Hunting small game while Deer Hunting?

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FrontSight

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Anyone ever take shots at squirrels or other small game while deer hunting? I mean, when the sun comes up, the woods in NY just come alive with squirrels...they are e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e....scores of them!! And the NY limit is 6 a day!

I am soooo very tempted to take a shot at one with either my bow (but arrows are just toooo expensive to waste on a squirrel) or I'm thinking of bringing a bb gun or even a slingshot...

But then my main concern would be over spooking any deer and ruining my chances at a trophy buck or even a doe.

What do you guys think about small game hunting while deer hunting? A big no-no, or go for it, as long as it's with something quiet like a slingshot?
 
I have one arrow just for that. It has a crack down the length of it. So far I have been mere inches away from bagging a squirrel. I tried a opossum too, but missed.

It probably does spook the deer, but heck I have three weeks to bow hunt.
 
I do either/or, rarely both at the same time. If you start popping squirrels, you drastically reduce your chances of seeing deer. Even if the sound of the shot didn't spook the deer, leaving your stand to retrieve a squirrel probably would. If you're still hunting, this wouldn't be as important. I have occasionally taken a squirrel or rabbit while still hunting, but, curiously enough, I didn't manage to get a deer those days.

I don't know if a slingshot would be a legal method around here or not. I'd certainly find out before I tried. Sounds like it might be a good reason to get a .22 revolver.
 
Swampdog: In NY, for some reason, you can't carry a firearm of any kind while bowhunting. Why, I have no idea, makes no sense to me, except maybe that they are concerned over people using powerful firearms around people who are bowhunting and in camo?

Thanks for the replies so far, guys!
 
It depends on the area. Where I hunt now, I would not. Deer are very weary. Up in the hill country of Tx, I've done it, and not had any issues to my knowledge. Do Turkeys count? I shoot them whenever the opportunity arises. I make great turkey jerky...:D
 
But then my main concern would be over spooking any deer and ruining my chances at a trophy buck or even a doe.
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THAT's why I don't do it.

UNLESS the squirrel is chattering at me, giving away my presence, AND it is close enough for me to hit it in the head with my .22 revolver loaded up with very quiet Aguila Super Colibris - about 8 yards or less. In my 9-shot .22 revo, I carry 5 or 6 Super Colibris, and 3 or 4 plain .22 lrs, for finishing shots on large game.

Now a turkey has a lot of good-tasting meat, so I'd definitely take a shot with my main rifle or a .22lr to get one (IF legal / in season) - I'll take my chances with scaring the deer for a half hour or so, for a good turkey.
 
Take walnuts with you and run on the expectation that when a deer sees a squirrel perched on something, that something isn't near a hunter :)

I have no idea, really. Seems a neat pasttime though, feed the tree rats off your stand...
 
UNLESS the squirrel is chattering at me, giving away my presence, AND it is close enough for me to hit it in the head
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BTDT, got the skin on the wall.:D

Usually not cause I'd rather get my deer. I have sometimes, only sure shots or if the little boogers are sounding the alarm.:mad: :D
 
No I would not so as not to scare a deer. Also reply to earlier post here in Alabama it is illegal to carry any firearm with you during bow season. Too many people have shot deer and then tried to stuff an arrow through it claiming that the broadhead did the damage.
 
Nope. When deer hunting, I am deer hunting. I can't imagine the thought process required for a hunter to be willing to spook a deer, just to take a squirrel. I would think that is not a successful hunter in the first place.
 
Mannlicher: Not a successful deer hunter? I got 5 last year. 3 with a bow, and two (they were actually travelling together) with a shotgun.

FirstFreedom: I would not take the squirrels with a large rifle, nor a slug...only either with an arrow or pellet gun or slingshot, to be as quiet as possible...as stated in my first post: "I am soooo very tempted to take a shot at one with either my bow (but arrows are just toooo expensive to waste on a squirrel) or I'm thinking of bringing a bb gun or even a slingshot..."
 
I do carry one arrow tipped with a judo point in my quiver, just for squirrels. I try not to shoot during prime deer traffic times. I usually wait until just before I head in for lunch. I don't want to scare away a buck that's just out of view by launching an arrow at a squirrel. They are good practice though.
 
It's rifle season here, so I wasn't thinking about it being bow season where you are. We aren't allowed any type of firearm during bow season, either.

I've used the judo heads mentioned for plinking at cans and stuff but I've never hunted with them. They certainly should kill a rabbit or a squirrel, though. I couldn't find a link to one, so here's a picture. It's extremely hard to lose an arrow with one of these heads, but you can do it. At close range, the POI is close enough to my 100gr broadheads.

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Good Luck
 

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"...has a crack down the length of it..." Using that arrow is incredibly dangerous. A cracked arrow can literally explode in your face. Pitch it.
Small game hunting is what one does after the morning deer hunt and before the afternoon deer hunt.
"...three weeks to bow hunt..." Is that the only bow season for deer? Bow season runs from the beginning of October, shuts down for the gun season during the first two weeks of November, then opens again until mid December in Ontario. Used to run until New Year's Eve. The MNR bozo's finally caught on to the excessive deer population and will sell you a second tag in some areas. I suspect they shortened the post-firearm bow season to compensate.
Up here, the insurance companies are paying out millions of dollars for road kill damages. Miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. I'd almost bet they told the government to expand the hunt because of it. They have a great deal of monetary clout here.
 
I don't think insurance companies typically insure farmers crops against damage. They do insure automobiles of course. I thought Canada had a national insurance program on automobiles vs private. So, it would be the government making the decisions about seasons, bag limits, etc.

In states I've hunted, you were not allowed to carry a firearm during bow season. That's why they call it bow season or archery.
 
Sidebar: In my state, bow season for both deer and turkey runs continuously from Oct 1 to Jan 15, overlapping both gun and ML seasons. Although there IS a fall turkey gun season, it is BEFORE deer gun season. So, they passed a new reg that (as of last year), you can carry both a bow and a gun during during gun season, because turkey ARCHERY season is concurrent with deer gun season, even though turkey gun season is over. So the idea being, it's ok to put down your rifle and grab your bow if you see a turkey and shoot it during deer gun season. The reverse is also true. Before deer gun season starts, during turkey gun season, you can carry a bow for deer, and a gun for turkey (although in SOME counties, the gun must be shotgun, but in some counties, the gun can be a rifle). Kinda weird.
 
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