usually, the squirrel is far enough up the tree that you have no problem with whether or not you'll hit your hunting partner....and if you're worried about it, wait till the squirrel is centered in the tree, and use the tree to stop your bullet...use a .22 cal., and if you're THAT overly worried about shooting thru the tree, use a high power pellet rifle...they work just fine...i've been shooting squirrels since i was 10 years old...started out with a Daisy BB/Pellet rifle, and have since moved up past the .22 and shotgun, to using my regular hunting rifle...a 7mm Mag...now, you need to understand...the squirrels up here are not of edible size or palatable taste...i've tried cooking them...they taste like you're chewing on a pinecone soaked in Pine Sol...and for the size...by the time they cook down, you shoulda just gone and got a 1/2 order of chicken nuggets from McDonalds, for the meat you get....the squirrels we have up here are viewed more as a varmint like gophers and magpies and what-not...shoot'em and let the 'yotes have'em....or whatever else comes along that's hungry....i do however save the tails for selling to or trading with Mepps Lures for fishing lures...they use squirrel tail for many of their bucktail spinner dressings....never tried it myself, but i spose it would work alright...anyway, there's my thoughts on squirrel hunting....use them for target practice to get to know you hunting rifle...they work well for that....learn how to shoot the rifle like it's a pellet gun....ya git to be a pretty good shot....

MontanaFord

 

Hehe CM Budke, I don't shoot them while they are on the ground, I only do that to quail

 

Heathen! Despicable human being! Shameless and vile!

 

LOL, my dad threatened my life if I shoot any of "his" squirrels, but me and my buddy are getting pretty desperate....

 

Never really went squirrel hunting, sounds like fun though. Rabbits were always what we went after though. My grandpa used to have a huge garden and he hated the little things. So he'd send me out with the shotgun/BB gun to have fun.

 

you can also sit down next to a tree & hold 1 quarter horizontal, like making a O with index finger & thumb, take another quarter hold in veritical & tap them together like you are trying to break a acorn, pecan etc. I have called out lots of tree rats that way

 

How fast do you tap them?

 

just makie it sound like you are trying to crack a nut, tap, tap,tap then a fast taptaptap, wait then do it again, 3 to 5 times wait 5 r 10 secs & see what is around, pretend u r a tree rat & mimick the sound

 

I haven't hunted tree rats since the mid sixties in ne ok near talequah but what i remember is when you spot one in a tree stop dead still- draw a bead on where you last saw it- then wait and they will come back into view- we were using 410's and tried for head shots so as not to have to pick so much shot- if you're using a 22 auto go ahead and bark the tree on one side and that'll usually scare them into moving up down or sideways- good luck and good eatin'