The art of squirrel war

[BigBoreBLR]

Any advanced tips on squirrel hunting.

Particuarly two topics

Getting closer in for the kill

And locating squirrel possibly via calls.


I've been doing it for years, but look in awe at a bag limit hunts the forum members display here.

Small bore guys on here definitely know a thing or two.

 

[Lonegun1894]

I move as slow as I can, take 2-3 steps, stop, listen, look, etc, just wait, and then take 2-3 more, and repeat. It gets me close enough to shoot. As to calls, the closest I use is two pennies (the coins) and hit one with the other lightly to mimic the sound of them chewing on pecans. But the pennies only come out if I have already spotted a squirrel and it tries to hide on the other side of a tree because it has spotted me too, and if I stay quiet and don't move much, the feeding noise is usually enough to get them to expose themselves enough for a shot. I have yet to get a limit though, cause we don't have one. So i just take as many as my dogs and I can eat in a meal or two.

 

[dhaverstick]

During the winter, they're on the ground most of the time so you need to listen for them rooting around in the leaves. Find a place where the acorns dropped last fall and just sit against a tree. They'll come by looking for food.

Late spring and summer are the hardest times to kill squirrels because of the leaf cover and the fact that the squirrels never stay still. I always have good luck around grape vines and mulberry trees then.

Fall is the best time to hunt squirrels. If there's a decent mast crop, especially hickory nuts, you can kill them by the wheel barrow full. Find a hickory tree with nuts and just sit by it. You will kill as many squirrels as you can carry!

Darren

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I've found that when stalking IF you keep a hedge or a large tree obscuring you from their view, you can get closer than merely stepping slowly. You have to slowly lean around the blocking tree or hedge to peer around it to keep track of the squirrel, but if they are busy digging out an acorn, they will stop when they hear you step, and then continue if they hear nothing else and don't SEE you moving.

I have better luck entering the woods where squirrels may be foraging, by entering from a very thickly overgrown area, where it's tough for me to see them from a distance and tough for them to see me. Once I've negotiated the brush enough to see into a wooded area, I sit still and observe. I've found that while it's great to see a squirrel or two scampering in the trees as I walk into the woods from the fields, they are usually scampering to get into a nest because they've seen me coming.

If you are in an area of oak trees BUT you don't see the large leaf nests marking squirrel territory, look hard for openings in the tree trunks. That black spot, 6 feet or more off the ground, where a branch has broken off at the trunk..., MAY be a hole, AND look at the bark near and around that spot. I've noticed that the squirrels, like bats, sometimes discolor the bark beneath a hole from constantly climbing in and out of it.


LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Squirrels tend to feed in the mornings and late afternoons around sunset. I look for food sources....Hunt from an elevation (tree or high ground.)
Approach looking for squirrels with the sun at your back .....approach from above, around, or blindly to give yourself the ambush advantage.

A running or squawking squirrel is usually a sign you been busted.

Squirrels rely heavily on birds for ques...learn the signs and you can use it to your advantage.

 

[Silky921]

"Squirrels rely heavily on birds for ques...learn the signs and you can use it to your advantage."

Could you elaborate on that any? I'm pretty novice in this particular art, but I've fallen in love with it.

 

[hanshi]

Yep, still hunting while always keeping something between you and any squirrels you've sighted is definitely the best way to go. Move slow and pause periodically for look-see.

 

[Spikebuck]

Technique for getting close, in my experience, changes with how heavily hunted the local squirrel population is.

On our very heavily hunted state lands one almost has to just find an area with squirrels and sit tight. If you are moving, they pick you off a long way away and high tail it out of there like they are on fire.

To the contrary of the above is hunting squirrels on my lease that are almost never bothered. There, I can just quietly and slowly walk along, pausing occasionally, and keeping an eye out. Sometimes, while paused, they just appear very close to me. Other times, I do 'stalk' them and use trees to block my approach.

