ZT 0561 and Squirrel

Sorry, this is not a 'happy, happy... joy, joy' post.

Ah, what better way to top a fine day enjoying nature than by laying waste to a tree rat... with a shotgun? What, you were low on .458 Lott ammo, so you left the safari rifle home? Seriously, learn to hunt using the appropriate device - a pellet or .22 rimfire rifle - and patience - will work wonders.

Back on target - I'm glad you found a use for your ZT-0561 - I love mine. I like a basic Buck 110 better for cutting my meat - even if it was foraged in a heat-shrunk wrapped Styrofoam tray at the local grocers...

Stainz
 
Seriously? A shotgun with the right load is a perfectly appropriate gun for squirrel. Or rabbit or birds.
 
If you enjoy hunting use a .22. If you enjoy bagging the limit use a shotgun, has been my experience. I don't squirrel hunt much anymore and would much prefer to use a .22, but with my current place I hunt, a shotgun is more safe. My mom always cooks them, I doubt my wife would touch one. She pressure cooks them and then puts them in a gravy. Put that on some rice and it's good.
 
I agree with the above two posts- 1) use what avaliable to you and your good with and 2) people have very different hunting styles to bag the same animal. Ask a bow hunter and he'll say we're all silly for using .22's and/or shotty's.
 
Stainz said:
Sorry, this is not a 'happy, happy... joy, joy' post.

Ah, what better way to top a fine day enjoying nature than by laying waste to a tree rat... with a shotgun? What, you were low on .458 Lott ammo, so you left the safari rifle home? Seriously, learn to hunt using the appropriate device - a pellet or .22 rimfire rifle - and patience - will work wonders.

Back on target - I'm glad you found a use for your ZT-0561 - I love mine. I like a basic Buck 110 better for cutting my meat - even if it was foraged in a


heat-shrunk wrapped Styrofoam tray at the local grocers...

Stainz
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Obviously you did not read my post very well. First of all I do not want to get into an argument (Well here I go), but using a shotgun is quite common and it does not destroy the animal or meat. I use field loads and out of a .410 even though a 12 guage would not tear it apart either (Same pellet speed just more pellets than .410). As to wasting the animal in the original post I explained my love and respect for these beautiful animals and I do not kill for fun and I even am careful about which ones I kill. If I kill it then I eat it as I said. Would you like to see the photo I took of my plate with the food? I also kept the fur and will tan the hide eventually. Yes I do hunt with an air rifle and .22 rimfire as well, but a shotgun is still an appropriate device. Do not tell me please how to kill my food as long as I am doing it without disrespecting the animal and not tearing it to shreds.

I only have a few traditionals and the Buck 110 along with 112 are on my list, but the 420c kind of makes me hold off even though I know these are great knives. I found myself short a fixed blade so I already started to make one of my own which is very fun as I get to design the skinning/hunting knife the way I think it will help. I will most likely make many with different designs.
 
Cereal_killer said:
I agree with the above two posts- 1) use what avaliable to you and your good with and 2) people have very different hunting styles to bag the same animal. Ask a bow hunter and he'll say we're all silly for using .22's and/or shotty's.
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I agree with this, I like to experiment and hunt will all sorts of different weapons. I have spear fished and hunted, used an air rifle, a .22, and a centerfire rifle. I also find pistol hunting to be extremely fun and challenging. I just like to mix it up and for the squirrel of this particular post I used a shotgun. Glad most of everyone understands that including you.
 
Cereal_killer said:
In my browning lever gun I am a huge fan of .22 short CB's, now those are freakin quiet and great for squirrel and other pest control. Every once in awhile I'll get called down to come dispatch live-trapped rat or 'coon and I shoot them with the short CB's right in the barn/garage, did I mention they're QUIET?!

Out in the woods tho I use your standard bulk pack .22lr HP's in my browning and my other semi-auto's, I use to buy those CCI stingers and mini-mags but they're less consistent in accuracy than standard/bulk-pack stuff. .22 rim fire is much more fun/challenging to get squirrel and rabbit both and is what I use ~90* of the time but if it were a "find food or don't eat tonight" situation then yea I'd go for my 20ga.
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No real difference between CB shorts and longs (cost, power or noise-wise) except that fouling and chamber erosion are long term results of exclusively using shorts in LR-chambered guns. If you try stuffing LRs in long time used-for-shorts chamber you'll find they won't go in until the gun has been thoroughly scrubbed.
 
AddictedToGear said:
Well the area I am hunting in has a decent amount of squirrel, but are all fairly large which is good for hunting but they are no in excess. I would love to use a .22, but many times I am shooting up into trees so I use a shotgun, but I do use an air rifle as well. The squirrels are Fox squirrels, I am not sure about hunting grey squirrels as I would do that only if they were a nuisance. If the animal is not bothering me or the habitat around it and I can not use it for food and it provides only minimal fur then I do not justify taking its life. Squirrels usually just go about their business and do not bother wildlife or the habitat. The larger ones like the fox squirrels I hunt have great fur and and have the most meat on a squirrel that I have seen (I just need to be able to save as much meat as I can). Fox Squirrels are definitely my favorite as they have a beautiful color
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Ah, Fox Squirrels. Those gnawing rodents don't get up this way but they are larger than Black/Grey furry-tailed 'yard rats'. In my younger days I used to wonder 'bout you Yankees and yer famous Kentucky and Pennsylvania "squirrel guns" but once I saw my first Fox Squirrel down in Ohio (they ain't a heck of a lot smaller than a Cottontail Rabbit) I fast began to understand.
I gave up hunting ducks about 15 years ago when Canada Geese started to become common, only because there's lots more meat on a goose than on a measly Blue-winged Teal or a Woodie. I guess same for goes for a Fox squirrel vs Red Squirrel although I'd still likely only to be keeping hind legs rather than skinning/cleaning the whole works on any of them. There is a point of diminishing returns and that's why very few of us gut/clean/skin/butcher mice or chipmunks
 
I use a .22LR exclusively for squirrels, but when I used to take my stepson squirrel hunting when he was younger he always preferred his Grandpa's .410, which I think was also a good choice.
 
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