What's the Proper Way to Hunt Squirrels?

MacEntyre said:
I have lots of .22 rifles from the Depression Era, as well as a few from after wwII. Each of them I like to think have shot lotsa squirrels.

I like to shoot CCI Quiet-22s in bolt action, lever action and the four semi-autos that will cycle them.

The most successful squirrel rifles I have are a 1959 Remington Model 512 tube fed bolt action with a 25" barrel and a 1950 Weaver K3 scope,
and a 1929 Remington Model 24 semi-auto with a vintage tang peep sight.
But I haven't yet tried the Winchester 9422, the Remington 521T, Winchester 69A or the Nylon 66.

I really enjoy using the various nearly silent loads that are commercially available. That makes squirrel hunting a whole lot of fun!
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Is there a commercial .22 round that is really that quiet? Like no hearing protection needed?
 
Dale Flinchum said:
Mount a .22 specific scope that has the parallex adjusted for short yardage. Zero with CCI minimag hollowpoints and aim for the eye unless you like the brains then a heart shot will be the better.
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^^^^ This right here. My FIL liked to eat the brains so he didn't want me popping them in the head but sometimes that is all I could see.
 
I had a buddy that had a really good Feist. We would turn him loose and wait until we heard him barking. Walk to where he had the squirrel treed and then the dog would run around the tree to put the squirrel on our side. Pop them with a .22 and watch that little Feist shake the hell out of them when they hit the ground. Then he would take off and do it all over again.
 
lasttombstone said:
Get a good scope, specific for a 22. Unless you are ultra good you won't be shooting at 100 yds. Also, if your 10-22 is anything like the one I shot last weekend, do something to the trigger. I think Volquartsen has some trigger parts that you can install and should drop the trigger pull down to around 3.5 lbs. You'll enjoy it a lot more.
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The Kidd trigger's more gooder.
 
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Alabamacoastie said:
Is there a commercial .22 round that is really that quiet? Like no hearing protection needed?
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BASIL said:
Yes. CCI quiet, and then CB shorts or longs. I find that the CB longs are more accurate than shorts, but ya better know your distance.
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Anything sub-sonic will require no hearing protection when shot from a rifle. There are several commercial choices. Look for them by the advertised velocity... anything less than 1000 fps is quieter. Long Rifle (LR) are generally more accurate for me as well.

Remington makes a LR round that's about 770 fps.
Aguila Super Colibris are primer only 20 grain LR bullets, good for close work at ~ 500 fps and Totally Silent!

If you have a 25" barrel (Rem 512) or a 27" barrel (Rem 41), then all of the sub sonic rounds are quieter.

Some of mine are scoped. All are sighted at about 15 yards, so that they are accurate at 15 to 50 yards with a particular brand of low power ammo.
 
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With a hammer. Just sneak up behind them and whack them on the head. This way you don't have to worry about that pesky lead messing up the meat. :)
 
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I've hunted them with shotguns (41.0, 20 and 12), .22 shorts and open sighted Savage 24ES, scoped .22LR rifles, .22LR handguns with open sights, iron sighted .177 air rifles, TC Contender with iron sights in .357 Mag firing .357 Shotshells, .41 mag out of my Marlin 1894s and .308 Win out of a FAL. Last two as they drove me nuts while deer hunting. I've also used snares where legal. And ran over a few in my truck :)


CD
 
I've got a buddy that when he hunts squirrels is constantly moving. When he sees one he runs to the tree and starts kicking it. Kicking the tree apparently makes the squirrels kind of lock down on the tree. So after kicking the tree he backs up a couple paces and finds the squirrels and pops them. So .22, shotgun or whatever just don't matter. I took 2 squirrels to his 12 one day hunting using the style of hunting.
 
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Alabamacoastie said:
I ain't eaten no brains... That's disgusting...

Then again, the idea of eating tree rat ain't that wonderful either. Haha! But I will.
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To me squirrel is actually really good. The issue is they are like chicken wings you have to eat a dozen or so to get full. Before old age set in, I just used irons and did head shots. Now low powered scope is the way to go. Something designed for rim fire like mentioned above.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.op...fire-riflescope-v-plex-reticle.html?_iv_amp=1



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SPST said:
I had a buddy that had a really good Feist. We would turn him loose and wait until we heard him barking. Walk to where he had the squirrel treed and then the dog would run around the tree to put the squirrel on our side. Pop them with a .22 and watch that little Feist shake the hell out of them when they hit the ground. Then he would take off and do it all over again.
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I miss my little Feist, she was a awesome companion and great little hunting buddy.


