tree rat hunting

[Roadkil]

Originally Posted by old semperfi

i know ill catch he.. for this,but to me using a shotgun for treerats is like using dynamite for fishing.wheres the sport..............old semperfi

Not gonna give ya hell. I just use a shotgun because I do not own a .22

[noslolo]

20ga is very popular around here for tree rats. I would love to use the .22 but I'm afraid of a miss and where the rounds land could be an issue. Dang things hang out in the branches.

[jacksonco]

squirrel season opens this Saturday here in WV. I will be out with my S&W 22A pistol and trying to get a couple for the pot.

Zane I really like that 22/12g combo you have pictured. Nice gun!

[Old Grump]

At 22 it was a pistol with lead, 40 gr, solid, round nose, standard velocity bullets. At 42 it was a single shot 22, same ammo, At 52 there was a scope on the rifle, same ammo.

By the time I got to 62 it was a semi -auto rifle with scope with leaf off and 20 gauge shotgun #6 shot with leaf on and I wore binoculars.

Today the only time the rifle gets used is if I'm in my old deer stand and the little critters are on the ground in the snow. Today my shotgun has a scope on it, still using #6 shot, light loads, penetrates the hide but not the meat, shock kills them dead, or has so far.

Old eyeballs with cataracts can't get on target quite as fast as they used to so one makes adjustments. Fortunately paper targets stay still and are still rifle and pistol friendly............usually.

[whirley]

I prefer the .22 short cartridge. With patience, they come down to the ground, and I've learned they are not startled by the sound of the .22 short. My first rifle many years ago was a Winchester model 57 rifled and chambered for the ,22 short with aperature sights. The short requires rifling ratio of 1-20 inches, that's why they aren't very accurate with 1-16 used with long rifle cartridges.When my grandson was old enough to go squirrel hunting in our woods, I had a Mossberg relined for .22 short. I don't like a shotgun shooting into leafy trees, too much shot is absorbed. Besides, teaching my grandson to be patient and careful is all part of the job.

[Zane71464]

Originally Posted by jacksonco

squirrel season opens this Saturday here in WV. I will be out with my S&W 22A pistol and trying to get a couple for the pot.

Zane I really like that 22/12g combo you have pictured. Nice gun!

Thanks jacksonco, Ive taken several with it the first part of season. I like the gun but, would love to have the .22lr on top along with the 20ga.! The under barrel it's self (20ga.) does an exellent job, and to my suprise, really reaches out there.

[Zane71464]

Originally Posted by jack404

Zane , thats a very popular gun here, that and the 12G version. Folks like to hunt the edge of the ranges as you get Roo, Pigs and goats and rabbits along there and its right down the eastern seaboard .

20G solid is a great boar stopper and the .22 mag will drop roo's and goaties for a good 200 meters no worries!, enjoy !

I'd love to have the 12ga. version, but like you said about the .22mag, it reaches out there! Ive got the adjustable sight set at 100yds, and it's "there" with the .22mag! I hadnt shot it much til this year, but it is indeed a good shooting gun.

[Boris]

These are my two main tree rat gitters.

Snake charmer with a M4 stock and a Savage camper. The camper is a 22rf over a 20 gauge cylinder bore.

[carver]

Originally Posted by old semperfi

i know ill catch he.. for this,but to me using a shotgun for treerats is like using dynamite for fishing.wheres the sport..............old semperfi

We won't give you any he.. here, but who hunts for sport? I hunt to put meat on the table, I always have, and I always will. I'm not against sport hunting, it's just not the way I was raised.

[3/2 STA SS]

.22 CB longs-quiet for where I live and run em through my Winchester 75.

[icm856]

We have both fox and grays around here. I have a permit to hunt on about 5600 acres of IL dept. of Natural Resources and US Army Corps of Engineers land along the Mississippi river. It's only 3 miles from my house.

[Zane71464]

[QUOTE=icm856;682612]We have both fox and grays around here. I have a permit to hunt on about 5600 acres of IL dept. of Natural Resources and US Army Corps of Engineers land along the Mississippi river. It's only 3 miles from my house.

We also have the fox "rats" here too, just not as abundant as they used to be. As a kid seems they were pretty thick but seems when you go out these days, on one hunt, you may see/get a couple in with the greys if the luck is good.

[carver]

Any of you squirrel hunters ever witnessed a migration?

[Snakedriver]

They're out of control pests around my Dad's house up in Missouri. He lives in the city limits where discharging firearms is seriously frowned upon by the police, so he got a 1,000 fps pellet gun with a 4-power scope to help weed out his crop of pesky little rascals. Last fall I think he told me he eliminated over 60 of them on his 3/4 acre lot. He cooks them up with some BBQ sauce and enjoys his dinner. He told me that during the Great Depression, squirrels were one of his family's primary sources of meat.

[Zane71464]

Originally Posted by carver

Any of you squirrel hunters ever witnessed a migration?

Sure have carver. Last year we had an acorn shortage and there were about 6 oak trees around my house that happened to be loaded and they came from everywhere it seemed. At my deer feeder all last fall and winter, they ate non-stop. This year the acorns are as abundant as I have EVER seen around here, and when the acorns came on and began to fall, they slowly began to "disapate". Right now/all this fall since the acorns have all fallen (which there are EVERYWHERE), there isnt a tree rat to be seen other than two that comes to the deer feeder from time to time.
Ive been back all through the woods behind the house and in front and only have seen just a few here and there. It's like they have moved a far way away and rightfully as the acorns literally cover the ground everywhere...they dont have to just hand around one area. But as far as where they are nesting, I havent a clue.