Author Topic: SQUIRREL HUNTERS.....THE TREE KIND! (Read 40099 times)

SQUACKS · « **Reply #90 on:** June 25, 2006, 06:21:00 AM »

howdy all!

i know squirrel hunters from all over the country and those with spring seasons are telling me that there is a lot more squirrels than last year.

with the huge amount of mast from last year, it appears that squirrels may have brought off an extra litter over the winter months.

this same thing happened about 6 years ago. a huge mast crop one season with mostly no squirrels to eat it and the next year there was a good supply of squirrels. with mostly no squirrels present in the fall, i always wondered how there could get to be so many by the next fall.

a winter litter might explain some of it.

any of you ever seen a litter of really young squirrels in jan. or feb?

that would be before i would expect to see little ones as there is a rut of squirrels that starts in late dec. and jan. around here.

luck!

SQUACKS · « **Reply #91 on:** July 25, 2006, 05:08:17 PM »

HOWDY ALL!

squirrel season starts here in illinois next week.

it appears that, around me anyways , this is going to be a pretty good year for mast. i see lots of hickory nuts with a good showing of walnuts and swamp oak which the squirrels are already sampling. there are not a great many types of oaks around close to me so i can't say what the crop is like on the others.

1st of aug. squirrel hunting here in illinois is HOT AND BUGGY!

i have no real solid plans to get out after them until about september but wouldn't be against it!

i know of folks getting limits of squirrels in western mo. that are cutting hickories already. it just may be a lot better season than last year. that surely wouldn't take much!

wish you all luck in the upcoming seasons!

DaveH · « **Reply #92 on:** August 11, 2006, 07:39:20 AM »

SQUACKS,

Good luck on this upcoming squirrel season. I have lost my favorite hunting buddy as she has being attending college away from home. So it back to just me. Tried to talk the wife into taking the hunters safety course but that went about as far as telling her I needed a new boat. Our season starts in about two weeks. This is the second year Maryland has let us start hunting this early. In years past the Squirrel season started in Oct.

Again Good luck !!!

Joel · « **Reply #93 on:** September 02, 2006, 04:12:43 AM »

Squirrel populations are looking pretty good here in Central PA this year. When I moved up here 22 years ago, the only kind of squirrel you saw in any numbers were grays. During the last 5 years the fox squirrels have really appeared in numbers. Based on the areas that I gradually saw them move into, they are moving from south to north as they spread. Since I'm located at the south eastern edge of the Allegheny mountains, it means they've left the flatlands are are moving up into these hills. Even saw a black last year. Where I grew up in Western NYS, blacks were as common as grays and fox squirrels. We've mostly Oaks, Maples, Hemlock, Sweet Birch and cherry around here, with plenty of mast/food these last two years because of the rains and relatively snow free winters. Good Hunting.

SQUACKS · « **Reply #94 on:** September 04, 2006, 08:31:25 AM »

howdy all!

just got back from a short 2 morning hunt in north western illinois where there is a really good mast crop and quite a few squirrels to eat it! lol! i took the illinois 5 a day limit both mornings pretty easily using a rem. 541thb and a cz varminter both in plain jane .22 cal. both guns shoot cci mini-mag ammo very accurately and that sure helps making sure i get the rifle to the timber with the right ammo in my pocket!

most of the squirrels i found cutting were in mockernut or shag bark hickories with a few sampling walnuts.

hope you all have a great hunting season in 06!

luck!

DaveH · « **Reply #95 on:** September 05, 2006, 02:34:57 PM »

I went out early yesterday and didn't see a damn thing. Well after I hunted the morning I switched over to dove hunting in the afternoon. Its still real hot here and lots of leaves still on the trees. Think I'll stick to dove hunting untill the middle of Oct then watch out squirrels.

Dave H.

DaveH · « **Reply #96 on:** September 11, 2006, 12:46:01 PM »

SQUACKS,

Went out after work this evening and CLEANED up. I hunted a part of the woods I seldom hunt but man oh man the squirrels were all over the place. I limted out in an hour of hunting no more then an arce of the woods. Looks as they are cutting the hickory nuts here in my area. When I first went into the woods it sounded like it was raining from all the cutting they were doing. If tonight is any indiction this is going to be a very good squirrel season around here. I noticed alot of mass crops this year.

