scott1965

My wife and I would really like to try squirrel hunting for the first time this fall, and we're looking for any suggestions and pointers. It sounds like fun, and we'd like to try it.

How effective are squirrel calls? Should we use one? What about clothing? Camo or blaze orange? Gun choice?
Thanks in advance.

skinnerdawg

welcome to the world of hunting tree rats. when it comes to a firearm it all comes down to personal prefference. i will use a 410 shotgun during the early season when the trees are still full of leaves. later in the season i will use my 10/22. some folks will use a 12,16,or even a 20 gage while hunting bushytails. if you use one of those i would suggest going with #6 or #8 shot but that is just me.

most folks wear full camo while others will have some blaze orange... really dont matter because i have had those darn critters try to crawl into my lap during deer season when i have looked like the great pumpkin.

yes calls do work to some extent... i will use mine to try to get a squirrel to poke his head out so that i can get a bead on him.

all in all hunting squirrel,s is a great way to spend time in the woods and they taste great also

any other questions just ask and good luck to you and your wife out in the woods this season.

scott1965

Hey, thanks for the info. We're looking forward to it, although we'll have to wait until Oct 1, since we don't have last year's license to hunt with from Sept 1-Sept 30. We got married last fall, so we never got a chance to go out at all.

My wife just won a 20 gauge Mossberg (she bought a raffle ticket through our local fish/game club), but it's set up forturkey hunting, really. You're only supposed to use lead shot in it--no slugs--but I suppose that'd work for squirrels, huh?

She can't wait to go out. She took the hunter's safety course last fall, and now she's psyched up to go. This will keep her happy until deer season opens on Oct 22.

Is it difficult to clean/dress them?

Illinois hunter

Glad to see a joint interest in the outdoors. Your first couple might be tricky to clean but youll get the hang of it and make short work of it. Check out some other posts or look for some directions on-line. Theres more than one way to skin a bushy tail. If you are planning a morning hunt you should see lots . Camo is good. Move slow and listen for them cutting nuts. SLOW and QUIET. The earlier the better ( I like first light ). Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes for you and your wife.

skinnerdawg

that 20 will do just fine for tree rats...just dont use a turkey load

gutting a tree rat the first time you will feel like you have nothing but thumbs but after the first couple you will be a pro.

take your knife(i like to use a small pocket knife) and make a insision right at the Y(breast bone).
then cut down to the vent(anus)...just try not to go too deep.

when you are done take your finger and starting at the ribs scrape/pull the inards out.(i also find it easier if i split the small pelvic bone so that i can get all of the guts out in one easy pull).

you now have a treerat that is ready to be skinned.

this part too at first will be somewhat akward but dont worry you will get it.

the way that i skin out a tree rat is that i will place the body flat on it's belly.

then i will cut straicht across it's back(about the middle)

then i will pull the skin downand over the legs until i reach the joint between the upper and lower leg.

at this point you will cut the leg completly off...along with the tail... do the same with the upper body and the head.

ohhhhhhhh now you want to know why that bushytail has more bdy hair than a woman from europe... hold him under running water to get the worst of it.... then take a large pot....add some cold water and some salt(salt will draw out some of the blood) let em soak for a bit then rinse and either cook or freeze.

if you are gonna fry them up what i do is brown them slightly first...this makes pulling those last stray bits of hair easier

best of luck to you and your wife and enjoy the hunting/cleaning and then the eating together

scott1965

Hey, thanks so much for the info....I know we're going to enjoy it.....can't wait for October 1st!

She's really pumped. She tried going out with someone a few years ago (before we met), which was a *mistake*, seeing that she had nevertaken a hunter's safety course. She didn't even have a license. I'm going to take her to the fish/game club so she can get used to shooting the 20 gauge and the 30/30 I gave her last year for a wedding present.

zak123

Scott, will you be hunting on public or private land? Either way, I would suggest you wear orange. I wear orange and usually get six or eight, eight being the limit, on every outing.

As for the gun, a 20 gauge should be perfect. I take my 12 gauge Mossberg 835. After a half an hour it gets heavy! I used 7 1/2 shot last year, but I will probably use 6 this year.

Let us know how you do!

scott1965

Sure.....we'll keep you guys posted!We appreciate all the advice.

As for your question, it most likely will be on public land. And that's good to hear about the 20 gauge being a good choice. It's a nice gun....she's got the 500 Mossberg with camo pattern. I think it came with the Xtra full choke installed in the end. Should we go with a different choke, or will that do?

We were looking at squirrel calls in Walmart today. 9 bucks, which didn't seem to be too bad. I'd like to pick one up and see how it works.

Ozark Sportsman

Well a 22 works fine but if able i would use a 22 mag. and calls work sometimes and some times they don't i don't think you need camo.

talehunter

I use full choke with shotgun,even used modified in early season with all the leaves on.For calls I use a bellows bark type call sparingly,and a lohmans whistle call if you want an aggresive type call,hope this helps.