In Tonganoxie, Kansas, there is a group of squirrel hunters, and director Kevin McKinney documents them in Community Squirrel Hunt. As I sat down and watched the first few minutes of the film, the first thought that popped into my head was Elmer Fudd hunting rabbits, but there are no real eccentric characters here. Hunting squirrels is no different than pursuing any other game and, I’d say, even harder in some respects.
The film opens with a “viewer discretion advised” warning. How gruesome can squirrel hunting be? At the Leavenworth County Fairgrounds, it’s morning and we’re introduced to some of the participants. Event organizer Shawn Matthews explains the rules: teams of up to two hunters can shoot as many as ten squirrels. There’s also a purpose behind the event, proceeds go back to the community while also helping control the squirrel population. McKinney even has some fun by asking the hunters about eating squirrels, and apparently “fried” is the preferred way to prepare them.
Once the competition gets underway, we follow three different teams: Team Prairie Pounders, Team Two Nuts, and Team Big Nutted. The Prairie Pounders consist of two alpha guys who will stop at nothing to get a squirrel, even resorting to pulling out a chainsaw. Team Two Nuts is made up of younger boys who are probably out to have some fun while learning the responsibilities of using a rifle to hunt, not just kill. Finally, Team Big Nutted are the veterans. McKinney spends the most time with the Prairie Pounders because of their antics, which likely provided the most entertainment for the crew. They even help recreate shots the filmmakers missed because of the squirrels’ speed.
“The Prairie Pounders consist of two alpha guys who will stop at nothing to get a squirrel.”
McKinney wisely doesn’t give us a straightforward documentary that simply follows the teams, which would likely be like watching paint dry. Instead, he weaves in some history about squirrels and their relationship with society in a comedic way. During one sequence, the effort to flush out a hidden squirrel drags on for so long that he inserts a karaoke-style segment to pass the time, and it works surprisingly well. The true highlight of the film, and its most successful hunter, is Cali Whisker Biscuits, a cat who catches between 10 and 20 squirrels each spring. I didn’t even know cats hunted squirrels, though I suppose it makes sense, especially when one of the hunters refers to them as “tree rats.”
I never really thought about killing a squirrel, but I remember going to a friend’s house once, and he was telling me about all the squirrels in his backyard. There were so many that they had become a nuisance, so he would shoot them with a BB gun and bury them afterward. I also remember him saying their fur is thicker than you’d expect, so you needed enough air pressure behind the pellet to get the job done. He made it sound easy, but when you have multiple targets in a small area, I suppose it is. Watching McKinney document this event proved that’s far from the truth. Out in a real wooded area with trees, leaves, and squirrels that are both tiny and incredibly fast, there’s a genuine skill involved in successfully hunting them.
"…How gruesome can squirrel hunting be?"
