Anyone Squirrel Hunt Tivoli Bay?

[ctballos]

I'm wondering if anyone has small game hunted the Tivoli Bay WMA?  This is my first year hunting and it's not too far from my home so I thought it may be worth checking out.  I've been researching places around Hyde Park using DEC's State Lands Interactive Mapper (SLIM), it's a pretty cool tool.  The Taconic - Hereford Area and the Beebe Hill and Harvey Mountain areas also look like their worth checking out.

 

Am I missing anything worth checking out around this area?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[ctballos]

^{Well I decided to try out the Taconic -  Hereford MUA since it is so close to home, it's 909 acres. I parked right off the Taconic Pkwy and wondered into the woods away from the road.  But I could never get far enough away to loose the traffic noises. For my first day of small game hunting I had a blast. Never saw a squirrel but walked all over, got into the hunting mentality walked a short bit to an interesting area and stopped and listened and watched for 5 to 10 minutes. I could hear maybe a squirrel eating something but I could not see him. I spent a couple hours out there looking around saw a few birds and a chipmunk but not much else.  I used the GPS on my phone to periodically check my location. I have a Topo mapping app that's ok for choosing a decent path but mostly it just gets me back to my truck. So day 1 no sees or kills but a great time hunting. Day 2 tomorrow morning I'm going back to check out the back parking areas and see if all the critters are hiding there.}

Edited October 2, 2013 by ctballos

[Dinsdale]

Sounds like you had a good time.....

 

You can find squirrel at Tivoli, I don't go there often, but have shot a couple most times.

 

Good luck with the tree rats;<)

[ctballos]

I've been out a few mornings and have noticed my noise may be scaring off the greys.  Had an airgun jamb with a new pellet and had to walk back to my car and home to clear it. On the way I saw a grey walk across the trail, bastard, how did he know! So I know they are there. Anyway rain today back tomorrow.  Did I mention I'm on Gov't furlough? So I have time to do stuff.  So what's up with the knat's, mosquitos, and flies?  What do I wear?

Edited October 7, 2013 by ctballos

[shawnhu]

I've been out a few mornings and have noticed my noise may be scaring off the greys. Had an airgun jamb with a new pellet and had to walk back to my car and home to clear it. On the way I saw a grey walk across the trail, bastard, how did he know! So I know they are there. Anyway rain today back tomorrow. Did I mention I'm on Gov't furlough? So I have time to do stuff. So what's up with the knat's, mosquitos, and flies? What do I wear?

Which air gun jammed? Deet for skeeters and permethrin for ticks.

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[ctballos]

Which air gun jammed? Deet for skeeters and permethrin for ticks.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

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The Air Ranger jammed. It turned out to be the polymer tip on the Polymag pellet coming loose and sticking a bit into the barrel. I didn't realize at the time but the pellets are a bit small for the magazine. I pushed it back with a small wood dowel.

[shawnhu]

That Daystate looks legit. The tips coming off those usually happen in the .177 size pellets, never happened on my .25, yet.

Good luck this season.

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[fearthebeard]

bee bee hill and harvey is some hard hunting you gotta walk in deep to get to deer and theres a lot of peope who go there plus side of it is that the deer there are mature and theres prolly a trophy in there

[fearthebeard]

i saw a lot of deer at the top of the moutain near the blueberry bushes great place 1/2 mile up the moutain

[ctballos]

That Daystate looks legit. The tips coming off those usually happen in the .177 size pellets, never happened on my .25, yet.

Good luck this season.

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Thanks for the luck, you to.  I went out today back to Taconic - Hereford and sat on an overlook for an hour and never saw anything but a bird which turned out to be too fast for me. After that I left and decided to check out the Lafayette State Forest and found a parking area just off route 82. I didn't go in but did notice a lot of conifer stands with a very long hill of hardwood behind it. Looked like a place to hunt. Painting my sons house tomorrow hunting Thursday.

[ctballos]

bee bee hill and harvey is some hard hunting you gotta walk in deep to get to deer and theres a lot of peope who go there plus side of it is that the deer there are mature and theres prolly a trophy in there

Hi Feathebeard,,, still working my way up the hunting ladder, I figure I have to bag my share of wild squirrels first. Not that I haven't bagged 50'sh in the back yard but when I'm in the woods somehow the critters develop radar and go into cloak mode.

[shawnhu]

Thanks for the luck, you to. I went out today back to Taconic - Hereford and sat on an overlook for an hour and never saw anything but a bird which turned out to be too fast for me. After that I left and decided to check out the Lafayette State Forest and found a parking area just off route 82. I didn't go in but did notice a lot of conifer stands with a very long hill of hardwood behind it. Looked like a place to hunt. Painting my sons house tomorrow hunting Thursday.

What WMU is this?

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[ctballos]

What WMU is this?

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I spelled it wrong. It's Lafayetteville MUA on Wilbur Flats road, between the Taconic and Route 199.

[ctballos]

I've been out a bunch of mornings between the Taconic - Hereford and Lafayetteville MUA's and have seen a number of squirrels.  The brush and leaves are thick out there and it does make if difficult to stalk the little critters, take your eyes off them for a second and their gone.  So far the squirrels have been pretty safe from me.  I don't think I'm sitting long enough between moves because there not coming out for me.  I've been sticking to the trails, walking quietly stopping, moving, stopping, moving.  And when I hear enough chatter I circle around into the woods to get the sun behind me stopping when it gets quiet and finding a decent vantage point where I sit can quietly and wait for the chatter to return.  It does but I just can't find them very often.  It doesn't seem to matter what I do after 10:30ish because everything just gets quiet.  I don't yet wear camo, just a tan vest with blaze orange shoulders, jeans and a dark colored shirt.

 

Am I just not being patient enough?  Anyone have any tips for me?

 

Thanks.

[shawnhu]

They're not hard to spot now with most of the acorns on the ground by me. Just walk around where you can see 50+ yards and look for ground movement. No need to walk and stop, just walk at a slow pace and try to keep it light footsteps.

If you prefer to sit, do 15 mins at a time and move on.

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[ctballos]

They're not hard to spot now with most of the acorns on the ground by me. Just walk around where you can see 50+ yards and look for ground movement. No need to walk and stop, just walk at a slow pace and try to keep it light footsteps.

If you prefer to sit, do 15 mins at a time and move on.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

 

Thanks.  Heading out again before my furlough ends and I have to go back to work.