Skill Set

Whether it’s in September with a 20-gauge flintlock, October with a pet .22 rimfire or November with snow-white camo, squirrel hunting has made me a better hunter. By chasing squirrels ’round the calendar, hunters learn to improvise, adapt and adjust their strategies to ever-changing conditions, including weather, terrain, food and water sources, camouflage requirements, human interference and more.

These same skills apply not only to squirrel hunting. That’s right, everything we learn from squirrel hunting can be applied to deer, and can help turn a mediocre deer hunter into a more successful one. As the squirrel season progresses, so too will your skills. Let’s take a look at the fall calendar.

September
September is a time of plenty for squirrels. Their food is abundant and varied, and this makes predicting them somewhat difficult. When you live in the cafeteria, you can take a seat anywhere. But the frustrations don’t end with food. Early on, ground clutter is usually dense, making spotting bushytails at ground level difficult at best. Above, trees carry a full head of leaves, giving squirrels plenty of overhead cover.

It’s also typically warm. Squirrels don’t move much between the cool of dawn and early evening. Finally, there are the biting bugs. Put it all together, and you’re starting to wonder why you’re out there.

Plan to hunt early and late, when squirrels are most active, bugs aren’t, and the thermometer hasn’t exploded. Second, plan to do less walking and more sitting, which allows you to concentrate on visually picking apart the canopy. Finally, during September, you’ll be hunting water sources and soft or first mast.

If necessary, squirrels may go without food for a day or two, but they need water every day, and they will travel some distance to get it. Even if the only water source is a small pool in an otherwise dry creek bed.

Along with water, concentrate on the soft or first mast. In northern Ohio, where I grew up, that meant beechnuts or pignut hickory (first), or maybe elderberries (soft) near the timber edges. In southern Ohio, it was persimmons. Early squirrels are very selective about what they eat because they have so much to choose from. This, then, suggests focused scouting rather than taking haphazardly chosen stands and hoping for the best.

In terms of gear, I like to keep it simple. It’s hot, so I dress in lightweight cotton britches and a camo t-shirt covered with an insect barrier to keep cool. To transport smaller items and any squirrels I might tag, I opt for military web gear consisting of adjustable shoulder straps and a belt with two hip pouches, and a large satchel that rests in the small of my back. In these, I carry two 12-ounce bottles of water, extra .22 magazines, insect repellent wipes, three or four plastic bags and a couple trail mix bars. Along with this I carry a 10x42 armored binocular.