[Squirrelbark]

When I was a teenager, I wanted to kill as many squirrels as I could get. But now I am a man and I have put away childish things.
The game has changed for me. Now it is about killing every squirrel I shoot at, preferably with 1 shot. Success is calculated by # of shots fired per # of squirrels. When those 2 numbers are the same that is a perfect hunt for me, regardless of how many I kill. My "competition" is only between me and the squirrels I choose to kill. Sometimes I let the half grown squirrels go, because they are not much meat anyway and my family eats every one. I leave little ones so I can have more squirrels in that spot next season.

What's your game?

 

[attila]

When groundhogs come to dig holes in my yard, I only take the shot if I can headshoot them.

 

[Bob Denman]

I made a promise to The Lord 20 years ago; about killing stuff...
Now I just punch paper, and bang steel.
(The story is long and sad...)

 

[Phil in Alabama]

I hunt small patches of woods that don't hold that many squirrels. I like to get out in the woods and enjoy being there, so if I happen to see some and get to try a shot that's good, if I don't it's good to just be out and about anyway. Sometimes I'll find a rabbit. I used to love to explore bigger areas but can't handle the walking anymore due to some health issues. Enjoy what you can.

 

[Squirrelbark]

Bob Denman, Regardless of what bad experiences you may have had, it is important for you to know that long before your promise 20 years ago God promised "Genesis 9:2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. "
He gets to decide what is right and wrong, for your own well-being, you don't. And we should all be careful to never call evil what God calls good. So anyway, sometimes folks feel bad about something that they shouldn't feel bad about. Better for us to not do that.

 

[Bob Denman]

It wasn't about that...
I prayed that my aim would be perfect; so that I could end the suffering of the best dog that I ever had...

 

[Lerrab]

SB, the limit here is six. It is my goal to kill six in six shots . All headshot in a manner so that no meat is wasted on the exit. The guys/ gals that I hunt with don't have a lot of trouble with it but it seems most do. It is what we refer to as professionally harvested. Most had never thought about it and now some are starting to do it. Level 5.
I never kill those little squirrels either. I refer to them as peanut squirrels.

Hide off and guts out as soon as they hit the ground.

 

[Big Boss]

For Small Game, get a Sling Shot..

 

[Bob Denman]

For larger game: a trebuchet should do the trick!

 

[Phil in Alabama]

That's a mighty big slingshot!

 

[Phil in Alabama]

If you're not hunting for survival you have to make the hunt be what YOU want it to be. If you don't enjoy the sport and it turns into work you might as well quit and buy meat at the grocery store.

 

[Lightning1993]

What was my game , when I was in school as a teenager used to hike up this hill to go and shoot woodchucks in the neighbors farm fields.
I had worked for him haying in the summer to be able to woodchuck and big game hunt ,
I was 14 years old then . Also that when I started reloading 1972
those years were hundreds of chucks all around

 

[Barksdale123]

I made a promise to The Lord 20 years ago; about killing stuff...
Now I just punch paper, and bang steel.
(The story is long and sad...)

Most people make promises, and they are quickly forgotten. Congrats. God has a long memory.
My dad as a kid had a BB gun. Shot a bird and watched it die. Not a hunter or a gun guy after that. He used to say the he had shot some of the biggest guns mad ( 8 inch on the Louisville. That was enough gun stuff for him.

 

[DrGunner]

I made a promise to The Lord 20 years ago; about killing stuff...
Now I just punch paper, and bang steel.
(The story is long and sad...)

I evolved in exactly this manner as well. I used to hunt duck, pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, and then shot crows for bounty in Wisconsin years ago when the DNR was paying for them because of the damage they were doing to poultry farms. As I've aged, I've come to simply appreciate the beauty of nature around me. I've often thought about developing some type of attachment that would allow me to affix my cell phone to my rifle scope so that I could photograph killshots without actually taking a life. It's the same with fishing, I practice mostly catch and release, and anytime I inadvertently kill a fish or one shocks out and dies after being caught, it bothers me for days.

anytime I have a rifle in my hand and could take game that would have once excited me, or catch a really nice bass, I'll take a simple picture and take comfort in the knowledge that the critter will likely be there for me to enjoy the next time I pass through.

Guess I'm getting soft as I age, but also appreciating what God has given me to enjoy.

I 100% respect harvesting hunters, mine is just a personal choice and I've got nothing against the landowners that I know harvesting deer for the freezer every year or taking squirrels for stew.

DrGunner

 

[Pa22Rimfire]

When I was young it was all about numbers. No longer. Now it's all about the shot. I don't care how many I get but I want them all to be headshot.

 

[ky-shooter]

I can relate to many posts here- I was big into numbers, points, etc when younger but I’ve evolved out of that too.

One problem I’ve noticed however- we have very few small game and Varmint hunters in my parts anymore. And very few Racoon hunters and trappers anymore- and consequently we are overrun with pests. Racoons, skunks, etc..

So I’m fighting against becoming too soft. When they get too close to my yard and house I blast them.

 

[BWstickman]

I rarely ever kill a limit of 6 squirrels… So I don’t play the numbers game I’m out in the woods enjoying Mother Nature if I take a limit that’s awesome if I only get one that’s fine too… a average season for me is around 20-30 squirrels… I love deer hunting too so November squirrels take a back seat

 

[gmd1950]

Individual choices for individual reasons, I still hunt some, nowhere near as much as I did. There are vermin I kill without compunction and other game I will only kill to eat myself or for others to eat. I do believe the Lord put the game here for man's use.

 

[Squirrelbark]

God did indeed give all animals into our hands for food. Those who insist that it isn't right for them to kill animals place themselves above God. I will never trust anyone who makes himself out to be smarter than God. And to do it on a Hunting thread in a hunting section of RFC? "Bad form" as the British would say. What about a person whose moral scruples are higher than God's? But this thread is not for a discussion of whether or not hunting is moral. I started it to discuss your kind of hunting.
Folks who are not hunters don't have anything to contribute to this topic.
So if you don't hunt, at least don't interfere with our discussion. Hunters only, please.

 

[dwarren]

Big ole greasy Bacon Cheeseburger with jalapenos with an order of onion rings. And a coke or pepsi or whatever they have.