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I almost always hunt squirrels with a shotgun, using #5 shot. I find it tends to go right through, and there's less of it than #8 or whatever, so you rarely bite down on one. The reason I don't use a rifle is that I just can't bring myself to shoot a rifle upwards. You could wait to shoot until you know you've got a solid backstop like a trunk, but then I still worry about deflection, if I happen to hit a branch in between me and the squirrel. Or you could wait til they're on the ground, but I don't seem to get a lot shots at squirrels on the ground. Anyway, for peace of mind, I like using the shotgun.
 
I’ve used .22, 17hmr and 12 gauge to hunt them in the past. 17 has to be a head shot or the whole squirrel is trashed but is a very accurate round and head shots are no problem. With the 22 I’ll take a head shot if possible or heart other wise. Towards the end of deer season I start carrying a 22 with cci quiets and will pop one or two if I’m bored.
 
Combat Diver said:
I've hunted them with shotguns (41.0, 20 and 12), .22 shorts and open sighted Savage 24ES, scoped .22LR rifles, .22LR handguns with open sights, iron sighted .177 air rifles, TC Contender with iron sights in .357 Mag firing .357 Shotshells, .41 mag out of my Marlin 1894s and .308 Win out of a FAL. Last two as they drove me nuts while deer hunting. I've also used snares where legal. And ran over a few in my truck :)


CD
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hilarious about the last two. I thought I was only one. I actually brought my .177 out with me deer hunting a week or two ago becaus en the spot was crawling with those noisy rodents.

got one and then tried using him To lure coyote. That part failed. Goood for nothin squirrels
 
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Early in the season when leaves are still on trees, it was .410 with #6 shot. After the leaves drop, we used .22 in single shot Remington bolt action with shorts.

Granddaddy would be mad if you shot them in the head. He loved to fish the skull out of the gravy and crack it open with the back of a spoon and start scooping!
 
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Sigequinox220 said:
hilarious about the last two. I thought I was only one. I actually brought my .177 out with me deer hunting a week or two ago becaus en the spot was crawling with those noisy rodents.

got one and then tried using him To lure coyote. That part failed. Goood for nothin squirrels
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Hunted them in numerous states and countries.

.41 Mag 210 JHP/Marlin 1894S
Dec 18 08 JCGL NC 41 mag 210 JHP entry wound grey squirrel rz.jpg
Contender .357 with shotshells
IMG00087 Nov 11 .357 shotshells backyard Supply NC.jpg
Ruger 10/22
Jan 7-2009 backyard Supply NC.jpeg
Snare during survival training
SF squirrel pole.jpg






CD
 
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b377bf9c5bdd58e98c3f54c9ad88fb96.jpg

This. Right. Here.


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I've shot them in the eye with a Henry lever gun full of CCI .22 CB shorts and iron sights. The front sight is fiber optic now because my eyes suck.
 
fieldgrade said:
From your desk chair in your office, listening to hits of the 70’s, through the screen door on your land, suppressed.

@thrillhill
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LOL! I had forgotten you were out here for one of those! Good times!


Kinda like @mj1angier , early in the season when the leaves are still on the trees I use a .410 coach gun (side by side with 20 inch barrels) with #4 shot.
I use #4 shot for 3 reasons.

1. I can't find anything bigger in .410 that is lead only. If I could get my hands on some #2 lead I would hunt with them.

2. Some of the old growth hickory, oak, and poplar trees down here on Bear Creek are really tall. I need the bigger shot size to make it up that high.

3. All of us in my family LOVE eating squirrel, but my wife prefers "pass through" shots if possible. She would rather me kill them with a .22 all the time but the leaves and my eyes/reflexes no longer allow for it.


Once the leaves are off I switch to my 10-22 rifle with a 3x9 Nikon Prostaff and BX trigger.
When using LR ammo I always use CCI Standard Velocity. Always. It's what works best for our family. Not necessarily opposed to hollow points or extra velocity, but I value the utmost consistency over both expansion and speed.

All my life I prided myself in being able to mostly shoot them in head with iron sights. It humbled me somewhat to have to start using an optic 3 or 4 years ago since my eyesight is now changing (started around 41 years old, I'm 45 now).


The fun exceptions are the yard squirrels as @fieldgrade mentioned above. I also use a lot of 22 shorts and CB ammo in lever guns around the house.



Sometimes I simply sit where I think they are gonna be. Other times I like to walk, sit down for a while (at least 10 minutes), walk another 50 yards, sit down etc. Walking with more than one person is always a little more productive usually.

I love the squirrel hunting and the squirrel eating. Plus it can be a social activity if you want it to be. And a great introduction to the outdoor pursuits for youngsters and newbies.
 
rdinatal said:
The proceeding posts show the proper way to hunt squirrels.

Effort = X
Dead Squirrel = Y

X+Y= Who cares, it's dead.
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Ah, yes: The Mecklenburg Theorem of Squirretical Mathmatics.

It was developed while researching the problem of Squirrel Entropy, exemplified in the question: If a squirrel rustles in the forest, and there's no one around to hear it, is it still annoying?
 
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