Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game Where do the squirrels go?

Sitting on a piece of public deer hunting right now. I squirrel hunted this spot three times this early fall. In those three hunts I shot one squirrel and saw two others.


I can see four grey squirrels and two reds.

Somehow they know I have a deer rifle instead of the .22

I have seen the same thing hunting public land here in Connecticut. And I have seen deer when squirrel hunting to.

I noticed the same thing last week. When deer hunting slows down in the coming weeks, I am going squirrel hunting. I could have killed more from my box stand recently than I could have in October when I was chasing them on purpose.

You won't see any when you're after them lol

You may very well be right! May do more sitting and waiting on them versus hiking around.

The first time I ever went deer hunting was in 1964. A neighbor had told my father that some deer had been seen in a woods that joined our farm, so I went there, Didn't see a deer, but saw more squirrels in that place than I'd ever seen before. They were every where I looked, I'm guessing I saw at least a hundred. I went back the next afternoon with my shotgun, deciding that squirrel hunting would be more fruitful than deer hunting, and never saw a squirrel. I happened to mention it to an older fellow in the community and he said that what I'd seen was a squirrel migration. I didn't really believe him at the time, but I have seen it again, so it does happen.

I bow hunted a place one fall that had a bunch of squirrels, and I packed a slingshot with me and would shoot at them with it. Never hit one, but did manage to scare a few.

Boca, your not at Grand River are you? I had the same problem with!!!

Only way to kill em.

Sit down in an area and give it an hour or so.

Funny how they come out when you're deer hunting. It's almost like they know. I never tried this yet but I once heard someone suggest that when squirrel hunting I should just sit at the base of a tree in blaze orange. I ought to try it someday.

Agreed. I sit where there are hickorys, oaks and beech trees and within an hour they're on the ground moving about. Shoot one and within 30 minutes or so they're back. They don't have long memories.

Apparently all the squirrels are in my backyard. This is #73, 74, 75, and 76 for the year.

Around here they been spotty, bunch in 1 some places not very many in others this year. They good time passers when deer hunting, gives you something to watch.

I like to watch them too. We have several here in the yard on clean up under the bird feeder and they look pretty meaty this time of year. They do liven up the winter though bouncing around in the trees and chasing one another. The red squirrels around the cottage all get a .22 hollow-point if I see them because they chase out the gray ones and eat the bird eggs in the spring. I used to de-squirrel my hunting areas, but now I use them to see how well my camo is working and my early warning system for anything headed my way. You have to figure that being a squirrel is a pretty mundane existence, so seeing a deer is probably the highlight of their day. Mine too given the devoid of deer places that I hunt in the NF.

Easily explained. When deer hunting, you are much more likely to sit really still, the best way to successfully hunt squirrels too.

I have a whole passel of dependent squirrels in my yard. They’re fat and sassy, several are nearly tame. Pretty sure one or two recognize the word “peanut”. Only trouble they’ve caused is when they ate all the buds off a camellia one year. Now we take action against that. When they hear me take the lid off the metal trash can I keep the bird food in, they come running. I leave the ones in the woods alone too anymore. Rather watch them than skin them.

People want to wander through the woods. Can't kill many squirrels.up stomping around in their living rooms.

Don't forget, from 40' up in a tree they see you long before you get to them and they either hole up or go the other way.

Sit in a spot, shoot one or 2, do not retrieve them and give it an hour. If nothing happens go to a spot where you had seen some that were out of range of your previous spot.

I can have one 25 yards away while I am deer hunting, raise an arm or something and he may get the hell out of Dodge. They are far from dumb.

All the good squirrel hunters I know move slowly through the woods.

Squirrels will be wherever the food is

That's how it works when you want to fill the skillet.

I walked 6 miles collectively last Wed-Thu & bagged two fat Fox Squirrels in the state park. I come out of the woods into the campsites & there must have been 20 in a 30 yard radius.

