I can't find a straight answer other places on the internet, so I figured I'd try here. I live out in the sticks in Montgomery county, and there are several pecan and fruit trees on our property, and squirrels have really been a menace over the past year. Do I need a permit and/or wait until squirrel season to shoot these pests?

All you need is a hunting license. There is no closed season in Texas.

Edit: Scratch that. There are seasons based on your county. There isn't in the county I grew up in, but there is for Montgomery county:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/season/county_listing/details/?county=Montgomery

And a link to the other counties, for those interested: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/season/squirrel/

[This message has been edited by AgEng06 (edited 2/20/2013 10:31a).]

If your reasons are depredation and/or you, as the land owner deem them a nuisance, you dont even need a hunting license to shoot them.

TPW lists some counties with closed season. Montgomery county does not appear to be one of those.

NM, you fixed it. I'm slow on my phone.

[This message has been edited by ark03 (edited 2/20/2013 10:36a).]

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If your reasons are depredation and/or you, as the land owner deem them a nuisance, you dont even need a hunting license to shoot them.

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I believe you (it feels like common sense, to me), but do you have a source on this. My SO keeps saying "you're going to get into trouble, plus they're cute." So it would be nice to have proof that I'm not. Plus, my grandpa planted those trees, and I don't want rodents stealing the fruits (literally) of his labor. I want those pecans, black walnuts, figs, muskedimes, and kumquats for myself.

[This message has been edited by HZ1985 (edited 2/20/2013 10:37a).]

IIRC deprdation of crops is limited to commercial agriculture.

I only see hogs and coyotes mentioned regarding depredating animals. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/licenses/hunt_licenses/

Well, unless they could fall under "nuisance, fur bearing. "
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/huntwild/hunt/fur_bearing/nuisance/

[This message has been edited by ark03 (edited 2/20/2013 10:44a).]

shoot 'em.

If you're worried about getting in trouble just let them lie. That's what you are supposed to do if they are a nuisance.

Otherwise, if they are young fry them. Your SO will go from thinking they are cute to thinking they are tasty.

[This message has been edited by TexasRebel (edited 2/20/2013 11:14a).]

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DEPREDATION
Loss of, or damage to, agricultural crops, livestock, poultry, wildlife or personal property.

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from TPWD

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Your SO will go from thinking they are cute to thinking they are tasty.

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Only if you can figure out how to remove the hide without getting hair all over the meat.

Like a jacket. It's not difficult.

there's some pretty sweet youtube vids out there, if you need a skinnin' lesson.

Especially if you use an air compressor... I haven't tried it yet but look on YouTube. It's pretty cool

The squirrel & dumplings are ready when the hair floats.

A buddy of mine shot one in his neighborhood. It was getting into his house and tearing it up.

He shot it with a pellet gun. The neighbor turned him in and a game warden showed up. He was fined 500 dollars and had a whole list of violations.

Id double think shooting them if you are in a county that is closed season.

i would punch that neighbor right in the dick.

There has to be more to that story.

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i would punch that neighbor right in the dick.

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There has to be more to that story.

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Well, right off the bat, the city he lives in is across three counties. The county he is in closed squirrel season two days prior. So, he shot it out of season. The second thing is that he shot it with a pellet gun and the warden cited him for improper harvesting since the law says it has to be taken with a rifle...like a .22. I can't recall exactly what the other statues were that the game warden conjured up, but when he was done, there was a fine of 500 bucks. Maybe discharging a firearm in the city limits or something...I dunno.

There might be more to it that than, but I think thats a pretty solid start.

[This message has been edited by BrazosDog02 (edited 2/20/2013 3:31p).]

Some neighbors aint worth the air they breath. Freakin tree rats are a nuisance any way you look at it. I loath the people that say, "but they're so cute." Yea, they're cute right up until the time they chew a hole in the gable end of your house and start a fire chewing the wiring in your attic.

They need to allow open season year round on those damn rodents. They'll clean a pecan tree plumb out in a matter of days. Less than that if it's more than one.

I kill everyone I see whether in season or not on my place. Course my neighbor dont like em either.

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The second thing is that he shot it with a pellet gun...Maybe discharging a firearm in the city limits or something...

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you don't say...

From the UK, the Kania trap 2000 - the mouse trap built for squirrels.



Or live traps for relocating:





Trapping squirrels

shooting squirrels.

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squirrels have really been a menace

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I laughed. More people have been menaced by small creatures on the outdoor forum than I can remember. Unless you count a squirrel eating out of a bird feeder being a "menace", then I can't say we have ever had any problems being menaced by small animals.

Are we lucky or are some on this forum very high maintenance??

I woulda told the GW, I did not shoot a squirrel. I shot a rat that was destroying my house.

If the GW still pushed the issue and issues tickets I'd see them in court.

Still guessing there is more to the story.

we've had squirrels chew holes in the eaves of my parents' house. They even chewed through the tin sheet reinforcement that was put up the second time. While living the in attic they made a nice meal of the coaxial cable up there.

RK

Someone, who may or not be me, shot a few today. Unfortunately, while the two dogs were psyched to see what was brought home, promptly started playing with them, and never ate them. My dogs are super lame.

[This message has been edited by HZ1985 (edited 2/20/2013 6:49p).]

The little bastages rape my tomatoes every year. For each one i snipe two take his place. Good luck.

The other poster who was ticketed $500 was fined for using a pellet gun to kill the vermin. He may have also been cited for "discharging a firearm within city limits". Texas law considers air guns/pellet guns as firearms (oddly they also include crossbows, bow & arrow, and anything else that launches a projectile). Air gun/pellet gun hunting was illegal in Texas until 2014. Squirrels are considered a game animal in Texas so killing them can be considered "game hunting" with an air gun if the authorities want to be tough about it.
That said, Texas law does recognize "nuisance fur-bearing animals" which includes squirrels. Under the law, you can kill animals "by any means necessary" that are attacking (or preparing to attack) your lifestock, people, agriculture...or are causing destruction of your private propertywithout a hunting license. "By any means necessary"' also indicates there are no restrictions on the size of the traps you use. Under that, you can kill squirrels that are damaging your home without a hunting license. One important point to note is that while many people feel compassion for animals, including rats and squirrels, these allowances in the law are for lethal traps. Live trapping and relocating live animals is greatly restricted and can earn you a hefty fine! In other words, you can kill nuisance animals as necessary but you cannot trap them live and relocate them. Be careful of this! You could get hammered by the city, county, AND state! That could be very expensive.
As I understand it, as of 2014, you can use an air gun/pellet gun to kill squirrelsas long as the gun fires pellets at 600 FPS or greater!
My source for this is the Texas Parks & Wildlife website. The exception is that I was not able to find the new air gun laws there. They might be there, but I didn't see them. I had learned the information about the change in air gun laws from other Texas hunters.

Odd 5 year bump...

Obligatory.