Barbaroja
Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2020
- Messages
- 1,645
I live in Washington state and here the eastern grey squirrel is considered an invasive species and has no season or bag limits.
It’s a common misconception here that all squirrels are protected species but that only applys to the native squirrels. They are not very wide spread, usually closer to towns and farms but when you find them there tends to be a robust population because As I stated above people believe they are protected, but more than anything I believe it is because they have only showed up in recent decades their is no squirrel hunting tradition here as in other parts of the country.
Since stumbling upon this information I’ve become a squirrel hunting fool. Going out a few times per week from about early July until late February/March, I set my self imposed “season” for two reasons,
1) in spring my attention is focused on preparing for the farmers market season and
2) last spring I shot a lactating female I figured they may be invasive but if I want to enjoy this resource in years to come it’s best to give them a break to raise the next batch of fodder for spicy fried squirrels.
I find it interesting learning what they are feeding on at various times of the year. Any fellow western Washington hunters get after eastern greys?
If your looking for them right now they are feeding on one cones in the tops of the Douglas firs, forget the shotgun this time(my favorite for squirrels any time of year) for this operation, your going to need a scoped .22 to swat them outta those tall trees, easy to locate them as they’re dropping chunks of cone everywhere.
Anybody else in a situation like this where they are able to hunt year round? I’ve also taken ringed necked doves on occasion another invasive that is quite tasty and often hang out around water troughs.
-Barbaroja
It’s a common misconception here that all squirrels are protected species but that only applys to the native squirrels. They are not very wide spread, usually closer to towns and farms but when you find them there tends to be a robust population because As I stated above people believe they are protected, but more than anything I believe it is because they have only showed up in recent decades their is no squirrel hunting tradition here as in other parts of the country.
Since stumbling upon this information I’ve become a squirrel hunting fool. Going out a few times per week from about early July until late February/March, I set my self imposed “season” for two reasons,
1) in spring my attention is focused on preparing for the farmers market season and
2) last spring I shot a lactating female I figured they may be invasive but if I want to enjoy this resource in years to come it’s best to give them a break to raise the next batch of fodder for spicy fried squirrels.
I find it interesting learning what they are feeding on at various times of the year. Any fellow western Washington hunters get after eastern greys?
If your looking for them right now they are feeding on one cones in the tops of the Douglas firs, forget the shotgun this time(my favorite for squirrels any time of year) for this operation, your going to need a scoped .22 to swat them outta those tall trees, easy to locate them as they’re dropping chunks of cone everywhere.
Anybody else in a situation like this where they are able to hunt year round? I’ve also taken ringed necked doves on occasion another invasive that is quite tasty and often hang out around water troughs.
-Barbaroja