Hunt Log 2022: Squirrel 08/27

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out for opening day of squirrel season this year. Squirrel hunting is a lot of fun, but the value proposition is low. Additionally, most of the places where I see squirrels are also where I’d like to hunt deer. Stomping around and shooting a shotgun is about the last thing I want to do in these areas. I made a compromise and decided to go to an area that I’m not planning to deer hunt.

I got up around 6am, so not that early in terms of hunting. I drove about 40 minutes and parked my car on the side of the road in a public WMA. I immediately headed into some thick brush. I hadn’t gone far before I came to some tall harwoods and found piles of hickory nut hulls on the ground. I actually thought, “this looks squirrely,” so I sat down to wait for 20 min or so.

After I stopped moving and making noise, the woods came alive. I was pleasantly surprised to notice a couple of squirrels waving branches in a tree in front of me. They were high up and obscured by foliage, so I took a few minutes to glass them and try and figure out the best way to get a shot. I was hoping to double up, but I kept losing the squirrels in the leaves as I stalked in 20 yards. After 10 or 15 minutes just trying to position myself, one of the squirrels made a mistake and exposed himself on a bare branch. I took the shot.

It was a small Eastern Gray. I stood still after the shot, hoping one of the other squirrels would make a break for it, but they kept hidden. I had marked where my squirrel fell, but it still took me a while to locate it in the dense brush.

It was warm, 73 degrees, and I’ve found that squirrels are much easier to clean before rigor, so I went ahead and gutted it right away. He then went into a Ziploc and into my backpack.

I honestly didn’t hunt that hard after that. I was distracted by some soybean fields I found nearby, and I was curious to see if I could glass up any deer (ironic, I know, considering my initial compromise). I did miss a chance on another squirrel an hour later, but I didn’t see much else. I was probably hiking around too much, and the day was heating up. Though I didn’t do much to fill the freezer, it was great to get outside and explore a new area.

Note:

I came across a number of spent shells and old beer cans in the same vicinity. This really bothers me for a number of reasons: 1) Drinking and shooting is incredibly unsafe, 2) I’m not a fan of littering in general, and 3) It really makes responsible hunters/gun owners look bad. Please be safe and clean up after yourself. Also, as hunters, we can do a lot of good by cleaning up some litter when we’re out it the woods. I’ve started to bring a trash bag on my hunts just this purpose.