I hate them in the fall in my pecan trees, but they are doing something new this year. I'm used to losing 70+ percent of my blueberries to birds and that's ok I get all I want. In the 8 years I've had blueberries planted, the only thing that ever bothered them was the first year, a 6pt buck decided he wanted to eat all the new growth branches, I ended up eating him. I noticed yesterday several broken branches in my blueberries when picking the very few that were ripe, turns out squirrels have suddenly decided they love blueberries. It's like a drug to them all of a sudden. I just went out to smoke a cig 20 minutes ago and saw blueberry branch hanging on the ground shaking, they are only 25 or so yards from front door. My 22 Uragan compact was just inside the front door so I reached in and grabbed it. Shot the one pulling the branch to the ground and at least 5 behind the bushes took off running. When shooting them out of pecan trees, I'm lucky to get two shots before all of them are long gone from the 4 trees near my house and won't come back for at least 1/2 hour and usually much longer. I put the Uragan back in the house and lit a cig. Within 30 seconds a squirrel came back through the honeysuckle covered fence and straight to the top of a bush. Got the Uragan back out and dropped him, put uragan back in the house. Walked back to the ash tray on the deck to pick up my lit cig and another squirrel comes right back out. Got the Uragan back out of the house and dropped him, this time I kept the Uragan with me. Reached for my cig in the ashtray and another came out. In less than 5 minutes I just shot 8 squirrels, they kept coming back out 20 to 40 seconds after I shot and killed one of their buddies. They never act like that when being shot and killed in the pecan trees, those blueberries must be like crack to them, and none of them are truly ripe for picking right now.
dang squirrels
- Thread starter karl_h
- Start date
WOW 8 nutters in 5 minutes??? That's like a shooting gallery, I would of gotten a big rush out of it. The most I got was 2 in 10 minutes and that was just that one time! Darn, the neighborhood nutters haven't discovered my blueberry bushes yet.
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I'm with crowski that has to be a record. Back when I was overrun with squirrels in might get three at a time, within a few minutes but the rest would take off or go into hiding for several hours and then venture out again and get another one or two. But nothing like 8 in five minutes.
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Great shooting I got 2 yesterday and haven't seen any since so Congratulation on a fine job.
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I was shocked myself, even when there are a dozen in the pecan trees, 2 is all I'm usually able to get since they all take off at the first shot.
Since Tuesday, I've only gotten 5 more out of the bushes, and I've never seen more than one at a time on the blueberries since then. Wish an older gentleman and his wife hadn't moved to assisted living a couple years ago, they loved it when I'd bring them squirrels in the fall. I personally don't like squirrel.
One of them the other day was strange. I shot him, heard the hard thump of the pellet hitting him. He almost seemed to take a controlled jump out of the bushes, took 2 bounds, then just sat their in a perfect pose like a painting. I pulled back the lever to load another pellet, and discovered I hadn't reloaded the mag. I stood there looking at him with the scope for several seconds and it just seemed strange, absolutely no movement at all and didn't really look real. Then gravity took over and he just fell over on his side, he was dead just sitting there in a perfect pose.
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karl_h,
It could only be one of 2 things:
1) They are this year's "hatch". Young, dumb, and hungry because nut supply is lowest this time of year. Squirrel families get larger(a.k.a- more mouths to feed) and have to resort to secondary food sources because of (seasonal)lower nut supply. I see this almost every year. Sometimes they barely even get out of the way when you drive by them. There is less hunting pressure, which makes them more bold also.
2) Or it could be(as I always imagine), a never ending plot of squirreldom to take over the world, enslave humanity, and force the few of us that survive to toil on their tree nut farms. Who knows what evils lie in the black little heart of a squirrel? Or what foul plans are in their tiny evil minds? Or what scheme to overthrow humanity squirr-Al-Qaeda has in store?
Stay ever vigilent and keep the Uragon close, my friend!
