![]() ![]() However, we usually have one man with a scoped. You’re not going to hit that squirrel with a. ![]() When hunting with dogs, the squirrels are often high up and running. I shoot a 12-gauge shotgun, usually with a full choke and #8s. There’s nothing like the thrill of having a perched squirrel in the crosshairs, whether you’re a kid or a seasoned hunter. If you like to sit and wait for the perfect shot, or for a quieter weapon, many squirrels have fallen to a high-power air rifle that has been sighted with a scope. 510 Mini Youth Super Bantam is an excellent “first-timer” shotgun for young shooters. For squirrels on the move, or simply to increase the odds of hitting your target, some hunters prefer a shotgun, and a. 22 caliber is for those who like to practice sharp-shooting skills (think Annie Oakley’s lever-action Marlin 39A), but hunters might miss opportunities to hit squirrels running from treetop to treetop. Since we’re talking about shot placement, let’s consider the types of squirrel guns most commonly used. Whereas with deer hunting when we’re mostly looking across the same horizon, squirrel hunting is more similar to hunting grouse, which can be roosting in trees or flushing from the ground. This means you’ll need to be hyper-vigilant about knowing what’s beyond your target every time you shoot. Squirrels can be high in the trees or running along the ground, especially depending on the species you’re after. It’s also perfectly acceptable to hunt the same trees where you’ve shot squirrels before, as new squirrels will fill in the vacancies created if the food is good and the cover is great. With onX Hunt, you can mark these different types of trees with customized Waypoints, or even Photo Waypoints, plotting out a variety of feed trees to check on during the season. As you still hunt or scout, you will find the most squirrels where you find “cut” acorns or stripped pine cones around the trees the squirrels are using. In the South, you’ll likely find squirrels feeding on pin oaks, live oaks, hickory, or pine nuts from pine cones. Squirrels are opportunistic eaters, but they will follow food sources as those sources change throughout the season. ![]() Once you’ve identified some spots that have one or more of these to offer, you’ve got yourself a place to hunt. “a mess”) of edible game.įood, shelter, and water: like any other living thing, especially animals we hunt, these are the things hunters should look for when hunting squirrels. A few hours in the morning or evening can produce a bag limit’s worth (aka. Hunting squirrels also doesn’t have to be an all-day affair like going after whitetails. Using any weapon among a single-shot rifle, shotgun or air rifle hunters can spend a day in the woods. Relative to nearly any other quarry hunters can pursue, squirrel hunting is arguably the most affordable. Puts a whole new meaning to ‘hunting season.’” – Meateater’s Steven Rinella In my home state of Michigan, for instance, you can hunt squirrels for half the year. And even in states that have designated seasons, they are exceedingly generous. In some states, you can hunt squirrels year-round. ![]() “What makes squirrel hunting different? The long-assed seasons. It does this because the seasons are long, the bag limits are ample, we get to take multiple shots per outing (if we’re lucky), it requires patience, skill, and strategy, you must know how to read sign, and we can use squirrel hunting as a means to teach our children how to hunt anything else. Whether you’re a squirrel-hunting “nut” or just want to see what all the fun’s about, the pursuit of squirrels will help us all become better hunters. It’s likely the first game animal we ever shot and ate. It’s how we learned to properly handle a firearm, hunt in groups, or hunt with dogs. Some of us were raised hunting squirrels as if squirrel hunting was part of an evolutionary track we needed to follow, especially southern and midwestern hunters who have multiple huntable species of squirrels. ![]()
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