Shooting Pesky Red Squirrels

N555 said:
It's quiet, ammo costs basically nothing and ammo is always available.
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The ssd thing about ammo cost is, a tin of 500 high-quality pellets like JSB Exacts is approaching twenty bucks. That's more than a brick of .22LR used to cost about five or so years ago (I used to buy 550 round boxes of Federal at WalMart for less than eleven dollars).
 
I have tones of the little red guys on my farm ,they do not bather my house or the barns .The ones i got live in the ground by the rock walls.I think all my walnut, hickory ,chestnut and oaks keep them occupied and out of my stuff.I did not know they were that bad.
 
They invade your home and garage. They bore holes in the walls and use insulation for nests. They chew on your wiring and aren't house trained. We have plenty to keep them busy with food. Same you with the exception of chestnuts. The ones around my house are very aggressive and will challenge at their detriment if you invade their territory.
 
dh1633pm said:
Got about 22 of them in the last year and they keep coming. Lately I have taken to shooting them off the squirrel feeder
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If you are their food source, they will keep coming. We have lots of pecans and no shortage of squirrels.

I just try and keep them away from the house.
 
Agree, the feeder is to attract them so I can more easily shoot them. And the Gray Squirrels seem to like it. Birds seem to think it's for them. I don't mind if a bird occasionally eats squirrel food.
 
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If you didn't get the jest, the feeder is for the birds. You can try, but you can't keep the squirrels from it. So we call it a squirrel feeder. I keep it filled for the birds and they love it. The cat watches from inside the house (she's not allowed outside) and gets all excited. I also put out food for the woodpeckers. I don't mind the grays eating at it. They do what they do. They grays don't cause any fuss.
 
They work great for practice in the back yard without drawing undue attention. And for dispatching pests now and then.
 
I feed the birds through the winter. As spring comes on I wean them off but for an occasional treat. I have tons of red birds and blue jays and various woodpeckers, finches, titmice, nuthatches and the lot. I also have nesting blue bird pairs in the spring. But there is only one red squirrel and he has to make a long dash across open ground to reach the feeders. I let him alone. He is a big squirrel too.

I just do not think most spring guns have enough punch or accuracy, at least for the 30+ yards shots I need for pesting here, to be ethical or to produce a solid kill. I prefer my .22 Urban PCP tuned at about 26 fpe. It is a laser beam in that 30 to 50 yards zone. But my war is with invasive HOSP and starlings. If I misidentify a cowbirds, oops, shhhh!

IMG-4280.jpg
 
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My HW97K dispatches them with a single shot. They however aren't very big. I am not sure how it would do on a Gray, but I don't shoot them either. We all have some sort of invasive creature that causes trouble. Field mice are something that takes lots of effort to eradicate. The new cat has help even though she hasn't caught one yet. You always kill the dumb ones first leaving some pretty smart mice to evade your best efforts.
 
dh1633pm said:
They invade your home and garage. They bore holes in the walls and use insulation for nests. They chew on your wiring and aren't house trained. We have plenty to keep them busy with food. Same you with the exception of chestnuts. The ones around my house are very aggressive and will challenge at their detriment if you invade their territory.
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This is why I say squirrels are evil and out to take over the world!!!!!!!!!!

And yes I have had them chew right through aluminum ridge caps and get into the attic to build nests. I have also had to repair enough electrical wire from them chewing through it too. And I have yet to find any bird feeder that is remotely squirrel proof. And yes I have walnut, oak and pecan trees around my yard and them little suckers still raid the bird feeders. I live in a small town of 1100 people and it seems that all the squirrels have moved to town. I see more in town than I do in the woods.

They aggravate my big dog so bad that he has resorted to sniping them with my 308

Val rifle.jpg
 
dh1633pm said:
3Crows, how loud is your pcp air rifle?
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I actually have two Urban rifles. One is stock other than adjusting and tuning. The other is modified to produce more energy and I removed the ugly bonded on suppressor. I used a muzzle adapter to accept a muzzle device and installed a carbon fiber sleeve over the barrel. Both are quiet, the modified one with the muzzle device more so, the hammer strike is the remaining noise.