They know where their bread is buttered. Seriously, in the woods, it was tough work for two.

You can see plenty, assuming they’re in the area, by still-hunting just as you would deer. The problem is keeping that same level of focus and stealth for such a small potential reward. Early in the season, a lot of them will be aloft and the trees still in leaf, which makes it tougher obviously.

They feed and move about at certain times of the day--------NOT ALL DAY LONG!

Observe what times they move and hunt at those times! EASY PEASY!

Hip

No schitt. Just like everything else.

Might want to have that caps lock key checked…..

MAYBE NOT!

What ya been doing for the last 25 yrs. except postin' on the campfire---Do ya have time to SH*T?

It’s only been 9 years.

You certainly are an annoying fugger. Think I’ll let you join that small, select group I keep on Ignore so I don’t accidentally read any of their drivel.

Bye!

Even though those times can vary daily. Have killed at daylight one day and then went to same spot the next AM, nothing for the first 2 or 3 hours then they start stirring.

I also think a few move at night. I have seen a squirrel go into a den or nest right before dark but nothing come out of that nest or den the next morning.

Squirrels don't move good every day. Just like fish don't bite well everyday. Some days squirrels stay in their nest or den hole all day

In the wild, they seem to stay in on really cold days, but here in my yard they can fill up quickly and easily on corn and black oil seed, so they’re out most times.

my wife has raised pro. 100 baby tree rats in the last 25 yrs. no two act the same . some will eat things the others won't some feed in the morning some feed at noon some like people some are a$$ holes . we have had FL & Ohio born tree rats . most will stay in the nest box when it is raining out side even when they are in side . they will build & maintain a nest as soon as there eyes open. they are born to be squirrels

Over the years I have witnessed squirrel migrations like you described several times. One day the squirrels are so thick it is almost kinda creepy. A guy could sit and shoot a limit in 30 minutes with a handgun and see dozens of squirrels in any direction at any time. A week later they are gone. Once I was fall smallmouth fishing and squirrels were swimming the river in large groups. All going the same direction. Fish a long pool and see a hundred squirrels swim across to the bank on the other side. We would motor to the next pool and see another swimming mat of dozens of squirrels crossing. The next pool would be the same. It was crazy.

I do the opposite, I go out squirrel hunting during deer season and usually shoot about 4 squirrels and bump deer

Squirrels migrate. They swim down stream, following rivelets to criks, to streams etc until they reach the ocean.
Then they look around and turn back.

Squirrels are interesting to watch. I have a deer feeder that is 126 yds out my back door and the squirrels eat the scattered corn left by the deer right along with the crows and doves. There is a big Red Tailed Hawk that monitors the squirrels and when he is around you can't find a squirrel with a squirrel finding machine (Jack Russel Terriers). So, some how they sense when it's time to become scarce.

Redtails love squirrels for dinner.

Me too...

With a Fiest dog that will let you know where they are.

In my woods and property I’m fortunate to have every variety from the ornery reds, big fat grays, black squirrels and big golden Fox squirrels. I’ve found on heavy wind days when there are no leaves most, except reds and Chipmunks, stay close to their nests hanging on. In heavy rains only the Fox Squirrels come out to feeders or to pick up acorns. They just put those long tails over their backs like foul weather gear and keep at it. One year living in NH the population almost vanished then I learned from the old timers the Fisher Cats had moved in and they are hard on squirrels and porcupines. I learned a great hunting trick from some muzzle loading old time squirrel hunters. They used to locate a live tree then hang their coat on a nearby tree or bush. The squirrels would then see the jacket and move to the far side of the tree hiding but open for a shot

Rick

Squirrels go where the food is.
Two large pin oaks in the yard and a good mast crop this year, there have been six grays working the trees everyday dawn to dusk and rain or shine for the last two months.

Must vary by region ( like everything else)
Squirrels around here do what squirrels do
whenever they take a notion to, just like the
deer regardless of what the weather is or
what my schedule is

A year too late-but yes.

