It’s almost squirrel season. Do you care?
I admit that I’m a deer junkie. But I do my best to get out at least a few times a year for squirrel hunting.
It helps that I’m also an airgun junkie, and have a couple high-end rifles that are just perfect for chasing tree rats.
As I wrote in my feature in today’s Roanoke Times, the outlook for this fall’s squirrel season is excellent. It’s too bad more people won’t get out there and take advantage of it.
Don Smith of Saltville sent me this great picture and the note below this morning:
“Mark…enjoyed your column on squirrel season.
Back in the ’60s and ’70s, Sept. 15 meant as much to me as Christmas. First day of the two week squirrel season. Then later in November, it would reopen until late January. Quite a change from today.
I hunted with a Model 12 Winchester 20 ga. with full choke. My dad bought it from a friend in 1959 for $100. It was almost new. Still have it and it still looks great.
Haven’t hunted in a long while and ironically I am now feeding a bunch of backyard grays. Doesn’t take long for them to go through 100 pounds of sunflower seeds.
Last summer, the big fox squirrel pictured came and stayed about a month then disappeared. Haven’t seen one since.”
August 25, 2012 - 12:04 AM
Mark,
I haven’t ‘cared’ enough to hunt squirrels in a long time but I am committing to changing that this year. I was inspired by this South Carolina hunter and his article in Field and Stream. He’s a fanatic. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/small-game/where-hunt-rabbits-squirrels-and-other-small-game/2012/02/squirrel
Squirrel & Dumplings crushes Chicken & Dumplings any day of the week. Squirrel Stew, and the addition of squirrel to authentic Brunswick Stew are two winners as well. Pan fried, needs no explanation.
Squirrel, it’s the other, other game meat.
I, as well as many in my family, considered them the “big game” of the midwest. Killed them by the hundreds over the years. I had a dream some time ago. In it, I died…and GOD put me in charge of all squirrel funerals until I had served my penance. Please don’t kill the squirrels! I cannot get any rest!
Mark,
I’ll be with a handful of diehards at deer camp this weekend to hunt squirrels. My sons love squirrel hunting and that fact has kept me into the sport. My toughest decision is whether to carry a .22 or the .410. We also use air rifles but I’d like to hear a little noise on Saturday.
I have always enjoyed squirrel hunting and plan to get out a few times before bow season opens. its a great opportunity to scout for deer and turkeys as well.
Thanks for all the great comments about squirrel hunting. Glad to hear there is still some interest out there! (Al, your comment was funny!)
I am bummed that I will miss the first few weeks of squirrel season. However, I guess the alternative (ALASKA!) won’t be too bad.
One of my daughters and I were shooting my air guns last night. I have a Benjamin Marauder pistol with a carbine shoulder stock that fits her. We were putting rotten tomatoes on sticks and she was blasting them! She is ready so squirrel hunt! I think my first hunt of the season will be with her for squirrels in late September.
To me, Squirrel season was an excuse to get back in the woods. When I was a young boy growing up with my grandfather guiding me, it was a chance to show him I was developing as a hunter. There was alot of challenge to going out on the farm and getting 6 bushytails. In the early 80′s, all of my uncles and other family members would get together for a saturday chasing treerats. It was a tremendous amount of fun, and something I have never been able to match. Today, a few friends and our offspring share one saturday in September each year out on a big squirrel hunt. This year, we have a third grader that is as excited as I once was. The late season squirrel hunting is extremely challenging also, squrrels can see you at much farther distances, and have most likely had alot of human contact and somewhat skittish. For those that do not hunt coyotes/fox/bobcat in the late season, it surely provides a challenge to experience. This is also the greatest opportunity to take a friend and make a hunter! Enjoy each and every day, Fall is around the corner!!
I wait til it gets a little cooler and one never knows when that will happen in Sept (or even early Oct). But once it does, it is my favortie hunting. I hunt deer, turkey and rabbitt but if I had only one, I think it would be squirrel season. Almost always get some shots — I only hunt with a .22 — it tastes great and it is a great chance to catch up on some reading. I bring a book along and a folding canvas chair that has a pouch to carry food or a book or mag. If I wanted to, I could even bring a small HDTV and watch the Hokies if they are on a network. You get to see the fall colors up close and personal and it is not as intense as deer hunting. Lots more action than rabbitt hunting, too. I can hear my beagles howling at the unfairness of it all as I set in the soods squirrel hunting so BRING ON SQUIRREL SEASON!