The Gamo Urban is a UK made rifle from BSA. It has a hammer forged barrel and all metal action. For the money they are very good quality and easy to tune and work on.
 
Thread update: Finally shot my first red squirrel today! We are not inundated with them yet but they are around. There's no closed season on them and no daily bag limit according to NY state. So I assume they are some kind of invasive species around here? I'm afraid of the horror stories about them getting into attics, garages, etc. Been trying to get one in the crosshairs since last summer but they never seemed to stand still long enough to offer me a shot. Until today at about 15 yards. .22 cal. Crosman Premier hunting pellet that chrongraphs at about 816 fps out of my gun. First one put him down solidly and there was no movement but when I got to him it seemed he was still barely breathing so a coup-de-gras finishing shot was taken at about 5 yards. It's the third squirrel for that .22 cal. Benjamin Trail; first two were grays taken a few years ago during the regular squirrel season. IMG_8359.JPG ..Put the dead squirrel in the woods next door in front of a trail cam. Gonna see what takes it away. Hope there aren't many more of them around. We have a lot of grays but they don't seem to cause any problems. Friend of mine has a few red squirrels around his place and he has declared war on them. Maybe I could help out.
 
22250Rem said:
Thread update: Finally shot my first red squirrel today! We are not inundated with them yet but they are around. There's no closed season on them and no daily bag limit according to NY state. So I assume they are some kind of invasive species around here?
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I am surprised that NY has a season for gray squirrels but not for red squirrels. Here in Missouri we have gray squirrels and red (fox) squirrels and both are included in the same season and bag/possession limit. The Missouri squirrel season runs from the Saturday right before Memorial Day until Feb 15 of the following year. So this year season will be from May 27th 2023 until Feb 15th 2024. We have a daily limit of 10 squirrels and can have a total of 20 in possession. Both grays and reds are evil and out to take over the world, but reds are definitely worse.
 
22250Rem said:
.Put the dead squirrel in the woods next door in front of a trail cam. Gonna see what takes it away.
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Here's the promised update. Fox took him away last night. Just as I figured, as we have plenty of fox around. That's an old trail cam and I can't get the time set correctly on it, but the date is correct. Not the greatest photo so I circled the red squirrel and Mr. Fox is a bit blurred but he was in motion. He's gotta eat, too. Saw another red squirrel this morning so my campaign will continue. WLD_1343.JPG .. Found out they are not an invasive species, and I never knew that. Even years ago when I squirrel hunted more I never saw one. I'm guessing that the state keeps the season on them open all year with no bag limit because of all the problems I hear about them causing? Any of the collective knowledge on this site have an answer for that one? My inquiring mind wants to know.
 
I have a body count of 26 now in less than a year. They invade your house. Chew their way in and make it smell. You can’t get rid of them except total war. Bait ‘em, trap ‘em, shoot them, and whatever else you have. Use their aggressive nature to get them. Last week, another new comer was in the back yard. He challenged me, by chirping at me instead of running for his life. Thursday, another one. About 8 am. When I opened the door, he ran like the wind. At ten he was back to eating. I opened the door and he ran but not as fast. At 12, I did the same, He ran back to a tree and watched. At four he didn’t move at all when the door opened. Ping, fox food. Yesterdays was too busy chirping at the grays to pay attention to a barrel slowly taking aim. Ping. What’s funny, the grays kept on eating and seemed happy he was a goner.
 
I have three traps in front of the house for other ones. If I catch a gray, I let them go. A red, gets to be dead.
 
I'd really like to get a pcp, some pretty adorable ones out there just pricy for a electric pump to fill tanks. Never tried the hand pump, there probably fine if not shooting much. Wish I was still in the fire department I could get some tanks and fill them at the fd's fill station. Plus the new bs laws in ny for air rifle, think they need to hit 600 fps or something like that but then they call them firearms so can't shoot them in town or a village. Only problem I have at home is woodchucks under the shed and the 22 with sss take care of them.
 
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