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

[longcruise]

Cruiser, I love the avatar. How anyone could come up with something like that is amazing. Very fitting.

Well, AI isn't all evil.

Quite a few years ago I was having a lot of knee pain. At the time I was a heavy diet pop drinker and decided I should give it up. After about a week my knee pain was gone. I wondered if it had to do with the diet soda so I went back to drinking it and just like that the knee pain was back. So, I don't drink any kind of soda pop anymore.

Later I also discovered that it was related to artificial sweeteners when I got in the habit of drinking sugar free powder drinks. Same knee pain.

Crude science but something was going on.

 

[Kansas Jake]

My daughter in Michigan sent me this picture this morning. It was in her yard.

 

[ETipp]

Ed, maybe I can cheer you up. As you know I’m in Maine turkey hunting. I got in my blind this morning at around 3:40. Yes AM!! It gets light early up here.

Decoys out sitting waiting for daylight. It’s foggy. At 4:45 a turkey gobbles right next to me. CLOSE!

Finally flies down into the field. I looked at him through my binos to make sure he wasn’t a jake. It’s foggy. Nope, it’s a Longbeard. I promptly missed him!!

Still sitting here until 8:30 this evening unless another comes in and I don’t miss him.

Not the first one I’ve ever missed but it has been a long time. Oh well. Hope your knee gets better soon.

I’m sorry to hear you missed a Tom. As Forrest Gumb famously said, it happpppennns. Jim, bro, you have done quite well this year if you were to ask me. I’m happy for you my friend. Can’t win them all even though we try. You, sir, are a blessed man whether you realize it or not.

As for myself, I pushed out my chest, gritted my teeth and went squirrel hunting mysel this morning. I’m down right determined not allow this foolishness get in the way of what I love to do. Saw 3, got one, missed twice. But it was 100% my fault. However, I did my best at the time. The most conducive aspect of this is, I now know what, at least in part, of what the issue is/was and why I have missed so much in the last year or so. I’m determined more than ever to capitalize on my findings and become better at what I love best.

Again, I’m sorry you missed but count your blessings, my friend. If you were to ask me, this ole mountain man would say, hell yeah, and give you two thumbs up for your accomplishments.

 

[ETipp]

Well, AI isn't all evil.

Quite a few years ago I was having a lot of knee pain. At the time I was a heavy diet pop drinker and decided I should give it up. After about a week my knee pain was gone. I wondered if it had to do with the diet soda so I went back to drinking it and just like that the knee pain was back. So, I don't drink any kind of soda pop anymore.

Later I also discovered that it was related to artificial sweeteners when I got in the habit of drinking sugar free powder drinks. Same knee pain.

Crude science but something was going on.

Makes sense, cruiser. Glad you got it figured out.

 

[ETipp]

View attachment 321392My daughter in Michigan sent me this picture this morning. It was in her yard.

Oh geeze, you are taunting me now. I keep hoping that someday I’ll get a squirrel like that, or perhaps an albino one. If/when I ever do, it will be over- night shipped to Jim K to go on my wall.

 

[Jim K]

View attachment 321392My daughter in Michigan sent me this picture this morning. It was in her yard.

 

[Jim K]

My daughter also lives in Michigan and has black squirrels around. I’ve seen quite a few there but never one with a tail like that!!! That’s beautiful!

 

[Brokennock]

My apology for complaining, guys. The fact of the matter is, I'm just ticked off because I don't have time in my life for this stubborn knee issue that refuses to go away. I have much physical work to be done and I was hoping to be able to enjoy a few squirrel hunts in between.

Tom, your suggestion has merit and it works. I did that yesterday some while watching a movie. Despite the weather, I did enjoy myself Saturday for opening day so that's a plus.

Cruiser, I love the avatar. How anyone could come up with something like that is amazing. Very fitting.

I think I will work on my diet a bit better. I eat a lot of protein but am bad about skipping meals, mostly lunch. Time to start getting into those freezers and cooking up more deer meat I reckon. I eat our own farm fresh eggs for breakfast.

Is your knee hot or warmer to the touch than other parts of your leg? Wondering about possible infection. Might be time for a follow up, at least a call, to the orthopedic DR.

