Chattering Squirrels!

[ElkNut1]

Ever been in a setup or slipping in on elk that had no clue you were there & you bump one of those tree squirrels that won't shut up!!!! Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!!!! (grin) I've sat water & trails both & I swear those little buggers will carry on for 30 minutes if you even twitch!!! I've thrown rocks & sticks at them & of course never have hit one to date but if I'd of had a rifle a few times I'm pretty sure I would settled that little matter! (grin) They can annoy you & alert anything around of your presence, of course I've seen them go ballistic over deer & elk movement as well!

Don't tell me I'm the only one these little chatters pick on!!!! How about you folks?

ElkNut1

[Harmy]

Oh, your not the only one ElkNut. Those little B@$$T@d$ have wrecked lots of sneak attacks for me as well. One of our favorite canyons has this clump of trees on the trail that always had this super noisy bugger that would not shut up even after we were hundreds of yards past it. This went on for 3 years in this same spot. Last year I carried a .38 spcl with bird shot. That squirrel no longer chirps... With my luck though, a new family member or three will move into that spot and continue hazing us as we walk by. This season, I actually started carrying a blow dart gun for this exact purpose when scouting several water holes I want to approach opening morning. I do not want to discharge a 22 while scouting as I want to remain as quiet as possible at this time of year. I am trying to eliminate a few of these pesky critters that will surely notify the whole basin when I head in this season. Sure is fun but not very easy. My two kids think it is the most fun they have ever had... Current score though? Squirrels 15-Kids 0. Me in the hole about $75 in lost darts...

Although I about pissed my pants when one son shot a dart that went directly between the buggers legs. The thing jumped straight up about 3 feet off his branch. He missed catching the branch fully and only just caught with one front leg. He held long enough to flip a complete circle like a gymnast before flipping head over tail further down into the tree where he landed and ran off. My son said, "hey, that was just like the olympics".

[Dlove]

I've been fooled thinking I hear elk walking trough the woods only to find a squirrel high in a tree throwing pine cones. A few years ago something in our area was getting them preety good in two diffent spots I found fresh squirrel tails laying in the trail.

[eltaco]

My hunting patter (ElkManDan) and I got back at one of those little buggers two years ago... he was up in the tree chattering away and dropping pinecones, planning on storing those tasty morsels away, I'd guess. We started a fire and gathered up as many of those pinecones as we could find and burned them all, slowly, making sure he got to see each one go into the fire. We let him know to tell his friends, and we've had less squirrel problems since.

[WapitiTalk1]

My hunting patter (ElkManDan) and I got back at one of those little buggers two years ago... he was up in the tree chattering away and dropping pinecones, planning on storing those tasty morsels away, I'd guess. We started a fire and gathered up as many of those pinecones as we could find and burned them all, slowly, making sure he got to see each one go into the fire. We let him know to tell his friends, and we've had less squirrel problems since.

Hilarious.. I hate them noisy little bass terds..

[Bowhunter]

Oh they can make a guy go mad.. I carry a slingshot and small ball bearings to fling at them while sitting in a tree stand. Sometimes they wont shut up and your trying to hear footsteps or a twig snap as game approaches. I arrow about half a dozen each year while deer hunting too.

[bullrub]

I think anybody that has spent time in the woods has a squirrel story. You would think after chattering for an hour they would go horse and loss there voice. But i really hate when they start dropping the pine cones along with the chattering.
I had a bull coming in one time and he was about 30 yrds out, this squirrel decided to start sounding off in the tree right above me and that bull stopped dead in his track and looked right at tree where the squirrel i were. Well the bull took off and i lost an arrow in the tree where the squirrel was. ( No i did not get the squirrel or the bull)

[POk3s]

My funniest story to date involves one of my old hunting buddies. We were both still hunting through this stand of pines and this squirrel wouldn't leave us alone. He had been following us for about 10 minutes. Of course we weren't moving very fast as it was early evening and we didn't want to bump any elk off of this ridge. About ten minutes of "chirp......chirp......chirp.....chirpchirpchirpchirpchirpchirp" goes by and I remember thinking "my god just let us hunt"....all of the sudden I hear "THWACK". I turn to my left and my buddy is about 10 yards away and says fairly loud, "there, solved that problem". Had me laughing for a few minutes. Of course we spent about twenty minutes trying to get him up that tree to get his arrow back. Note to self, don't shoot squirrels that are over 7 feet up.