Good luck all with this squirrel season !!!!!!!!!

TNrifleman · « **Reply #97 on:** September 12, 2006, 03:01:21 PM »

The mast crop here in southeast Tennessee looks very good this year. The squirrels seem to have made a good come back from the last two years when the hunting around here was very poor. I'm looking forward to a great squirrel season!

SQUACKS · « **Reply #98 on:** September 12, 2006, 05:01:19 PM »

from all the folks i talk to in kentucky, tenn, illinois and mo. there has been a huge increase in the population since last season.

sure wish we could put up pictures.

good luck to you all this season.

DaveH · « **Reply #99 on:** September 15, 2006, 11:10:57 AM »

Went out this evening after work and hunting a long ridge loaded with hickory trees. Still alot of green right now but the if I couldn't see them I could hear them dropping cutting all over the place. This was a quick hunt only stayed in the woods about an hour but brought home four nice squirrels. Look like alot of the squirrels this year are fox squirrels. Out of the the four three were fox and one was a grey. That unusual around here. Tomorrow morning I'm taking a guy from work squirrel hunting for the first time. He is a active waterfowl hunter but has ever done any squirrel hunting I know went he get into the woods and the squirrels are jumping all over the part he will get into it big time.

KYBOY · « **Reply #100 on:** September 15, 2006, 05:17:58 PM »

Well squak I from Ky and over in the mountains where I live we have a big increase since last year. Been good huntin'

SQUACKS · « **Reply #101 on:** September 22, 2006, 11:52:35 AM »

KYBOY AND DAVEH,

IT'S good to hear from you both and interesting to find that you are both finding plenty squirrels this season.

it sure is a large differance since last season!

i just got back from our annual illinois shawnee squirrel hunt and there were lots of squirrels there.

there are absolutely no hickory nuts in the part of shawnee we hunted. there were quite a few acorns and beech with some trees having good supplies of walnuts.

i took squirrels mostly in beech, pin oak and overcup(burr) oak. one mornin i had 12 or 15 up one beech tree! i took my five then went and found a buddy and he took 4 and we left the rest up there still workin those beech nuts over like nothin ever happened.

the season just opened in wisconsin and i may get up there soon.

luck!

KYBOY · « **Reply #102 on:** September 22, 2006, 08:24:34 PM »

Sounds like you had a good hunt! We have plenty of hickory. Bitternut and slick bark but little scaly bark. Plenty of acorns and beach. Ours are just starting to cut acorns and beach, still hitting the hickory hard. In fact we have almost to much mast. The squirrels are scattered around, they can find food anywhere they go. The most I have seen in one tree all year is two.

SQUACKS · « **Reply #103 on:** September 24, 2006, 11:17:23 AM »

KYBOY:

i know what you mean when you talk of too much mast. sometimes under those conditions, i have seen squirrels run into a tree, find a nut and run back out without ever stopping. that makes for some pretty tough rifle hunting.

if the mast is a little scattered then the squirrels usually gang up and stay in the tree feeding for some time or until they cut it out.

glad to hear you got a hickor nut or 2. just don't seem to feel like squirrel season without nockin a few out while cuttin hickory.

walnuts are a close second though........lol!

luck!

KYBOY · « **Reply #104 on:** September 24, 2006, 02:03:48 PM »

Well I killed 2 out of beach this evening. Thier hittin' the beach pretty hard here now as well.

DaveH · « **Reply #105 on:** September 29, 2006, 11:50:30 AM »

Ok so far this season it has been good. I have noticed that I'm taking alot more Eastern Fox squirrels this year then before. Anyone else seeing this ? Anywhere I hunt close to an open field seems the Foxes have chased the greys away. But as I get deeper into the woods its all greys. Also it looks like the foxes are eating hiclory nuts while the greys are eating acorns. As I write this I'm getting ready for a eekend hunt up in the Frederick water sheild. This is prime squirrel country at least in my area gonna sprend the weekend up there hunting.

Good luck to all the squirrel hunters out there.