Grand River.

-Jake

When I'm around----They Go To Heaven!

Hip

Heaven = pan-fried young squirrel, mashed taters, biscuits and gravy, vegetables of your choice, milk/tea/adult beverage of choice.

So glad we get to hunt them in the late spring when those young are out and about.

I would hate to have to wait until fall to get after em.

I don't hunt them a whole lot in the spring but occasionally when that nice cool morning comes around I know where some Mulberry trees are and the squirrels will be after those Mulberries. I'll kill a few for the skillet then.

That's the key, mulberry trees loaded with ripe mulberries. They travel a good bit for those.

To squirrel heaven...

😂😂😂

My last great Squirrel hurrah!

My last Squirrel hunt. Times have changed.

Beautiful Auto Five! What gauge?

It’s a 1965 Belgian Auto 5, 12 ga which i took out of the box which it had been in since new. That was 2018. Handed it off to Art Isaacson, Art’s Gun Shop, at the Tulsa Gun Show which we attend twice annually. He replaced every spring in it & of course blessed it otherwise for $120, delivered. The original recoil spring was 2” shorter than the new, glad I did that before shooting it.

I purchased an Invector barrel for it for $550 & sold the original for $150. That transaction nearly turned into an assault right there in the aisle at the gun show.

So, in 2018 you might say it was brand new. That’s why it looks so good.

Very nice! Art is THE man when it comes to most things Browning. I grew up with Auto Fives around. My dad was magical with his Sweet Sixteen and Light Twelve. An uncle had a Light Twenty. I hold my Twenty near and dear.

I think they go to Reloder28’s freezer.

As would I.

Looks like those times are getting fewer by the year.

I killed most of those in the Trinity River bottom. Problem is, the river comes out of its banks and season is the month of October for me as I will be hunting WT’s in South Texas from then on. If the Trinity is out of its banks in October the waters will not recede enough to dry up before the 31st. The Duck hunting is stellar & that is a viable alternative………..if, I cared anything about Duck hunting. Last hunt in the water, a buddy lost his dog to a gator. No thanks.

I'm right now in my warm office up on the north side of Cincinnati. That's where I spend 2-3 months of winter. The place at the farm just isn't big enough for me, and I get to feeling cooped up. When I'm at the farm, we're normally crawling with squirrels. Up here, we're also up to our eyeballs with tree rats.

Squirrels generally don't go anywhere as long as there is food. From the back patio, I can see a dozen dreys. When the numbers decrease, it is usually from lack of food, and since the oaks go in approximately 10-year cycles, so do the squirrels. When I went out to sit this morning I had a gazillion squirrels moving about.

Squirrels do migrate when there are too many of them and they outstrip the local food source. #2 son, Moose, is the squirrel expert. He explained a phenomenon I was seeing a couple of years ago when the acorn crop failed. Squirrels get suicidal. They start roaming out in the middle of the street. They're not trying to kill themselves, but they start doing risky behaviors. One is searching for food in dangerous places and the other is migrating into unknown territory.

Generally speaking, the seasonal thing has to do with cover. Spring Squirrel season at the farm is usually a bust. Moose, being the expert, is the only one that seems to be able to get a shot at them. They hide up in the foliage and they're very hard to pick out. It is hard to shoot them until the leaves start to fall. Now, with all the leaves down, they are easier to see. They were there in June and September, you just couldn't see them. Now, all the food that's left is down on the ground. Moose like to hunt until the last day of season in February.

We have no AG in the area around the farm. It's all cow pastures or fallow land. If you have standing crops around, there are plenty of squirrels. The other thing is cover. Moose prefers to hunt hardwood stands with adjoining cedar thickets. The squirrels like to hid in the cedars and then come out onto the hardwood branches to feed.

When we had six wire corncribs full of ear corn, we had plenty of squirrels. One burned our transformer.

Mom talked about squirrel, and dumplings.