Another tactic one has to master is how to get a squirrel around to your side of the tree if they are spooked at the last minute and want to keep playing "ring around the rosie." I have successfully thrown sticks and rocks into brush on the side they are on to spook them around to my side. Sometimes, if that doesn't work, you can take off your coat and hang it on a branch, then work around the tree and they will see the coat and come part way back around. Sometimes, just sitting quietly for 5 or 10 minutes will get them to peak around to see if you are gone.

In regards to calling...I have successfully used a "squaker" type of call to mimic their raspy bark and have had them give away their position by squaking back at me. It's well worth taking a call along for times when the hunting is slow.

 

[hrchotaw]

+1 on that squawker call. They will usually help you locate a few :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

I have tried a number of store bought squirrel calls with varying degrees of rather poor success. However, I had a friend show me a trick that did seem to work best of all. He uses a pair of poker chips, the kind with ridges around the top and bottom edges. He rubs the edges together to make a sound like a squirrel cutting nuts. Squirrels tend to be territorial and will come running to see who is eating their nut supply. It takes a bit of practice to get the sound just right. You can change the sound by holding one chip cupped in one hand while rubbing the other on it to make the sound that you want. Alternately, you can simply lay one on top of the other and rub them around to make the cutting sound. It seemed to work better than any other call that I have tried. Having heard squirrels cut on nuts, it just takes a bit of practice to do a good mimic of it with the poker chips. Give it a try and see what you think. :thumbsup:

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm a firm believer in not alerting squirrels to my presence....nor upsetting or getting them excited..

 

[BigBoreBLR]

How much does blaze orange effect them? Not entire orange, but the one that breaks up camo.

I think PA require orange for small game.

I live in NY and mostly hunt there.

 

[Spikebuck]

I personally do not think that it is much of a factor. In Minnesota we have to wear an item of blaze orange above the waist for small game. Last weekend I killed a squirrel dressed almost entirely in orange and have done it many times.

Your question did prompt me to look up what a squirrel's color vision is. The answers I found said they have Dichromatic color vision which means they can see colors, but cannot distinguish well between red and green...exactly like my color vision!

 

[coloradoclyde]

None...

 

[Billnpatti]

I'm a firm believer in not alerting squirrels to my presence....nor upsetting or getting them excited..

Clyde, I, too, am in favor of stealth when hunting. However, I have encountered times when I could hear squirrels cutting or barking but none were near me. While stalking is preferred, I have had times when moving about on the detritus in the dry woods was too noisy to make stealthy stalking possible. When it was not possible for me to sneak up on them, making them come to me by making the sound of a squirrel cutting nuts was the better choice. As in any kind of hunting, there is no guarantee but it has worked for me an many occasions. I just never had any luck with the other kinds of squirrel calls, it was most likely my lack of skill with them that was the problem.

 

[hanshi]

Last weekend I killed a squirrel dressed almost entirely in orange and have done it many times.
!

Why would a squirrel dress in orange? No wonder you were able to kill him. :rotf:

Sorry; I just couldn't resist. :nono:

 

[Spikebuck]

Last weekend I killed a squirrel dressed almost entirely in orange and have done it many times.
!

Why would a squirrel dress in orange? No wonder you were able to kill him. :rotf:

Sorry; I just couldn't resist. :nono:

EXCELLENT! :rotf: Maybe he hoped I thought he was a very small hunter sitting in a treestand!

 

[sidelock]

If you have a pocket knife you have the perfect squirrel call. Just pick up a hickory nut, sit still for 15 min. and scrape the knife blade on the nut. Sounds just like a sq. cutting.

 

[Skychief]

Last weekend I killed a squirrel dressed almost entirely in orange and have done it many times.
!

Why would a squirrel dress in orange? No wonder you were able to kill him. :rotf:

Sorry; I just couldn't resist. :nono:

EXCELLENT! :rotf: Maybe he hoped I thought he was a very small hunter sitting in a treestand!

Atta boy hanshi!!! :rotf:

That's karma Spikebuck. Remember accusing me of inhaling my flint lock up my nose a couple of years ago, instead of the smoky aroma of it??? :rotf: :blah:

Best regards to both of ya, Skychief :hatsoff:

 

[hanshi]

:slap: He, he, he, he........