Indiana Fox Squirrel

[bluemtchuck]

I went squirrel hunting last Sunday, it was the last day of the season here in Indiana. I had a blast chasing these guys around. I saw several, but only ended up with one. These fox squirrels are very big. Here is a picture with my model 37 winchester .410.

I think I will do more squirrel hunting next year. I've got access to a couple properties that are loaded with these critters.

[thunderchicken]

Thats great, Charlie!

Those buggers are big! I saw a few in PA when we were hunting the northcentral part of the state!

How do they taste?

[danf]

Like squirrel. ;D

Squirrel aficionados prefer the grays over the reds, but I haven't eaten enough to tell the difference.

blue- you must be in the southern part of the state. Season always ended for me 12/31.

My family woods is overrun with bushytails. The first blood I drew with my then-new bow several years ago was a squirrel. They had been making so much noise that morning I was quite peeved off and shot one on the way out of the woods!

[bluemtchuck]

I just moved here from NH a few months ago. I'm living in Michigan City. The squirrel season is from August 15 to Jan. 31. I think this was for the whole state.

These critters are so plentiful out here. Just like the deer. What part of Indiana were you from Danf?

[nastygunz]

Man that critter looks like a woodchuck..sounds like squirrel hunting heaven out there !

[bluemtchuck]

It is Nasty, I've seen as many as 7 squirrel nest in one tree.

[danf]

I was born and raised in West Lafayette, moved south of Crawfordsville almost 8 years ago then moved out here last August.

I didn't remember the whole state having squirrel season until the end of January, but I didn't hunt them that much either. It may have been a new change for this year. Season starts August 15 every year though.

7 in one tree is quite a bit. On a good morning in my family woods I don't think it would be hard for 2-3 guys to walk out with full limits if they had the desire.

If you think the squirrel numbers are high, wait until deer season. ;D

[nhmsj]

Squirrel hunting is one of my hunting passions. In fact, often times I find myself vacillating between climbing into my deer stand or grabbing my favorite squirrel getter, a .410/.22LR shotgun/rifle combo, and heading out to hunt squirrel instead! It seems as I get older, the squirrel hunting option wins out more and more.

I've not been fortunate enough to hunt Fox squirrel, but I have bagged and consumed more than my share of Grays. lol! Just thinking about Squirrel hunting, even though the 2010 season is still quite a ways off yet, gets me antsy.

Danf, I have seen you on another NH hunting forum. And, as you might well be aware, there is talk of delaying the NH Archery Deer Season by a couple of weeks to an Oct. 1st opener. I certainly have mixed feelings about that. I truly do love bowhunting deer; but should the bow season delay, in fact, occur, then I will at least not have to struggle with the decision of what to hunt until Oct. 1st!

msj (aka marcus)

[danf]

Marcus, you might check out the discussion up in the regular hunting forum here, there's quite the talk going on right now. I really don't have much valid input at this point in time- anything done really won't affect me all that much and I really have very little past experience in NH to draw on; for the most part all I know is hunting in Indiana.

Oh, if any of you happen to head to central Indiana (Lafayette area) any time after August 15 and want to shoot some squirrels, hit me up. I can't promise anything for sure, but I'll see what I can do to hook you up with 50-60+ acres of creek bottom squirrel hunting.

[nhmsj]

Feb 7, 2010 4:19:49 GMT danf said:

Squirrel aficionados prefer the grays over the reds, but I haven't eaten enough to tell the difference.

quote]

Here in New Hampshire a "red" is an actual species of squirrel, the American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus.) It's just a little bit of a squirrel, but makes a lot of noise, and as I am sure you may have discovered already, they can be quite bothersome when one is deer hunting. There is no closed season on Red Squirrel here, and to be honest, not a few have ended up in my game bag and on my plate (in one form or another.) I personally can not tell much difference in the taste of a Gray or Red, just that a Red is about half the size or less than a Gray. Of course, that means one just has to double up. I have heard others say Reds taste like pine. Perhaps so. But again, I find no difference between a Red and a Gray. Maybe that is due to the fact the Reds around my neck of the woods inhabit more of a deciduous clime than strictly coniferous. Oh, and they skin out far easier than a Gray, too. Yeah, a Gray Squirrel never seems willing to give up its hide too easily.

To be true, hunting Reds in nothing like hunting Grays. Grays can be a challenge. Reds? They are pretty much everywhere, very territorial and none too smart. And whereas they have such a bossy disposition, they frequently stand their ground (or better put, their branch) and squawk at you until the hammer is dropped. Again, not much of a hunting challenge, but they do sometimes make up for a slow day's hunting.

msj

[danf]

Feb 23, 2010 17:36:39 GMT nhmsj said:

I have heard others say Reds taste like pine.

A "red" squirrel back "home" is a fox to you. A "red" squirrel here, to you, is the same as a "piney" back home to me. They exist in Indiana and they are just as annoying there as they are here!

Now, have you ever seen black squirrels?

[bluemtchuck]

The 8 th wonder of the world. ;D ;D I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I saw this coming through the woods. I've seen plenty of them now.

[nhmsj]

Feb 23, 2010 19:13:01 GMT danf said:

Now, have you ever seen black squirrels?

Nope! Not unless I can count flying squirrels.

msj