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Anybody out squirrel hunting?

This thread is eye opening to me for no reason other than my grandpa used to tell me you hunt squirrels and rabbits after it snows. Something about bugs if I remember right. Now I’m a bit further south than where I grew up and by the time it snows I’m into deer, once that ends I’ve only got a month or so of those seasons left. Seems I should start earlier and enjoy a new thing.
 
HuskerInIowa said:
This thread is eye opening to me for no reason other than my grandpa used to tell me you hunt squirrels and rabbits after it snows. Something about bugs if I remember right. Now I’m a bit further south than where I grew up and by the time it snows I’m into deer, once that ends I’ve only got a month or so of those seasons left. Seems I should start earlier and enjoy a new thing.
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I’ve always hunted squirrels early and I can find them cutting. But the weather here is somewhat bearable this time of year. Mornings in the 50s and 60s. Can still heat up to 80-90 but I’m usually done hunting by 8:30. I’ve always heard not to hunt rabbits until after the first frost for some disease or worm. No idea if it’s true, but I typically find it easier to hunt them in the cold of winter any way.
 
25ftup said:
I’ve always hunted squirrels early and I can find them cutting. But the weather here is somewhat bearable this time of year. Mornings in the 50s and 60s. Can still heat up to 80-90 but I’m usually done hunting by 8:30. I’ve always heard not to hunt rabbits until after the first frost for some disease or worm. No idea if it’s true, but I typically find it easier to hunt them in the cold of winter any way.
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Rabbits was it! Thanks!
 
25ftup said:
I’ve seen some videos on YouTube of it and i would definitely try it! I would guess the main problem around here is lack of public land and Illinois is known for deer. Most chunks of big ground you can’t get permission to step foot on during deer season, let alone run dogs. And I think Illinois is 2% Public land. A lot of the chunks aren’t big areas either, which leads me back to the deer hunting thing. Easy for the dog to get off public and onto somebody’s ground. Even if the dog isn’t running deer guys are going to be pissed about a dog running through their property during season. Again this is all my own speculation based off what I know about this state and hunters in my area. I would love to try it though.
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Squirrel dogs actually stay pretty tight to you. They aren’t like rabbit dogs. I’ve never seen one get off of the property we were on. We run them on my little 40 acre farm, and they never get on the neighbors place. Hell we have a few 10-15 acre tracks we will run them on sometimes. We do mostly hunt public land though. A lot of it’s Corp land though, and their borders are pretty tight to the water. I think it’s 300’ from the full pool line on the lake we hunt. With that said we don’t run them until after deer season closes. They get Wolves on them down here, which is a parasite that grows under their skin. Rabbits do the same. It’s one of the best ways to get a kid interested in the outdoors. They don’t have to get up to early, walk to far, be quiet, or bust briars.


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shmelton said:
Squirrel dogs actually stay pretty tight to you. They aren’t like rabbit dogs. I’ve never seen one get off of the property we were on. We run them on my little 40 acre farm, and they never get on the neighbors place. Hell we have a few 10-15 acre tracks we will run them on sometimes. We do mostly hunt public land though. A lot of it’s Corp land though, and their borders are pretty tight to the water. I think it’s 300’ from the full pool line on the lake we hunt. With that said we don’t run them until after deer season closes. They get Wolves on them down here, which is a parasite that grows under their skin. Rabbits do the same. It’s one of the best ways to get a kid interested in the outdoors. They don’t have to get up to early, walk to far, be quiet, or bust briars.


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Good to hear. I’ve hunted over “rabbit” dogs before. The reason I put it like that is I think we spent more time chasing the dogs than anything else. If I ever find somebody using skwerl dogs I’ll have to give it a try.
 
Picked up a Tactacam Solo Extreme and an FTS mount. I have been playing around with it the last few days hoping to get a limit with it Saturday morning.
 
My Father had some kind of spaniel that could always find the squirrels. He never got over 30 yards out from us. He would bark at them, and they would bark back, and it really made for some easy shooting and quick limits. Sad when he got ran over by a truck on the farm. We also had a great beagle that would hunt squirrels or rabbits well until someone stole him.
 
Our season doesn’t open until next weekend. Same weekend our velvet hunt is. Once that is over we’ll be busting some squirrels till archery season opens in late September. We hunt several public ground spots. We hunt with our little cur dog quite a bit here.
 
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I think I have squirrel-based target panic.
I have shot at them with bows, slingshots, and pellet rifle. Even the most gimme of shots seems to be impossible for me. This morning I had one 10 yds from my garden, so I took the pellet gun out and settled the crosshair on its eye…miss. He stood still and let me reload, shot again…miss. He went two steps up a tree, paused, I reloaded again and settled the crosshair on the other eye…miss.
So I went to a steel target, same distance, shot…plink. Shot at a dove two days ago, similar distance…that dove was squab, right through the neck. The gun is on and I can clearly hit what I’m aiming at but this is not a one-time thing with the squirrels. I’m not an avid squirrel hunter but rather an opportunist; however, it’s been 12 years and I still haven’t hit one in anything but the tail. What gives?
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
I think I have squirrel-based target panic.
I have shot at them with bows, slingshots, and pellet rifle. Even the most gimme of shots seems to be impossible for me. This morning I had one 10 yds from my garden, so I took the pellet gun out and settled the crosshair on its eye…miss. He stood still and let me reload, shot again…miss. He went two steps up a tree, paused, I reloaded again and settled the crosshair on the other eye…miss.
So I went to a steel target, same distance, shot…plink. Shot at a dove two days ago, similar distance…that dove was squab, right through the neck. The gun is on and I can clearly hit what I’m aiming at but this is not a one-time thing with the squirrels. I’m not an avid squirrel hunter but rather an opportunist; however, it’s been 12 years and I still haven’t hit one in anything but the tail. What gives?
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Sounds like target panic to me, switch to a shotgun for a little bit and see if getting a few under your belt that way lightens up the 800# gorilla that is target panic
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
I do live near Springfield and Dayton, and the voodoo going on there is not fake news…
Maybe it’s a trickle effect on my squirrel juju.
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All Joking Aside, You May Want to be Extra Vigilant Bowhunting There. I've Hunted @ the Mexican Border For Pigs and They Told Us We Should Be Carrying a Pistol All the Time. Just a Thought! I've been Taking my Grandaughter Hunting and She's a Crack Shot w/my 17hmr. Shot Two the First Morning.
 
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