Hunting & Fishing Tree rat tragedy

[Barrel Nut]

So I have ammo that shoots really well in my 22LR and my 22wmr. Both are shooting very well. But now I have a few questions for some of you experienced squirrel hunters.

What range do you zero your scope for?

How do you handle extremely close or long shots, dial or hold?

What magnification range for the scope?

Do you head shoot only or take body shots?

What is your max range?

Sit or stalk?

Do you use dogs?

Any good recipes?

any help is greatly appreciated.....

Thanks,

 

[Kebo57]

cut tree rat into 5 pcs....2 fronts, 2 rears, and the "backstraps" between. Roll in flour seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Brown in skillet....I use real butter. After all pieces are browned, move them to the side of the skillet and make gravy with the drippings/butter ( ask wife, Mom or Grandmom how to make gravy if you don't know how). Once gravy is made...ideally enough to cover the squirrel parts, lower heat to simmer, put the lid on and let it be until the meat falls off the bones. My Appalachian , North east Georgia grandmother passed this on....works quite well with rabbits also. We would never collect squirrel or rabbits for the table until after a couple of frosts....gets rid of parasites.

Do your damned best to head shoot em....the other parts are too tasty. Stalking squirrels is like stalking a whitetail...you almost always get caught. Find a place with lots of oak/hickory trees and sit. As for your zero range and hold vs. dial.....you may not have time to dial and zero at a range that in a hurry you can hit them where you're aiming....I would zero at what you're comfortable with and know hold over/hold under. Head shots are not much more than a 1" target.

Have fun!

 

[Barrel Nut]

Thanks for the reply...it is going to be tragic for the tree rats this year....I am just going to hone up some squirrel hunting skills because my daughter will be old enough to go with me in a couple of years....and I want her to have fun.....what is the ideal magnification range for your scope?

 

[Kebo57]

That's a personal preference...I like more magnification because you have small targets that seldom reveal the whole noggin. I grew up in GA...my father and brothers and I shot and ate many squirrels over the years. They can be quite challenging but are loads of fun. Leave the WMR at home...way too much meat damage and not as accurate as most good 22's. We had a farmer down the road with a pecan orchard....almost wasn't sporting! Our farm had loads of oak and hickory trees and we could hunt out the back door.

 

[redirt78]

cut tree rat into 5 pcs....2 fronts, 2 rears, and the "backstraps" between. Roll in flour seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Brown in skillet....I use real butter. After all pieces are browned, move them to the side of the skillet and make gravy with the drippings/butter ( ask wife, Mom or Grandmom how to make gravy if you don't know how). Once gravy is made...ideally enough to cover the squirrel parts, lower heat to simmer, put the lid on and let it be until the meat falls off the bones. My Appalachian , North east Georgia grandmother passed this on....works quite well with rabbits also. We would never collect squirrel or rabbits for the table until after a couple of frosts....gets rid of parasites.

Do your damned best to head shoot em....the other parts are too tasty. Stalking squirrels is like stalking a whitetail...you almost always get caught. Find a place with lots of oak/hickory trees and sit. As for your zero range and hold vs. dial.....you may not have time to dial and zero at a range that in a hurry you can hit them where you're aiming....I would zero at what you're comfortable with and know hold over/hold under. Head shots are not much more than a 1" target.

Have fun!

I wonder if my Appalachian American buddy from Trackrock/Blairsville knows that recipe...

 

[dorklord]

In my experience, the range and amount of magnification to use is highly dependent on the terrain and seasonal conditions. Early in the fall, there's so much brush and so many leaves that it is rare to be able to see anything that you aren't right on top of. In the early season, a shotgun or a .22 with open sights is what I use, and I generally have decent luck stalking. Well, maybe stalking isn't entirely accurate, but walking around deer trails I usually see them either real close on the ground, or hear them moving away and then see them when they go up a nearby tree. Sitting still can work, but if the woods are thick, it can be annoying to sit in one place and hear squirrels 50 yards away but never be able to see them through the leaves...

Later in the season, when the brush dies off, and the leaves start falling off the trees, I'll switch to a scoped rifle, and I'll be more likely to walk out someplace in the woods and sit for a while and wait for them to start moving around. I've used 4x fixed power scopes, a 3-9, and I recently got a 2-7 that I'm going to try on a .17 HMR.

Zero range will depend on what caliber you are shooting; basically it will come down to figuring out a zero range that you can live with.

With a .22LR, there are so many different cartridges with different velocities available, that there is a pretty significant variation in the drop at distance. Once you have a type of ammo you are comfortable with, try shooting at 25, 50, and 75 yards (no scope adjustments between, same dead-on hold for each). A 3 inch spread seems to be the usual rule of thumb for squirrel hunting, so for example you may find that setting your scope so you hit 1.5 inches high at 50 yards leaves you 1.5 inches low at 75, so you should be set for a dead-on hold out to 75 yards.

