2024/2025 Squirrel Hunting Thread...........

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Squirrels marinating in the fridge. Going into the smoker in the morning. :)

Went to check out new places to squirrel hunt this morning. One was a bust, the other one has huge potential. Season 11 days away. I'm getting all sorts of fidgety.

"My hands are sweaty and my knees are weak, I can't eat and I can't sleep. Its turning me every way but loose, sounds like squirrel hunting blues got a hold of me, squirrel hunting blues got a hold of me".

There's only one cure for this one, fellas, and it ain't suicide. :)
 
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Har, har har. 😁
 

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....They were out on the tips of limbs, eating something. It didn't look like they were getting the nuts. I walked over and looked, it was buds. It's the only tree I found that is budding.

I'm getting squirrel raiders at night coming in from my neighbors property, gnawing the ends off of limbs of one particular sugar maple tree. Oddest thing I've ever seen. It's causing major damage. I mean, the yard is littered with these limb tips. Why this tree? There are other maples in the yard.

Y'all ever see this before?:

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IMG39.jpg
 
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I'm getting squirrel raiders at night coming in from my neighbors property, gnawing the ends off of limbs of one particular sugar maple tree. Oddest thing I've ever seen. It's causing major damage. I mean, the yard is littered with these limb tips. Why this tree? There are other maples in the yard.

Y'all ever see this before?:

Maybe they drop them then gather them to build their dreys?
 
I'm getting squirrel raiders at night coming in from my neighbors property, gnawing the ends off of limbs of one particular sugar maple tree. Oddest thing I've ever seen. It's causing major damage. I mean, the yard is littered with these limb tips. Why this tree? There are other maples in the yard.

Y'all ever see this before?:

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Stan, the only two reasons where I could see why squirrels would chew off small branches like that are:

1. To use them to build a drey. However, they will often do this in the same tree they are building the drey in. If not the same tree, one near it.

2. If they are trying to get to a nut or perhaps a bud of some sort.

No doubt squirrels will sometimes come out during the night. However, from my limited personal experience, as well as from research, they prefer brighter moonlight nights to do so. Southern Flying Squirrels eat buds and nuts like other squirrels. So perhaps those are what you are dealing with.

I do find it interesting that whatever is cutting those small limbs down are leaving them behind. So, one would think that would, or could, eliminate using them to build a drey theory.

Can you see any buds on undisturbed, attach limbs still on the tree? This would make more sense due to the fact that of the diameter and length of the cut limbs will not support the weight of a squirrel. Therefore, they would have to cut them to get to any buds.
 
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So check this out. About 20-30 minutes after I posted above, I had to take the dog out to go potty. It was right at 0500 and darker than a room full of black cats. With flashlight in hand I walked the dog around a little bit. We stopped near one of the two tall burr oaks in my front yard.

Then I heard the distant sound of something cutting on something up in one of those trees. Shined the bright light up in the trees and could see nothing but the cutting continued. Shut the light off and stood there for a few minutes and listened. Eased over under where I thought the sound was coming from. Turned the light back on to search some more but it’s thick up there. About that time…..boink, I got hit in the head with a couple of chunks of acorns. I saw where one chunk landed so I picked it up.

The only thing I can think of is maybe a squirrel, but I don’t see how it would stick around knowing I was there. So, perhaps a flying squirrel????

I’m guessing it may have been a coon because I have seen them up in oaks eating acorns. Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving leaves around much. It was, for the most part, fairly stationary.

I actually had to take the trash down to the highway before the trash truck came by. So I drove my truck right under that oak at the edge of the driveway and whatever it was up there stayed. I would have thought for sure that would have scared it away.

Went back out there a couple of minutes ago and it’s still up there eating acorns.

Now to complicate this a little more, two days ago I repaired my squirrel feeder, moved it from the back yard and installed it on that tree. There’s corn in that feeder right now.

It’s a new moon at this time so it appears that it’s less likely to be a squirrel.

So yeah, another mystery.
 

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So check this out. About 20-30 minutes after I posted above, I had to take the dog out to go potty. It was right at 0500 and darker than a room full of black cats. With flashlight in hand I walked the dog around a little bit. We stopped near one of the two tall burr oaks in my front yard.

Then I heard the distant sound of something cutting on something up in one of those trees. Shined the bright light up in the trees and could see nothing but the cutting continued. Shut the light off and stood there for a few minutes and listened. Eased over under where I thought the sound was coming from. Turned the light back on to search some more but it’s thick up there. About that time…..boink, I got hit in the head with a couple of chunks of acorns. I saw where one chunk landed so I picked it up.

The only thing I can think of is maybe a squirrel, but I don’t see how it would stick around knowing I was there. So, perhaps a flying squirrel????

I’m guessing it may have been a coon because I have seen them up in oaks eating acorns. Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving leaves around much. It was, for the most part, fairly stationary.

I actually had to take the trash down to the highway before the trash truck came by. So I drove my truck right under that oak at the edge of the driveway and whatever it was up there stayed. I would have thought for sure that would have scared it away.

Went back out there a couple of minutes ago and it’s still up there eating acorns.

Now to complicate this a little more, two days ago I repaired my squirrel feeder, moved it from the back yard and installed it on that tree. There’s corn in that feeder right now.

It’s a new moon at this time so it appears that it’s less likely to be a squirrel.

So yeah, another mystery.

Mother nature is entertaining!
 
Can you see any buds on undisturbed, attach limbs still on the tree?

Ed,

No buds on it at all that I can see. As you can see, they are defoliating it:

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The yard looked terrible, so I mowed and pulverized up all their limbs on the ground and got ready for a night mission.

It was a dark crescent moon night (LOL out-of-season night squirrel hunting with my Gamo underlever; the game warden would not approve). Nada; nothing. No squirrels and no limbs this morning. Odd.
 
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Ed,

No buds on it at all that I can see. As you can see, they are defoliating it:

View attachment 339702


The yard looked terrible, so I mowed and pulverized up all their limbs on the ground and got ready for a night mission.

It was a dark crescent moon night (LOL out-of-season night squirrel hunting with my Gamo underlever; the game warden would not approve). Nada; nothing. No squirrels and no limbs this morning. Odd.
Stan, If it were me, I’d put up a trail cam.

When was the last time they chewed down limbs?

I’ve definitely seen squirrels up in maple trees eating buds and it wasn’t long ago, perhaps 3 weeks or so.

If you’re not seeing any buds and if they haven’t been back, perhaps they ate all the buds or the buds have matured into leaves?

I’m curious to try to solve this one.
 
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