Old-time squirrel hunters certainly don’t need my advice on how to hunt, but younger ones and those who head forth only occasionally could well keep a few facts in mind.

One is that when the season opens, squirrels, be they fox or gray, are almost invariably working hickories. They might nibble a dogwood berry occasionally or seek out some wild grapes, but if shagbark, pignut, shellbark, and similar hickories are plentiful, they’ll cut these first.

If they’re scarce in a woodlot or stretch of timber, then beech are a second choice. Once the hickories are cut out, they’ll turn to beech, then the sweet acorns of white oak, post oak, burr oak, and swamp white oak. Only in late-season desperation will they turn to the bitter nuts of red and black oak, pin oak and scarlet.

Fox squirrels are lazier creatures, often not up until good daylight, and far less wary than grays. I usually hunt these using three steps then pause and look around. If I spot one feeding then I’ll walk in close for a shot. You’ll seldom walk up on a gray, though I’ve done it when the woods were wet and quiet.

Finally, when you shoot one, never make the mistake of running over and picking it up. There may be half a dozen others watching you do that, but you’ll never know it. If you can see they’re dead, keep sitting quietly and pick them up when you’re ready to leave. Not before.