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Joined: Jun 2017
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OP
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Joined: Jun 2017
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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
Small Game, Deer, Turkey, Bear, Elk....It's what's for dinner.
If you know how many guns you own... you don't own enough.
In God We Trust.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,142
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,142 |
I have seen the same thing hunting public land here in Connecticut. And I have seen deer when squirrel hunting to.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247 Likes: 1 |
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.
Now with even more aplomb
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,431 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,431 Likes: 1 |
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
Small Game, Deer, Turkey, Bear, Elk....It's what's for dinner.
If you know how many guns you own... you don't own enough.
In God We Trust.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247 Likes: 1 |
You may very well be right! May do more sitting and waiting on them versus hiking around.
Now with even more aplomb
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 19,243 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 19,243 Likes: 2 |
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.
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 407
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 407 |
Boca, your not at Grand River are you? I had the same problem with!!!
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,942 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,942 Likes: 2 |
You may very well be right! May do more sitting and waiting on them versus hiking around. Only way to kill em. Sit down in an area and give it an hour or so.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 10,516 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 10,516 Likes: 1 |
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.
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Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 4,578 Likes: 5
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 4,578 Likes: 5 |
You may very well be right! May do more sitting and waiting on them versus hiking around. Only way to kill em. Sit down in an area and give it an hour or so. 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.
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Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 4,079 Likes: 6
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 4,079 Likes: 6 |
Apparently all the squirrels are in my backyard. This is #73, 74, 75, and 76 for the year.
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
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Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 88
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 88 |
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.
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Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,379
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,379 |
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.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,911 Likes: 16
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,911 Likes: 16 |
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.
What fresh Hell is this?
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,942 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,942 Likes: 2 |
You may very well be right! May do more sitting and waiting on them versus hiking around. Only way to kill em. Sit down in an area and give it an hour or so. 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. 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.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,044 Likes: 6
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
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All the good squirrel hunters I know move slowly through the woods.
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7,367
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7,367 |
Squirrels will be wherever the food is
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Hunter S. Thompson
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 11,273 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 11,273 Likes: 2 |
All the good squirrel hunters I know move slowly through the woods. That's how it works when you want to fill the skillet.
Gun Shows are almost as comical as boat ramps in the Spring.
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 20,926 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 20,926 Likes: 2 |
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.
By the way, in case you missed it, Jeremiah was a bullfrog.
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,911 Likes: 16
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,911 Likes: 16 |
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.
What fresh Hell is this?
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