Steve Felgenhauer
Squirrels are no different than any other game animal. To find them you need to find their food source. The rub is squirrels quickly switch from one food source to another. One week you will find them in a hickory tree and the next week they will be in the white oaks. To be a successful and consistent squirrel hunter, you need to keep an eye on what they are eating.
This is done primarily by spending time in the woods.
Finding Early Season Squirrels
Early season squirrel hunting differs from late season squirrel hunting. In my home state of Missouri and throughout many states in the south, squirrel season comes in at the end of May. The squirrels in early season aren’t interested in the hickories or acorns. For the most part, the acorns aren’t even formed yet. Early season sends me to a small stand of mulberry trees close by the house. The squirrels stain their chins in the dark mulberry juice. As summer rolls through, the food source is difficult to pinpoint and a walk through the woods can tip you off to whether it’s ripening buds or other fauna they are eating.
I do a lot more still hunting during the early season as I try to pinpoint the food source the squirrels are hitting in the late spring, early summer.
Finding Late Summer Squirrels
In parts of the US where poplars and beech trees are present, the poplar flower and beech nut, are excellent food sources for squirrel in late August to mid-September.
In my neck of the woods, in late August the pignut hickory begins to ripen, and the squirrels make their way to these trees. The shagbark hickories and white acorns will ripen before long offering a smorgasbord for them.
I was tipped off to the ripening of the white oaks this year when I noticed several deer eating the acorns nearly every evening. It did not take long for the squirrels to decimate the acorn harvest in this single tree.
I still hunt much of the time as I am usually pulling double duty both hunting squirrels and looking for deer sign for the upcoming deer season. Once I find a reliable food source, I may choose to sit still setting up in the vicinity of the preferred food source and snipe the squirrels as they make their way to and from this area.
In the latter part of the fall when the red oaks and walnuts are ripe, the squirrels shift their focus to these trees.
Pecans trees are another favorite food source for squirrels. When I lived in North Carolina I was able to gain access to private land to hunt. The caveat was I had to shoot every squirrel I saw in the pecan trees. Again, squirrels can wreak havoc on a single tree or small stand of trees.
I’ve shot squirrels from dogwood trees while squirrels were gorging themselves on the small red berries and from fruit trees like pear. They like the sweet flesh of the fruit. They especially like it if the fruit trees are in close proximity of other trees. Squirrels are opportunists and when paw paws are ripe you will find them gnawing on the sweet fruit well into mid to late September.
Recently, I went out to get a grasp on what the squirrels are feeding on and while every squirrel I saw was in a white oak tree, they were only using the giant oak to travel to a nearby pignut hickory. In the next week or so the white oak acorns should be close to getting ripe as I discovered a few acorns under that big oak that had been eaten and that big oak will be the hottest spot in the woods. I like to sit on a small 3-legged stool and wait the squirrels out early in the morning and again later in the evening. During the day especially during a hot spell like we have been experiencing, the squirrels will sploot (lay on their stomachs on a branch with their legs behind them on the limb) and remain nearly motionless. Squirrels do this to help them keep cool. In cooler temps they will sit in a crotch of a tree remaining nearly motionless. I will use a good pair of binoculars in an area I know they are using to detect a tail or another part of the squirrel.
Finding Late Season Squirrels
In the late part of season, I shoot as many squirrels on the ground as in a tree. They are always looking for a morsel and seem to be digging around. In the afternoon they will perch on a limb and take a nap in the warmth of the sun while keeping a vigilant eye out to sound a warning to the neighborhood if he sees something he doesn’t like.
While choices of what gun or which call works best for squirrels is always debatable, to consistently bag squirrels find their food source and be ready to switch when they do.
