Not "Crossbow" Hunting, But Still Cool

[Big58cal]

Instead of deer hunting today, I decided to exact some vengence on the little buck-toothed horde of the forest with the .17 HMR. I love to shoot rifles, and am constantly striving for greater and greater accuracy every time I shoot. Squirrels are an ideal target and are underutilized (in my opinion) for honing woodsmanship and marksmanship skills. And considering that I've got a vendetta against squirrels (it's a long story ), there's a whole lot of satisfaction for me picking up a squirrel that's been shot with the .17 HMR and is missing most of it's head. Not to mention, the squirrels have been about to drive me bonkers up there where I've been deer hunting.

Anyway, our daily limit is 6 here. I got my 6 and then walked out. Apparently, the little demons knew that I couldn't shoot any more and were particularly brazen while I was walking out. I had several sit and just look at me like I was stupid, with one being only about 15 feet away.

I got 5 grays and 1 fox squirrel. The "cool" thing was the fox squirrel. We've got a few fox squirrels here, but mainly gray. The fox squirrel I got was cole black on it's belly, all the way under it's chin to the base of it's tail. I've been wanting to get a fox squirrel mounted for a few years, but never can seem to get just the "right" one. This one would have been perfect........... if it wasn't missing part of it's head.

I thought the fox squirrel was pretty cool. It's the first one I've ever seen like this and I've gotten my fair share of fox squirrels over the year. Figured I'd post a couple of pictures of it.

[rayman]

Think we get 12 squirrels per day. Not supposed to shoot fox squirrels anymore. In fact, you are supposed to post fox squirrel sightings on a website set up be the Game and Fish Com. - In Florida that is.

First time I took Robert squirrel hunting. Think he was 5.

[j.krug]

That's a good looking pile of squirrels there. Been meaning to get out for some myself but have been too busy at work. Looks like the .17 does a good job on them.

[wabi]

Nothing like a squirrel hunt to test your skills. They can be tough targets when the leaves have fallen.

[Big58cal]

Looks like the .17 does a good job on them.

The .17 HMR is a little overkill for squirrels, but I'm all about overkill! Just like with the Excalibur. I thought about getting an Ibex (175 lb draw), but for me, that just wouldn't do! I had to get the Equinox (225 lb draw).

The HMR is a .22 mag case, necked down to fit a .17 cal bullet. When Hornady designed the bullets though, they did with the same exacting standards as they use for centerfire bullets. Doing this, they created an extremely accurate little round.

The .17 HMR is a great small game caliber. I know some people who use it for coyotes, with good success. The only "bad" thing about the caliber is that it's pretty destructive. Head shots are pretty much a must on squirrels.

Nothing like a squirrel hunt to test your skills. They can be tough targets when the leaves have fallen.

That's why I like the .17 HMR. I've knocked squirrels out over 100 yds away with the gun. That will test your accuracy, trying to hit something the size of a half dollar from 100 yds away.

A few years after the HMR came out, Hornady developed the .17 Mach 2. For this one, they took a standard .22 LR case and necked it down to the .17 cal. It's not quite as destructive as the HMR, but it doesn't have the range the HMR does.

[EQUINOXHNTERVA]

Dumplings anyone? Nice bunch you got there, havn't squirrel hunted in years. Nice atv one of the best models ever made.

[Gewehrhund]

nice shootin tex, what's your squirrel recipe?

[Big58cal]

nice shootin tex, what's your squirrel recipe?

FRIED! Loves me some fried squirrel. My step-dad taught me a recipe for what he called squirrel & noodles. I'll see if I can't post it up sometime for ya'll. He didn't squirrel hunt, but would take every one I shot. He'd make a pot of squirrel & noodles and dang near founder himself from eating so much.

The ammo was Hornady loaded with the 17 grain V-Max bullets. I've tried the 20 grain loads, but couldn't really see any benefit to it with squirrels. On coyotes or something that size, they may make a difference though.

The ammo isn't too cheap, about $12-15 for a box of 50. .22 rounds are a whole lot cheaper, but not nearly as accurate or able to shoot the distance as the .17 is. We used to have quite a few groundhogs around home, but don't any more. Rodent populations are cyclical with predator populations. We've got a pretty good population of coyotes around there, so that may be what's happened to all the groundhogs.

[R.J.]

More tastey critters !

[rayman]

I have a 22 mag. Under 70 yrds, don't mess with it, but passed that, eeeeeehhhhh. Others here may beg to differ. Have a few friends that have 17 HMRs and the long range accuracy - passed 70 yards, especially with the 17 grain hornady's, is way behond my little 22 mag. From what I've seen anyway