I’ve hunted lots of rabbits without a dog. The snow is nice but not necessary. You just have to do lots of walking and kicking brush. If you jump a rabbit you best be quick, you only get a split second to get a shot off. If your in thick cover, forget it. If your son was a little older it would be easier. The shooter takes one side and the dog( you) takes the other. I use to hunt that way on railroad tracks. Works well. If you can set your boy up to where you can keep an eye on him while working it would work. It’s not the best but as you get used to doing it, it gets easier and before you know it, it will be easy. Don’t do what my old man did and make your son the dog all the time either.

 

Squirrels are probably there. They see you coming from a long ways away. They’ll hide and wait for you to walk by. They’re also masters of skirting unseen around the backside of a tree trunk.

Move into a likely area and sit quietly with a tree at your back. Wait for 15 or 20 minutes. If one is hiding from you, it’ll show itself within that time. Always be scanning near and far for motion. If you see one out of range, move closer to it and wait.

Keep moving through the woods in that way. Move a little. Sit a little. Look a lot. Move again. Repeat.

It’ll be hard to do with a youngin, but it’s good practice for new hunters.

 

Squirrels are probably there. They see you coming from a long ways away. They’ll hide and wait for you to walk by. They’re also masters of skirting unseen around the backside of a tree trunk.

Agree. You can take advantage of that, especially given a ready made beater in your little boy.

In an area you know squirrels usually are, just sit the pair of you down and wait it out for a few minutes. Give your lad a white hankie and let him slowly walk a big circle waving it around. You just stay stock still and watch; you've got a fair chance of seeing a squirrel moving away from your lad, round the trunk just as AJ says.

Do bear in mind the possible ricochets; unless Junior is at greater than a 45deg. angle vertically or horizontally I wouldn't take the shot but wait for Squirrel Nutkin to give you a better chance.

 

Exactly what he said. Sit more. Early and late is best also. I bet I’ve seen a hundred squirrels the last 2 days muzzleloader deer hunting here in MO.

 

If you are a deer hunter and you hunt from a stand, you have to know where there are squirrels. I hunt squirrels just like I am going bow hunting or turkey hunting. Full camo, slip in quiet in the dark, sit down and be still. Once I get a few squirrels out moving around, it is time to start shooting.

 

What I’ve found with squirrels, especially on those days is the hunt the bottoms where there are oak. Like in WV where there are “hollers” I hunt the back bowl at the bottom. Squirrels migrate daily to food sources so on a nice day they won’t be close to home. They’ll be where food is accumulated.
For rabbits, get some briar proof clothes and push the briar thickets. PS, a 4 year old won’t be following you through that stuff. I rabbit hunted for decades without a dog and did very well. Good luck.

 

I am surprised to see so many of you say sitting. For most of the year I’ve been doing great by still hunting my way through bottoms. Typically I’ll give a particular stretch of bottom 20 mins to see or hear a squirrel and move on to somewhere else if I don’t. I’ve found there to be pockets of active squirrels most days. Once I find a pocket of active squirrels, they’ll let me shoot one, go pick it up, and then shoot another standing where I just picked that one up within a minute.

Yesterday was particularly different just from the weather and never seeing or hearing a squirrel. I hadn’t had a day like that this season. I agree that when I deer hunt oaks I’ll see lots of squirrels and chipmunks, but watching them they’re not out all the time. I guess my experience up until yesterday has been there are squirrels out somewhere all the time. With that said, I typically with kill 2 on the ground in a spot, then 2 more on the side of a tree, then I’ll start seeing them in the trees. Very much spotting and stalking until there has been enough shots to alert the area. Then I go find the next hot pocket. Usually a couple pockets nets my limit. I’ll definitely try sitting some more to see if I can net more squirrels quicker that way.

In an attempt to derail my own post, what’s your gauge of choice, along with ammo (shot size, load size, muzzle velocity, etc) for squirrels and rabbits? I find spotting and stalking the squirrels that my 12GA with a full choke is necessary, but even then smaller shot has failed to reach a squirrel in the top of an oak one time. I have a .17 HMR that I like for it, but it’s not great early season for the foliage and I can’t use rifles on my favorite piece of public.

 

I am surprised to see so many of you say sitting. For most of the year I’ve been doing great by still hunting my way through bottoms. Typically I’ll give a particular stretch of bottom 20 mins to see or hear a squirrel and move on to somewhere else if I don’t. I’ve found there to be pockets of active squirrels most days. Once I find a pocket of active squirrels, they’ll let me shoot one, go pick it up, and then shoot another standing where I just picked that one up within a minute.

So, that’s pretty much what I described. Hunt 15-20 minutes and then move. I like getting in an hour before sunrise and wait for hunting light. I’ll sit the morning for an hour if I am in a good spot.

Are you hunting the same spots over and over again? Squirrels are pretty easy to hunt out of a place if you keep hitting the same area.

Activity definitely varies with season and time of day. Morning and late afternoon are usually best.

If the leaves are down, it’s a lot harder because they see you a mile away. There’s a spot out here that always has a couple squirrels in it, but good luck getting a shot.

I’ll hunt with 12, 16, or 20ga. #5 field loads. Always a full choke. Late season I’ll take a .22.

 

Anyone here hunt them in PA? Can you use a 22? And what about camo?

 

Only hunting in Alabama for me. I could hunt Georgia, but no reason for the cost. I can’t use a .22 where I like to hunt. Unfortunately, I have to wear full orange there as well. Ironically, I have no issues hunting squirrels or deer there. Just the overly pressured land where I can use any gun and only need an orange hat is where I had the slow day 😂

 

What kind of squirrels do you normally see? Where I hunt (in PA and WV) fox squirrels are pretty easily killed while walking around. On public ground that gets hunted a lot, and there are mostly gray squirrels, sitting is what I’ve had the most luck with, I’ll see them when walking, but they like to run out of sight on the ground. I will also say, that I’ve had better luck in the earlier seasons, for some reason I just see a few less squirrels per day in the winter time, but that’s still my favorite time of the year to hunt them.

As for shotguns, I’ve killed most of my squirrels with a 12-gauge, but I’ve also used 16-, 20-, and 28-gauge shotguns, plus a little with a .410. Always a full choke if I have one, and I prefer bigger shot, 6 is the smallest I will go, and 5’s were my favorite. 4’s work, too, obviously. Velocity never mattered to me, honestly I’ve thought about loading some 1-ounce shells of 5-shot for this winter, should be about perfect in any 12-gauge I would use for hunting.

As I said, I do hunt them in PA, and I think you have to wear orange for hunting squirrels here, definitely do when any deer season is in. We can use a .22 for hunting them here (any Rimfire, actually, I’ve also used a .17 HMR).

 

Fox squirrels are a rarity for us. I have some public land that I hunt that has an okay population of them and they’re legal to hunt, but a lot of the public land I have near me either has a permanent closed season for fox squirrels or you just never see them. I think hunting pressure keeps the population wiped out, along with all the birds of prey and coyotes we have. So basically gray squirrel only for me.

I think this sums up pretty well that I need to sit more on the heavily pressured land. The other thing I haven’t thought about was with all the leaves being gone, how much easier it is for them to see me from a distance. I was just thinking about how I hadn’t see any jumping from tree to tree recently, but I bet the ones high up are seeing me a long ways off and hiding before I ever spot them.

I have ordered some 4 shot and 5 shot. I plan on hunting squirrel several weekends in a row starting in February. Hope to use at least a box of shells! Plan on finding at least one rabbit, too.

 

Looking forward to a future hunt report, with pictures, of course!