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IAMBOB

Outdoorsman: You would eventually have some very fat and lazy scavengers!<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> (I'm laughing in my mind about a crow too full of squirrel to take off...LOL! Crow is thinking: &quot;Now I know why they called him 'Rocky'!!&quot

Trapper: Thanks! sounds good to me, do you frequently find you accidentally puncture the stomach or bladder when gutting this way? If so, is it a problem assuming I follow your method? (maybe the salt water takes care of it?)<img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle>

One last comment: I'm still wondering if Outdoorsman has ever done gutting yet...in 36 hours or so if all goes well I will be....<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>
BB

Elsie

Good luck guys. It's kind of refreshing to read posts by honest new-be hunters. Please don't be shy about asking any questions you may have. There is lots of good advice here - but remember to gather all the info. you can and digest it for a while. Throw out some and keep some of the info.. Only time and experience is better than our advice. Have fun and hunt safely.

Elsie
&quot;Downsize government - all government!&quot;

mauser06

man tree rats(squirrells) are some good eating! i wouldnt kill them for fun...to me i think thats unethical to take somethings life and leave it lay there....i myself killed geese...pheasants...chuckars(raised in pens for dog practice my friend took me to hunt once) i had no wil to eat any of them....i wanted to eat the pheasant but nobody else would eat them but me so i didnt make them because i didnt know if id like them and couldnt finish them....so i came home with them...cleaned them and put them in the frezzer and my dad took them all to a guy he knows at work that loves wild game...i suggest you do something of the sort instead of killing them and leaveing them lay...maybe poking it with a stick but still just wasting it...tree rats arent really pests...they can do some damage but nothin major at all...IAMBOB...good point about cleaning the game and them trying to swallow it thinking about how it was once running around eating on a tree limb until u blasted it...just that thought keeps people from hunting...and more people from eating their game...thats something for all new hunters to think of....good luck...if u dont want the meat find someone in the area that does or contact the game commision...PA has a program for hunters willing to help the needy...your state might...if not ask around if someone wants some squirrells that are cleaned and skinned and ready to be cooked....hmmm i cant wait to eat some rats!

wimp

Leaving squirrels lay is just wrong no matter what way you slice it. They are very good table fare and if you are just out to shoot things, then that doesn't say much for you. Shoot crows or groundhogs that are more readily accepted as being inedible. There has to be someone that will take them off your hands rather than leaving them lay.

And for all you new guys, good luck this season I hope all works out well for you. One never knows how they will feel after killing thier 1st animal, sorrow to elation, or a little of both.

Some things are true whether you believe them or not.

IndyHunter

Whatever you decide, don't leave them in the woods. If you do that, then you have no business being out there in the first place. Find someone that will take them, and do it before you go out hunting.
I have some family members that will eat deer and turkey, but won't eat squirrel or rabbit (they are non-hunters). So I will boil the squirrel/rabbit until it is done, peel the meat off the bone, then make a big batch of pork BBQ and toss the squirrel/rabbit meat in. They never know the difference.

--Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs--

JC-1

Whew... WHATADAY!!!

Saw 3 squirrels!! Took 2 shots - bagged 2!!

I told my son - 'There he is... right there! Shoot!@!'
He raises his .22 - 'Where?? Where?? I don't see him.'
'Right there. In the tree on the right. Near the top. See where my gun is pointed?'
'Geesh Dad. You sure there's one there? I don't see him.'
**KA-BLAMO** goes the 12gauge. 'Right there.'
'Oooohhhhh that tree.' says my son as the squirrel does a swan dive from the top of the tree.

And WOW!!! Those little male squirely's have got some HUGE DADGUM EQUIPMENT!! My first thought was - 'Geee.. that's a funny place to store acorns.'


On a side note... was talking with a few hunters last night in the camping area... there were all friendly and stuff until they found out I was very new to hunting. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

In the USMC - they taught us how to put 10 outa 10 rounds in an area the size of a man's chest at 500M. They just didn't follow up those classes with instructions on how to gut them. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> If I can see it - I can hit it... If I can hit it - I can kill it.... If I can kill it - Then WTF do I do?? hehe...


