Squirrels are a great introductory animal to hunting beginners and if you start by hunting squirrels, you’ll gain valuable skills that you’ll be able to use in any form of hunting.
Of course, squirrels aren’t the easiest choice, but they’re one of the best choices for beginners because they can definitely help you learn quickly.
Also, since squirrels are a lot more social than other small or big game, they bring more opportunity and better practice sessions, and yet they’ll include every part of hunting, from looking for signs, and stalking, to calling and shooting.
And down below, you’ll find out the best squirrel hunting tips so you can improve your hunting game and learn quickly!
Best Squirrel Hunting Tips
With so many things to pay attention to, down below, you’ll find the most useful tips. You might have heard some of them, but others that you didn’t will take your hunting game to the next level if you apply them to your hunting!
1. Choose a Perfect Time
The perfect time would be when the squirrels are most active and it is usually at dawn or dusk. This will automatically increase your chances because even though everyone thinks squirrels loaf around the whole day, stacking up for the winter – it’s not necessarily the truth.
They’re most active at the sun or dawn and even though there are days when you can come across them throughout the day, it’s best to go at the advised time.
Otherwise, you might miss out on squirrels since they also tend to loaf on the branch in the mid of the day or snooze in their den.
Weather is as important so you should pay attention to the wind. Squirrels don’t like the wind and you will only have difficulties spotting squirrels due to the moving branches and leaves. Therefore, a clear and sunny day is the ideal day to go for a squirrel hunt.
2. Find Food
If you can find the food, you can rest assured knowing that there’ll be squirrels around and about. While squirrels love oak acorns, you will find them taking nuts from a variety of oak trees.
If you’re only a beginner, the easiest way is to find a tree that’s dropping some kind of nut. Lay low and it’s a waiting game from there.
But since squirrels eat a variety of food, you’ll be able to hunt them in many different spots since they’ll be constantly on the move for food.
3. Get the Proper Equipment
Of course, a hunting rifle and a good set of boots are all you’ll need to go squirrel hunting as it’s one of the game that doesn’t require a lot of equipment.
However, by investing in a pair of quality binoculars, you’ll be able to find squirrels in the distance, even if they’re among the leaves and trees. If you spot movement in the distance, binoculars can quickly help you confirm if is squirrels.
Another piece of advice that not many young hunters know is that you’ll have to lay low a lot. Therefore, bringing a seat cushion or even a cushion for your back will be a good choice.
4. Stay Longer and Hunt with a Friend
It’s very likely that you’ll spook squirrel on your way, therefore, staying longer is a must. Anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes is how long you’ll have to wait once you find a good spot.
Squirrels will come back to the spot as long as there’s no movement and you don’t spook them again. Therefore, hunting with a friend will make the wait a lot easier and more fun, since you’ll definitely need a cushion or two to get comfortable as you wait.
But this is a good lesson to new hunters because this is a good similarity between squirrel and deer, so the longer you sit, the better the chances of a successful hunt are.
5. Go Slower
Hunting too fast will never get you any luck with squirrels. Slow hunting (still hunting) can still spook squirrels and you are better just sitting down and keeping one position.
But if you really don’t want to hold still, moving slowly a bit and then taking up a tree and sitting at the position for about ten minutes before moving further is a good choice. This still isn’t enough time for squirrels to come back to the area where you spooked them, but you’ll be able to see them in the distance.
Therefore, even if you decide to do still hunting, you should be still for more time than you actually move.
Patience is the key and you’ll definitely have to go slower.
Additional Tips for Hunters
Getting to the spots where squirrel gets their food might not always be simple to do on foot. However, other motorized hunting vehicles will make too much noise.
Investing in a quality hunting electric bike will help you move quickly, stay stealthy, and yet reach destinations you otherwise couldn’t in an easy way.
There are all sorts of electric hunting bikes and we’ve covered many of them in our reviews, so you can find the one that will fit your hunting needs. However, hunting eBikes will most likely exceed your expectations.
When it comes down to wearing a camo, this is another common question but you don’t need to wear camo as it won’t make a huge difference when hunting squirrels.
And lastly, when it comes down to the shot size you should use, 6 lead shot has been the go-to shot size for decades and it’s the most preferred one by hunters.
Conclusion
Squirrel hunting tips might help teach you things you didn’t know earlier and even though squirrel hunting isn’t hard, you should do everything right in order to maximize your hunting success.
By only following a couple of these tips, you’ll be able to know when to hunt, where to hunt, how to position yourself, what to do, and also what not to do.
Did you start hunting by hunting for squirrels? How hard was it to learn how to hunt?
