Question - squirrel food source

Khondker

Senior Member
Went to squirrel hunt for the first time ever, went to Wilson Sholes WMA. It was a cold day and didn't see any squirrel. I was hunting where I saws lots of, lots of acorns and acorn shells on the ground, clear sign that they were feeding in that area.

I will go back again in August when the season open again.

Quick question : what is the food source to look for early season squirrel hunt?

Thanks in advance

------
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
Mite be what you saw was their winter supply they were cutting on. Most outside acorns around here are rotted. I find most of the squirrels around edges of thick smaller stuff. A few days of good warm sunshine will make the saplings start to bud out and the squirrels hit them hard. They are denned up pretty bad here nursing young ones. Evening hunts are a lot better than mornings here also. It will be better in a couple weeks tho.
 

ryanh487

Senior Member
They'll also eat the nuts out of pinecones, so pine thickets are a good spot. Depending on what part of the state you're in you're also more likely to find fox squirrels in the pines.
 

NE GA Pappy

Mr. Pappy
how were you hunting? sqwerls move at different times of the day. You may have been there when they were denning. also, it being a wet day, they sometimes curtail movement a bit.

in the fall hunt the boundary edges of pines and hardwoods. You will find them moving back and forth between the two type of forest. You might find them cutting poplars too in the fall.
 

greg_n_clayton

Senior Member
They'll also eat the nuts out of pinecones, so pine thickets are a good spot. Depending on what part of the state you're in you're also more likely to find fox squirrels in the pines.

speaking of fox skwerls, I don't know that I have ever seen one in these parts !! Remember seeing my first one, at my aunt's house in the mountains of Tennessee, that thang looked like a house cat cutting in the tree tops !!
 

NE GA Pappy

Mr. Pappy
speaking of fox skwerls, I don't know that I have ever seen one in these parts !! Remember seeing my first one, at my aunt's house in the mountains of Tennessee, that thang looked like a house cat cutting in the tree tops !!

the only places I see them is south of here, down around Redlands.
 

transfixer

Senior Member
We've got a good population of fox squirrels on our lease in Oglethorpe county, close to the Wilkes county line.
 

Khondker

Senior Member
how were you hunting? sqwerls move at different times of the day.

I was hunting around from noon till around 3:30 pm. Before that I went to the WMA shooting range to sight in my 22 LR rifle.

I have sighted the gun at 25 yards zero with Remington Golden, 36 grain.
 

NE GA Pappy

Mr. Pappy
how did you hunt? walking thru the woods ? dog? sitting still?
 

Killer Kyle

Senior Member
Went to squirrel hunt for the first time ever, went to Wilson Sholes WMA. It was a cold day and didn't see any squirrel. I was hunting where I saws lots of, lots of acorns and acorn shells on the ground, clear sign that they were feeding in that area.

I will go back again in August when the season open again.

Quick question : what is the food source to look for early season squirrel hunt?

Thanks in advance

------

Khondker, I hunt Wilson Shoals WMA for squirrels with fair regularity every year. The coldest days, or either cold and rainy days are always the slowest for me. I see very few on those days. I try to Target warmer days right at first light, and the last two and a half hours of daylight or so. Squirrels are mainly on the ground right now and eating on red oak acorns and buried nuts right now. You'll occasionally find caches in tree holes, in fallen logs, and under fallen logs. There's not a lot of method to my hunting. Sometimes I try to spot them way off and wait them out. Warm days after a rain make the leaves soft and quiet, and I can get around without being noticed as easily. On dry days when moving through the woods, you can get spotted fairly easily.
Try and target those warmer days. If we have temps on up into the mid 50's or warmer, that usually makes a good day.
I was squirrel hunting there a couple weeks ago, and picked up 31 shotgun shells (12 ga and 20 ga) where I was hunting. I can say with fair certainty that there's been a number of squirrels killed there.
Deer hunting there ends in November, I believe, and you'll do best there this fall right when deer season ends. Acorns will be much more fresh. Early season before the archery opener, they'll be going crazy on both the red oaks and the white oaks, and on the hickories. September is a really fun time to hunt them there, and is probably the best time. They have a late archery opener that usually opens around the beginning of October, so I'd be there in September hunting squirrels.
I always make the mistake of hunting bears, deer, and hogs in the fall, and putting off squirrel hunting until deer season closes. By then, it's cold, the woods are open, and it's much more difficult to hunt. I am resolving to do more early season squirrel hunts this year. I live near Wilson Shoals. If you ever want to team up this year, now or later in the fall, I'd be glad to have you come along with me to team up.
 

Khondker

Senior Member
Khondker, I hunt Wilson Shoals WMA for squirrels with fair regularity every year. The coldest days, or either cold and rainy days are always the slowest for me. I see very few on those days. I try to Target warmer days right at first light, and the last two and a half hours of daylight or so. Squirrels are mainly on the ground right now and eating on red oak acorns and buried nuts right now. You'll occasionally find caches in tree holes, in fallen logs, and under fallen logs. There's not a lot of method to my hunting. Sometimes I try to spot them way off and wait them out. Warm days after a rain make the leaves soft and quiet, and I can get around without being noticed as easily. On dry days when moving through the woods, you can get spotted fairly easily.
Try and target those warmer days. If we have temps on up into the mid 50's or warmer, that usually makes a good day.
I was squirrel hunting there a couple weeks ago, and picked up 31 shotgun shells (12 ga and 20 ga) where I was hunting. I can say with fair certainty that there's been a number of squirrels killed there.
Deer hunting there ends in November, I believe, and you'll do best there this fall right when deer season ends. Acorns will be much more fresh. Early season before the archery opener, they'll be going crazy on both the red oaks and the white oaks, and on the hickories. September is a really fun time to hunt them there, and is probably the best time. They have a late archery opener that usually opens around the beginning of October, so I'd be there in September hunting squirrels.
I always make the mistake of hunting bears, deer, and hogs in the fall, and putting off squirrel hunting until deer season closes. By then, it's cold, the woods are open, and it's much more difficult to hunt. I am resolving to do more early season squirrel hunts this year. I live near Wilson Shoals. If you ever want to team up this year, now or later in the fall, I'd be glad to have you come along with me to team up.

Thanks a lot, I sure will give you a buzz this fall.
 

NE GA Pappy

Mr. Pappy
this sounds crazy, but it works if you been sitting a while and nothing is happening..

 

j_seph

Senior Member
Di you go in early morning or late evening and have a sit or did you go later morning and mostly walk around? I see more by going just like deer hunting and sitting for awhile watching and listening.
 
Top