Small Game Hunting: Squirrel, Rabbit, and Turkey Methods

Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Gray squirrels are one of North America's most available small game species — present in every hardwood forest east of the Great Plains and in suburban and urban parks throughout their range.

Habitat and Behavior

Squirrels are creatures of mast-producing trees — oak, hickory, beech, walnut. Find a productive mast crop and you find squirrels. Their activity patterns are highly predictable:

• Active: 1-2 hours after first light and 1-2 hours before dark. Midday they rest in nests (dreys) in tree forks or hollow trees.
• Feeding: Move from tree to tree on the ground and through branches, cutting nuts and carrying them for caching or eating in place.
• Sound: Listen for the sharp bark of an alarmed squirrel, the sound of cutting (steady dripping or pattering of nut fragments falling), and branch movement.

Stalking

Move slowly, stop frequently. Stop every 30-50 feet for 60-90 seconds and let the woods settle. A squirrel that has spotted you will "bark" continuously from its position. Stand still — it will often resume feeding if you don't move.

Position yourself downwind if possible. Squirrels have decent noses.

Work along ridge lines and forest edges rather than the valley floor — squirrels prefer elevated terrain with multiple escape routes.

Shooting Position

For a firearm (.22 LR is standard for squirrel): aim for the head when the squirrel is stationary. Head shots ruin no meat and kill instantly. Body shots at stationary squirrels work; tracking wounded squirrels in trees is frustrating.

Without a firearm: A heavy throwing stick (a straight-grained stick 18-24 inches long, 1-1.5 inches in diameter) thrown sidearm parallel to the ground can connect with a feeding squirrel. Aim just ahead of movement. This is lower-percentage than a firearm but requires no equipment.

Field Dressing Squirrel

The tail skin method (fastest):

1. Place the squirrel on its back. Step on the base of the tail.
2. Grasp both hind legs and pull upward steadily. The skin peels from the lower body, pulling up over the hips.
3. Pull the remaining skin off in pieces — around the legs and over the head.
4. Remove the head, feet, and tail base.
5. Open the body cavity with a short, careful cut. Remove entrails. Rinse.

This takes 3-4 minutes once practiced.

Cooking: Young squirrels can be pan-fried or grilled directly. Older squirrels are tough and benefit from stewing for 45-60 minutes until tender. The fat is concentrated around the back and thighs.

Caloric value: 150-200g dressed meat per squirrel. Approximately 150 calories per 100g.

Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus and related species)

Cottontails are the most abundant small mammal in most of North America, found from suburban brush piles to deep wilderness. Learning their habits converts a blank landscape into visible opportunity.

Habitat and Behavior

Cottontails need three things: thick brush for cover, open areas or edges for feeding, and water nearby. They rarely venture more than 300 feet from dense cover.

High-percentage locations:

• Brushy field edges where mowing stops
• Old stone walls and fence rows with brush
• Briar thickets (blackberry, multiflora rose)
• Brush piles, log piles, deadfall
• Transition zones between forest and open field

Activity: Crepuscular — most active at dawn and dusk. On warm days, they sit in forms (depressions in grass or brush where they rest). In cold weather, they may remain in a form all day.

In snow: Tracks lead from cover to cover. Fresh tracks in fresh snow are reliable. Follow them carefully — they often lead back to the same thicket.

Stalking

Walk field edges slowly, stopping frequently to inspect brush. A sitting rabbit will hold until you are quite close — within 10-15 feet. Learn to see the eye (shiny, round, always visible even when the rest of the rabbit blends in), the ear silhouette, and the white powder-puff tail.

Flushing: Walk through brush piles and thickets, pushing rabbits out into open areas. This is less precise but more active.

Stillhunting: Sit near a brush pile or thicket in the late afternoon and wait. Rabbits emerge at dusk to feed in adjacent open areas.

Shooting Position

For a firearm (.22 LR or shotgun): sitting or moving shots both work. A moving rabbit at close range with a small shot pattern is a high-percentage shot.

