the general public, they don't show kill shots but there are plenty of misses they can show. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CQp8U9jOI4&feature=share
I shot 1 last year head on eating an acorn with a tuff head. Was just practicing coming to full draw without spooking the squirrel. But said what the heck and let go in the head and out a ham. Squirrel still jumped around and got off the arrow and made it 2 feet. Shot was 26 yards was very pleased with myself.
Shot one years ago with a 65# long bow and a judo point. Hit square in the shoulder and he didn't move for a solid minute then came too and crawled out of site. Came down later and looked all over even up trees never found him or my arrow.
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee178/sunstone/P1060397_zpse9c6719b.jpg) (http://s234.photobucket.com/user/sunstone/media/P1060397_zpse9c6719b.jpg.html)
Man that video was just awesome!
Thanks Jakeemt, we had a lot of fun with the Outdoor Oklahoma guys making it. I don't watch many hunting videos and I just never realized how hard it is to make one and how much can go wrong but in the end I thought it turned out well. In it, if you're not from Oklahoma or Texas you probably won't be able to understand me. ;)
Got my second fox squirrel this morning! Missed one early, .....twice. Lost one arrow, too!
Watched this one carrying debris and a walnut up a big maple, four times. Slowly made my way up the creek bank on the back side.
The fifth trip up the trunk, I was eye level, took the shot. Took him right behind the shoulder.
Game over!
Great video Gordon! I'm glad it finally was put out there for the rest of us to see.
Several guys talked about a squirrel/rabbit hunt in January like you brought up out at Ponca City this weekend and we all thought it sounded like a grand idea! Let's get something on our calendars and plan to do that.
Sounds good to me. Let's get Terry from the Nocking Point involved. He put on a little rabbit hunt in that area last year that was a lot of fun.
That video looked like y'all had a hoot. Filming for outdoor shows can be a royal pain while you're doing it and trying to actually hunt, but they are sure fun to watch!
Gordon someone I was talking to today asked if we could set the date before turkey season closes (with a bow) up at Kaw just in case we locate some to chase while we hunt small game in January.
KC, that time of year I normally don't have much going so the first half of January should work for me. I'll let someone else pick the weekend.
Keep us posted, I would be interested!
So, waiting for two hours for Bambi. Sunset. A little scratching noise over my head . Look up and 5 feet above me is a buck squirrel. He starts going off on me, so I swap out my eskimo tipped GT for an old shaft with a Razorback 5 on it. Whiff, a close miss. He goes up to 15 feet while my arrow rattles back through the branches and lands 3 feet from me. Reload and drill him. All was quiet 'til too dark 30. Gave the tree rat to landowners' wife for squirrel gravy and good will!
Cool Jim! :thumbsup:
Been there and done that, more than a few times on stand!