Ground Squirrel Hunting with HM1000x .25 (Pictorial)

[MrP]

So the pelts are basically worthless and dangerous to mess around with because of the possibility of disease?

I think you should make ground squirrel fur coats and convince the world they are the ultimate luxury. 


Edit: read up a bit. Sound like real pests. I was reading one state’s management guidelines and it said the main time to worry about diseases is if you if you encounter a large number that are dead for some unknown reason. Not saying you shouldn’t be careful.


Sounds like they have a pretty important function in wild/natural habitats by creating burrows/homes for snakes and other small animals… Also obviously improve soil aeration and permeability. I was also reading (no surprise) that if you clean up your property, they will very quickly reinvade if you’re anywhere near a natural area. If I had the killing ground squirrel hobby, I guess I would use that fact to find ideal permissions or a nice piece of land to down on for retirement fun…


And I’m sure you all know this already, I’m just learning about these guys now though

 

[lbc_PSI]

Sounds like they have a pretty important function in wild/natural habitats by creating burrows/homes for snakes and other small animals… Also obviously improve soil aeration and permeability.

Well, while they may have a purpose in remote areas, the opposite is true around human habitation. They tend to prefer burrowing around the roots of fruit trees and 200 year old oaks..causing disease and tree death. The burrows make larger trees extremely susceptible to erosion around the root systems and then being blown over in a high wind. I'm sure you'd also get push-back from ranchers/farmers on how livestock might break a leg in the burrows.

Sorry this is just a repeat of what Dana already said. 

The thing about how quickly they destroy a tree can't be over-stated. I had a friend that let me hunt his property to keep the ground squirrel numbers in check. Property sold and in two years burrowing around tree roots caused the death of half the apple trees on the property and 4 legacy (200+ year old) oaks. Very sad.

 

[Removed]

I’ve had hunting dogs all my life for upland game. Hunted with lots of friends dogs. Marley doesn’t look like any of them and for that matter doesn’t look like a hunting dog but I can’t help but love that incredible dog

Thanks, she's been a bunch of fun over the years and what a character. I've had many hunting dogs, she's no doubt the most intelligent out of all. We've traveled all over the country together hunting and attending events, she lives and breathes hunting and shooting. Currently she's been helping me with our newborn baby girl that just arrived. Hopefully when things settle down at home we can get back out on the trail for some more adventures.

 

[Jackbnimble]

Crossman999, nice looking rig.