Squirrel Hunting Coming Soon

[Jay Gnome]

Squirrel season begins this coming Thursday for the whole state. If you're going to hunt what's your favorite gun to use and how do you like it set up?

I'm gonna go with my 10/22 that has a 2.5x scope on the top and a cheap Walmart sling.

 

[eric001]

I just dialed in my Mark IV with a Sparrow on it. I'm hoping quiet and accurate is better than longer range and noisy as far as spooking the tree rats goes. Worst comes to worst, I'll take the time to rezero the optic on my 10/22 with the same Sparrow and go that rout.

 

[nucular]

I'm out backpacking in Deam this weekend and there is a noticeable lack of squirrels. I think they must know.

 

[freekforge]

Winchester 1300 is my go to for most critters with a mossberg 702 plinkster coming in second. But I think I'm going to play with my ruger wrangler birdshead it's been putting down pests all summer and might be fun.

I also use air rifles but probably won't this year. Have a 1022 I need to set up with better sights because my eyes don't agree with the stock sights.

 

[warren5421]

10-22, 5-18 Zeiss and me in the front porch swing. Tree rats like all the hickory trees around the house

 

[patience0830]

Favorite is the .22lr 1727F Anschutz with the 6-24X Bushnell Elite and the sparrow suppressor early season. Kimber Ultra-Varmint in .17 HM2 in the custom walnut stock with a 4-12x AO Leupold later when shots can be longer.

 

[SAILORGOLF46]

Back in the 50's and 60's when Deer and Turkey were unicorns squirrel season was the most exciting time of year for me in central Johnson county followed by Rabbit with a few Quail jumped for a bonus.

Good luck all, if I went my old 1976 Ruger 10-22 would get the call.

 

[henry0reilly]

I haven't hunted in years but when I did I used a Marlin 39A Mountie or a bolt action Mossberg 410, depending on what sort of woods I was hunting.

The last few years I hunted I gave them to an uncle who couldn't get out to the woods anymore.

 

[Expat]

My walnut tree doesn't have nearly as many nuts as usual and they already have begun to drop.

I used my Remington 870 20g for many years. Dad didn't like using a rifle in Indiana since you had to worry about where your bullet would go in the small woods we hunted (Howard County).

 

[tomcat13]

Love this time of year!
Always reminds me of searching for Tree Rats with my Grandpa.
In his 80's, his eyesight deteriorated so I'd go with him into the woods.
He preferred Squirrel over Steak, so I'd "Help" him get Supper.
My weapon of choice at the time was a Winchester 190 (cal 22).
RIP TTD

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I like to use my rossi .22lr lever gun. The only problem is not a single squirrel has crawled out in front of it. I also have made a hand forged squirrel cooker that I would very much like to use some day.

 

[jwamplerusa]

hand forged squirrel cooker

@fullmetaljesus Give us a picture. I want to see what this looks like.

@tomcat13 Winchester 190, grew up shooting bricks of 22LR through one of those.

 

[ancjr]

Haven't been in many years but every squirrel I've ever taken was with my old 10/22, Bushnell 3-9 and Mini-Mag HP.

 

[Ark]

A300 Ultima Patrol.

The woods are too far away to come home empty handed. I'll get my squirrels even if I have to cut the tree down with #5 shot to do it.

 

[CB1911]

I like my CZ 452 American 22lr with a 3X9 AO on top. Subsonic hp's out of the bolt action with longer barrel are very low noise in the woods.

 

[Brad69]

Early season
My first gun a Rossi .410 single shot I use 3 in #5 or 4 shot. I bet it’s taken 200 + squirrels.

Savage mk II with a BSA sweet .22 scope very accurate.

Late season
Savage A-17 with a Nikon pro staff you wanna see some long range squirrel sniping.

I normally hunt deep in the Hoosier National Forest and get some long shots in mature trees. The downside is I usually get just a few Fox squirrels they tend to hang out around corn fields.

