Small Game "Grand Slam"?

[yycyak]

Been doing some thinking lately, and figured I'd throw this out on the forum.

BLUF: If there was such a thing as a Rokslide Small Game "Grand Slam", what would that list look like?

Longer: So I'm in the middle of prepping for a sheep hunt next month, and my 4 year old was "Helping" with some of the gear organizing. Staring at all the gear, I realized how much money a lot of us have invested in just "stuff", let alone tags, time off, fuel, etc. Big game hunting can be really, really, expensive, and is limited to a few months of the year.

Which got me thinking about when I was a kid, and would just grab a 22 and a box of shells and a granola bar, and go chase squirrels or gophers or crows or even a coyote if I was feeling adventurous. Hardly any gear/investment costs, just get out to the woods and go. Simple, cheap, and a really good time.

Given that small game can be hunted year round, it got me thinking about what would Roksliders say were the "have-to-hunt" critters that would be included on a Small Game "Grand Slam" sort of list? I figure it would give someone an excuse to get out during the full year, vs. fall and spring bear. And possibly be something easy to take the kids out on that doesn't involve thousands of dollars in gear.

My 2 cents, and in no particular order

1- Squirrel
2- Raccoon
3- Jackrabbit
4- Snowshoe hare
5- Coyote
6- Bobcat
7- Grouse
8- Duck

Anyway, maybe a top-ten list or something. I dunno - Just thinking out loud and looking for inspiration.

 

[CobraChicken]

Waterfowl
Upland
Rabbit

Done all three with my kid. He just turned six. He walks the fields while the dogs work with his toy over under

 

[Reddish]

Squirrel
Opossum
Skunk
Raccoon
Rabbit
Crow
Bullfrog
Armadillo

This would be my slam with a .22LR.

12ga list would have some upland birds added as well as turkey, coyote, bobcat and fox.

 

[Brianc]

Dove or quail also


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[yycyak]

Good list. I wonder how a guy would fair-chase a skunk. I've seen maybe two in the wild - All the rest of the time they seem to be in the suburbs, hanging out under someone's deck.

Armadillo would be cool, but I'd have to go to another country to attempt that.

Squirrel
Opossum
Skunk
Raccoon
Rabbit
Crow
Bullfrog
Armadillo

This would be my slam with a .22LR.

12ga list would have some upland birds added as well as turkey, coyote, bobcat and fox.

 

[Reddish]

Good list. I wonder how a guy would fair-chase a skunk. I've seen maybe two in the wild - All the rest of the time they seem to be in the suburbs, hanging out under someone's deck.

Armadillo would be cool, but I'd have to go to another country to attempt that.

I see skunks pretty regular around here, so wouldn’t be too hard to check that box off the slam.

Armadillos are invading us here, so that one isn’t as hard as it used to be.

 

[kpk]

Pheasants.

I spent $80 on a couple boxes of shells last weekend and was thinking how many Costco rotisserie chickens that'd buy.

 

[Loper]

Not sure I’d put armadillos on my slam list. They don’t seem to be much of a challenge, plus I don’t think they are great table fare. My buddy walked up behind one once and shot it point blank while we were small game hunting.

 

[wildwilderness]

I would say your list could be like the Super 10 and the Superslam 29-

Have like 10 categories with multiple mini slams for each category, need to come up with a number like 3-5 here are some thoughts on categories-

Rabbit/Hare with species examples cotton tail, Jack rabbit, snowshoe etc

Waterfowl/ducks- mallard, teal, widgeon, wood etc

Waterfowl/geese- Canada, snow, specks etc

Turkey- eastern, Rio, Merriams, Gould’s, Osceola

Upland/quail- gambles, California, scaled, bobwhite, mearns

Upland/bigger- pheasant, grouse- ruffed, blue, spruce, sharpstail etc ptarmigan

Predator/canine - coyote, fox-red, grey, wolf

Predator/feline - bobcat, cougar, feral cat

Predator/nest- racoon, opossum, skunk, coatimundi etc

Furbearer- Martin, fisher, wolverine, ermine etc

Squirrel- gray, fox, Albert’s, chipmunks, prairie dog etc

Rodents- mice, vole, rats etc

Pig/peccary- feral pig, European boar, javelina

Other? Not sure where to put other small killable stuff like armadillo, crow, iguana, snakes?

Or invasives like English Sparrow, Starling, Eurasian doves,

All legal killing methods allowed, trapping, bait, etc


But the list could be long! Lots of options for a small game super slam.

 

[ozyclint]

Almost got the rabbit slam here. Have shot every colour phase except white. Normal grey, Black x2, ginger x1.

 

[Hardly_Hangin]

I like the idea-

on the theme of "just grabbing shells and a granola bar and going" i think you'd have to exclude coyotes and cats, most of those outside of incedental take are killed with ecallers.

Id say in general you could have squirrel as #1 nationwide, and a generic rabbit as #2. Number 3-10 slots could vary by region of the country.

In the southeast id offer basic slam of grey squirrel, cottontail rabbit, crow, raccoon, dove, possum and bullfrog.

Super slam of fox squirrels, swamp rabbit, coyote (bonus points for color phase), bobcat, red/grey fox.

 

[philos]

Great thread. I personally think of this as fur-bearing animals. I would say look for small game like squirrels and consider different types of squirrels, such as gray squirrel and fox squirrel. Rabbits I would say cottontail and jackrabbit. Maybe add raccoon to the mix. Not sure what else I would add but again this is a pretty cool thread.

 

[Loper]

Should Iguana be on the list?

It’s not feasible for many locations in the US. I think the only places would be South Florida and Puerto Rico. I see a ton when visiting my in-laws in South Florida. Usually they are green, but one I saw last week turned orange as it was eating a bunch of orange seeds at the bottom of a palm tree. It was pretty cool looking.

 

[wowzers]

Badger? Reminds me of an idea someone I knew had for a magazine titled “Leastman’s”.

 

[Loper]

The males turn orange like that when they are looking to breed. They can get territorial and kind of nasty when they do. Very pretty, nice to admire at a zoo, not so much in a Florida backyard.

Good to know. I just assumed he turned orange because he was sitting next to a pile of orange seeds. Good thing he didn’t get territorial or pissy when my young son ran him off, that could have been bad.

 

[Hardly_Hangin]

 

[puddleglum]

Good to know. I just assumed he turned orange because he was sitting next to a pile of orange seeds. Good thing he didn’t get territorial or pissy when my young son ran him off, that could have been bad.

I am only going off of what I have read. No personal experience with them. I don't know if they would go after a human or not, but I have read they have caused issues with little dogs.

I definitely want to head to Florida some time with my Taipan airgun, blast some, and put them on the grill. Maybe see if I can catch some invasive cichlids, peacock bass or tilapia, out of the waterways there. Instead of surf and turf, it would be branch and ditch.

 

[mjh]

Personally I would not put waterfowl on the list. To me that's a whole other category.

I'd put Iguana on the list. Heck people travel miles and miles for elk, moose, goat, sheep, overseas, what not, why not FL for some Iguana--if in season tag on some hog, turkey, alligator hunting as well.....

 

[tpicou]

My small game grand slam is hunting every huntable squirrel species on the planet.

 

[Mtncowboy]

What if we added a jackalope for a bonus animal?!