Fur under the hickories

[Drawdown]

The ole 16ga barked only 5 times!

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[gamekeeper]

Well done, where I now live it seems the Squirrel population has crashed however I like your weapon of choice

[GunnyMack]

The last time I say under the hickory's my left wrist was in a cast but my 410 spoke 5 times for 5 grey critters. Lots of fun !

[Paladin]

Well done.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Cool!

[Bill in Oregon]

Nice harvest. Squirrel pot pie?

[JBowen]

Nice brace of squirrel there! Did they have many fleas on them? I like to wait until after the first frost to cut down on fleas and copperheads. I never understood why
my Grandpa wouldn't go hunting until it frosted until I shot a few squirrels one hot day and they were all covered in fleas.

JBowen

[Drawdown]

Thanks everyone, anyone who's spent any time in good squirrel woods, most all say same thing? Not much in the hunting world any more fun!
And as to the gun, i can honestly say, I've yet to hunt with a Singleshot i didn't like! Few autos wasn't crazy about several pumps, but in ones preferred bore, a SS is just right!
And I'm gonna slow cook 3 tomorrow in chicken broth till tender, then drain and barbq little while barely a simmer! Anymore this is my favorite way! Barbq Squirrel Wings. My favorite is fried young squirrels, but since mom passed, my frying falls far short what i was used to, don't even try anymore.
I haven't even looked for fleas since my early days, and have never noticed but a few back when I was younger. Question came up when I noticed few hunting with my dad n uncle? Dad said they come off with the hide! Haven't noticed any since then, in the 70's. To be honest i don't think it's a problem here, been around 00's of squirrel hunters all my life, don't ever recall it being mentioned a worry! Lotta places have Warbles bad in early season, (always called Wolves here by everyone) I don't see one but maybe every 3-5 seasons. Can remember in 70's, see 5-10 in a season with them, but I'm talking 00's of squirrels killed by 5-10 of us. It's been I'd say 10 years since I've seen one, but I don't hunt em that often anymore.

[JBowen]

Quote "Lotta places have Warbles bad in early season, (always called Wolves here by everyone)"

We have them here too. Rabbits are worse.

JBowen

[Drawdown]

Yes they do, best my memory. We, my dad n brothers never rabbit hunted. My uncle that squirrel hunted so often with us, when I was young had a beagle that him n cousins rabbit hunted, I went few times is all. I haven't ate a rabbit since I was a kid. Really they're best eating best I remember, but that's been long time.
But I have an observation, just me, but I'm really asking others opinions? Here's, it's big Appalachian Mts. But we always went several times a year to central and northern KY, plus E.Tenn (my all time favorite place hunt) but all squirrel hunting. But it just seemed to me, in flat open country, you encounter more Pests & Bad Bugs! Fleas, deer ticks especially, even warbles, chiggers, etc, and animals more effected by em. Ive never gotten into deer ticks here period, been lucky elsewhere. But I've had friends gotten eat up with them. Swore away from these places! Ive cleaned 000's squirrels from here, honestly I don't have memory of hardly any fleas. And down in central ky, I remember seeing warbles on squirrels, kinda turned my stomach against em! I believe it's the sandy soil in that country, not so here! But I may be wrong, just leaned towards this thinking long ago. I quit going elsewhere to hunt in mid 80's. Dad got old, slowed down, so we just stayed at home. But I don't know I'm right, just open for opinion?? Central KY seemed be worst! We hunted lot in Northern KY, right on Ohio R., wasn't to bad there, or didn't seem to be. Spent too much time there hunting n camping! But now mosquitoes n knots will drive you crazy here, guess everywhere else? Worse thing about E. Tenn was spiders & webs! Early season, you couldn't take 5 steps without getting into another. Big ugly spiders every color in world, make me paranoid! You can't hunt squirrels there, for looking out for webs!

[Oldncrusty]

Nice mess of squackers. Im itching to go but waitin till it cools off a little. Sposed to be nice next week. Traded off my 16 ga 37 a while back but I have other options.

[Bill in Oregon]

You know, this thread has convinced me that I need to take Dad's old Model 37 16 for a walk in the Gila National Forest and look for grays. Squirrel season here starts September 1 and runs through November 30. I notice all I have right now for ammo is this box of Vintage Remington paper shells in No. 4 and a box of Winchester No. 8. I have heard No. 5 or No. 6 are preferred.

