Prather's Neck, MD
 

I decided to try Prather's Neck WMA on Sat 2/4/12. I had heard there are fox squirrels there and I've always wanted to hunt them. The terrain and variety of habitat was impressive. I hunted west from the parking lot clear to a large ravine and then down to the river. There are very large trees in this area. I then hunted around the southern tip along the river. Walking was pretty easy as I followed deer trails between the river bank and the high cliffs. Alas, as with most other public hunting areas this one was devoid of wildlife. The only game I saw were a few ducks and geese swimming in the river. There was quite a bit of deer sign and I probably would have seen some had I been hunting for them. I saw no squirrels, no rabbits, not even a chipmunk. It was a nice day being in a nice area but the hunting sucked.

For fox squirrels, try when the weather is a little less cold. Also, a few places to try are indian springs wma, they have fox squirrels throughout, especially in the valleys, as well as greenridge state forest, I've been seeing more and more throughout the forest in recent years, with the biggest concentrations near the potomac. I have seen some in warrior mountain wma, however not nearly as many as I've seen in the previous two I mentioned. Basically, its a sure bet close to the potomac, however, they can be found in good number far from on the tops of ridges with no openings, something thats basically the opposite of what people say is their suitable habitat.

I have seen them at Indian Springs, but I think they are a sub-species. They don't seem as big on average as the ones I have seen in West Virginia.

On average on the part of tonoloway ridge on the west virginia side in which I own property at the top it seems that the fox squirrels are on average bigger there. I agree with you, and the funny thing is I see the most of them at the very top of the ridge, which takes a very steep and rough climb to get to, and is very thick and brushy with no openings, in other words according to the consensus of fox squirrel habitat the worst possible habitat for them. Yet I see them all over the place in West Virginia in habitats just like this. As in most of maryland, they're outnumbered by the gray squirrels, but they are there in good numbers. In Indian springs, I have seen some big ones, but like you said most seem to be slightly smaller. It may be the fact that there is more hunting pressure, so many squirrels dont reach their full weight? In greenridge, the ones there are the larger size usually, and they seem to be spreading throughout the forest. I never saw one for the first five years I started hunting squirrels, and about 7 years later, they're are everywhere, and in some places all you see is fox squirrels. Remember, fox squirrels make much less noise than gray squirrels, as they seem to walk slowly instead of the fast hopping gray squirrels do. They don't tend to fight as much with each other either as gray squirrels do. They also arent as vocal compared to gray squirrels. They good side however, is they are much slower and much less wary. I have walked right up with a foot of fox squirrels hiding behind a tree when walking through the woods making some noise with the breaking of sticks and the crunching of leaves. Dnr apparently lists fox squirrels as uncommon in green ridge, however I can attest to you in many parts of the forest they're if fact common to abundant. I see them soon spreading their range throughout the forest. I talked to a bowhunter last season at the very top of indian springs, and he said there used to be many different color phases for the fox squirrels in indian springs, and he said for the most part there is only the normal phase now. He also said you used to find them in greater numbers on the tops of ridges there, and in moderate concentrations in the lower areas. However, he said now they're few and far between in the upper areas, and there are so many of them in the valleys, more than hes ever seen. So in indian springs I'd suggest for fox squirrels sticking to the lower areas, and the wetter areas of the wma. a scoped marlin bolt .22 is my squirrel gun of choice.

Also, I feel the best time to hunt for squirrels of any kind is right when the season opens, as of last year it was labor day, into the end of november, and again when they're mating around christmas. When it gets pretty cold and there are no nuts left to store or find, squirrels usually come out for ten minutes in the morning to bark at each other and stay on the trees. Then they sleep or just hang out all day in their dens, again coming out for about ten minutes around dusk. The absolute best times in my opinion are we the hickories are very close to ripening/just opened (I have seen more then twenty squirrels on even moderately sized hickories during this time.) The hickories tend to be cleaned up within about a week of ripening, no matter the mast size. They go very quick, however in a good year you can get your limit on squirrels by sitting near a good sized hickory and waiting for about a half hour. I have done this many times. Oaks ripen about a month to a half month later. They take longer to be completely buried and stripped away, if they ever fully are. I'd suggest moving slowly and quietly during this time, and listening for the characteristic squirrel cutting through an acorn, as well as listening for the rustling of leaves meaning a squirrel is burying an acorn. Walnuts tend to be picked up last, but however usually most of these are burried. You find a good grove of at least five nut producing walnuts and the squirrels will be running back in forth picking them off the ground. Squirrels are the least wary when they're in a tree cutting through a nut, they'll many times practically let you approach the bottom of the tree without moving. When they're chasing each other is another time, and you can get multiple squirrels this way. burying nuts is another, however make sure to stop moving when they periodically poke their heads up. Squirrels almost never run unless they see what is causing the noise. So you dont want to alert them in the first place, and if you do just stand still for about 20 seconds and they will go back to what they were doing. Very short attention span.