OK, I'm looking for some tips here. Me and my buddy just started squirrel hunting, and we suck at it. What gives you guys the best success? I already bought a call and got one to answer it, but he wouldn't come to us. Or could it be we're just hunting a bad area? There's a lot of oak trees, but I've also seen a lot of hawks around.

 

It takes a long time to get "good" at squirrel hunting. You have to know what they look like while they're not moving and hugging a limb - know the difference between a squirrel and a knot. They are great at remaining motionless.

You have to know what they sound like while they chatter or bark and what each call means...and your call might just be worthless.

My method: Get cammoed out, fully, and creep through the woods. Sit down in a good spot and look for the subtle moves in the copse of trees or on the ground.

It just takes time to know how they feed, play, mate, move, etc. If you spend enough time hunting - you just get good after awhile.

 

Leave the poor squirrels alone.

Come up here and shoot Magpie's instead

 

don't shoot when you see the first one, chances are there'll be more then you might could take more than one. then sit down and clean the ones you got, and most of the time, by the time you're finished, there'll be more to shoot. also if ya see one, y'know how they always run on the oposite side of the tree? well get your buddy to walk around the other side of the tree while you don't do any movin' and shoot him when he comes around.
good luck

 

We don't have those beautiful little birds in NE Texas, Dennis....

 

Shoot the squirrel or your buddy?

But seriously do you think its a good idea to shoot at a tree when your buddies on the other side!?

We go huntin' grouse around here

 

LOL!

That's really the way it's done, Woogs knows.

And, uhmmm, no, don't get on one side of that grouse while your bud's on the other side...and shoot....

LOL@!!!@E!#!

 

Hehe, where I'm from any type of hunting is usually preceded by drinking large amounts of alcohol. I hope this isn't your problem

Me and my friends always did the best by simply sitting down next to a tree and being real quiet and watching the trees real closely. After any action, get quiet again, and the squirrels will show back up.

 

haha well if you really don't like the dude . . . naw usually the squrrels are too high up in the tree for you to miss and ally shoot your buddy, but yah obviously still gotta be contious of him over there.

EDIT: usually whatever you're hunting squirrel with is prolly gonna be to small to kill a guy with on the first shot, so more than likely don't you think he'd be a little suspicious if you went squirrel hunting with a 30-06 or something?

 

You need to scout out their feeding trees PRIOR to going in for the hunt. Around here , when the season opens in August, they are cutting on pine cones. Then in Sept they go to hickory nuts, then beechnuts, etc. You need to always know the trees they are feeding on, and what month they cut on them. Find a good stand of trees that you find fresh cuttings around and landmark them in your mind...

Get up before daylight (they wake up and enter the feed trees at daybreak, then again at late evening ) , then enter the feeding area in camouflauge with skeeter' repellent on. You want to be at your tree BEFORE they come out to feed. Find a big tree to sit behind or stand against and keep your movements non existence or VERY slow at best. They detect movement and sticks breaking under your feet as danger signals , and will "bark" (sounds like a sick duck quack, then a low pitched squeal) and hide and lay flat on a limb. Dont shoot the first one, there will be more come out to feed, if you take the first one, you will have to move on, or wait a while between shots. ..
. So if you decide to walk and hunt , you have to watch where you put your feet and move slow. Watch for the tree branches doing the telltale "shake" as they jump down on branches. Usually, thats the best opportunity for a shot, because when landing they will hesitate a moment before they go on walking....

When I was a kid and devoted all of my waking moments hunting the tree rats, I found it best to hunt them at their feed trees at daybreak. The next best was just after a light rain. The damp leaves muffle your steps , and the tree limb shakes with its wet leaves full of water, could be heard and spotted easy. ...

I have not shot a tree rat in 35 years, or any game at all in 15 years , but I still recognize and love that "smell" of the woods in August , and Hoppes #9 on my old Winchester model 37 single shot 20 ga. on opening day. good hunting. P.S. Use a shotgun in the early fall when the foilage is heavy, and in late fall when the leaves are down and the squirrels are on the ground, be a sport and use a 22 rifle,

 

Im gonna need this info, I have a whole dang colony(or whatever you call 'em) livin in my walnut trees in my backyard.

 

Wanna make a squirrel mad? Wrap a sheet of thin coil stock sheet metal around a tree from about 6 ft high on down so he can't climb it. Watching them fight with it is more enjoyable than shooting 'em.

 

Got a back porch? Put you up any old bird feeder. We made ours from scrap wood and a landscape timber for a post. Fill it with that expencive black oil sunflower seed. Sit in that deck chair with a good book and your twenty-two. Those tree rats will come out of the wood work and while they are chasing off the birds and gorging themselves, practice for a good head shot. Squirrel stew for every one! Good Luck

 

A friend just got a new .17 caliber HMR...with Nikon scope...equals 1/2" groups at 100 yds...3000 plus ft per/sec
I thought just removing the tails for hunting was a good way to see a living good shot days later. ;')
I'm dying to target shoot.

 

That's a good one. Plus, they'll be easier to shoot at sitting at the bottom of a tree they can't climb up!

Chris