Part VI. THE GAME

Chapter 18. Squirrel Hunting

Early American backwoodsmen took squirrel with their long barreled flint-lock rifles by aiming at the bark of the tree directly beneath a squirrel's head, the con­cussion of the ball killing their quarry without leaving a mark. They brought an uncanny ability to the simple task of shooting a mess of squirrels. But this shooting skill alone wasn't the greater part of their hunting ability. The knack of reading sign reading and clever still-hunting, made an even greater contribu­tion to their squirrel hunting.

Sure, game was much more plentiful in those days. One could find plenty of squirrel in any hardwood forest. But it was hunting ability which put them within the short ranges necessary for such shooting. It was woodcraft which gave them shots at completely immobile targets.

Squirrel hunting is predicated on several factors which a hunter must meet satisfactorily to be successful. Foremost is the matter of suitable habitat. There is never a uniform population of squirrel or other game in a forest. Some sections will be totally barren of wildlife, from the smallest leaf turning birds, ruffed grouse and rabbit, to deer and elk. What constitutes good grouse cover is also good squirrel hunting territory.

Take, for example, the question of food. Call the roll of suitable nut and fruit producing trees and vines and you come up with a mixed forest—chestnut, walnut, oak, elderberry, hunckleberry and wild grape. Sounds like beautiful ruffed grouse territory, doesn't it? Also sounds like a nice place to finagle a big buck later in the autumn—and it is. Such trees attract a complement of squirrel and other game.

My squirrel hunting is done mostly in oak groves, and my principal quarry is gray squirrel. Occasionally I spend a day hunting pine or red squirrel. But regardless of specie, and there are over thirty-five on the North American Continent, the problem of food, shelter and desirable range are essentially the same.

First bit of evidence of squirrel a woodsman usually finds are "cuttings"—shell of acorns, and nuts where a fox squirrel or a gray have shucked out the sweet meated nut and left the refuge around the base of a tree where they have worked. In western forests, red squirrel frequently give evidence of their presence by leaving pine and fir cone shuckings. Such sign is obvious, easily seen by the most inexperienced hunter, but it is the simple beginning of successful squirrel hunting. It is the start of the hunt.

The task of approaching likely squirrel territory, however, and making sure by the evidence left that it is worth hunting, is comparable to the ability of finding and evaluating suitable deer cover.

There are also several parallels in the hunting. When still-hunting squirrel you must be able to pin-point their activities by relating them to the time of day you are hunting. Like deer, the greatest activity of squirrels occurs in the fore part of the day. During midday they are less active, though there is always some movement, nut cutting and such.

The most rewarding thing a squirrel hunter can do is to move into active territory, sit down where he can have two or three nut trees under observation, then wait it out. In this you have many of the elements of trail watching for deer. You must bring the same concentration to the task. You must remain perfectly quiet for an hour—better make it a half day. Study the normal activities of squirrel, their quarreling and their nut gathering. At the end of the period you will have a very good concept of, not only squirrel activity, but forest activity in general. Forests are noisy places, bustling with activities, if you but wait patiently where you may watch and listen.

Movement, especially the unstudied movements and sounds of an inexperienced hunter, cancel out woodland activity. An inexperienced woodsman progresses through the cover con­vinced that it is deserted. But if he could see and hear the activity before his own noisy cross country hiking cancels it out, or if he could see and hear this activity after his passage, he would be much more circumspect in his comings and goings.

Is there any one type of movement which is less alarming to game than average hunter sound and movement? I believe there is. In fact I believe that the entire concept of stalking must be predicated on movement and sound which is not alarm­ing to game.

If every squirrel within hearing took to a den tree at the snap of a twig, if ruffed grouse flushed wildly for the same reason and deer crashed away at the first sound of a soft-footed hunter on a game trail, then little if any game would be taken by still-hunting.

No game, from the largest to the smallest are frightened by familiar movements or sound. They are alerted, surely. They take precautions, too. But they wait it out for more confirming evidence before committing themselves to action.

What movement and sound is most familiar to squirrel and other small game? Most obvious sound, other than their own, is that of larger game. During the early morning hours when squirrel, grouse and other small game are actively feeding, big game is also on the move. A hunter easing through a woodland at this time, taking it quietly, moving slowly, very closely duplicates the action and sounds of big game. He will get in much closer on squirrel or grouse before the game becomes alarmed. It is at such times that he will get his best oppor­tunities for shooting.

