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Listen Up! Use Your Ears to Bag More Squirrels
Sight is the sense hunters use most when squirrel hunting—watching for a twitching bushy tail, an odd hump in a branch, leaves shaking in a treetop. But sometimes the best way to find this quarry is by using your ears. You'll get more shots if you listen for these five sounds on your next hunt:
- Vocalizations from catlike meowing to muffled barking to angry scolding when squirrels sense danger or an intruder.
- The sharp crunching sound of a squirrel's teeth cutting through shells as it gnaws on nuts and other hard-mast crops.
- The patter of acorn, walnut, hickory, or pecan nutshell fragments falling to the forest floor.
- Shaking leaves and rattling branches high up in the trees caused by a squirrel that is jumping from one limb to another.
- The rustling of leaf litter as the squirrel scampers through the woods searching for food.
TIP: Draw out a hidden squirrel, or at least get it to move and betray its location, by tapping two hickory nuts or acorns together in your palm. This noise imitates the animal's own chattering sound.
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Comments (12)
I'll try the hickory or acorn nut tapping. I've always used my zipper to mess with them if there's no luck deer hunting.
i to will have to try the hickory nut tapping squirral hunting is great fun when deer arent in season
I've tried the nut-tapping trick before and it works like a charm.
all of these tips are excellent! I started hunting squirrels before I hunted deer. I firmly believe that it has made me a better deer hunter. I use my ears just as much if not more than my eyes when I hunt squirrels. another one would be to listen for them climbing up and down trees.
Ha I have never hunted squirrels but always thought that it would be interesting to do. They are really funny creatures and do some really interesting things.
I got a .22 for christmas this year, and have wanted to go squirrel hunting. This is my 5th year hunting. Where I hunt, there are so many squirrels, you think you hear deer when there are a million squirrels milling in one area. I need to hunt them bad.
I was just given a Marlin model 60 with the squirrel engraving. I think it's a sign! I will try these tips.
i will try thes
I think I will try to tap those hickory nuts together also.
Anybody who has spent enough time in a treestand listening to the absolute racket squirrels make while you're waiting for deer knows this is the truth. If anything, I'm dying to get out and bag some squirrels for payback for the games they play during deer season. :)
I know you are speaking of tree squirrels. I am an avid ground squirrel shooter, using .22 centerfires and rimfire rifles for good success. The best shoot I had in the northeast corner of California was over 350 kills before noon (using a very accurate Ruger-actioned .22 rim fire rifle. The animals have posed a yearly threat to alfalfa ranchers (the squirrels eat the roots below ground and the foliage above ground). CA law forbids poisoning or trapping them, so hunting them provides at least some measure of control.
The more squirrels you bag now the less you will mess with come deer season. I use two nickles to make the squirrel bark, put one flat in palm of hand and strike the center with the other while holding vertical between thumb and forefinger, works great and carry's easyily in pocket.
Post a Comment
I'll try the hickory or acorn nut tapping. I've always used my zipper to mess with them if there's no luck deer hunting.
all of these tips are excellent! I started hunting squirrels before I hunted deer. I firmly believe that it has made me a better deer hunter. I use my ears just as much if not more than my eyes when I hunt squirrels. another one would be to listen for them climbing up and down trees.
Ha I have never hunted squirrels but always thought that it would be interesting to do. They are really funny creatures and do some really interesting things.
Anybody who has spent enough time in a treestand listening to the absolute racket squirrels make while you're waiting for deer knows this is the truth. If anything, I'm dying to get out and bag some squirrels for payback for the games they play during deer season. :)
i to will have to try the hickory nut tapping squirral hunting is great fun when deer arent in season
I've tried the nut-tapping trick before and it works like a charm.
I got a .22 for christmas this year, and have wanted to go squirrel hunting. This is my 5th year hunting. Where I hunt, there are so many squirrels, you think you hear deer when there are a million squirrels milling in one area. I need to hunt them bad.
I was just given a Marlin model 60 with the squirrel engraving. I think it's a sign! I will try these tips.
i will try thes
I think I will try to tap those hickory nuts together also.
I know you are speaking of tree squirrels. I am an avid ground squirrel shooter, using .22 centerfires and rimfire rifles for good success. The best shoot I had in the northeast corner of California was over 350 kills before noon (using a very accurate Ruger-actioned .22 rim fire rifle. The animals have posed a yearly threat to alfalfa ranchers (the squirrels eat the roots below ground and the foliage above ground). CA law forbids poisoning or trapping them, so hunting them provides at least some measure of control.
The more squirrels you bag now the less you will mess with come deer season. I use two nickles to make the squirrel bark, put one flat in palm of hand and strike the center with the other while holding vertical between thumb and forefinger, works great and carry's easyily in pocket.
Post a Comment