Squirrelin'

tddeangelo

Handloader
May 18, 2011
2,019
2
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Took my new-to-me 36 cal for squirrels today. They seemed to have grown accustomed to our mild winter this year and weren't very active in the snow, but a few were out and this one lingered too long in one spot....
 
Thanks guys.

I definitely gotta get out after 'em in the earlier season next fall. I've always avoided it because I don't want to shoot squirrels where I hunt deer, since it's bow season when squirrels are in. But...there's no reason I can't go to public land to hunt squirrels. And the little buggers are EVERYWHERE here, even into early January. I was out right around New Year's Day and counted 20 different squirrels from one spot (I was sitting for deer with my bigger bore flintlock).

In bow season they're absolutely insane.

I found some youtube vids of a way to clean them that is actually not too bad....goes pretty quick. Cleaned it up and tossed it in the freezer for now. I'll figure something for it in a week or so. My wife wants no part of eating them or having them cooked in "her" house, lol.

Next Saturday is supposed to be sunny and near 50. They should be out....I'll see if I can't roll a couple more.

That little 36-cal is a joy for this kind of hunting. I would sit a deer stand and watch for them, then figure out where they were working around for forage, and made a stalk. With some patience, I got the clear shot and dumped this one. I had a red dead to rights, but with the sticks and stuff around it, I wasn't sure I had a clear shot and hesitated when I should have pulled the trigger.

I later either missed or vaporized a red. I shot at him head on at 40 yards. they present a target a little bigger than a ping pong ball at that range. I felt good about the shot, and he simply was gone. Nothing was running away, nothing moving, no body or blood found. He was just gone. So who knows, lol.

The grey I shot had a hole about the size of a quarter, so the 36 is not gentle on them.

Hope to rack up a few more before we're done on 2/28.
 
Great story Tom. I use to hunt them with my .45 cal southern mountain rifle I built and you diffidently need to place your shots with the little round ball or you don't have much left to eat.
The old timers use to talk about barking them with a .22lr and I tried it with the .45 and that caused more damage then I wanted so I went back to trying for head shots making sure I had a good back stop behind the squirrel.
 
I have barked squirrels with both my .356 and my 7 RM, Rodger. It is definitely possible. Not certain I'd want to dine on these little pine rats. There isn't much to them. However, barking does drop them from the tree pretty quickly; and it was great practice for the big guns.
 
DrMike":2d863fj5 said:
I have barked squirrels with both my .356 and my 7 RM, Rodger. It is definitely possible. Not certain I'd want to dine on these little pine rats. There isn't much to them. However, barking does drop them from the tree pretty quickly; and it was great practice for the big guns.
I figured you would know what I was talking about but was waiting for some of the younger guys to ask how you Bark a squirrel. :grin:
 
I'm not sure a 65gr ball (they're literally the size of a pea) can bark a squirrel.... lol.
 
That is a sho nuff" fine flintlock you got Tom! I am sure your very proud of it. I could just sit in front of the fireplace watching TV with a rifle like that in my lap, it would be almost as comforting as a lap dog or lap cat. Don't ask how I know.

I have tried on a few occasions to bark a squrrel with a .54 without any luck. I'm not sure where I hit but I killed no squirrels.
With the .36 or .40 I seek head shots, if none are presented a ball just behind the shoulders through the ribs will damage little meat. It might not look very neat but it works just the same.
 
Yeah, you aren't kidding about it being rough on the meat.

The shot I got was sort of a "Texas heart shot". It was pretty rough on the little bugger.

My load is 35g 3f, so it's moving out fairly smartly. That keeps it dead on to at least 50 yards though.

Allen did a really nice job on this little rifle. It's just a joy to shoot and carry, and the trigger rivals a good bolt gun trigger.
 
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