Squirrel hunting for a beginner?

[Dmscar]

My question is, is squirrel hunting a good start for someone who has never hunted anything before? My family never went hunting and never knew anyone who liked hunting.

I'm interested in trying squirrel and I can see the season starts up in August but I'm not sure to really start and if I should try extra hard to find someone who has already been squirrel hunting.

I have already taken the hunter safety course and I have my hunting license as well.

 

[drewga11]

Most people I know who squirrel hunt, including myself, wont even consider hunting them til the weather starts getting colder.

It helps if you can get out where you intend to hunt them and just observe them for a day or two and try to figure out when and where they are most active. Then you can come back a littler earlier than that and just sit and wait for them. I have tried quite a few times just walking through the woods and trying to find squirrels and usually have a harder time finding any.

It helps to have someone else hunting with you, as squirrels have a tendency to try to stay on the opposite side of the tree from you once they are alerted to your presence, other times they will freeze right where they are and can be difficult to spot sometimes if they aren't moving. They are also lot easier to spot once all the leaves have fallen off the trees.

I only attempt to hunt squirrels now because of how much they annoy me during deer season. I absolutely hate cleaning them and it takes quite a few to have enough meat for a decent meal. Their skin is pretty tough and will dull a knife quick if you're cleaning a lot of them.

In my younger years I only hunted them with a shotgun. Lot easier to hit them and you can still hit them easily if they are moving. I quit using a shotgun when I got better with a .22 because the .22 gave me more range and I dont have to pick pellets out of the meat.

I would advise going with someone with some experience hunting them at least a couple times before attempting it solo. Also, while it may seem tempting, do not shoot squirrel nests. Its not legal to disturb the nests and there is a possibility that there may end up being an angry possum or raccoon in the nest instead of squirrels. However, if the area you plan to hunt is devoid of nests, its likely also devoid of squirrels.

 

[24on48hunting]

^^^ Good advice here.^^^
Hunting small game has been and still is a good starting point for a new hunter.
It will help you in learning good woodsmanship and will afford you the opportunity to become intimately familiar with an area. I use small game as an opportunity to scout for deer and turkey seasons. It also helps break the monotony of sitting in a stand all Fall/Winter.

Most folks won't hunt squirrels until there are a couple of good frosts in their area. Squirrels will have Bot Fly larvae on their bodies, you'll see the knot or bald spot on their body if they have one. It is said to not have a negative effect on the meat, since the larvae is merely in its hide. Once a frost or 2 come occur in your area, they will be gone from the squirrels' hide.
Do your homework on that and decide if it bothers you or not.

Locating squirrels in the early season is usually very easy. Look for nests up in the tree tops or den trees which will have holes up on the trunk or the ends of old limbs. If you find den trees, they will most often have squirrels in them. You'll occasionally pick one off as they come in/out to feed or to sit out on a limb.
Get set up at first light 30-50 yards back from the den trees and sit/wait for them to emerge from their dens.

Early season I try to locate the hickory trees that the squirrels are feeding on. They are usually feeding on hickory nuts in the later summer/early fall and where they are feeding will be evident by the presence of chewed up hickory nut hulls lying around beneath the tree. If it's a calm day you can even hear them shelling the nuts and you can hear them moving around up in the canopy. Often, you will even hear the pieces of the falling nut hulls striking the leaves as they shell the nuts. Slip in quietly and wait for the opportunity at a shot. There will be plenty of foliage on the ground to conceal your movements. As you slip along, watch for them going up/down the trees to forage on the occasional nut that they dropped.

As the season progresses, they will transition to the Red Oak, White Oak and other various mast in the area.
They'll even tear pine cones apart and eat the seeds located inside of the pine cones. You'll notice the torn apart pine cones scattered at the base of the pine trees. Once the leaves fall, you'll need to move a lot slower as they will spot you from a ways off and simply disappear. They'll wait you out and won't begin moving around again until they think that you are gone. As mentioned before, this is where a hunting partner comes into play. One of you can stand still and the other person can move past the tree. The squirrel will move as they move and keep the tree from blocking their view of it. Doing this will require taking the safest shot possible since there is another person involved.
If you are alone, toss a decent sized limb to the other side of the tree and the squirrel, if hiding, will move around to your side of the tree, thus offering you a shot.

 

[BanjoJohn]

Safety, Safety, Safety. There's no such thing as being too safe with firearms.
Muzzle control.
Just pretend that your firearm might go off at any time, where doe you want it pointed?

Marksmanship. A squirrel isn't that big, so destroying edible meat isn't a good thing. You should be able to hit a quarter at 75' consistently, with your squirrel rifle.

As others suggested, you need to find someone that would be willing to take you with them.

 

[DADI03]

Safety, Safety, Safety. There's no such thing as being too safe with firearms.
Muzzle control.
Just pretend that your firearm might go off at any time, where doe you want it pointed?

Marksmanship. A squirrel isn't that big, so destroying edible meat isn't a good thing. You should be able to hit a quarter at 75' consistently, with your squirrel rifle.

As others suggested, you need to find someone that would be willing to take you with them.

If you use a 10 gauge it takes the maksman part right out of it, as well as the meat.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

I've hunted squirrels when I was a kid, mostly with pump-up pellet rifles.
This quote from a post above is certainly true in my experience:
"It helps to have someone else hunting with you, as squirrels have a tendency to try to stay on the opposite side of the tree from you once they are alerted to your presence..."

If you have a buddy, one of you is much more likely to get a shot at the squizzel while it's hugging the trunk, and that means the tree trunk is your backstop (which is a big concern if you're launching .22 bullets upward).
If you don't have a buddy, you may not get a shot at that squirrel until it's 50 feet up the tree on a small upper branch, and the only thing behind its body is sky. A .22 LR bullet will go a mile or 1.5 miles at an optimum angle, maybe only 1000 yards or so if it's launched at a very steep angle upward, but it's still dangerous for a long long way.

For the ones up in the high limbs with no good backstop, a shotgun with small birdshot works pretty well. There wont' be that many pellets in its tiny body, because of the spread of the pattern that far up.

 

[Gadgetsrfun]

Great advice and good reading guys..

Once upon a time squirrel was table food. Along with rabbit, deer and a few birds. Makes great stew meat.. I have only squirrel hunted with a 22 rifle. When I was younger it was a single shot. Today I have a few more choices however I am resolute that a 22 is the only gun you should squirrel hunt with and your objective would be a head shot.

I typically only squirrel hunt these days in the weeks prior to deer season as I am scouting and preparing my stands for deer season. Funny though when I'm deer hunting I'm constently looking for squirrels LOL.

It is great fun and great sport and good training should you evolve your interests to other game such as deer.

Good luck / success and keep us posted on your experiences.

 

[Elegy]

This was me after googling bot fly.

I didn't know we had these here. Friggin disgusting. I squirrel hunted a few times in Tennessee years ago but luckily never saw any of these parasites.

 

[24on48hunting]

This was me after googling bot fly.

I didn't know we had these here. Friggin disgusting. I squirrel hunted a few times in Tennessee years ago but luckily never saw any of these parasites.

Wait until you see some of them crawl out of a dead deer's nose!!

 

[Elegy]

Wait until you see some of them crawl out of a dead deer's nose!!

Oh man. I was planning on trying deer hunting for the first time this next season too.

That should be... Interesting.