Wear plenty of camo, stay hidden and still, and you’ll bring home more bushytails
“I don’t understand it. I see plenty of squirrels when I’m deer hunting, but once deer season is over and I go after squirrels, they just don’t seem to be around.”
Daniel Brewer of Home Branch, S.C., hears this all the time from his hunting friends. He used to have the same problem, but not anymore.
The solution, said Brewer is to dress up for squirrel hunting just as much as you dressed up for deer hunting.
“Usually when deer hunting, people are very well-camouflaged,” he said. “They are also usually sitting very still and waiting for deer. It’s easy to get bored, and easy to notice all the activity squirrels are making, because sometimes it keeps them from hearing deer.”
“I don’t know why, but for some reason, when these same folks go squirrel hunting, they hit the woods in their blue jeans, maybe a camouflage shirt, no face mask, and no gloves. It’s no wonder they don’t see more squirrels.”
Brewer used to do the same thing when hunting squirrels, but once he started decking out in full camo, he quickly realized that was the ticket to getting his limit.
Another tip that has helped Brewer bag many wary squirrels is carrying a handful of walnuts or pecans in his pocket and cracking two of them against each other when a squirrel is hiding on the opposite side of a tree.
“If they detect something’s not quite right, they’ll often freeze on the other side of the tree and just wait. They can wait a long time, but if you crack two walnuts or pecans together, they will let their guard down, believing it’s another squirrel getting an easy meal. Get ready quickly after making that cracking noise. They’ll be coming around,” he said.