[CrazyElkHunter]

It's amazing how long they can go without stopping. They drop pine cones so fast it's sounds like foot steps. Had a few bounce off my head.Fred Eichler was on a hunt last year and had one chattering for what seemed like hours on film. He was going insane. I can put up with it for about 5 min, when I am in a stand, and if throwing something at it doe's not stop him, then the rubber blunt in my quiver comes out.

[>>>---WW---->]

They used to bug the heck out of me as well until I realized the also bark and chatter at elk as well. As a matter of fact, they bark at just about everything. So much in fact that the elk are for the most part, used to it.

[stringunner]

My dad and I were on a stand one time and the same thing, little buggers were going nuts. Pretty soon I here my dad's bow go off and the forest went silent. When we decided to leave the stand several hours later, I noticed a squirrel tail tied to my dads stabilizer on his bow, I gave him knuckles for a great shot, he just smiled real big and said "got some mojo for the bow" he left it there for most of the season, we never did get any more problems from them squirrels that year....I guess the "mojo" worked.

[Swede]

I have two short stories on squirrels I will share.
I had a good bull coming down the old skid trail in front of me. He was on high alert for some reason, but I was silent, invisible and waiting. The bull was about three steps from the water trough where I expected him to bent his head over to get a drink, while I came to full draw. At just that very moment, this crazed squirrel starts off with what had to be the loudest protest I have heard, or at least it sounded that way. Instantly the bull turned and busted out of there, and to the best of my knowledge never returned.

One afternoon I sat in the sun hoping it wold soon go down behind the trees. For 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes and beyond this squirrel just would not shut up. Finally out of exasperation, frustration and even a sense of desperation, I took my bow off of the hanger, drew and fired. The forest was finally quiet. I felt sorry for the little rascal, but figured his demise was a matter of self defense.

[ARwarden259]

I bought my small game license last year and killed several with my slingshot. I melt down lead and make .45 cal musket balls to shoot in it. It is very leathal. I even killed a few grouse with it. It also gives me somthing to do while playing the waiting game as far as waiting on the wind to change directions so that I can hit an area I would like to go to. I deffinately got some revenge for years past last year. I even went out and got my limit the day after I killed my cow last year. I was pretty happy about doing that with a bean flip.

[Freebird134]

My buddy took care of one of those annoying things one year. Wasn't exactly tasty, but looked nice with some fake antlers.

[T/H]

ha no you're not the only one. everytime i hear one start chattering in the distance i wonder if it's chattering at an elk. i've had them drop pine cones at me too.

[westaner]

Notice how a barking squirrel stomps his front feet, if you are close enough for him to see it tap two fingers on your leg or hat in a similar way. It some how shuts them up like your not a threat or predator any more. Works most of the time. I'll go right up to them to make sure they see too! They can drive a person insane!

[easeup]

good to hear that it happens to you guys also. I was thinking it was a NR thing.

[cnelk]

Took this pic a couple years ago while archery hunting...

Maybe this is why they chatter so much...

[slim9300]

For the most part those buggers can be a PITA, but there are times that they can be a blessing. I love when I am moving through the woods late in the morning or midday and and hear them going crazy a few hundred yards ahead. In many cases they have alerted me to the elk's presence. Once in awhile they can be an asset to the wallow hunter too (instead of the opposite).

[Stiknstring]

I hate the ones that yell at me, but thank the ones that tell me something is there, If they are upwind and out of sight, I pay extra attention !!