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Drey Poking Questions


Dreyman
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I know this forum is based in the UK, but I'm a hunter from the US with some questions. Drey poking is not a tradition that is very common in the US, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

 

Since grey squirrels have been introduced into the UK from my country, I know they can be a nuisance. Most states have hunting regulations for them, but since they're native in the US, they're not considered vermin unless they're doing damage.

 

I've heard that drey poking is often done during the breeding season in order to disrupt the breeding of grey squirrels. I know that females kick out the males from their drey when they have a litter. Does this mean that the majority of squirrels inhabiting dreys during the breeding season are female? The main question I want to ask is, is there a female biased ratio in the number of squirrels dispatched in a typical drey poking squirrel hunt? I know each of you have a different experience, so I'd like to know. Thank you!

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Squirrels do damage all year round. This manifests itself as egg and chick eating and bark stripping. The dreys are usually only occupied over winter when they semi hibernate and for a brief period when young squirrels are in the nest.

 

In the UK they are shot all year round.

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I've never sexed the dead squirrels when drey poking.

Like a lot of people involved in trying to improve matters for red squirrels, the only thing that matters to me regarding greys is how many are dead.

Edited by robbiep
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I know this forum is based in the UK, but I'm a hunter from the US with some questions. Drey poking is not a tradition that is very common in the US, so forgive my ignorance on the subject.

 

Since grey squirrels have been introduced into the UK from my country, I know they can be a nuisance. Most states have hunting regulations for them, but since they're native in the US, they're not considered vermin unless they're doing damage.

 

I've heard that drey poking is often done during the breeding season in order to disrupt the breeding of grey squirrels. I know that females kick out the males from their drey when they have a litter. Does this mean that the majority of squirrels inhabiting dreys during the breeding season are female? The main question I want to ask is, is there a female biased ratio in the number of squirrels dispatched in a typical drey poking squirrel hunt? I know each of you have a different experience, so I'd like to know. Thank you!

Interesting that almost all (maybe all) the squirrels I've shot in the garden in the past 10 days have been male.

 

Better buy some more cartridges-:((

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Better to poke with a rod,than find a feathered friend fall to the ground.

 

Yup. I should have said that in my original reply too. I've seen owls fly out of dreys when the drey has been poked.

 

Beautiful creatures, and I'm sure the last thing one of us want to do is be responsible for their deaths.

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