This as a hunting concept is so radical it must be tested by the average hunter before he believes it possible. But it has worked with any number of experienced hunters. Predators, such as fox, coyote and bobcat know this peculiarity of the game they stalk. Their hunting is done at the time of greatest game activity, not only because they have more opportunities at this time, but also because movement and noise are the least noticed at this time.

They capitalize on this sure knowledge by confining their hunting mostly to those early morning and late afternoon hours when game is on the move. Sure, bobcat occasionally take roost­ing grouse at night. Other predators are also on the prowl at this time, but their usual quarry are nocturnal, and such hunt­ing also comes at the peak of night activity.

Hunting squirrel with a dog is a very common method of taking the bushy-tails. In such hunting, the mixed breed of dog, the small mutt comes into its own. Ten chances to one that the neighborhood mongrel has the makings of a good squirrel dog.

What is a good squirrel dog? What is he expected to do, tree squirrel and track them on the ground? All this and some­thing else—an intangible above the requirements usually asso­ciated with game-running dogs. Again, this is something which the individual mutt is very apt to develop on his own.

I once had had a small dog, Pete of undetermined ancestry, though he had indications of fox terrier and Boston bull in his makeup. Pete was a beautiful working squirrel dog. No one trained him, but he had the habit of following me afield when I hunted gray squirrel. When I found good squirrel territory and sat down, Pete would also sit down beside me, one ear cocked, quietly listening and watching. And it was he who usually spotted a squirrel. There would come a gentle tapping of his tail on the leaves. I would turn to see where he was looking, and usually I spotted our quarry. After the shot he would walk over and retrieve our game, then return to his watching. In ten minutes or a half hour the squirrels would resume their feeding. Then that gentle rapping of Pete's tail would begin again, and there would be another gray. He was unfailing in his watching. And he never made a mistake. A squirrel ever so high in a ridge oak was easily pin-pointed by Pete, even though all he had to go by was some movement of the branches or leaves against the wind. Sometimes I questioned his judgment, but if I watched and waited long enough, a squirrel would materialize in the oak he was watching.

Squirrel watching wasn't Pete's only hunting ability. When I tried walking them up during the acorn harvest, a time when the most squirrels are found on the ground, he would gently nudge through the underbrush. His careful, slow working of the cover always took those squirrels by surprise. They would scamper up a tree to the first limb, then pause to scold and curse Pete. But not a word would they get out of him in reply. Pete waited, unmoving, until I made the shot. If it was a miss he showed his disappointment by leaving the tree; if I made a hit, he would bring my squirrel to me.

Squirrel dogs should range close and slow. And if you find one which is not a loud tree barker, cherish him above all things. For there is nothing which will cancel out woodland activity like a loud-mouthed squirrel dog.

The silent tree dog will become lost from you occasionally, and you must hunt him up. But that is much better than having him advertise his presence at the tree by loud continued barking.

There is one characteristic of squirrel when hunted with dogs that is sometimes confusing. That is the habit of slipping around the tree, away from the side on which the dog is watch­ing. This is especially evident when you are hunting with a noisy dog. I think it is also very much more apt to occur when you are using a dog of large size. Smaller dogs, such as Pete, seem to arouse more resentment than caution in squirrels. Sometimes this characteristic occurs when you are still-hunting.

Such a game of hide and seek can be exasperating, especially when the squirrel moves just enough to keep out of sight when you circle the tree. My hunting friend Elzie Randolph, who learned his squirrel hunting in the river bottom lands of Okla­homa, had a very neat trick to frustrate those smart fox squirrels which were his usual quarry in that section. To bring a squirrel around to his side of the tree, he would wait for a few minutes. Then, about the time his squirrel began to wonder what had become of him, he would toss a stick around to the other side of the tree. Immediately there would be a scurrying in top of the tree, and his quarry would appear, sure that he was putting the tree between him and the hunter beneath.

Such tricks pay off in squirrel hunting. There are other pay­offs all along the line. I doubt if there is a better way of be­coming familiar with woods, and all woods hunting. That is why I believe that no one is a finished big game hunter who hasn't served an apprenticeship hunting squirrel.