East Tennessee Outdoors: Squirrel hunting part two
Published 12:17 pm Tuesday, October 29, 2019
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Photo Contributed There are two types of flying squirrels in this area – the northern and southern. Neither of these species can be hunted. The above photo shows a northern flying squirrel in flight.
Photo Contributed There are two ways to hunt gray squirrels – stalk and ambush. Both can help you fill your limit and dinner pot.
I can remember my first squirrel hunting trip like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old and my father had decided to take me hunting. He gave me his old Revelation 12-gauge shotgun and we headed toward the mountains.
I remember we hunted for hours and heard a few squirrels but none that would give us a good shot. Before we left the mountains, I remember dad made it a point to make me shoot his 12-gauge shotgun.
I also remember I had a bruise on my right shoulder for the next three days from the recoil of that gun. I wore that bruise with pride.
In decades past, it was very common for people to walk out behind their house in rural America and go shoot some squirrels for dinner. In the last couple of decades though, that trend seems to have taken a major decline.
But why? Perhaps it’s because more people live in urban or suburban areas, or that the pay-off (in meat) doesn’t seem worth the effort (which isn’t really true).
Thankfully, squirrel hunting is starting to take off again. It’s a perfect species to hunt because the gear is very minimal – it involves smaller rifles or shotguns and it can be done for an extended season.
As far as gear goes, you don’t need much to squirrel hunt, just a good pair of hunting boots and a firearm.
A .22 caliber rimfire rifle or a .28 gauge or .410-gauge shotgun will be powerful enough to kill a squirrel. If you use much more than that, it will still be effective, but you risk destroying too much meat.
There has been a trend in the last few years of hunting squirrels with air rifles. Some of these guns shoot as much as 1000 fps and higher. This is more than enough power to bring down a squirrel.
There are two ways you can hunt the bushy-tails. The first way is to ambush hunt them.
For this method, find a tree where squirrels have been gathering nuts – you can see the remnants of the nuts on the ground. Set up at a good vantage point and wait, watch and listen.
Rimfire rifles such as the .22 LR are nice for ambush hunts since the squirrel shouldn’t know you are there, and you should be able to get a headshot at a relatively motionless animal. Just remember that squirrels never really stop moving for long.
The second way to hunt squirrels is to stalk hunt them. This method requires you to move quietly through an area that holds squirrels. Stop often and watch and listen.
This method is more enjoyable for me because I get bored sitting in one place and this method allows me to hone my stalking and spotting skills. These same skills will be useful when big game seasons start.
One excellent thing about hunting squirrels is there are two long seasons to hunt them. The first is an early spring hunt that usually goes from May into June and is about five weeks long. The other is a fall hunt that opens around the third week of August and lasts until the end of February.
That is approximately seven months of squirrel hunting, and it has been my experience you will never get bored.
If squirrel hunting is brand new to you or you just haven’t done it for a few decades, maybe now is the time to pick it up.
You can hone many basic hunting skills by doing so, and squirrels are very tasty, especially cooked with dumplings and gravy. Why not give them a try?
