Keith Lusher 02.21.25
In relation to searching squirrels, each season within the woods appears to show me a brand new lesson. After thirty years of chasing bushytails, I’ve discovered that success comes all the way down to adjusting your ways because the pages activate the calendar. These early days of stumbling across the Pearl River woods in Southeast LA have taught me extra about what to not do than what to do. However these onerous classes caught. Now I’m passing alongside what works when it really works and why it really works – stripped all the way down to the necessities that can allow you to put extra squirrels in your bag.
Looking Squirrels – Selecting Your Gun
The controversy between the shotgun and .22 for squirrel searching actually comes all the way down to timing. Every has its place within the woods, and understanding when to make use of which one will fill your recreation bag sooner.
In early fall, a .22 is your finest guess. When the leaves are nonetheless thick and squirrels are staying excessive within the bushes to chop nuts, you want the accuracy and vary of a rimfire. A .22 offers you the attain and accuracy for those who’ve mastered the artwork of preserving invisible within the treetops. Any high quality .22 that may persistently put rounds in a golf ball-sized goal at 50 yards will do the job. The bonus is that rimfires are quieter than shotguns, so that you gained’t clear the woods along with your first shot. Head photographs with a .22 additionally imply clear meat with none pellets to pick later.
Come winter, particularly in February, change to your shotgun. When the bushes are naked and squirrels are spending extra time on the bottom in search of fallen nuts, you want one thing that may deal with shifting targets. A 20-gauge with #5 or #6 shot will get the job executed out to about 40 yards. Skip the .410 – it’s simply too gentle to be dependable. Persist with a modified or full choke to maintain your sample tight sufficient at typical winter searching ranges.
Some hunters resolve this drawback by carrying each. A combo gun just like the Savage Mannequin 24 with a .22 on high and 20-gauge on backside covers all of your bases. It’s not vital, but it surely’s efficient in the event you don’t thoughts the additional weight
Your strategy to shifting by the woods wants to alter with the seasons. Early season requires a unique recreation plan than late winter searching, and understanding the distinction will put extra squirrels in your recreation bag.
Looking Squirrels – Nonetheless Looking vs Stalking
In fall, you’ve obtained choices. You may still-hunt or stalk, however both approach, you might want to use these leaves to your benefit. When still-hunting, choose a spot close to some nut-dropping bushes and plant your self there for at the least 30-45 minutes. A easy cushion beats a chair – it’s simpler to scan the cover while you’re low to the bottom. If nothing reveals after 45 minutes, slide over about 100 yards and arrange once more.
Stalking in fall means taking it sluggish. Actual sluggish. Each 10 steps, cease and scan. Use these binoculars as an alternative of your scope – it saves arm power and retains your motion minimal. A dry creek mattress or recreation path offers you the silent strategy you want. The secret’s waiting for tail motion within the leaves and listening for chopping sounds. These quarters in your pocket could make an ideal nut-cutting sound that’ll typically get a response.
Winter searching is a unique ball recreation. The leaves are down, and people bushytails can spot you from 100 yards out. This isn’t the time for shifting round – it’s ambush season. Discover areas with heavy observe exercise within the snow, or if there’s no snow, take a stroll the day earlier than your hunt to identify the place they’re working. Then get again there early the subsequent morning and arrange.
Assume mini-ambush spots. Choose a central location the place you’ve seen exercise and stick there for an hour or extra. These late-season squirrels are the sensible ones – they’ve survived this lengthy for a purpose. Don’t chase after the primary one you see. Allow them to come to you. For those who’re affected person, you may get an opportunity at a number of squirrels working the world. When that occurs, take the farthest one first – the nearer one will typically freeze after the shot, providing you with a clear follow-up
Looking Squirrels – The place to Discover Them
Discovering squirrels comes all the way down to discovering their meals, however that meals supply modifications with the season. Get this half proper, and also you’re midway to filling your restrict.
In early fall, hickory bushes are your gold mine. Shagbark, shellbark, pignut – doesn’t matter which kind, squirrels hit all of them onerous. Scout the bottom below these bushes for recent cuttings. For those who discover piles of shredded nut hulls, you’ve discovered your spot. Beech bushes are your subsequent finest guess, however squirrels get choosy right here – they’ll hammer one tree and utterly ignore one other fifty yards away. Verify for empty hulls below every tree earlier than committing your time.
Don’t overlook the small stuff in fall both. Dogwood berries, wild grapes, and even area corn can draw squirrels after they’re obtainable. And timing issues – gray squirrels get shifting at first gentle, whereas fox squirrels sleep in till good daylight. No must freeze at midnight for these crimson ones.
Winter modifications all the things. By now, most prime nuts are gone and these survivors get inventive with meals sources. That is when you might want to suppose like a deer hunter. First, sleep in – squirrels don’t transfer early within the chilly. Get on the market round 9 a.m. when the solar’s had an opportunity to heat issues up.
Search for den bushes and large leaf nests – that is house base for winter squirrels. However don’t spend all of your time wanting up. These bushytails are floor feeders now, digging by snow and leaves for buried nuts or raiding their very own meals caches. Discipline edges turn out to be prime spots, particularly if there’s a cornfield close by. Verify 50-100 yards into the woods from agricultural fields – you’ll typically discover corn cobs dragged again into the timber. That’s a lifeless giveaway you’re in the suitable spot
Looking Squirrels – Finest Occasions to Hunt
Timing your hunt proper can imply the distinction between success and freezing your tail off for nothing. Fall and winter require completely different schedules, and understanding when to be within the woods issues as a lot as understanding the place to look.
Fall searching is easy – get out early. First gentle is prime time, particularly for gray squirrels. They’re up and chopping as quickly as there’s sufficient gentle to see, typically earlier than you can also make out your entrance sight. Fox squirrels are completely different – no must rush for them. They’ll begin shifting as soon as the solar’s effectively up, they usually’ll preserve at it by mid-morning.
Winter searching flips the script utterly. Depart that alarm clock set for later – squirrels don’t transfer early within the chilly months. The candy spot is between 9 AM and midday, and solely on sunny days when the temperature will get above freezing. If it’s bitter chilly or the wind’s howling, keep house. These bushytails are holed up tight, and also you’re simply burning daylight.
One of the best winter days are when the solar’s been up lengthy sufficient to heat these hardwood ridges. That’s when squirrels come all the way down to dig up their cached nuts. They’ll preserve working so long as the climate holds, providing you with loads of time for clear photographs. For those who’re seeing squirrels on one ridge, keep it up for at the least half-hour. They typically work in cycles, and endurance normally pays off.
Looking Squirrels – Remaining Ideas
From these first hunts years in the past to now, each journey to the woods has taught me one thing new. The guidelines I’ve shared right here will put you on extra squirrels, however there’s no substitute for boots-on-the-ground expertise. The extra seasons you spend searching squirrels within the timber, the extra these rodents will present you about their habits. Reality is, squirrels are nonetheless educating me new methods – and that’s what retains me coming again season after season.
