Squirrels with bows!

[tautog]

Lotsa fun...used to hunt the acorn-grabbers while younger, and plan on giving it a whirl this year. I have found a VERY effective way to take them, too. I use rubber-tipped blunts. While standard fletch will work, you will find more arrows much easier with a short modified flu-flu fletch, so bicuit shooters, I am sorry, but the dropaway wins on this one. Walk quietly in the woods, especially near oak stands. When you see movement up in the branches, watch quietly and carefully so you are sure of the quarry. Make a small noise to get the grey squirrel's attention. Place your hat on a branch on the same side of the tree you are standing on when you spot him. slowly walk in a circular path around the tree until you are just about opposite of the hat. You MUST be silent for this. The squirrel will see the hat and come back to the opposite side(where you are waiting at full draw). If your aim is good, you'll hear the following in order: thwip! thump! splap, thock. First is the bow, second is target aquisition, third and fourth are the target & arrow arriving at your feet. When I was young, I could take them with my 72 lb Jennings Model T one shot per squirrel, and at 40 or more feet up, I seldom missed the head . Of course, I am much older now, and not so good at the "steady" part.

[BT]

Good pointers and sounds cool!

Look forward to seeing you and some pics this fall.

I love the gray squirrels but I find the compound just to much and prefer the recurve myself.

[Greg Krause]

That is one of my favorite ways to hunt them. I use rubber blunts, on my regular arrows and regular compound set up. I prefer to stalk them while they are feeding on the ground(makes it harder to lose arrows) but have taken many from the tree tops as well. Our season opens sept 1st, it makes for a good day of shooting and scouting for deer.

[BT]

skipmaster1 said:

That is one of my favorite ways to hunt them. I use rubber blunts, on my regular arrows and regular compound set up. I prefer to stalk them while they are feeding on the ground(makes it harder to lose arrows) but have taken many from the tree tops as well. Our season opens sept 1st, it makes for a good day of shooting and scouting for deer.

I'm sorry....did you say sept 1st. come on down

[~Messiah~]

around up here, i think our squirrels are bigger, and you really need a braod head to drop them quick, nothing major, but i hate them going up the trees after getting hit with a blunt or a feild tip.

the Magnus small game head works wonders



Bigbore

[BT]

I agree Bigbore.

I don't like anything but head shots with blunts due to un-needed suffering on errant shots.

You mention a good head for the job but the problem is shooting high into trees.

You're gonna lose some arrows when those heads drive into the tree

[tautog]

Somewhere back in 'Jersey, maybe today, some developer is building a three story McMansion. His worker is umpteetree feet in the air on the roof. He looks over and sees......a vintage 1970's XX75 Autumn Orange arrah, a Savora razorhead, and a squirrel skull in one of the few remaining trees. THAT was how I learned to use rubber blunts. oops....

[Greg Krause]

I here you guys about not wanting an animal suffering but I've said it before, I can't remember a critter getting away at all after being hit with a rubber blunt. Even with a less than perfect hit. Many times a chst or gut shot "pop" them. All the energy opens the far side of them right up. I have seen quite s few hit with BH crawl into places I couldn't get them, only to die. I have nothing against BH for small game. If we are talking woodchucks or Fox squirrels, than I wouldn't use blunts either. They are just too big. On greys and reds, I believe the key is to use KE, blunt force to drop the fast. If you rely on hemoraging alone they may have time to gat into a hole. I would like to try the magnus and G5 though, a good middle ground.

[tautog]

Try an aluminum arrah or a Wally world set of cheapies. Buy for next to nothing an old dozen aluminum broadhead adaptors to mount glued on heads onto them and screw them into aluminum/newer arrows. Glue a rubber eraser on the adaptor with epoxy, then spin them to get alignment perfectly. The erasers you want are actually hexagonal in cross-section. Don't know the grain weight, but they will make a very very very quick kill. DON'T glue the head to the arrow tho---just the adaptor . Trust me, the squirrels can't tell the diffy between them and the G5 small game head .

[BT]