Squirrel Hunting in WA?

[Pacosub]

I've shot my share as pest control in my parents home out of state, we never ate any of them - is there a tradition here in WA State for hunting squirrel like there is back east and south? And if not, why not? Would you guys hunt and eat squirrels locally?
Just curious...

[shoot-em-dead]

Illegal here

[Fl0und3rz]

Illegal here

Broad generalization, where the exceptions swallow the rule.

There are plenty of threads here about legal squirrel hunting in WA.  I'll see what I can find.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,90214.0/nowap.html

[bowhunterwa87]

Shoot all the eastern grey squirrels you want....but I don't think it would be a good idea to eat them..

[Axle]

Illegal here

And this is what the hunter's ed instructor told everyone when my son took the class but it wasn't true then and it isn't true now.
Eastern grays are a non-native rat. Get rid of them!
You can eat them if you want. Squirrel is squirrel. I love the taste. Especially the brain and tongue.
If we are to have squirrel in WW, I would prefer the fox squirrel. They are bigger and worth the time.

[bobcat]

Most species of squirrels that are seen out in the woods are illegal to kill. So in general, the statement "illegal here" is true. The eastern grey squirrel is usually in parks and residential areas where you can't hunt.

[huntinguy]

http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_squirrel/

This should clarify the matter.

[bowhunterwa87]

Most species of squirrels that are seen out in the woods are illegal to kill. So in general, the statement "illegal here" is true. The eastern grey squirrel is usually in parks and residential areas where you can't hunt.

o man bobcat u should take a trip over here. If anybody is looking to take their kids out for fun this next summer..take a drive up oak creek. You'll have plenty of fun. Bring lots of shells

[Wacenturion]

Shoot all the eastern grey squirrels you want....but I don't think it would be a good idea to eat them..

They as well as Fox squirrels eat pretty darn good down south, back east and throughout the midwest.  Absolutely yummy cooked the right way.  Now I might give you that on pine squirrels..........

[BOWHUNTER45]

I have seen more eastern greys around my place lately than ever before ..I also seen a couple BLACK ones ..and they to are considered eastern greys ..just a different color phase of the eastern grey ..One is just huge and I have tried getting him a couple different times but he never stays still long enough  I keep saying I need to go back to PA just to do some squirrel hunting ..It is not as common as it was when I was a kid . I would run 2 miles every after from the bus stop to get home a crab my .22 ..Squirrel and ground hog hunting was my most favorite thing to do as a kid ..Went threw thousands and thousands of rounds of ammo and back then ammo was cheap . Can not tell you how much fun those days were but I can still see those Fox Squirrels big as my neighbors cats  jumping from limb to limb ...Man I really want to get back there next October and do some archery deer hunting and kill a few squirrels .

[Axle]

I wish we had the big red fox squirrels here in dubya dubya. They are much larger and worth the time to cook them. When I live in Oklahoma, squirrel was a big part of our diet and so was rabbit. The deer were so rare that, in the 3 years we lived there, we never saw one. That story sure has changed 

[Axle]

I have seen more eastern greys around my place lately than ever before ..I also seen a couple BLACK ones ..and they to are considered eastern greys ..just a different color phase of the eastern grey ..One is just huge and I have tried getting him a couple different times but he never stays still long enough  I keep saying I need to go back to PA just to do some squirrel hunting ..It is not as common as it was when I was a kid . I would run 2 miles every after from the bus stop to get home a crab my .22 ..Squirrel and ground hog hunting was my most favorite thing to do as a kid ..Went threw thousands and thousands of rounds of ammo and back then ammo was cheap . Can not tell you how much fun those days were but I can still see those Fox Squirrels big as my neighbors cats  jumping from limb to limb ...Man I really want to get back there next October and do some archery deer hunting and kill a few squirrels .

Ah yes, you're stirrup some old memories there 45 
Especially the price of 22 ammo. I remember paying 49 cents for a box of 50.

[Wacenturion]

My first hunting experience while in grade school was packing a single shot .22 and hunting squirrels on my Grandfather's farm in Jackson County, Iowa.  Later in life when I was in the Air Force stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, I had the opportunity to spend four years rekindling childhood memories.  Down there we used shotguns, with all the spanish moss hanging in the trees.  Limits were 10 a day, eastern or fox in combination.

Nothing more fun than squirrel hunting.  I always thought it was the big game hunting of the small game world.....and boy were they ever yummy.