DaveH · « **Reply #106 on:** October 01, 2006, 08:55:30 AM »

Went out yesterday morning and walked the ridges around the river, never sit down and never stopped walking I ended up limting out within a hour. Man the squirrels were every where.

DaveH · « **Reply #107 on:** October 09, 2006, 06:55:23 AM »

Went out Saturday morning at first light and took the NEF 16 ga single shot out for a walk in the squirrel woods hunted for about three hours just walking and stopping ever sit down and I got my lint again.

Took my .17 HMR out to the Frederick water shed this morning hadn't hunted up there yet this year. Just like down around home the squirrels were all over the place. I sitting an area that had five big white oaks in it and witin an 30 minutes I had my six and was heading to the watering hole. Man when this 17 hit them they go down.

DaveH · « **Reply #108 on:** October 09, 2006, 06:59:11 AM »

Went out Saturday morning at first light and took the NEF 16 ga single shot out for a walk in the squirrel woods hunted for about three hours just walking and stopping ever sit down and I got my lint again.

Took my .17 HMR out to the Frederick water shed this morning hadn't hunted up there yet this year. Just like down around home the squirrels were all over the place. I was sitting an area that had five big white oaks in it and witin an 30 minutes I had my six and was heading to the watering hole. Man when this 17 hit them they go down.

SQUACKS · « **Reply #109 on:** October 09, 2006, 01:43:52 PM »

daveh:

i own one of those 17hmr myself. it does whop squirrels with authority! it does require finer shooting in order not to shred the entire squirrel alright but the bullet is pretty much a lazer beam for the timber.

i have had some trouble with it in the thick stuff as that little bullet moves around or disintegrates when it hits any little thing. but in the fall with leaves down last year, i made some shots i was mighty proud of!

good to hear you have beucoup squirrels around you there. it seems this year that there is a good number of them in most places. this is a far cry from last year.

may get out this weekend. might take that old .32 caplock rifle just for the fun of it. fun to hunt with.....miserable to clean up afterwards!

luck!

SQUACKS · « **Reply #110 on:** October 15, 2006, 10:59:04 AM »

howdy all!

every once in a while, a feller has one of those days where he can do no wrong. i had a day like that sat. morning hunting squirrels.

i took a long a .32 cal. pennsylvania type caplock rifle that i built back in 1978. i had not used it in about 3 years but the .22 rifle i had along had a new scope on it and i had not zero'd it as yet. the plan was to zero it sat. afternoon.

i decided to use the caplock because it had seen no use. i saw a lot of squirrels that morning and was very particular about the shots i took at first. in the end i made 5 shots account for 5 squirrels. 1 shot i was really proud of and might just be the longest squirrel shot i have ever made with this rifle.

it sure was satisfying to take squirrels with an old style rifle that i made myself.

luck!

DaveH · « **Reply #111 on:** October 16, 2006, 10:25:19 AM »

SQUACKS....
I'm glad for you.

Heck my Saturday morning was alot of walking and not many squirrels. I ended the day with four. I saw a bunch more but they were on the woods floor already?

Was not expecting that so early. I was also carrying a gun I hadn't used in a couple of years so I wasn't to comforable with it. Next time I'm taking my 16 ga. also it was the first hard freeze we have had this years so I don't think the the squirrels got going until late in the morning.

DaveH · « **Reply #112 on:** October 16, 2006, 10:53:43 AM »

Hey SQUACKS,

I just looked at my box of 16 ga #6 shot and realized that I have shot 16 of them and gotten 16 squirrels. Hopefully I can get another limter this weekend out of this box. that will give me one shell to spare for three limtes out of a box of 25...pretty cool huh ?

