Ground Squirrel Shooting

[Loki_762]

For several years, my father-in-law and I have gone out in the desert around Ellensburg and Yakima and shot at some ground squirrels.  The shooting usually involves driving slowly past rock slides and scoping out some critters, parking the truck further down the road, and sneaking to a spot where we have a good vantage point to make some shots.  A good stand might get us 10 squirrels.  Yes, it's fun, but it's nothing like I see on Youtube, where guys just put out a table or lay out a mat, and then just paste dozens of the little buggers.  Most of these videos seem to be shot in Eastern Oregon, Northern California, or Idaho, but that is the kind of shooting I'm looking for.  Can that be found in Washington?  I'm not asking anyone to give up their honey holes or give me an address to their grey digger paradise, I just want to know if what I am doing now is pretty standard, or if these ground squirrel killing fields exist here in Washington.  If so, I'll keep looking.  If not, I'll bide my time doing what I'm doing now, and I'll try to get down south later.
Thanks,
Chris

[WA hunter14]

i dont know about in washington but i know aorund me they are everywhere in small numbers like your talking about but i know what town that is surounded by them and my buddy and i went up one day and probably killed 100 of them with 22s. i dont know why there is so many there but there is, i would assume there is somewhere like that over in eastern wa too

[salmonchaser]

Been looking since I moved up from Oregon. When I was a kid the farmers paid us to shoot them, now you pay the farmer. Take a weekend and drive south. Baker area, Hepner and just about anyplace east of 97. Take your GPS looking for small chunks near cultivated private ground.

[Savage.06Shot]

what part of washington are you from..i just recently got into shooting those lil buggers first i started out looking for good spot and finally found a great spot, its not an open field but more of what at you and your father used to do but its a great area and im hoping that i can keep the population up there and so i can keep coming back. If your interested in going out to shoot some with me let me know. I dont like wasting the meat or the fur so i skin them gut them and eat them. also beware of the laws pertaining to this. Know your squirrels. http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_squirrel/

[Buckmark]

Be aware of what you are shooting, Columbian ground squirrels are the only ones legal to shoot .... Eating them  they carry internal parasites.....

[Dbax129]

Yes there are place in wa. I used to do this with my dad. 100 an afternoon no problem. Yakima valley and especially in grapes, hopps and apple orchards are always wjere we had the most fun. They call them sage rats. Yes be careful about what species. There are 2 in particular that resemble this "sage rat" one is legal and one is not but i was able to determine with info from the wdfw website which ones were the type we were getting and it was the 1 that was legal.  Sunnyside, grandview and prosser were the areas we went after them. Also rock chucks (yellow bellied marmots).  Ask some farmers around there if they have some spots. Used to know a row farmer out there who loved us to come get them because they would strip the corn seed out of the fields. Sadly i lost all those contacts when I lost my dad about 3 years ago.

[Imr1966]

what part of washington are you from..i just recently got into shooting those lil buggers first i started out looking for good spot and finally found a great spot, its not an open field but more of what at you and your father used to do but its a great area and im hoping that i can keep the population up there and so i can keep coming back. If your interested in going out to shoot some with me let me know. I dont like wasting the meat or the fur so i skin them gut them and eat them. also beware of the laws pertaining to this. Know your squirrels. http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_squirrel/

Are these gray squirrels nicknamed gray diggers?I have someone wanting to clear out an orchard,he says they are everywhere.They are chewing on the tree trunks.I don't know my critters when it comes to these guys.