Squirrels MIA?

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

This squirrel season I've not seen but one.  I shot it.

Even in Wabash Town, where they usually thrive, they're not near as thick as previous years.

Been hearing the coyotes pretty close, but I've heard that before and it didn't really affect the squirrel population.  (The rabbit population was a different story).

I almost wonder if there was a decrease in town and the woodland critters migrated that way for scraps.

Still plenty of deer, to the point I'm thinking of popping one or a few this year to thin the home herd.

Just the squirrels, and to a point, chipmunks, have disappeared.

I'm hoping for a light dusting of snow here soon so I can track with more certainty. 

It's been unseasonably warm.  It's near December and still reaching into the 60s some days, so I doubt it's a food issue.  Good yield from the apple tree this year too.  Plenty for the squirrel, deer, and whatever else. 

Figure I'll start spreading food in a clearing to see what I can come up with.  Help everything through the winter, too.  As I teach part-time, I can come up with all sorts of stale biscuits and such from students who work at fast-food joints.  The fat content and carbs should help all the critters through the winter.

But I'm off on a tangent. 

Anyone know what's happening with the squirrels?  Is this countywide, Indiana-wide, or nationwide?

I'd be interested in hearing from folks in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky as well as Indiana.

Thanks!

Josh

[BUGEYE]

most of the squirrels worldwide, have migrated to my back yard and are eating my pecans.

[Lon371]

 Here in southern Indiana, they are doing well. Other than seeming to be smaller over the last couple years. In my primary deer stand, I have several that entertain me thru the boring days.  
 
 My folks live down in Clarksville. The neighborhood they live in, you can drive down the street and see 2 or 3 in about every yard. Tried to talk mom into letting me pellet gun them. I go a resounding NO!!! LOL
 
Lonny

[mcbammer]

Ive   notice   my   backyard   squirrels going   M.I.A.  This  year.  I  Declard   war   on   coyotes  an   have  dispatched  6  of   8   these   past  2  weeks.

[rjr9603]

I have noticed just about everything is MIA in my neck of the woods. I have been in the woods 12 days in the last 1.5 months and have only seen one squirrel and one deer. I managed to bag the 7pt with the bow.  Usally the areas I hunt are flooded with squirrels and deer. Its just not so this year.

On a side note I only have public land to hunt. I have not seen and increase in traffic, but I do not hunt the weekends.

[huntswithdogs]

Where I hunt, here in SW Va., the acorn crop is way down as is the hickory nuts. The squirrels are moving into an area, cleaning up what they can find, and then moving on(or at least that's the way it seems). I think the deer are staying down the road in a guys corn field that he's yet to cut. Sitting in a tree stand the first few days I got to bow hunt, the squirrels were all over the ridge I was on. Since then I've not seen more than 2 or 3 while in the same stand.


HWD

[tcencore3006]

I used to have alot of squirrels.  Somehow they all seemed to have died of lead poisoning.

[STUMPJMPR]

I heard from a friend the Louisiana Wildlife and fisheries are saying squirrels are low in numbers here due to last years drought.  They say they didn't reproduce like they normally do.  On the other hand I killed 7 on a few outings with my squirrel dog.

[jakeemt]

out in pretty good numbers (greys anyway) Haven't had much of a chance to sniff out my fox squirrel spots. Strong acorn crop this year. I am in eastern MO.

[keith44]

Squirrel numbers are up from last year on my ground, but I have a couple of feeder stations.  I keep shelled corn out for em from January til about April or May depending on the weather.  I'm in western Ky and we have seen an overall decline in Quail, Rabbit and Squirrel populations over the past couple of decades. 

[mechanic]

Might just be some bobcats around.  They will wipe out the population then move on.
 
Ben

[jakeemt]

Keith, you got me interested so i checked the numbers in my state with the MDC. According to their "small game survey" harvest numbers are down along with the number of people who hunt squirrel (and small game in general) and their days spent afield. They recently upped the bag limit to 10(from 6) here because so many less people are hunting them. I guess it's all about the deer more and more. Thats fine with me as long as the guys who hunt deer on state land don't take it into their heads that I shouldn't be hunting squirrels during any part of deer season (have had that arguement in the field before). Bagged 2 greys today btw and had 'em fried up within a few hours after being home.

[keith44]

Hi jakeemt


Yup had that same argument, on Private family owned property with a trespasser no less.  Needless to say they ain't been back. I find it kinda sad but people are just not afield like they used to be and with all the press and glory attributed to Deer and Turkey, the other game species typically hunted are being ignored.  I don't know if the overall decline in population from 20+ years ago is from habitat loss, or other pressures.  Quail in my neck of the woods are severely depressed due to habitat loss, and competition with turkey.  Rabbits seem to indicate the size of the coyote and bobcat populations. Squirrels also suffer losses to the coyotes and bobcats, and never forget the explosion of the redtailed hawks population.

[jakeemt]

Rabbits get pretty scarce after the beagle get after them around here. During the off season though I see them routinely. I am gonna have to put my money on birds of prey. I am a pretty young guy and haven't been hunting 20 years but, I do remember it being a big deal when I was very young to see a hawk around here. Now we have birds of prey of all kinds, hawks, kites, owl, eagles and even a falcon or two. Can't say that it bothers me though. I do enjoy watching them and I don't mind sharing.