Eight this morning

[okie]

tree rat southern fried hard to beat!!

 

[JRS]

tree rat southern fried hard to beat!!

Too many overcook the meat which results in tough dry meat.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I showed the picture to my FIL.

My FIL wants me to shoot a few for him just before my wife and I go to Waycross for the weekend to visit.

 

[2506]

I just thought about it but I have a picture of me at about 4 years old standing on the porch with my Grandfather on my mothers side and my Dad. Papa with a shotgun and Dad with a 22 rifle. This picture was taken just before me being taken on my first hunting trip behind Papa's house on his farm. We went squirrel hunting. Don't remember if we got anything or not but I do remember my aunt taking the picture. It now has a special place on the wall in my Man Cave.

 

[blackwidowp61]

I believe true red squirrels are about half the size of gray/fox squirrels...could your 'red squirrels' be fox squirrels?

 

[Raythemanroe]

Tree rats


Ray

 

[Longcarbine]

I believe true red squirrels are about half the size of gray/fox squirrels...could your 'red squirrels' be fox squirrels?

Yes they are fox squirrels, most folks call them reds around this part of Missouri. A lot of people call the greys "cat squirrels" around these parts because of a particular noise they make.

 

[2506]

In the mountains of east TN red squirrels (small ones) are called boomers by the old folks. I was told that the male will attack male gray squirrels and bite their testicles off. I have never seen this or killed a gray that this has been done to but that is what the old times told me. The first Fox squirrel I ever saw was when I lived in WV in the Monongalia National Forest. I was squirrel hunting on the opening day and the leaves were still thick. I was hunting with a shotgun. I was under a large hickory nut tree and kept seeing the limbs shaking and would just catch a glimpse of a squirrel now and then. Then all of a sudden I can see a head and I shot. Down came what sounded like a cinder block falling through the branches and it hit the ground with a thud. It was almost orange in color and about as big as the average house cat. I wish I would have had the money to mount it but did not. My wife and I ate it.

 

[blackwidowp61]

Bwahahahaha! A nutless squirrel! We have all three varieties of tree rats here but I've never seen a shorn male gray squirrel yet. Guess I'll have to pay more attention.

2506 - one of my sons caught a large grayling in Montana and we had it for supper that night. The next day I looked up the record Montana grayling and the one we ate was bigger! But it tasted great.

 

[fredo]

Same here in our AO. The ones we call 'red' squirrels are pine squirrels...and yes they are aggressive as heck! They will indeed kick azz on a gray that's 2-3x their size! And poor chipmunks don't stand a chance against those little red terrors. There is actually no closed season on our 'red' squirrels, just grays.
If ya think zappin' grays with a rimfire is challenging, try your hand at targeting those little reds! I cheat &'usually carry the .410, cuz those suckers never seem to sit still...

We don't have many/any 'fox' squirrels, which are called 'red' in other AO. Seen a lot of 'fox' squirrel in Midwest, and those things can get huge!

Thanks for sharing the post, and the replies of fond memories!

 

[dkhunt14]

Same here in our AO. The ones we call 'red' squirrels are pine squirrels...and yes they are aggressive as heck! They will indeed kick azz on a gray that's 2-3x their size! And poor chipmunks don't stand a chance against those little red terrors. There is actually no closed season on our 'red' squirrels, just grays.
If ya think zappin' grays with a rimfire is challenging, try your hand at targeting those little reds! I cheat &'usually carry the .410, cuz those suckers never seem to sit still...

We don't have many/any 'fox' squirrels, which are called 'red' in other AO. Seen a lot of 'fox' squirrel in Midwest, and those things can get huge!

Thanks for sharing the post, and the replies of fond memories!

From accounts of my hunting buddies that hunt Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, those fox squirrels are huge compared to ours. Western Pa has alot more then we do here in the eastern part. But the last few years we have more of them.

I believe if you had your nuts chewed off, you may not survive the ordeal. Matt

 

[Pwc]

Hunting by myself when young, they drove me crazy when they would flatten out on the tree and move with you as you move around to get a better shot, they would skitter sideways. Learned to take a ball of string and tie it to some brush on one side of the tree, then walk straight past the tree and find a seat with my back against another tree. Let things settle a little, then begin jerking the string. The squirrel would come around the tree to my side, or at least silhouette himself on the side. Always hopped they would not hang up by a 'fingernail'.

 

[blackwidowp61]

The fox squirrels that I see are usually in small woods or along the edges of larger woods. A lot of times I'll see them scampering into the woods from corn fields. They also tend to be heavier than grays. As stated earlier, they make a racket falling out of the tree.

 

[2506]

I learned when I was a kid squirrel hunting to carry a few golf ball size rocks in my pocket or coat. When a squirrel would play the hide behind the tree and move around keeping the tree between me and him I would just pitch a rock on the ground on his side of the tree and he usually would slide around on my side and he was dead meat literally. LOL

 

[dkhunt14]

My brothers and I hunted squirrels with a dog. That was a real blast. Matt

 

[timeout]

I learned when I was a kid squirrel hunting to carry a few golf ball size rocks in my pocket or coat. When a squirrel would play the hide behind the tree and move around keeping the tree between me and him I would just pitch a rock on the ground on his side of the tree and he usually would slide around on my side and he was dead meat literally. LOL

I just threw my cap around the other side of the tree! Shot a pile of rabbits and squirrels as a kid. My mom must not of known how to cook. I wouldn't give a nickel for squirrel meat but I do like cottontail rabbit. We had fox squirrels and gray squirrels. Not much meat on those little grays. Now if you want fun small game hunting go rabbit hunting with a good beagle hound!