During 50 yrs of squirrel hunting, I've noticed that the grays maintain fairly stable populations, but the fox squirrel populations vary considerably.
The 5 woods that are hunted have mainly red oak w/ some white oak and hickory. Many of the woodlots are adjacent to hard corn fields which are an added bonus especially in the down yrs of acorn production.
I think the reason for the variable populations of fox squirrels is that they don't "store" nuts and corn and during a harsh winter they then die off. Some yrs never saw one fox squirrel and a few yrs later, shot many young fox squirrels in the same woods......Fred
The 5 woods that are hunted have mainly red oak w/ some white oak and hickory. Many of the woodlots are adjacent to hard corn fields which are an added bonus especially in the down yrs of acorn production.
I think the reason for the variable populations of fox squirrels is that they don't "store" nuts and corn and during a harsh winter they then die off. Some yrs never saw one fox squirrel and a few yrs later, shot many young fox squirrels in the same woods......Fred