SQUACKS · « **Reply #113 on:** October 16, 2006, 03:02:08 PM »

daveh:

when the nuts go down in the fall, the squirrels are going to go with them. they spend a lot of time on the ground burying nuts. where i was this weekend, the ground had a lot of diggings from just that. there were loads of hickory nuts and walnuts on the ground.

this time of year, squirrels cut walnuts pretty hard if there are any. the walnut leaves are some of the first to fall which leaves the tree bare and maybe a few nuts still hanging up in it. squirrels usually get a nut and go low to cut it.

they usually get down on a low limb with their butt against the tree. at times you will find them cutting them in brushpiles. when the leaves are down and the woods are so bare, i think squirrels are more afraid of predation by hawks and are afraid to sit out in the open.

when i hear a squirrel cutting after the leaves go down, i start by looking low.

as a youth one of the first guns i owned was an old owls head(iver johnson) 16 ga. single shot champion choked full. that gun was a squirrels nightmare!

when i found a tree full of squirrels(hickory or beech season!) i would put one shell in my left hand and 2 in my teeth. i meant business! lol! i heated up the barrel on that old shotgun a few times too.

i hunt these days with mostly rimfire rifles and sometimes pistols. i always tell folks that if it is not absolutely safe to use a rifle then by all means, use a shotgun.

luck!

SQUACKS · « **Reply #114 on:** October 19, 2006, 02:35:05 PM »

once in a while the stars align and you get a dose of good luck. not often, but just about enough to keep life interesting.

when i was a young-un(back more years than i care to remember) the squirrel season here in illinois came in aug1 and went out oct 15. what a sad day oct 15 always was!

over the years there have been fewer and fewer people interested in squirrel hunting and the illinois dnr has been occasionally lengthening the season. (lucky me!)

this year, they added another 30 days to the season which will now run aug1 to feb 15! i like it!

now if i could only talk them into raising the limit from 5 a day to 10! a feller could hunt most all day long on a 10 a day limit if he paced himself!

hope you all are enjoying a great season! luck!

SQUACKS · « **Reply #115 on:** October 29, 2006, 11:36:07 AM »

howdy all!

got out this weekend. as the leaves are mostly down, i took the .17 hmr for longer range. it's a lazer beam for sure! it's also a head shot only gun on edible squirrels.

i got 8 and some were memorable shots.

squirrels around here are mostly on the ground now. they seem to be more in the walnuts than hickory even though there are trees that still have nuts on them. the ground is covered in hickory nuts but all the squirrels i saw cutting were on walnuts.

it a pretty good season so far and illinois added another 30 days to the season meaning i have 4 months yet to go! yippee!

luck!

DaveH · « **Reply #116 on:** November 06, 2006, 12:05:43 PM »

I too got out this weekend with the .17 and yes it is a head only round. I ended the day with six(Marylands daily limt) I was hunting up in western part of the state.

SQUACKS · « **Reply #117 on:** November 06, 2006, 01:00:59 PM »

DAVEH:

sounds like a great day! is it the .17hmr you have or the hm2?

both are very accurate rounds.

luck!

DaveH · « **Reply #118 on:** November 11, 2006, 08:38:06 AM »

Hey SQUACKS,

I have the HMR .17 Its the savage model 93R17. Just got back from a two day hunt up in western Maryland man we couldn't have ask for better weather camping. No wind, highs in the mid 70's and yes its mid Nov. Thank God I happened to have a bottle of deep woods off in my truck left over from Dove season. We cleaned up this weekkend count was 24 squirrel and two gouse oh yea and a case of beer for the night. Me and a buddy was walking a firetrail up along this ridge squirells were junping all over the place and as you commented in a earier post most of the squirrels we were see were on the ground too. As we top one of the many hills a grouse ran out of the cover and jumped up on a dead fall about fifty yards in front of us. I put a 22 gr .17 round in her right where the neck connects with the body it almost took its head off. I have never killed a grouse with a rifle until then. My looks at me and says "I gotta get me one of those rifles". All in all a very good weekend hunt.

SQUACKS · « **Reply #119 on:** November 14, 2006, 02:16:33 PM »

daveh:

i got down to s. illinois this past weekend for a few days of squackin. i again took the .17hmr expecting to be making longer shots.

i was not wrong on that one. got into several spots that had large concentrations of squirrels. they were in the beech timber and there were nuts on the trees still and loads of them on the ground.

early morning found them in the trees cutting and as it warmed up they went to the ground. i found a good spot where i could see clear for a long way and also provided a good rifle rest. i made some really nice shots and missed a couple as well. lol!

i know that sun. morning i saw 40 squirrels sitting in one spot. i saw no reason to move from there!

i got in some scouting for spring turkey season and actually saw a few of them.

i will be back there soon for another try at the squirrels.

luck!