squirrels

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diamond hunter

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OK there has been some stupid ideas in the past but here is mine.I have several stands with a oak tree or two nearby.I plan to kill all,I mean all,the squirrels around them.They have to be eating up a lot of the mast that these good trees produce,drawing less deer.Ideas??Or can it be done?I have stands out that I bet I can kill at least a limit at a time without getting out of my stand.Thoughts?
 
I read somewhere that one squirrel can store/eat up to 80 lbs of hard mast a week or a day. I can't remember exactly which it was but either way its more than i would have thought.
 
OK so you cant tell me that a scouting squirrel killing with a gamo rifle can do more harm than good.Im talking thinning out squirrel numbers from stands where the oaks are a draw.What about bringing in a buddy with a gamo air rifle and we both shoot a limit from box blinds and scout the whole time?
 
Im not planning some scientific mission,just a couple guys in October shooting squirrels with quiet guns from box blinds,and I do believe,if you shot 40 or more over a couple weekends it would have to make a difference in the amount of mast available during the rut.
 
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I think there will always be more squirrels coming. I doubt you can thin then out for good. Would have to be a continuous shooting of squirrels throughout entire season. When a good oak drops a big crop of acorns, there are always extras lying on the ground, otherwise so many people wouldn't hunt oaks for deer.
 
diamond hunter said:
OK so you cant tell me that a scouting squirrel killing with a gamo rifle can do more harm than good.
Click to expand...
I just did. You asked for advice and opinions, I gave you mine.
Sorry it wasn't what you wanted to hear.
You said you were going to kill "all" of the squirrels, again........aint gonna happen. Even if you could or did, theres plenty more in the surrounding area to take their place.
As catman pointed out, when there is a decent mast crop not all of the mast will be utilized, not by deer, turkeys or those rascally squirrels. There will still be plenty of acorns on the ground, some rot some sprout.
 
I'm near 65 years old. I've earned the right to be "snappy" whenever I want to lol. Just ask my wife.....
Good luck with your tree rat eradication program.
 
One of my neighbors traps squirrels once they learn how to defeat the safeguards he puts up for his bird feeders. Takes them quite a piece away and lets them go. I know he used to have 4 hav-a-hart traps and many times he made 3 and 4 trips a day.

From just casual observations, it appears to me as if a minimum of two years goes by before he needs to trap again. I know when we had a cat the squirrels left and once the cat found a happier home it took a full year for squirrels to return.


I think airguns would be the way to go. Wait till season opens and go pound them hard. Important to keep track of what you see each year so you have something to evaluate.
 
DaveB said:
One of my neighbors traps squirrels once they learn how to defeat the safeguards he puts up for his bird feeders. Takes them quite a piece away and lets them go. I know he used to have 4 hav-a-hart traps and many times he made 3 and 4 trips a day.

From just casual observations, it appears to me as if a minimum of two years goes by before he needs to trap again. I know when we had a cat the squirrels left and once the cat found a happier home it took a full year for squirrels to return.


I think airguns would be the way to go. Wait till season opens and go pound them hard. Important to keep track of what you see each year so you have something to evaluate.
Click to expand...

Just as a FYI, it is illegal to trap animals and take them away an release them without written approval from the TWRA Executive Director. There is a statute that gives landowners the right (with restrictions on big game animals) to destroy animals causing them problems. But that law doesn't allow the trapping and release of such animals where the person oftentimes is just moving their problem to someone else.
 
diamond hunter said:
Fun to boot and good target practice.
Click to expand...
I agree, another hunt or two in October and an excuse to buy a good .22 with a powerful scope. Use sub-sonic to reduce the noise and protect your ears. Squirrel is one of the tastiest wild game critters.
 

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