More protein is a good thing. Maybe try some collagen powder like Bub's Naturals, I put it in coffee but would be fine in broth, or tea. Don't forget to get lots of Omega-3 fatty acids,,,, from and animal source,,, these are great anti-inflammatories.

 

[snakebit]

I’m sorry to hear you missed a Tom. As Forrest Gumb famously said, it happpppennns. Jim, bro, you have done quite well this year if you were to ask me. I’m happy for you my friend. Can’t win them all even though we try. You, sir, are a blessed man whether you realize it or not.

As for myself, I pushed out my chest, gritted my teeth and went squirrel hunting mysel this morning. I’m down right determined not allow this foolishness get in the way of what I love to do. Saw 3, got one, missed twice. But it was 100% my fault. However, I did my best at the time. The most conducive aspect of this is, I now know what, at least in part, of what the issue is/was and why I have missed so much in the last year or so. I’m determined more than ever to capitalize on my findings and become better at what I love best.

Again, I’m sorry you missed but count your blessings, my friend. If you were to ask me, this ole mountain man would say, hell yeah, and give you two thumbs up for your accomplishments.

Is it stock placement Ed?

 

[ETipp]

Is it stock placement Ed?

In part, yes. That has been a main contributor to missing in the past. Considering this is a recently learned issue, I have to train myself to be aware of it on every shot. I failed to do that a couple of times yesterday on a rushed shot due to squirrels moving a lot and presenting a shot for only a brief few seconds. I grew up hunting rabbits by myself, walking in the snow with a scatter gun, kicking brush piles and other likely places where rabbits like to hide. It was mostly thicker areas where whenever a rabbit did run out, you had to be fast if you wanted to be eating rabbit for dinner. So, I learned to be a snapshot at an early age. Stock/shoulder placement has never been an issue, in terms of accuracy and dead critters. That translated over to rifles and big game hunting as well which fortunately, has worked out well over the years. However, that is not a good attribute to have with my .32 squirrel rifle. That little rifle is very picky as to shock placement on the arm.

Secondly, and much along the same lines of rushed shots, I must train myself to slow down and pick a spot. To be more precise on shot placement. Kind of like when bow hunting. Aim small, miss small.

Thirdly, this all boils down to patience. Considering our little furry friends are always on the go and seldom sits still for more than a few seconds at a time, as well as the aforementioned combined, I find it conducive to maintain my own rule that its better to not shoot and wait for a perfect shot rather than rush the shot, miss, and educate them. With two additional steps now during the shot sequence, its going to take a little more thought and self-training (discipline), at least at first until it becomes second nature.

Regardless, there will still be misses.

 

[ETipp]

Squirrel hunting report from Kentucky.

Up until last week, squirrels were everywhere. I couldn't drive anywhere out in the rural areas without seeing many squirrels in the roads, some dead. They were no doubt eating buds that had fallen into the road from overhanging trees.

As of this past week, I have seen very few squirrels in the roadways, or in the woods. My guess is, with Kentucky being about 3-4 weeks ahead on the weather and seasonal traits this year, most everything is now budded out. Much walking has been done since Saturday, May 18th, in search of squirrels. To my surprise, they are few and far between. The preponderance of them are being seen along roads still trying to locate what few buds are remaining. I have been down low, to medium elevations, and to the tops of the hills/mountains and have found that what few squirrels I have been seeing are mostly down low. Yesterday, I was surprised to see that even up high at my honey hole, downed log(s) area that has lots of den trees, that I left plenty of squirrels there last December, was like a ghost town. Not the first squirrel to be seen.

Also, there appears to be no rhyme nor reason for this that I can put together. A few squirrels are up in trees but most are on the ground in search of food. I have seen several that were carrying old, black walnuts from last fall in their mouths. Others digging in the ground for old hickory nuts and acorns. I have found many, many pieces of old tulip maple leaves where squirrels have stripped them down while eating the heart of the flower, but they are no doubt all matured out by now.

Also, I have seen several small, young squirrels out and about. Those appear to be about the size of a pine squirrel. They obviously have not been out on their own for very long. Due to their traits and smaller size, they make very difficult targets.