It could only be one of 2 things:
1) They are this year's "hatch". Young, dumb, and hungry because nut supply is lowest this time of year. Squirrel families get larger(a.k.a- more mouths to feed) and have to resort to secondary food sources because of (seasonal)lower nut supply. I see this almost every year. Sometimes they barely even get out of the way when you drive by them. There is less hunting pressure, which makes them more bold also.
2) Or it could be(as I always imagine), a never ending plot of squirreldom to take over the world, enslave humanity, and force the few of us that survive to toil on their tree nut farms. Who knows what evils lie in the black little heart of a squirrel? Or what foul plans are in their tiny evil minds? Or what scheme to overthrow humanity squirr-Al-Qaeda has in store?
Stay ever vigilent and keep the Uragon close, my friend!
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These are my blueberry bushes, they are 3 different varieties. The one on the left they are mostly leaving alone, I agree with them, the other two taste much better. A week ago this was a solid wall of bushes. The squirrels have broken off 50% of the branches on the right two. I put up a game camera after the 8 in 5 I shot to see if the damage was being done by larger pests in the middle of the night. Nothing is bothering them at night.
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Out of the 13 I shot since Tuesday on the blueberries, only one was not a full grown adult. I've actually shot more than that this week, but the others were digging holes on a steep slope just past my barn, thundershowers have turned those holes into several growing washouts. Been leaving my suppressed 17hmr locked in a saddle on my shooting bench on the deck when I'm home. I've taken another half dozen off that slope between 110 and 117 yards, but that's a powder burner obviously.
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Damn, then it's as I feared. There is ONLY one conclusion: You are under siege! Better prepare for the onslaught by checking compressor/air source, ordering more ammo, sleep with one-eye open, empty the ashtrays, and for God's sake stock up on cigars! High casualty numbers obviously will not deter their furvent attacks. Expect wave after wave of crazed blue-mouthed squirrels, all hopped up on blueberry juice. Don't be afraid to send a follow-up shot if they don't fall stone dead, but keep in mind your ammo supply. Remember that you and your Uragon may be humanity's only defense against this marauding horde. If they make through your defensive perimeter, we will may all perish. When times get tough in the heat of battle, take heart that you have the compete support of humankind and we are all depending on you to quell this sqirrel insurrection
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Made the mistake once not long after I bought this place to set up several wireless driveway monitors to alert me to what pest was digging holes overnight in the yard. Didn't realize how many critters would set them off in a night, and have since learned lots of small holes dug in yard overnight almost always means a skunk has taken up residence. I have my way of dealing with them with no chance of them spraying. Only set up monitors one other time when I knew exactly what dug up the yard, a pig. I don't have any wild pigs where I live, but you can find them within 30+ miles of here. The pig turned out to be an escaped domestic. At 2:30 am through a thermal scope, it's just free pork. There are no pig farms anywhere near me, don't know where it came from....sleep with one-eye open,...
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great story love to read this stuff, last night i een the power line bouncing lol i new it was a treee rat got him he was hung on the wire for a 1/2 hour i bet then fell lol
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Nice shooting Karl. I had a situation once. Almost felt guilty killing so many coming out of a nest. Now you will have less targets in the trees. A good thing!! Keep hammering then varmints.
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There are so many here, no matter how many you shoot , the population never goes down. Been killing them in the pecan trees since 2011, bet I kill 70 every year out of them in the fall and I've never had more than a dozen or so pecans for myself. This blueberry thing is new this year and killing me, I love my blueberries. I only got another 3 since my last post on the blueberries I've lost another few limbs and one big fat sucker this evening had a whole trunk bent over to the ground, I got him, took twine and braced the trunk with heavy wire, wrapped the twine tight and hope it holds. The trunk wasn't broken clean through, it may heal.
Since they are nothing but better looking rats, does anyone know if they like peanut butter? I have a few large rat traps and was thinking of staking them to the ground around the blueberries bated with peanut butter. Think they will go for it? I can't watch all day, but traps can.
Since they are nothing but better looking rats, does anyone know if they like peanut butter? I have a few large rat traps and was thinking of staking them to the ground around the blueberries bated with peanut butter. Think they will go for it? I can't watch all day, but traps can.
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