Suburban squirrel “hunting”

I always thought this looked like fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV4Bo7I6Ztk


Be sure to get the video

Uncle Duke said:

POP57’s post got me to wondering. (Don’t ask)
A bacca bounty on wolves and crows? One may say that might make sense. But squirrels?

Learn something every day....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.citylab.com/amp/article/366670/

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I figured the bounty on crows and squirrels had to do with them eating the corn crop but had no idea they were so numerous as to be numbered in "herds". You learn something new every day. Good find. The wolf bounty was probably due to them preying on domestic cattle and sheep.

In the colonies squirrels were so numerous they would destroy corn and other crops, which is why the bounty. One of my best ever squirrel hunts was on the edge of a corn field. The little buggers were climbing the stalks and eating it on the stalk. They made so much noise I could hear them at 75 yards and just walked up slow and put a .22 though them. 30 minutes and I was limited.

I guess you city guys are lucky they introducesd grey squirrels and not fox squirrels. I killed two greys and 1 fox squirrel last year and there was the same amount of meat on the fox as the two greys. I saw one hopping in the field the other day and it looked like a small cat. Seen a few I mistook for small ground hogs at first.

I just wish I could do something about red tail hawks. I can't let the chickens out and they kill every last rabbit. They are a tad overpopulated.

When I lived near the city and we had a squirrel to get rid of and neighbors would not let you shoot it, we use a rat trap with a hole it in and PB for smell and a peanut. Then there is the broom stick and wire loop trap. Broom stick between branches 4' high. 16" of wire. Make a loop just bigger than the broom stick. The other end just bigger than a squirrels head. Make several and stand the loops up. Squirrels come along and a noisy and stick their head in the loop and hang. They knock some over learning the trick, but in the end die, if the loop is not too large.

So, could this type of weapons charge cause someone to have their firearms rights removed? also simple target shooting should have no distance rules and only a suitable back stop correct? They are really making it easy for someone to need to feed the attorneys.

Permit to trap is as simple as a phone call.

bojaydk said:

I live in a suburb with houses on all sides within 20 yards or so and have a small back yard. Is it legal to shoot squirrels (because they are tasty) with a B.B. or pellet gun from your back porch? The DNR website would suggest that it is legal, as long as you are a licensed hunter and within season. There is a law about a minimum distance from a dwelling, but that is without the permission of the owner (me).

Thoughts?

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Be carful eating them, if someone set out poison could end up in it. Most places prohibit hunting within 100 yards of an occupied dwelling. Which leaves trapping? But here in Baltimore County even possessing snare wire is against the law..

willtill said:

I did that once. It’s not humane. Really.

If your going to take them out, let it be quick.

I had a squirrel problem years ago, my wife was feeding them and we became absolutely overrun. Last straw was when one of them (or more) ate the wiring harness in my F350.

I started shooting them with my pellet gun, got 12 or so and tired of that. Started trapping and relocating them afterwards... (first one I tried to drown held on to life forever...).

If your worried about neighbors seeing you.. just set up indoors in the shadows, engage them from within via a open window or door.


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Trapping and relocating is also illegal in Maryland.