Why squirrel hunt

If you like to stay on the move, walking and stopping to listen occasionally works fine. Unlike with deer hunting, where a missed animal or wounded animal can feel like complete failure or turn a newbie off to hunting for good , squirrels are low stakes for new and young hunters.

If you bust or miss one, try again or move along. Squirrel hunting will help you hone your sense of hearing, and attune your eyes to small movements. Squirrel hunting is one of the few types of hunting that I enjoy doing with other people.

I packed my daughter along on squirrel hunts when she was just a year old with excellent success—she even carried our lone squirrel back to the truck herself. As if you needed any more reasons to go squirrel hunting, squirrels are extremely good to eat—when cooked properly. Honestly, this is probably my favorite reason to squirrel hunt, because I enjoy cooking. When it comes to preparing squirrels, cooking them low and slow is definitely the way to go.

Take your time, though, and the end result is absolutely delicious. If at all possible, let your squirrels brine in salt water over night. Simply fill a bowl with warm water and add a few teaspoons of salt. Mix until the salt is dissolved, then add the squirrel meat and cover. Let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Set aside and proceed with the recipe. Your squirrels should be divided into five sections: both back legs, both front legs, and the body section. If there are any pieces that are too damaged from shot, simply cut the damaged part away or discard if needed. Season squirrel meat with salt and pepper.

In a large frying pan, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Turn the burner to medium high, and wait for your oil to heat up. Add your onion, mushrooms, and garlic and cook a few minutes until fragrant and mushrooms are cooked through. Follow the scuttlebutt of whitetail deer hunting for the past several years and it would appear that to be a deer hunter you also have to be a farmer.

You need to own or lease large quantities of land, plant various forms of food plots for different times of the year and deal with all of the necessary equipment to do this.

Bucks are followed on trail cameras almost from birth and are named and judged as to age and antler size long before anyone releases an arrow or jerks a trigger.

I submit to you that most of us need to get back to basics, especially if you are a beginning hunter. Squirrel hunting will get you there; it will teach you how to hunt. Most anything you need to know to stalk other game you can learn on squirrels. Here in no particular order are some of the reasons you need to start squirrel hunting. For the purposes of this article we will talk about stalking and still hunting.

Hunting squirrels with dogs is an entirely wonderful form of hunting and I highly recommend it, but we will address dog hunting later. If Project Upland will have me. In a time where everyone is too busy to do anything, squirrel hunting gets you outside where you should be, hunting. Foresters estimate that east of the Big Muddy alone we have over million acres of woodlands.

In most places if you have woodland, you have squirrels. A lot of this woodland acreage is on public land, and for what is not public you stand a good chance of getting permission to squirrel hunt. Landowners are much more likely to let you squirrel hunt than they are for deer or turkeys.

The first thing required to be a successful hunter is a place to go, and with a little legwork you should find lots of squirrel hunting spots. I use a combination of spot and stalk and ambush hunting.

This approach works best in mixed hardwoods later in the fall as the deciduous trees begin to lose their leaves. This allows you to see higher into the canopy. I will stand or sit quietly against a tree and listen and watch until I spot a squirrel. If the squirrel is moving toward me, I sit and wait until it is in range for a shot. If the squirrel is treed or too far away, I position a large tree between myself and the squirrel.

That way, we are out of sight of each other. There is really no reason to peek around the tree at this point. If the squirrel moves, I will see it come out from behind the tree. If that happens, I will reposition myself with another tree between us. Move slowly as you would any other stalking situation.

I like to use the tree as a gun rest, bracing my hand against the forestock and tree. With a. I also enjoy squirrel hunting because it offers opportunities for socializing with hunting partners. If I am hunting with another person, we carry a. This way, we can shoot from farther away using a rifle as described above. We can also react more quickly and shoot squirrels that are closer or on the move with a shotgun. This strategy also works well earlier in the season, when deciduous trees still have some leaves.

It also works well when hunting in conifers with needles. Typically, we will start by walking along the edges of habitats, such as places where fields meet forests. We will also walk trails that offer some openings in the forests to increase the distance we can see and allows for opportunities to catch squirrels running across the trails.

Finally, we will also sometimes split up and each cut two halves of a circle around an area of promising habitat, similar to a deer drive, hoping to bump squirrels in the direction of the other person to give them a shot.

Squirrel meat is some of the most tender game meat I have ever tasted. It is light and with the perfect amount of fat and oil to keep it from drying out in cooking.

As with anything, there are many different ways to cook and enjoy squirrels. The Hunt to Eat website has numerous squirrel recipes available for you to try. To cook squirrels this way, I butcher them much the same way I would a big game animal. Quarter the four legs and leave the torso whole. Trim off the short rib meat to cook separately. I like to soak all the pieces in coconut milk for minutes. While the pieces are soaking, I make the breading mixture in a bowl using some flour, salt, pepper, and seasonings.

I like to use Cajun spice, but you can use whatever flavor you like. I take the pieces out of the coconut milk and put them right into the breading mixture.

Squirrel seasons are long and bag limits are generous. In most states, hunters can legally chase squirrels for several months or more per year and can typically harvest between four and six squirrels, combined species, per day The World Championship Squirrel Cookoff is an eccentric event, complete with live music, funnel cakes, squirrel costumes, and the best squirrel you ever ate.

It takes place every fall in Bentonville, Arkansas. The competition attracts both wannabe and bona fide squirrel chefs from around the country. FHF Gear. Bino Harness Pro-M. First Lite. Obsidian Foundry Pant. The Essential Meatcrafter Knife. Wick Short Sleeve Crew. Category: Squirrels. Get the latest in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletters to receive regular emails with hand-picked content, gear recommendations, and special deals.

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