What did I learn today??
<ul>[*]Skinned, gutted, and cleaned both of our kills. And the hints on here made it a WHOLE lot easier... Thanx guys. [*]GPS's are wonderful inventions.[*]The shortest path through the woods is not always the easiest.[*]Two boxes of shotfun shells in your pocket is overkill for squirrel.... and heavy...[*]Orange is not my most flattering color.[*]Motocross folks are generally CRAZY!!![*]Saw my first 8pt buck in the wild.[*]Saw my first deer rub and bedding area.[/list]
Hope everyone had as much fun as we did!!



Houston, TX

mauser06

id say you did great your first day out hunting! took me a long while to learn the shortest way is almost NEVER the smartest...ive gotten poison ivey allover my body...had to walk through giant puddles while dad was nice and dry and still beat me...had to back out because i could never get through....bust a giant patch of jagurs or cross a creek my waders couldnt handle so the jagurs got hte best of me....and a gps can be good...but you were in the marines what do you need one for? a compass should do you good i would think...but gps sounds great i may get one even though im being trained little by little on navigationg with a compass....and seeing an 8pt and knowing what a ruband bedding area looks like and finding them is great! hope you and your son have a good time in the great outdoors...me and my dad do!

mauser06

IAMBOB

JC-1: Congradulations to you and your son! My first day went with out a shot but at least I got up and got started. More on my first day over on the squirrel season opener topic thread.
I enjoyed your post!
BB

JC-1

Mauser - A GPS makes land nav sooooo much easier! :-) The topo maps and the aerial photos I found were 20+ years old and quite outdated. Anyways - it was easier to walk an extra 10 miles looking for a landmark or recognize the terrain when I was in my 20's. Now I'm older & wiser [not to mention lazier] and can afford to cheat with electronics. hehe.... Got a compass in my emergency kit but as long as the GPS works...

I assumed that what we found was a bedding area. It was about 10a and I had FINALLY gotten my son to stop stepping on every damned branch he saw. <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle> He got the hand signals down and we were communicating just fine!!! Step.. step.. step.. look and listen.... I'm scanning the trees on the right and he's scanning the trees on the left...

The instead of making a click noise with his mouth to get my attention to give me a signal - he hollers out 'DAD!!!!' I turn my head ready to chastize him for noise discipline and 'WOW!!' THERE'S A SHOOTER!!! Geeesh...and there he goes... and that buck could reallllly run FAST through all that brush! <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

We went to where we saw him so I could mark the spot on my GPS to transfer to the map later and that's when we noticed the depression in the grass on the ground like he'd been laying there. Gun season in Texas doesn't start until 11/2. So, I figured a buck that big on a WMA must be smart cuz he's sticking to the outa da way places. So we started looking for his water and food areas. Well, we were on a squirrel hunt so looking for acorns was kinda dual purpose. hehe..

We then found a trail WAYY back in the bush and a rub when we were walking towards some oaks we saw in the distance. About 20m past that we found a little creek and our first squirrel of the day!! WOHOO!!

Marked 'em all on the GPS and just now marked it on the map. Looking at it I think he's been sticking to the low brush covered depressions for both his food and water.

I think one more trip to scout out the area between the two places and I can find a good ambush spot. Where we found the signs there was nothing but solid brush and no good lanes of fire. Of course we'll thin the nut eatin' squirrel population a bit while we're there. hehe... Gotta leave the food so that buck will hang around for a month or two more.

On a more technical note. What sounds to squirrels make?? We were stalking what we thought was a squirrel only to scare off some damned bird. The squirrels we saw were quietly munching on nuts and not making any noise - well, except for the *THUMP* sound they made when they hit the gound. hehe.. We spotted them from the movement and when they rustled the leaves. If we knew what to listen for - we prolly coulda gotten more.




Houston, TX