50 Shades of Gray…..Squirrel Hunting

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 10/17/2019 | S Haugen

[w1n1]

Gray squirrels are Excellent Eating – some say even better than Venison. Hunting tree squirrels in the West has never hit the fever pitch seen in Midwest and East Coast states. There are many reasons that could explain our lack of bushy tail hunting mania, but suffice it to say, if you have a versatile gun dog, it’s yet another great opportunity to get out and have fun.
Gray squirrels are excellent eating – some say even better than venison – and they can be found in many habitats. From the Coast Range to the valley floors, the Cascades to the high desert, from Canada down into Mexico, western grays are adaptive.

AT ABOUT A year of age gray squirrels begin to breed. The breeding season can run from December through June, and after just over a six-week gestation period, up to five kits are born. Western gray kits will remain in the nest for up to six months – sometimes longer – which equates to setbacks in the species’ ability to efficiently propagate in an area, especially when competing with squirrels that fledge sooner.
Due to the vulnerability of western gray populations, check local hunting regs for seasons and bag limits. Currently, westerns are protected in Washington and cannot be hunted there. Acorns and pine seeds are primary food sources of these squirrels, though they’ll feed on fir and other seeds in the area. Populations are largely impacted by how much food there is each year, which is determined by weather conditions.
Western grays are diurnal, making them great to hunt with a dog. While they often feed in and travel through treetops early in the morning and in the evening, they can also be found foraging for seeds on the ground throughout the day. I like to find good habitat and glass the trees early and late in the day, and cover ground with my dogs the rest of the time. Gray squirrels leave a lot of scent on the ground, and dogs can easily track and tree them. Chases are usually short, so your dog won’t get winded, or run too far in some of the rugged lands these squirrels call home. Read the rest of squirrel hunting tips.

[BBQToadRibs]

Oh, man. My great-grandparents had a grove of black walnut tress behind the barn. When the walnuts fell my hands would be stained back for a week hulling walnuts.

[Calvin Locke]

I waged war against them when I was married. One neighbor half gave me grief over it, but then squirrels started to eat away at her siding and wood roof shingles (I had slate).

Her husband bought commercial bait for squirrels and other rodents.

It was a losing battle. Another neighbor with her kid would feed them whole peanuts, and yet another would dump whole peanuts out the kitchen window onto the bulkhead. You could hear the noise.

I even found a peanut shell up in a second story gutter.

[bgill]

Me go to Californika? No.

[READINABLUESTATE]

“When the walnuts fell my hands would be stained back for a week hulling walnuts.”

The squirrels do that job for me, except they keep the nuts.

[paulcissa]

I used to work with a fellow originally from New Orleans who would beg me to bring him as many grey squirrels as I could harvest. He made a stew that was his mother’s recipe and was eternally grateful every time I’d bring a bag full on Monday’s.

Sent me home with a crock-pot full of it once and my wife nearly kicked me out over it. Needless to say, my spouse won’t make any squirrel stew for me but that mans gift of appreciation still makes my mouth water. Excellent eating.

[Flick Lives]

“Tree” squirrels? Is that opposed to water squirrels? Every squirrel I’ve ever seen lived in trees. You don’t need a dog.

- -

A bag of popcorn would do, although it’s not very sportsmen like.

[Calvin Locke]

Forgot to add that my then-wife bought me this book at the time:

Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels

Yeah, I also forgot that I did try to attract birds, the reason for the war.

[Georgia Girl 2]

My Dad and I used to hunt squirrels when I was a kid. I had a bolt action single shot .22 rifle. I always got stuck cleaning them but they tasted great for dinner.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

You don’t need a rifle to hunt those critters.

Years ago I took a vacation with a colleague to go hunting squirrels. We were not the best of shots but noticed a young man with a game bag full of squirrels. The man had no gun so I asked him how he managed to bag so many squirrels.

He said it was easy. He picked up a rock about the size of a baseball in his right hand. He whizzed the rock at a squirrel on the side of a tree braining the squirrel which fell to the ground.

My colleague looked at me as the young man retrieved the squirrel. When the young man returned, my colleague said, “You can become one of the greatest righthanded pitchers of all time!”

The young man said, “Nope!”

My colleague asked, “Why not?”

The young man responded, “’Cause I’m lefthanded.”

My colleague seemed baffled, “So why do you hunt squirrels with your right hand?”

The you man answered, “’Cause when I throw lefty it mangles the squirrels to much to be used for even stew.”

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

California squirrels endemically carry bubonic plague in their bodies and their fleas.

[Ancesthntr]

You mean “chipmunks”?

---

Nope, actual squirrels, same size, less bushy tails and better claws for digging. I know what chipmunks are - significantly smaller than squirrels, brown with a stripe. Much faster than squirrels, too - a saw one literally run around a squirrel a few times and then steal a peanut from the squirrel.

[WKUHilltopper]

OK. Thanks. A ground squirrel must be something exclusive to the west or something. We don’t have those in Kentucky. Occasionally you run into a flying squirrel though. Kind of rare but you can do it. Too little to make a meal out of one of them. LOL

[Dacula]

We call ‘em Tree Kitties. Our dogs love to chase them up the trees. We do not have very many of them this year. We have had foxes take over and I believe that they have been thinning the herd.

Funny true story - about a week after my youngest son was born my wife’s sperm-donor father and his female companion came to visit. As we were sitting on the back deck a couple of tree kitties made their way nearby. I told everyone to be quiet for a moment and that I would be back.

Sure enough, I come back with a pellet gun and pegged one of them critters right in front of the Outlaws. The look on their faces was hilarious.

Since my wife died, I have not heard from them at all. Her old man told me not to worry about them and that my wife was dead and not coming back.

[Keyhopper]

Try mothballs.

[right way right]

That reminds me of the time I shot a big beautiful grouse with a .44 mag.

It really made my dad angry and he made me pick every scrap of flesh that was recoverable and then I was to make a soup of it when we got back to camp.

The soup was Campbells chicken noodle and grouse scraps.

Two things, spooking all the deer away and wasting food.
Dumbass kid!

At least he didn’t make me eat the feathers.

[right way right]

I didn’t know they were protected in Washington state.
oops...

[Redcitizen]

“ California Squirrels...carry bubonic plague...”

that’s why it’s better to take them across the state line before eating so they’re no longer California squirrels. Problem solved. ;)

[Redcitizen]

“Occasionally you run into a flying squirrel though. Kind of rare but you can do it. Too little to make a meal out of one of them. “

those are the Jenny Craig meal squirrels for those people on a diet.

[Dacula]

I didn’t know they were protected in Washington state.
oops...

Come on down to Georgia, we have open season on democrat tree kitties.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I first heard that story more than 50 years ago, about Dizzy Dean, and it was old then.