Tips for Late-Season Squirrels

by Keith Sutton

Keith Sutton
15601 Mountain Dr.
Alexander, AR 72002
501-847-9643
catfishdude@sbcglobal.net

If you’re among the large group of sportsmen that hunts squirrels from opening day till the end of the season, you know that hunting during the harsh winter months is tough. Early in the season, squirrels often seem to be everywhere. Prime food supplies are abundant, squirrels are less wary, and leafy branches restrict the game’s vision, allowing for closer, easier stalks. The solution for bagging squirrels during this time is simple—just find a patch of hardwoods and start hunting.

As the season progresses, however, hunting squirrels gets increasingly difficult. Hunters have taken a toll on the game, and Mother Nature has sorted through those remaining and claimed the weakest through reduced food supplies, predators, disease and inclement weather. Those that survive are savvy, battlewise veterans that can easily elude the casual hunter.

Add to this the fact that during severe weather, squirrels may be almost totally inactive and seldom seen. Leaves have fallen, making the hunter more visible to the game he stalks. Nuts no longer cling to the branches, so squirrels are moving more on the ground, making them harder to see at a distance.

Despite all these negatives, however, late-season squirrel hunting can be productive and fun. Winter hunts are more challenging, to be sure, but squirrels are still available and the knowledgeable last-minute hunter can enjoy some of the year’s best gunning.

I enjoy the challenge of late-season squirrel hunting. And with more than 30 years of experience under my belt, I’ve learned a few tricks that help me bag several dozen squirrels each winter. Here are a few you can try.

Good Things in Small Packages
Be flexible when selecting hunting areas. Large stretches of timber can be very productive for savvy hunters, but in country with a mix of small woodlots and big woods, you may do better working smaller patches during later weeks of the season. Small tracts are often overlooked by other hunters, and although they may not hold large numbers of squirrels, the restricted environment makes bushytails easier to find. Move from one small tract to another, taking care not to overhunt any single area.

Plan Your Stalk
While squirrels are sometimes easier to locate in winter when leaves have dropped, the bushytail, from its vantage point high in a tree, still has a tremendous advantage. Its super sharp eyes and ears make winter stalking a very tough sport.

To overcome the squirrel’s keen senses, you should select your stalking route carefully and shouldn’t attempt to stalk and hunt at the same time. Concentrate on moving noiselessly with your eyes to the ground, pausing frequently to study your surroundings for game. Extend your surveillance to the point that you’re searching the woods a couple hundred yards ahead. If you don’t, squirrels will see you and be hidden before you’re even aware of them.

When you spot a squirrel, move in waltz time. The slower you go, the better your chances are apt to be. If you can swing it, do your traveling at the same time the squirrel is in motion. For instance, move forward when he’s reaching for another nut and freeze when he’s eating it. The single most important thing a squirrel stalker can learn is that patience is a golden virtue.

Remember, too, that you should never stalk with the sun over off either shoulder (to your right or to your left). Doing so makes your shadow sweep across the ground perpendicular to your movements, increasing your chances of being seen. When leaves are still on, most smart hunters stalk into the sun if possible. It’s easier to spot moving squirrels in leafy branches if they’re outlined against the sun. Later in the season, though, when squirrels forage more on the ground, it may be best to hunt with the sun at your back to put the glare in your quarry’s eyes. Either way, use a tree shadow to hide your own when stalking in for the kill.

Keep to the Low Ground
If you have a choice between hunting a ridge and a creek bottom, stick to the creek bottom. The leaves will be wetter and the going quieter. You’ll also be keeping a lower profile so squirrels won’t be as likely to spot you. For short distances, you can keep a large tree between you and the squirrel as you move slowly into range, employing the stalking tactics described above.

Watch for Sign
Acorns and other nuts are the most important winter foods of squirrels. To pinpoint squirrel concentrations, watch for nuts and fresh cuttings (fragments of nutshells) on the ground. Fresh cuttings have brightly colored edges, a sign squirrels have been feeding in the area, and it should be good for hunting.

Another sign of winter squirrel activity is the scratching left when buried nuts have been dug up and eaten. These are usually small mounds of dirt and rotting leaves where squirrels have done their excavating. They’re easy to spot when there’s snow on the ground, but you’ll have to look a little harder to spot the telltale mounds when there’s no snow cover.

Scouting for active tree dens and leaf nests is another way to zero in on a good patch of squirrel woods, and for this, binoculars are a great aid. Use the binoculars to scan each likely home site. Active den holes are usually worn smooth and shiny around the entrance, and often have little tufts of fur stuck in the rough edges. Leaf nests are rarely used in winter unless tree dens are scarce, but where that is the case, watch for big, full balls of leaves with no open patches where light can shine through. These are most likely to harbor squirrels. Squirrels make regular repairs to winter nests; thus, nests that look threadbare and unkempt are probably inactive.

Binoculars also can help you find the squirrels, especially during still, sunny days when they like to stretch out on a limb or in a fork during midday hours. Move slowly through the woods, using binoculars to peruse such spots for an ear, a patch of fur, a tail or other bits and pieces that reveal basking bushytails.

Additional Tips
1. During mast-poor years in hilly terrain, center your search for squirrels on north-facing slopes. The north slopes are more protected from sunlight and tend to retain moisture better. Consequently, they usually have more hardwoods, better mast crops and more squirrels.

2. Winter squirrels are usually reluctant to leave a reliable food source, even after hearing gunfire. If you locate several squirrels feeding in a small area, mark the location of your first kill, satisfy yourself that the squirrel is dead, then stay put. Within five to 10 minutes, the remaining squirrels are likely to be moving again, and you’ll get another shot.

3. If possible, hunt mountains or hilly areas when wind conditions are unfavorable. Scouting will often reveal a few hollows where calmer conditions prevail and squirrels are more active.

4. Keep your ears tuned for even the slightest sound made by a squirrel. Rustling leaves often give a squirrel away. So can the sound of the rodent’s sharp teeth gnawing a nut, or cuttings falling to the forest floor like the pitter-patter of rainfall. Also listen for barking or chattering squirrels. These are often rutting squirrels that pay more attention to potential mates and competitors than to the hunter who quietly stalks them.

5. Clothing with bark-pattern camouflage does wonders to conceal you from wary winter squirrels, but safety aspects should also be considered. When you’re leaning against a tree, another hunter could mistake any slight movement for a squirrel. It happens with tragic regularity, and in many states, “victim mistaken for squirrel” is one of the leading causes of hunting accidents. Be cautious, and wear fluorescent orange clothing whenever appropriate.

These techniques and tips aren’t the final answer to late-season squirrel hunting success. But if what you’ve been doing so far hasn’t produced the desired results, give them a try. Ol’ Bushytail’s brain may not be any bigger than a hickory nut, but he’s got plenty of smarts tucked away inside. To outwit him, you have to be better at playing his games than he is.

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