how active are squirrels

E

EstillEngineer#59

New member
late in the evening??? i just got back from the woods and i belive its the latest ive ever went squirreling and i didnt see anything. i was just wondering how active they are at that time.
 
Seems like I usually stop seeing them around an hour or so before dark... maybe a half hour. Weather conditions play a big part too. I see a lot more squirrels when there is little wind and some sunshine. That's in NY though. Kentucky squirrels may be different.
 
At 5:58 PM not so much

Usually just at daybreak especially after a night rain. You may have been exactly 12 hours too early.... or late... depends I guess how you look at it.

You know.... that time of day when you can actually hear the world wake up.

They are kinda like us. Wake up hungry but lay around in their den in the evening.

At least that describes me.
 
There is a nest about 15 feet up and to the left of my tree stand. If I get to the stand before sundown, I usually get to see the squirrel come in for the evening and make his/her way back into the nest and settle in for the night. So at least my squirrels are active 'till just about sundown. Note that the last little while before nesting, the squirrel is close to its nest, searching for the last possible acorn or two before turning in for the night. That is how I have come to notice the pattern because of the noise being made that was under my stand.
 
They are a lot like most animals, just whenever. On super cold mornings, I haven't seen them till 8 or so. But I've had them scampering to their trees so late that I thought it was a deer. I've shot them so late before that I had to silhouette them. So it all depends on them. Moon, weather, how far they traveled that day, it all depends.
 
I'm surrounded by Pecan trees here and have plenty of squirrels, Reds, no Cat or Fox. Just down the road where I deer and hog hunt they're all Cat squirrels. Both are active mid-morning and late afternoon, but they can be out and about any time of day.
I've noticed that when my chickens start wandering out in the fields and pasture looking for a mid-morning snack the squirrels become active. Then in the middle of the day when the chickens take a siesta the squirrels do too. Late afternoon the chickens go on the prowl again and the squirrels again become active.
Mid-morning has the most ground activity. Late afternoon produces the most tree activity.
As a point of interest Louisiana has 2 squirrel hunting seasons, one in May and the regular fall season, if they are a threat to crops they can be killed any time.
I have also noticed that the population runs in cycles. I'm not sure of the duration, but for several years you only see a few then gradually the population explodes and they're everywhere for a while. Then it starts to taper off again to repeat the cycle.
In years when the pecan crop is good and the squirrel population is high they really become crop devastators. What I do to them then ain't hunting, it's just killing.
 
I've noticed that when my chickens start wandering out in the fields and pasture looking for a mid-morning snack the squirrels become active.
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This is the key to a lot of things nature wise. My grandfather used to say "If the cows are standing it's time to go fishing." Well I thought he was full of beeswax or something simlar, but the more I fished the more I observed it was true. When the marsh was dead, and I mean DEAD, it was hard to catch a fish. Then suddenly as if someone threw a switch, the marsh might come alive. Birds flew, turtles dropped off logs, insects started to buzz, snakes swam about, beavers and muskrats began to move around. And the fish (largemouth bass mostly) turned on. All of nature is affected by the same forces. Those forces are basically the same forces that control the tides.

There are whole books written on the subject. Solunar tables, biorhythms and such.

But the best time to go hunting or fishing is when you can.
 
CajunBass mentioned Solunar tables and such. Over the years I've tried most of them with little success. Generally if you watch other critters and birds you'll find if they're active game and fish will be also.
He's also right about going when you can, don't rely on anyone's tables or charts, fish and game don't read 'em.
 
Hogbuster said:
CajunBass mentioned Solunar tables and such. Over the years I've tried most of them with little success. Generally if you watch other critters and birds you'll find if they're active game and fish will be also.
He's also right about going when you can, don't rely on anyone's tables or charts, fish and game don't read 'em.
Click to expand...

That's for sure. The theory behind all those tables and what not has validity but no one taught the animals to read. That being so, you don't need those tables, just watch the animals.
 
I mention the tables only to introduce the theory Hog. I've never paid much attention to them myself either, but the theory is sound. Local conditions will affect things too much to rely on the tables and predictions made months or even years in advance. As you said though, watching nature is the best indication. Even birds and squirrels in the front yard will give you an idea.
 
Friggin' tree rats have been living on my balcony for several years. My own fault for providing cosy places for a nest. Buggered a vehicle sized CF issue cam net and a new, short box, Samurai rag top too.
The current non-paying tenant lives in a couple of Samurai rims. Makes noises like a very dirty movie when I'm out there using the BBQ. Sort of a wheezing growl. Kind of funny.
Anyway, you can set your clock by the time they come home. One of 'em got home from work about 5 PM, every day, this time of year. Sun down. I'm gone before he goes to work in the morning. Still dark. Suspect he goes to work just after sun up.
 
Squirrels will be most active in the early morning hours pretty much anywhere in the world. Squirrels try to avoid become hawk or owl poop, that is why they avoid exposing themselves to predation at midday and twilight hours. They also try to avoid losing too much heat or being blown off branches by not going out in rain or windy conditions. They try to avoid expending unnecessary energy by searching for food when it is plentiful in spring and summer and not so much in winter. They have lots of young to compensate for the steep learning curve. This is called survival.
 
Squirrels in my area are only active when i am in the treestand, as much as they are moving and eating when i am there they cant be doing anything when i am not.:D
 
The trick to killing anything is to understand how it doesn't get killed in the wild, what it eats, where it sleeps, and how it drinks. Everything has basic needs that have to be fufilled. I know this isn't a 5am to 10 am and 3pm to 5pm answer, but its more realistic. My squirrels may hate your squirrels and refuse to come out at the same time.

"give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life"
 
I used to live in Kentucky and squirrel hunting was a rite of passage.

I always liked to hunt them in the morning but there were times I was only able to get out in the afternoon.

My Dad, rest his soul, was an avid hunter and one of the things he taught me was to never shoot quail on the ground and never shoot squirrels in the nest.

I never shot quail on the ground but one time I shot into a nest and a squirrel fell out.

I was probably 15 or 16 at the time and I am 67 now. I have always regretted doing that and it bothers me even today. . .
 
I like to apply my Great Grandpa's fishing theory to squirrel hunting too.

"The best time for fishing is when it's raining and when it ain't."
 
I agree geetarman, when I was younger I went hunting with my stepdad, he'd shoot into nest of squirrels to see what came out. Things like baby raccoons come out. Or the squirrel gets caught in the limbs and nothing comes out.
 
If you want the squirrels to be active go out in the woods like your hunting deer i guess. when ever i go deer hunting about 50 of them surround me. i go hunting for them and dont see any
 
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