Now you see them, now you don’t. Fleeting glimpses are often the most positive results of early-season squirrel hunts. Spotting a tree squirrel is difficult enough in early fall while leaves are still on the trees. Seeing them long enough to make a shot can be downright frustrating.

STRATEGY TIME
Catching squirrels unaware is the trick to early-season hunting. Seeing one climb up a tree is not enough. You might wait there a long time and not see it again. Once it gets up among the treetop leaves, it might go anywhere. You might not be able to find it even if it stays in that same tree, and you might not be able to follow it if it runs through the limbs to another tree.

Do you move, or do you wait?

The problem with moving is that it is very difficult to see squirrels before they see you. The problem with waiting is that you must be in just the right place or you will wait in vain.

THE WAITING GAME
Your best chance to catch squirrels unaware is by sitting quietly in a place where you are confident that you will see squirrels. Scouting, of course, is the way to find such places. Of course, if you find squirrel food you will probably find squirrels, but there is more to it than that.

Squirrels eat various mast crops, particularly nuts. They prefer some nuts over others and at different times of the year. This varies from area to area. One of the biggest problems with early-season hunting is that the nuts might not yet have fallen on their own. As early as September, squirrels may be high in the trees cutting nuts loose, sometimes too high to reach with a shotgun. Waiting for the squirrels to come to the ground to retrieve the nuts they cut (which they may not do the same day) calls for a lot of patience and uses up a lot of hunting time.

Squirrels are also very fond of agricultural crops, with corn being the most common food in many areas. Hunting around corn fields offers the clear advantage of seeing more squirrels on the ground.

When food is plentiful, it is unlikely that you will find a concentration of squirrels in one place. There is no reason for them to congregate. Waiting for squirrels is best when food is scarce, especially the season after a year of abundant food and squirrels are plentiful. A remote corn field or a tree that has nuts will attract squirrels from a wide area.

If you must use a shotgun, use the relatively quiet .410 if you have this option. A .410 might be the optimum firearm for hunting squirrels. Anyone who is serious about this sport should consider owning one. Choked either full or modified, a .410 will reach out as far as a 12 gauge. The only difference is the amount of shot, which is not critical. Squirrels are not difficult targets for a shotgunner unless they are running in trees. Just a couple of No. 4 or No. 6 shot from a high-velocity load will dispatch a squirrel. However, do not use 3-inch magnum loads for squirrels. These contain more shot than standard loads, but the velocity is lower. Squirrels are tough, with tough skin. One shot pellet that completely penetrates does more good than a dozen that barely penetrate the skin.