[piller]

Lots of squirrels right here in town. We have a pecan tree that the squirrels strip clean of pecans before any fall off. I have a good pellet rifle, and am thinking of putting some corn in the back yard once it cools way down to about 70 degrees.

[Drawdown]

You know, this thread has convinced me that I need to take Dad's old Model 37 16 for a walk in the Gila National Forest and look for grays. Squirrel season here starts September 1 and runs through November 30. I notice all I have right now for ammo is this box of Vintage Remington paper shells in No. 4 and a box of Winchester No. 8. I have heard No. 5 or No. 6 are preferred.

Bill that's a beautiful 16ga, you're lucky! My first thought was pm you how much $? But I'm sure it's home, especially since it was your dad's! Growing up here in 60's-70's, there was enough 37's to arm our military, for sure between it and the various models of Steven's 94's if I remember right mod #. But they were both fine squirrel guns. I had aaM37 12ga i got in 78, kept loooong time. Tried n tried get one in 16ga, but theys always in a permanent home. Finest SS i ever hunted, was a Stevens M94 in 28ga, only one I ever saw. My brothers BILaw, and i used it one morning. Considered committing murder rather give it back, it was a sweet sweet killer out to 35yds or so!
I go in our only pawn shop often, and sometimes see a 37 in 12 or 20ga, but never 16ga!

[GunnyMack]

Bill look on AmmoSeek.com, I bet you'll find a pile of 16 ammo!
I have not shot a 16 game in my life. I shot a BP 8bore, 10s, 12s 20s 28s and of course 410s but never a 16. I think you should send me it come November and I'll shoot some pheasants with it for ya!

[TraderVic]

I have a vintage Savage Model 220, 410 single shot that is a pleasure to carry and shoot in the woods.
A box of 3" 410 loads average $ 18-20 these days.

[Bill in Oregon]

Drawdown, Will, thanks. There's actually a fair amount of 16 gauge ammo available around here. I am not sure of the ideal shot size for "squill" though. I always thought I needed a .22 rifle or a .36 caliber Southern Mountain Rifle in flint to hunt them properly.

[Drawdown]

#4, 5, or 6 is 95% of what every hunter around here has always used. #5 would be my choice to settle upon for one for all! However, I past idk, seems 20 years most companies have quit making 16ga in #5 shot, according to what's being sold anyways. Fiocchi is only company I've seen selling #5 shot in 16ga. Ive yet to try em, cause no one here sales that brand, and I haven't ordered any. My brother has been using Fiochii #5 in his Sweet 16, does well!
So my choice in recent years is in early season, I stay with #6. The trees in full green, woods full, shots are most always up close, you got to most time to even be able see em to get a shot. By Oct, madt has most fallen, leaves falling, woods open up tremendously, squirrels mostly on the ground, cause that's where majority of preferred food is. Long shot opportunities happen more and more as leaves all fall, visibility is far! Best strategy is knowing where you seen squirrels in early season, so move to these areas, sit down long periods. Squirrels on the move. #4 shot will give a good tight choke gun, ?10, maybe 20yds, according to the gun! #4's are significantly heavier even if only slightly bigger, so they carry farther, and still penetrate deep. Ive killed squirrels with #4 when only a shot or two hit them. But they're to damaging to the meat up close shots that you get usually in early season!
IMO, #7.5-8, just to small to penetrate in a squirrel, the toughest animal i know of, and if lot if them hit one up close, you got hand full of lead! But if you can get #5's, according to your gun, I'd say grab em and be glad! When I hunted 12ga, #5's anytime I had em!
Might just be me, but all my life all I used was Win, Rem, and Peter's. But from start when I got this 16ga, I tried Federals. Now, idk, but it seems Federals are superior to everything. I could count all the squirrels I've failed to recover on my fingers, when using Federals, and the #4's in Nov-Feb, ived killed em out into rifle range!
Regardless of brand, get only High Brass, HV Loads, velocities at or over 1290-1300+fps. If gray squirrels out there are anything near what they are here, they're tough critter!