From The Corner:
The Black Squirrel has risen in the East and claimed the flesh of Dog. The war shall be joined. It is time for Man to return in kind the loyalty we have shown him. What side the Cat chooses in this battle is unknown.
I’m a Dog partisan, myself, so this bizarre event makes me even more determined to do my part in the struggle at the Surprise Valley Squirrel Wars, er, Squirrel Roundup, this coming March 18th. (Just got my entry packet in the mail today, the day after I called to request one from the Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce. Now, that’s service!)
For anti-skwerl rants, see this site.
My chosen weapon (well, half of it anyway):
![Virgin_Valley_[1].223.jpg](http://www.softgreenglow.com/mt/archives/Virgin_Valley_[1].223.jpg)
![Virgin_Valley_[1].223_atop_TV.jpg](http://www.softgreenglow.com/mt/archives/Virgin_Valley_[1].223_atop_TV.jpg)
Looks like a fine squirrel gun, but do you know the sporting way to shoot a squirrel?
Hint: has nothing to do with putting a bullet through any part of the animal.
Nother hint: proper shooting method doesn’t harm any of that delicious meat.
Give up?
You “bark” the squirrel. That is, you aim at the bark of the tree under the squirrel’s belly, and when your bullet strikes the branch, the concussion knocks out the squirrel and you go pick it up and break it’s neck.
Much more challenging. If you want to be even more challenging, use a .22 with open sights. In that case, you shoot to hit the squirrel.
BTW, take a pair of thin leather flyer’s gloves: you don’t want to handle squirrels without them, since the critters in the squirrels’ fur carries nasty diseases.
I used to have a ton of fun hunting them in my youth, with a Benjamin .177 pump up air rifle.
I think what you refer to is the high desert Sage Rat. In Oregon, they’re hunted mostly with dialed-in .22magnums.
Sorry about the multi-postings. I guess I need to read all the posts. Thought it was a post about shooting tree squirrels. Disregard the first advice about eating them. The ground squirrels aren’t good to eat. They also seldom climb trees, but do duck into holes at the slightest provocation.
Sage rats are merely a gunner’s exercise.
Tree squirrels give decent, if chewy, meat for the stew pot.
BTW, beware the CA gun laws. Read them carefully before taking a gun down there. Any gun. The have more restrictions than there are different kinds of squirrels
My late grandpa (an Arkansas native who moved to the SF Bay Area in 1937, you can guess why) kept his boyhood Winchester pump-action .22 hanging by the pantry, and was still using it to kill the big fox squirrels in his yard until 1998 or so. My grandma gets annoyed when they eat her plants.
He told me about “barking” squirrels when he was a kid. His mom was Cherokee and would cook them up for him. He told us squirrel tasted better than chicken.
As for bringing firearms into Cali, the local cops are pretty good about telling out-of-staters what you can and can’t bring. Besides, the northeast counties of California are pretty much a different state than the lefty areas. California CCW permits are issued at the discretion of the local LEO. You have to convince them you have a good reason. When I worked in the Governor’s office, I was amused when a RINO told me one day — with horror — that the sheriffs in the northeast counties would issue CCW permits to residents “even if you just say that you drive alone a lot.” So I doubt there will be firearms checkpoints to ensure you’re complying with State law at the Squirrel Roundup. You have to shoot on private ranches, anyway. Just don’t bring a .50 BMG, that’s probably a bit too noticeable!