Hunting squirrels

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Hunting squirrels

Downsizer Forum Index -> Shooting and Trapping for the Pot

Are squirrels good quarry?

Yes

85%

[ 18 ]

14%

[ 3 ]

Total Votes : 21

Author

Message

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 6:30 pm Post subject: Hunting squirrels
I have heard recently a lot about hunting squirrels, and having never done so myself, wonder what the point is? Squirrels are mainly fur, so not much meat, and small targets. Also v. fast, crafty blighters. Has anyone here hunted squirrel?

Wood child

Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 45

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 6:45 pm Post subject:
Hey, don't just vote! Tell me why! I still don't see how squirrels can be good quarry.

melbournedave

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 1
Location: South Derbyshire

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 6:47 pm Post subject:
I believe that according to DEFRA they are classed as vermin , thats grey squirrels and NOT red ones They are also edible although not a lot of meat on them

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 6:50 pm Post subject:
https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Processing_food/Squirrel_Nutkin%27s_Great_Feast__or_Preparing_a_Squirrel_for_the_Pot/

Marionb

Joined: 27 Aug 2006
Posts: 5267
Location: Mid-Wales

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 6:50 pm Post subject:
Yep.. they're vermin. Damage the trees and eat my strawberrries...

chicken feed

Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 2677

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 7:15 pm Post subject:
we shoot them if they come here, they cause too much damage. they sell well at the local dead stock auction.

kirstyfern

Joined: 03 Jan 2010
Posts: 1574
Location: Great Dunmow, Essex

Posted: Mon Dec 06, 10 11:07 pm Post subject:
They are pests and can be shot but tricky to get. Also a bugger to skin and not much meat so we stick to rabbits.... although there were 3 squirrels in my game casserole last week - proving we do shoot them sometimes

Shane

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 10 4:13 am Post subject:

I always found them fairly easy to hit if you set up a baited ambush. The trick is to wait until Mr Tufty has just taken a gob full, at which point he'll sit up to take a look around. That's when to whack him with a head shot from an air rifle (or obliterate him with a shotgun, if you prefer lead with your food).

They're worth hunting because a) they are very destructive and b) they are delicious (if a little fiddly to skin).

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 10 5:19 am Post subject:
fiddly but tasty

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 10 8:35 am Post subject:
Its easy to make too much of how hard they are to skin. Harder than a rabbit, but it isn't like its THAT hard.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 10 10:32 am Post subject:
Incidentally, I didn't find skinning fiddly, just picking the bones out, compared to my usual cow deboning

wildfoodie

Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 2169

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 10 11:05 am Post subject:
OH spotted a crafty squirrel the other day in the garden: it had seen him walking down the garden armed and dangerous, and hid itself in the tree, by laying completely flat and outstretched along a branch. How clever is that - not only well camoflaged, but practically impossible to shoot as well. Are all squirrels that crafty?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 10 11:08 am Post subject:
Does your bloke go out shooting squiggles and other assorted vermin then, Wildfoodie? Or is it just when they dare get too close to the house?

wildfoodie

Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 2169

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 10 7:38 pm Post subject:
no, just squirrels in the garden on the grounds that they terrorise garden birdlife. we caught a rat in the conservatory last winter in a live trap, which he shot as well, the dog was going ape, two of her most potent stimulants at the same time you can imagine the noise!

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