squirrels & bunnies

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mr.crappie
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2020/01/09 18:08:01 (permalink)

squirrels & bunnies

Seems to be squirrels everywhere with this crazy weather in the South West Pa. area is anyone getting any?  sam
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    thunderpole
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/01/09 21:54:18 (permalink)
    Went rabbit hunting today shot 4 between the 3 of us dogs ran great, Saturday looking like a wash so not sure if we will go out or not

    I'd rather be lucky then good,but im to good to be lucky
    #2
    holly107
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/01/10 06:59:16 (permalink)
    3 last Saturday very nice day to hunt. the dogs did well.
    #3
    thunderpole
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/01/19 13:33:02 (permalink)
    Got 1 bunny yesterday before we got rained out and quit missed 2 others lol

    I'd rather be lucky then good,but im to good to be lucky
    #4
    thunderpole
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/01/19 13:33:02 (permalink)
    Got 1 bunny yesterday before we got rained out and quit missed 2 others lol

    I'd rather be lucky then good,but im to good to be lucky
    #5
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/01/19 15:52:53 (permalink)
    Good going Thunderpole 👍 Is that 🐇Hasenpfeffer 🐰I smell cooking. 🍺

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #6
    mr.crappie
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/03/26 06:08:42 (permalink)
    I just watched a show on you tube ( Southern Style, I think ) about hunting rabbits in So. Carolina. They showed 2 recipes for cooking them that I never saw before.One was after cooking the rabbit, they shredded the meat like pulled pork. The other was to dice the meat & make rabbit salad , like chicken salad. Both looked very good. Of course they had some "moonshine" with their ginger-ale. The host of the show warned people that when in the south & you see a jar with clear liquid in it,it's not water. lol  sam
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    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/03/31 18:52:03 (permalink)
         This last year I didn't harvest a Rabbit or a Squirrel. I miss my Squirrel hunting with a .22. I even went out and found lots of Hickory nuts in one of my haunts, then never got back. Would have gone but the two days I tried it was too windy. As for Rabbits I never saw one all season. Guess I never targeted them either. I had a lot going on in the early season and just didn't have much time.
        Never thought of shredding Rabbit for a salad or pulled Rabbit. I sure do like fried Rabbit. I have had Rabbit parboiled, fried then slow cooked until fall off bone in a creamy sauce yum- hard to beat.
        This should be the season for Walleye, Crappy, and Perch feeds. I am laying low though and we wont be enjoying those treats.
    #8
    crappiefisher
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/03/31 20:27:32 (permalink)
    mr.crappie
    I just watched a show on you tube ( Southern Style, I think ) about hunting rabbits in So. Carolina. They showed 2 recipes for cooking them that I never saw before.One was after cooking the rabbit, they shredded the meat like pulled pork. The other was to dice the meat & make rabbit salad , like chicken salad. Both looked very good. Of course they had some "moonshine" with their ginger-ale. The host of the show warned people that when in the south & you see a jar with clear liquid in it,it's not water. lol  sam


      Saw that last week, looks like a fun house to hang out. Think they had a dozen Beagles or so. 
     
    crappy
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    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/02 08:24:43 (permalink)
       I live in Venango Co. and do most of my stomping their and in Clarion Co. There just are not that many rabbits around anymore. I blame it on many reasons. One is that the gene pool was altered long ago by the stocking of non indigenous  Rabbits. Also the predation is high. However one of the emerging problems is the invasive species that are taking over habitat. Rubus Species  such as Black berries and all Rasberries are getting hard to find as are Elderberries. We now have Honneysuckle Varieties and Multiflora Rose taking up traditional habitat, and while providing cover is not a winter staple. I have never seen either being barked in the winter as the native plants were. How Rabbis love to bark Apple much to the horror of orchard owners.
       I spend many days each summer trying to eradicate the invasives. This might be a good year for us all to wage war on them as we hunker down in our home turf. The Rubus Sp. are still around they are just pushed out. Look for the first greening  of spring, most greening bushes will be invasives. Learn to identify and eradicate. It is one thing we can do to better our outdoor world.
       
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    Fisherlady2
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/02 08:44:13 (permalink)
    Very sound advice... we also like to do rabbit and grouse piles around our property when clearing anything. Rather than burn brushy tops we do multiple small to medium piles of brush dotted around the area. Maybe not the most attractive landscaping but it gives little critters a quick place to hide from predators (both aerial and ground) and maybe even a safe place to hatch chicks or raise young. Humans are rearranging a lot of natural habitats so doing simple things to replace safety areas can really help out.
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    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/07 19:47:18 (permalink)
    Fisherlady2, I also make brush piles rather than burn. About 6 years ago I cleared much brush and for the next few years I had many rabbits, then cane the year of the red fox. This fox harassed our house for 2years. At about 2 O'clock at night it would start screaming just outside our windows making my dog go nuts. It would keep it up for about 10 minutes. Of course Andy our Lab mix by that time was half insane. I truly believe it just loved to irritate our dog. this year I will be stacking brush again. I hope I do not attract Reynard again. 
    #12
    DarDys
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/08 09:38:09 (permalink)
    I do the brush pike thing too. At one point, during deer season, I saw 10 rabbits come out from one pile and feed around the deer trail.