As far as head shots vs body shots go, I've done both. Honestly, squirrels usually don't sit still for long and they can so easily slip behind cover, so if I'm presented a good shot, I take it.

 

[Barrel Nut]

Couple of more questions...

Do you usually skin and gut them right after shooting them in the field or wait until back at the truck or home.

What is the best way to get/keep hair off of the meat?

Any opinion on the chirper calls for stopping or getting them to sit still for a few seconds?

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

What range do you zero your scope for?

25Y, but hold 1 mil dot under on 4x for "above me shots"

How do you handle extremely close or long shots, dial or hold?

hold on close ones (no time to dial), either dial or hold if longer depending on if it's calm or sipping by

What magnification range for the scope?

4-16x, covers just about everything i do with the .22lr or mag at least a 3X, but in reality i rarely adjust over 6X for squirrel

Do you head shoot only or take body shots?

head shots only, saves what ever precious little meat is on them.

What is your max range?

get as close as i can get.

Sit or stalk?

both, depending on weather, how the limb chicken is acting, and how many beers drank the night before. prefer stalking. if sitting, "smootch call" with mouth. flem in throat, making barking sounds saying QWEEE QWEEE

Do you use dogs?

no

Any good recipes?

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-hunting-fishing/14896-recipes.html

hang a target in a tree, right above you so you know how the POI will be when shooting at near 90 degrees

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...oughts-squirrels-angle-shooting-ammo-fps.html

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-hunting-fishing/76959-dressing-out-squirrel.html

 

[Barrel Nut]

Great information guys....it is going to be fun this fall

 

[Kebo57]

Since I waited until cooler weather in the late fall leaves on the trees weren't much of an issue. The parasites I referred to are the larva of some type of fly and are found on the bellies. Couple of frosts and they were gone. They came off with the skin but I never could get past them being there so I waited.

The cooler weather meant I also didn't have to be in such a hurry to dress them out. A slit 90 degrees to the spine on the back, big enough to get both index fingers in...pull opposite directions with your hands and its kinda like pulling off socks....cut off the legs and head and strip out the guts. The hide peels off easily and keeps most hair off the meat.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Quarter, boil 4 in a large stock pot, add cornmeal dumplings to the stock when the rat is tender. Any basic cornmeal dumpling recipe will do fine. My favorite of all ways to eat tree rat.

He who eats the most rat eats the most hair, thems the rules. Throw them in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds. Snatch em out and cool them quick and the hair will be easier to pick and wash off them. My wife's grandpa used to wet the hell out of them, then skin them. To be honest it is usually too cold for any such shenanigans around here. I tried it and It seemed to work a bit better. Basically you are rinsing all the loose hair off them. Use a little Dawn in the water and the fleas will drown too.

If the squirrel runs around a tree on you, stay where you are and throw your hat to the other side of the tree, if that doesn't work throw your coat or your vest about 60 degrees from your hat. That will usually run him back to you, be quick, it won't fool him long. I have used dogs, but I am a terrible dog trainer, never could get a terrier of any kind to willingly give me the squirrel before it was tenderized with dog spit.

If you absolutely positively want to maximize your daily limit, use a shotgun with #4 shot, and take no real close shots. Know this, misses give them a college education.


Oh yeah. The nodules sometimes seen in early season rats is the bot fly larvae. Harmless, they stay under the skin when dressing. Unsightly yes. They can be present after a frost but less likely. Most prevalent where populations are thick and lots of nipping occurs.

 

[GBTX01]

I have two large pecan trees and four oaks in my suburban back yard. A quality .22 air rifle has done a great job helping to cull the herd. My farthest shot is about 20yds. I sight in at the max range and then on a piece of blue painter tape I have written all of my holds 0'-20yds. Remember that 0' is the same hold as 25' up a tree straight above you.

 

[40xs]

Like others have said, squirrel hunting with a scope is a "one" yardage undertaking. It is sighted for only one distance and with the given trajectory of your chosen bullet you are going to have to be a good judge of distance. If your scope is 1 1/2 to 2 inches above the bore you are going to be low out to the "zero" point. just a few yards beyond that you are going to be high until the bullet comes back down into the sight path once again. with open sights you will have a flatter flight path along with your sight picture due to the sights sitting directly on the barrel ( out to the point of the bullet dropping below the line of sight). this is where you need to know the trajectory of your chosen bullet out to the end of the effective range. I like using scopes on squirrels, but I make better hits with open sights because of the reasons stated!

 

[Kebo57]

Armorpl8chikn.....Before I moved to Wyoming in 2001 I shot schuetzen with the Asheville club....sounds like it may be in your general area. I miss very few things about living in North GA....one of them is squirrel hunting....there are squirrels in some areas of WY but I think antelope outnumber them!