Wife makes an unbelievable squirrel and dumplings I think it’s better than chicken. She also fries them with her chicken breading.

Now I am hungry !

 

[Ark]

Early season
My first gun a Rossi .410 single shot I use 3 in #5 or 4 shot. I bet it’s taken 200 + squirrels.

Savage mk II with a BSA sweet .22 scope very accurate.

Late season
Savage A-17 with a Nikon pro staff you wanna see some long range squirrel sniping.

I normally hunt deep in the Hoosier National Forest and get some long shots in mature trees. The downside is I usually get just a few Fox squirrels they tend to hang out around corn fields.

Wife makes an unbelievable squirrel and dumplings I think it’s better than chicken. She also fries them with her chicken breading.

Now I am hungry !

.22s are more fun in the late fall when they migrate to the ground. Takes a full choke 12ga to really knock them out of the tops of mature trees when the leaves are still up. August/Sept hunts in the HNF are about targeting twitching clusters of leaves 100 feet over your head, then watching a squirrel take a swan dive and land hard enough to leave a crater. In late fall and winter you can locate them off dry leaf noise and get em with a .22.

Never had much luck blasting .22 straight up into the sky trying to hit them as they move around the treetops.

 

[Brad69]

I like talking squirrel hunting ARK !

3 inch .410 with #4 full choke is almost like a shotgun rifle my father could not believe the shots I could make.
I always get tons of shot in the squirrel with a 12 gauge and never have been impressed with a 20 gauge for squirrels.

I use a squirrel call that normally gets them to pause so I can get a shot.
Fun facts grey squirrels will eat where they find the food like way out on the end of a limb. Fox squirrels will grab a nut and move back to the main trunk to eat.

.22s are more fun in the late fall when they migrate to the ground. Takes a full choke 12ga to really knock them out of the tops of mature trees when the leaves are still up. August/Sept hunts in the HNF are about targeting twitching clusters of leaves 100 feet over your head, then watching a squirrel take a swan dive and land hard enough to leave a crater. In late fall and winter you can locate them off dry leaf noise and get em with a .22.

Never had much luck blasting .22 straight up into the sky trying to hit them as they move a

 

[Ark]

I like talking squirrel hunting ARK !

3 inch .410 with #4 full choke is almost like a shotgun rifle my father could not believe the shots I could make.
I always get tons of shot in the squirrel with a 12 gauge and never have been impressed with a 20 gauge for squirrels.

I use a squirrel call that normally gets them to pause so I can get a shot.
Fun facts grey squirrels will eat where they find the food like way out on the end of a limb. Fox squirrels will grab a nut and move back to the main trunk to eat.

Yeah I'll bet a choked down .410 is very good. I would almost even be tempted to add a very lightweight 2.5x fixed optic or similar for a bit of magnification for those shots.

Early season my cue is usually the sound of stuff hitting the ground. The squirrels find a cluster of nuts up in a tree, rip them off, and drop them. Sustained drop noises around a tree usually indicates one of them is up there going to town. Then I transition to looking for the twitching leaves when they move. Sometimes if I just relax my eyes and scan the sky for a while, I can catch the movement of the leaves.

Gray or red, when they're completely still in the trees somewhere I'm pretty much hopeless at spotting one unless I get lucky and see a silhouette against sky. So I'm usually trying to engage after they've spotted me and started moving. I have noticed they use the reverse side of tree trunks to change altitude where you can't see them, but will frequently give in to the temptation to peek at you around the side of a trunk. I've gotten a number of them by skimming a shot pattern along the side of a tree where they're peeking at me.

 

[thunderchicken]

Haven't hunted squirrels in years but my daughter and son in law want to go this year. So, I will probably either drag out the Henry lever action .22 or I would consider one of my shotguns. All I have are 12g but with the right load it shouldn't be too bad.
Their desire to get out as well as this thread has me debating if I should consider getting a dedicated .22 squirrel gun. After all, I will likely be taking the grandson out chasing bushy tails one of these days too.
Now I have an excuse to shop for a new gun