Without a firearm: Throwing sticks are more effective on rabbits than squirrels because rabbits are slower. A boomerang-style throwing stick — a curved branch thrown rotating parallel to the ground — covers more area. Snares (see snares article) are far more efficient for rabbit without a firearm.

Field Dressing Rabbit

1. Hang or hold by hind legs.
2. Pinch the skin on the lower back and make a small cut through only the skin — careful not to cut the intestines.
3. Insert fingers and pull the skin in two directions — up toward the head and down toward the tail. The skin strips cleanly.
4. Remove feet, head, and tail.
5. Make a shallow cut from the pubic bone to the sternum. Remove entrails. Save the liver and kidneys if the rabbit is healthy — they are edible.
6. Rinse and cook.

Caution — tularemia: Rabbits can carry tularemia (rabbit fever), a bacterial disease transmissible to humans through skin contact with infected animals. Wear gloves when field dressing. Cook rabbit thoroughly — 165°F internal temperature kills the bacteria. Never harvest a rabbit that appears lethargic, approachable, or has visible white spots on the liver.

Caloric value: 450-600g dressed meat per cottontail. Approximately 170 calories per 100g.

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Wild turkey is the highest-calorie single-animal prize available to North American hunters without big-game equipment. A mature tom can weigh 20-25 pounds; even a hen yields 8-12 pounds of dressed meat.

Habitat and Behavior

Turkeys are found throughout the eastern two-thirds of North America and in scattered western populations. They require forest for roosting, open areas for feeding, and brushy or grassy edges in between.

Daily pattern:

• Fly down from roost trees at first light
• Move to open feeding areas (old fields, forest clearings, logging roads) by mid-morning
• Dust and loaf in midday
• Feed again in late afternoon before flying back to roost

Roost trees: Large, open-branched trees in forest near open areas. Look for large droppings and tail feathers under candidate trees. Turkey droppings are distinctive — J-shaped (male) or spiral (female).

Calling

Spring gobblers respond to hen calls. A simple box call or friction call (slate and striker) can produce realistic sounds. Basic calls:

• Yelp: The fundamental turkey communication sound. Series of 3-9 notes.
• Cluck: Single note, used for soft, calm communication.
• Purr: Soft rolling sound, feeding contentment.
• Cackle: Series of rapid notes used when flying down from roost.

Calling strategy: Set up near roost areas before first light. Call softly as gobbling starts. Let the bird come to you — fighting the impulse to call constantly. A gobbler responding but not approaching is often hung up on terrain or hens; change position.

Bow/Primitive Approach

Without a firearm, turkey is challenging. Options:

• Primitive bow at close range: A turkey bow-hunting setup requires closing to 15-25 yards. Full-strut birds absorb arrows well but are difficult to approach.
• Long shot with snare line near water or known travel routes (see snare article)
• Drive technique: Two hunters, one drives turkeys through a funnel toward the other who is positioned ahead

Field Dressing Turkey

Gutted method:

1. Pluck or skin (skinning is faster but loses some fat).
2. Remove wings at first joint, feet at first joint.
3. Cut through the neck and remove the head.
4. Open the body cavity and remove entrails. Save the liver, gizzard, and heart — all edible.
5. Rinse cavity thoroughly.

Breast-only field extraction (if weight is an issue):

1. Lay bird on its back.
2. Pull the feathers/skin back from the breast.
3. Cut along the keel (breastbone) on both sides.
4. The two breast fillets peel cleanly away.

Caloric value: Large tom: 8-12kg live weight = 3-5kg dressed meat. Approximately 189 calories per 100g.

Caloric Comparison: Small Game vs. Effort

| Animal | Dressed Meat | Calories | Relative Effort | |--------|-------------|---------|-----------------| | Gray squirrel | 150-200g | 225-300 | Low (common, simple field dress) | | Cottontail rabbit | 450-600g | 765-1,020 | Low-medium | | Wild turkey | 3,000-5,000g | 5,670-9,450 | High (requires technique) | | Deer (for comparison) | 25,000-45,000g | 47,000-85,000 | High (requires big game setup) |