So far, I have killed only 5 squirrels. Out of those, 4 were females. All 5 appeared to be healthy with one being large and fat. So they are not starving.

As to the whereabouts of all the squirrels I have been seeing up until last week is a mystery. I know they made it through the winter. I also know that squirrels will travel to find food. Some where seen near den trees but most were not.

Knowing the above, I have to ask myself these questions. What are squirrels eating on now? Where would a likely food source be found? It has to be out there somewhere. Squirrels were here up until last week. Could this be a temporary thing due to the weather and/or moon phase? Where did they go?

 

[ETipp]

I did find a spot where quite a few of these were growing. These pop up in May and they are not all that common in these parts. I do not know if squirrels eat these or not. Bear are supposed to like them, thus the nickname "Bear Corn" also known as Squawroot.

 

[yellowhammer]

Ed, Yes, Squaw Root. That one must be from last year from the look of it. Little early for it to be sprouting out; (eta: yeah well maybe not it's almost June). It's a parasite plant that gets nourished from oak roots. Never seen a squirrel touch one.

I was told it got its name from the fact that the indians (Creeks, around here) used it as a medicine for... ahem... how shall I put this... "feminine problems".


eta: LINK

 

[ETipp]

Ed, Yes, Squaw Root. That one must be from last year from the look of it. Little early for it to be sprouting out. It's a parasiste plant that gets nourished from oak roots. Never seen a squirrel touch one.

I was told it got its name from the fact that the indians (Creeks, around here) used it as a medicine for... ahem... how shall I put this... "feminine problems".


eta: LINK

Yes sir. Not all that common nowadays due to they grow in undisturbed, mature forests.

They grow in May. This year we are 3-4 weeks ahead of time, thus them drying out now. This one came from a dark, moist, part of the mature hardwoods on a steep hillside. Lots of large oaks nearby.

 

[yellowhammer]

Yeah, I ammended my post before I saw yours. I can't believe it's almost June; dang. I.e. not too early for it.

 

[Kansas Jake]

My daughter also lives in Michigan and has black squirrels around. I’ve seen quite a few there but never one with a tail like that!!! That’s beautiful!

She is in western Michigan and has both black and reds in her community. The smaller grays are also very common.

 

[ETipp]

Yeah, I ammended my post before I saw yours. I can't believe it's almost June; dang. I.e. not too early for it.

No problem, Stan. I understand.

 

[ETipp]

She is in western Michigan and has both black and reds in her community. The smaller grays are also very common.

Hey, Del. Where at in western Michigan?

 

[Kansas Jake]

Grand Haven area. We spend time up there in the summer when it gets too hot here.

 

[ETipp]

Okay fellers, here is a Kentucky squirrel update for you all.

Went to my happy hunting grounds today to mow for a lady friend. It was mid-day when I drove up the very narrow road. It was 11:10 when I saw my first squirrel. I saw one other on the way to my destination. As I drove up to the location, the first thing that caught my attention was a gray squirrel up on her house. They like to nest in between the upper deck and the lower deck. The culprit saw me, climbed down the post, sat there on the rail for about 30 seconds, then departed up into the woods that I now hunt. These are the the same guilty critters that are eating holes in my friends cabin that has, so far, cost her 1K in damages. I never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but this wreaks of action to me. Oh, its on boys, like big big time on.

However, the moral to the story is the change in the dynamics in the squirrel woods. It now appears as if our furry little friends (that I have the utmost respect for) has now changed to being seen all through the day, not just the normal early morning routine. Oh my, what's a die hard squirrel hunter to do?

With the hotter temps, such as today near 90*, plus the high humidity, it adds to the equation. What time to go out? How long can a feller stay out in such conditions before he wears out? How long can a feller remain out with a couple of squirrels hanging from his side with flies being all over them before a feller calls it quits for the day?

Fellas, l smell a big time challenge!

In the meantime, here's a couple of pics from this season so far. I pack light and I seldom carry my phone with me. I prefer to leave that darn thing in my truck, if not at home. So, the pics are not great.

This one officially kicked off the season.