Squirrel Hunting

Bright Days and Bannertails

Squirrel hunting is the earliest season in many locales. Take Kentucky, for instance, where there’s an early
short season in June, and then the main season which
opens in mid-August.

Wildlife biologists say that early- and long-squirrel hunting seasons have no impact on the resource. About
half the squirrels born every year will fall to predation whether they are hunted or not.

But, are you really up to hunting during high summer?
Heat and humidity can be real turn-offs. Sometimes, however,
the weather cooperates, and you can make a great early
season hunt

Squirrel hunting is now open through much of the country. And many eager hunters have already been out. Bannertail is the most popular small game in America; even more favored than rabbits.

There’s more involved, of course, than popularity of the game. It’s been a long year since hunters have been able to get out, and squirrel hunting is a way to scratch that itch. What’s more, the techniques learned chasing bannertails now serve you in good stead when you hit the deer woods later on.

Still and all, I normally don’t open squirrel season. In fact, it’s at least two months from the opener until I make my first hunt. August is too hot, too muggy, too hot, too buggy, too hot, and the foliage too thick.

Did I mention that August is too hot?

We got a break, this year. No, not on the actual opener. Thunderboomers made going outdoors problematical at best. But those storms were the leading edge of a cold front that made all the following week the most comfortable one we’d had all summer. Overnight temps were in the high 60s and low 70s. And even during the bright afternoons, when temperatures climbed into the low 80s, there wasn’t much humidity. It was a glorious time to be outdoors. Particularly in the mornings.

It was 67 degrees when I headed to the woods by the light of false dawn. It wasn’t bright, by any means, but there was enough light to see my way. I knew just where I was heading.

I’d had some logging work done, a couple of years back. I’d start the morning with my back against the stump of an old oak they’d removed. When set up for deer in that spot, last fall, I was all but over-run by squirrels. So I figured that would be the best beginning for squirrel hunting. The area is appealing to them. Plus, even two years later, it’s more open around where that tree stood. So I’d get a cleaner shot at whatever squirrels did appear.

Not that I cared about harvesting a lot of them. The name of the game was getting out and enjoying the day. If I happened to take a squirrel or three along the way, that would be gravy.

Precisely because I didn’t care that much, I had a debate with myself over what arm to carry. If I were really squirrel hunting, this time of year, the choice of firearm would be self-apparent. Given the amount of foliage, a 12-gauge is the way to go. More times than not, what you see isn’t a flagtail so much as the suggestion of one, as it makes it way along a branch. You get a brief glimpse of gray, or the flick of a tail. But you’re actually following his movement by the shaking leaves, and the trail of dew-drops falling from the branch.

I toyed with the idea of just carrying a .22 handgun. The old Ruger Single Six has taken more than its share of squirrels in the past. But not when the trees were in full bloom. A handgun might be handicapping myself too much, I thought.

The Varner falling-block, single-shot .22 rifle might be fun. It’s a real tack-driver, and I haven’t shot it for awhile. But I rejected it for the same reason: It’s really too thick out there for a rifle or handgun of any kind. A shotgun really was the only choice for squirrel hunting at this time of year.

In the end I choose the Hollis & Sheath. I’m sure I’ve spoken of this gun in the past. Built in Birmingham, around 1851, as a best-grade shotgun, she’s been hunted every season since. I don’t think you own a gun like that, so much as act as its steward. I’ve had that honor for about 8 years now, after talking my friend Pat Greene out of the gun.

The Hollis & Sheath shoots the classic British upland load consisting of 3 drams of powder and 1 1/16th ounces of shot. Actually, I use a 90-grain powder measure, and drop both the powder and shot from it, which provides the classic game load. For bannertails, who can carry a lot of lead, I choose #5 shot. And, of course, 2F powder for the 12 gauge.

A lot of people think using a muzzleloading shotgun a handicap under the best of conditions. But just give some thought to those old hunting pictures you’ve seen. Harvests consisting of dozens of upland birds; hundreds of ducks. Such slaughter is frowned on, today. But it was common in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. We often forget that those harvests were done with muzzleloaders.

Other than speed of loading, modern guns really bring no special virtues to the hunting field.

I could argue the advantages of the Hollis & Sheath all day and partway into the night. But the one absolute fact about it is this: I enjoy carrying it and shooting it. Which is more than enough justification.

In this case, more than aesthetics made it the perfect squirrel hunting choice. I hadn’t been set up against the oak stump more than ten minutes when a flagtail made a run along a downed tree branch. One for the gamebag. By the time I’d taken my third from that spot I figured there was no sense wearing out my welcome. So I headed back to the house with the makings of a fine meal.

Not a bad way to start the hunting year.