    Of course, a pair of fishers moved into the creek bottom and I gave yet to see a rabbit going on three years now.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
    #13
    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/10 07:10:55 (permalink)
    DarDys, I have not had any problems with fishers however have friends that have lost Chickens and Ducks. Friend left chicken coop open one night and a fisher killed his whole flock. Another friends daughter had ducks that stayed in barn at night and Fisher killed them.
    #14
    DarDys
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/10 10:42:45 (permalink)
    I wish the fishers would get the Muscovy ducks — lol.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
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    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 09:06:13 (permalink)
    Ha,  Muskovy ducks. They are an invasive species correct, and I am a fisher-man correct, and I really like to eat Duck correct. Now what was I thinking I lost my train of thought. Oh well it was probably something that would get me into trouble. Let me finish tying these flies dubbed with hair from my wife's cats belly before she gets home.
    #16
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 09:17:09 (permalink)
    treesparrow..... you joshing 'bout the cat hair dubbing???

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #17
    DarDys
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 09:53:53 (permalink)
    Maybe he is, maybe he is not.

    One famous fly tying author used to collect carpet fibers from under motel room beds (because they were not smashed from being walked on) to get unique dubbing.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
    #18
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 10:06:21 (permalink)
    I know folks that have used cat hair as dubbing... for years.

    I sensed a funny by tree, but cat hair works.
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2020/04/22 10:10:04

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #19
    mr.crappie
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 16:39:07 (permalink)
    Not trying to highjack a thread,but I just watched a video about the feral cat problem in Australia. There was a guy that people would call if they needed cats removed.                when he would catch & kill them he would prepare the skins & make items out of them such as beer cozys & t.p. holders or what ever folks wanted. When asked why he didn't neuter or spay them instead of killing them,he replied that even if you did that that they would still kill native birds & other small critters & that he was not worried about thier sex lives. Although I am a cat lover, I don't let her outside & had her spayed when she was a kitten.This is another example of what can happen with some invasive critters. It was surprising how many species that the cat had in it's stomach.  sam
    #20
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/22 17:19:10 (permalink)
    Hawks, yotes, fox, owls snakes.

    A few weeks back, leaving Conneaut Lake heading toward Espeyville just after I turned onto 285 (twp building) a ring-knecked ditch chicken ran across the road.

    PGC stocking them things or maybe a private ditch chicken farm in that area?
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2020/04/22 17:24:21

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #21
    treesparrow
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/30 21:47:55 (permalink)
       I have used lots of things for dubbing. I have to admit though the chuckle story of cat dubbing was from a story (humor) I read years ago. Although my old labs hair made nice spiky tails and legs. Yea old scruffy I miss him. I had a friend that swore by Polar Bear hair jigs for walleye. lf that pesky guard at the Carnegie Museum would have stopped following me around  I might just know. Next time I visit I will not wear my hip boots, fly vest and lucky fishing hat. One lady thought I was an exhibit, and the guard let her know to the contrary. But told her to  keep her distance as He thought I looked as willy as any of the critters in there, and the fish smell oh my. That old Polar bear wont miss a little hair, he taint even alive. What kind of sissy Polar Bear they got in there what taint lost some hair.
      If it wasn't for muddler's and bass bugs my old deer mount would be perfect. Now when I show him off all the admirers comment on how he must have been some scrapper. Why I made him a legend
       How much a dis is true Dardys. Maybe it is maybe it taint. Hope you enjoyed, I have to rest my pointin finger now.
    #22
    Fisherlady2
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/30 22:13:20 (permalink)
    We had a very long haired black and white cat...it wasn't unheard of for her to sacrifice a few tufts when hubby was tying something. But always harmless scissoring, lol... he has also taken a few donations from our chickens when looking for a particular color.
    #23
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/04/30 22:15:41 (permalink)
    😅 Smelling like a fish.... lucky for you that ole Bear tweren't alive. 😂


    🤗 Kitty hair works after placed in a coffee/spice grinder. Comes out all fluffy and stuff. A little bowstring wax on the thread and magnifique.

    Ummm, ☝ remove fur from kitty "before" placing in the coffee grinder. The fur... not the cat!! 😳

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #24
    mr.crappie
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/05/08 15:34:31 (permalink)
    I saw a pict.in this weeks "Pa. Outdoor News" that at first infuriated me,then embarrassed me as a sportsman,then gave me a  'WTF' moment.The pict. showed a guy & his 2 dogs with approx. 400 squirrel tails that he took this past season.What possible reason could he have for killing that many squirrels except for maybe selling the tails to the Mepps lure co..It was like seeing those old 'Market Hunter' picts. Any hunting dog owner knows that the best part is watching dogs work,after you tree a squirrel you won,I don't think that you have to kill everything just because you can. Keep some to eat & shoot some so that the dog is rewarded,but come on approx. 400 ?  sam
    #25
    thunderpole
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    Re: squirrels & bunnies 2020/05/11 21:59:38 (permalink)
    My buddy has curs squirrels over dogs is sweet he hunts alot and maby 100? A year if that between everyone shooting we use 22s so some get away dang holes

    I'd rather be lucky then good,but im to good to be lucky
    #26
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