Squirrels...Hunting...Varmint pest or Game Animal?

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Dearhunter61

New member
The question is stated above...

The reason I am asking is simple. I LOVE to squirrel hunt but in Texas in the Pineywoods Squirrel tastes like Turpinetine. YUK. I have never been able to prepare it so that it tastes like anything but turpinetine.

So for years I did not hunt them but I really miss hunting them and would like to do so again...so I want a little feedback from you all as to whether you consider them game animals and therefore if you shoot them you eat them or if you think you are doing the world a favor by removing them and therefore saving the world...
 
squirrel, opossums, coons, rabbits are all fair game IMO with rabbit being the exception of killing and not eating.
I like squirrel and coon and will clean and eat these little varmints.
East Texas squirrel are very nasty tasting. They taste like turpentine smells IMO from all the pine cones they eat.
Still a lot of fun the hunt.
I have a relative out that way and he feeds the meat after it is boiled to his dogs, they seem to love it.
 
therefore if you shoot them you eat them or if you think you are doing the world a favor by removing them and therefore saving the world...
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Yankee input here! I do consider them as game animal and Greys are delicious and would not appreciate the turpentine marinade. Generally I do not hunt anything I won't eat but that's my ethics or hang up, depending on one's measure. There are hunts and then there are conservation efforts to reduce game numbers and seldom confuse the two. Basically I need some justification to shoot any animal. Granted, I don't need much but anything short of that is killing for the fun of it. You make the measure. ..... :rolleyes:

world a favor by removing them and therefore saving the world
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Hardly, or at least not in my woods !! .... :barf:

Be Safe !!!!!
 
Out here we hunt Columbia Black Tail Ground Squirrels. I've heard some eat them but the smell puts me off. I hunt them because the land owners invite me to do so... they make a lot of holes in the ground and can be right skitterish about 2 legged critters staring at them.

I hunt them with a .32 caliber Tennessee Poor Boy percussion rifle. This makes it very interesting and is helpful in big game hunting. You pretty much have to stalk them instead of sitting out there at 100 yards or better with them not even knowing you are in the vicinity and paying nigh on 75 cents a shot to vaporize them. (Not hunting in my book.)
 
Gray squirrels are very tasty. . Fox squirrels taste fine but tend to be tough in my opinion. Never ate pine squirrel but have been told they're basically indedible - supposed to have the 'piney' turpentine taste mentioned.
 
The ones I have (greys) in my yard feed primarily on pine seeds so they get shot at a rate of no more than 2 per week for the snake to eat.
Brent
 
they grays in new york i eat. Like another said i only shoot what i'll eat. of course there are exceptions, but so far thats how it is for me. so i go hunting them pretty often and always eat them. Slow cooked for an hour and 1/2 or so and you are good to go. otherwise its like chewing on a car tire.
 
Here in Eastrn MA we have plenty of black squirrels...apparently they're the result of gray squirrel over population and the ones that would typically die off during harsh winters are surviving due to birdfeeders, eating trash, etc. Plus there's no predators around to eat them. So basically, not just the strong are surviving. I make it a point to eliminate them. I live in the suburbs, so I use a Benjamin 392. Head shots at 25 yards with open sights aren't a problem.
To answer the question...I think they're varmint and game. I wouldn't eat a city squirrel, but the woodland ones are tasty.
 
I wish you guys were making it easier for me...but unfortunately I can not seem to get over the killing for the sake of killing. I absolutely love to hunt them in the pineywoods. It is a blast but because they feed on the fruit of pine trees they taste like turpentine and that makes them inedible. I can not justify shooting them as a pest really because I am talking about going to the Davy Crockett Nat'l forest to hunt them and they just can not be considered a pest there.

I would love to hunt the ones that primarliy eat nuts and such. I would think they would be tasty but I do not live anywhere where that is the case.

Thanks for all your responses!
 
Around here, most species of tree squirrel are protected.

Ground squirrels are all that we can safely shoot. (Some of the unprotected tree squirrels are visually similar to protected species.)

They are vermin. Ground squirrels are left where they die, or gathered up as bait. .... for more squirrels. That's right. They're scavenging cannibals. We use their dead brothers as bait for more squirrel popping goodness.
 
ive hunted them since i was young for meat.. still eat em these days.. never had one that didnt taste good tho... squirrel and rabbit taste alike to me
 
ive hunted them since i was a kid. tasty!
but i also varmint hunted them in strip mines were they tasted like clay. they were gnawing up the the new planted trees.
 
I absolutly hate squirrels. They are a fun watch while sitting in a deer stand, but other than that, I can't stand them. Don't really know where this loathing of such a small creature comes from. I used to eat them, still do sometimes. I find folks that do and drop off all that I kill.

I don't really go squirrel hunting, I go on squirrel killings. It's fun sometines to take out the .22 shorts for the challenge, but the loathing takes over and I carry the 12 gauge with #4-6 high brass with a Turkey choke.

wish you guys were making it easier for me...but unfortunately I can not seem to get over the killing for the sake of killing.
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Yes, they are dead, and you killed them just to kill them. But in looking at the nature of things, they won't be wasted. They will end up in the chains of the ecosystem somewhere. Coyotes, fox, crows, dirt/plants, something will benifit from them.
 
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I have raised 2... I also would hold the dead one by the tail in the carport and let "baby" or "squeaky" watch what happens to bad busy tail rats as I feed it to a bulldog...:D
Brent
 
so they get shot at a rate of no more than 2 per week for the snake to eat.
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LMAO.

When i was in college it was tough to scrounge together enough cash to feed my boa. Eventually I got head shots almost every time with the trusty sheridan air rifle. The snake LOVED the fresh killed prey. Much better than thawed rats that cost me around 4 bucks.

What kind of snake were you feeding hogdogs?
 
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