Oddball Methods for Bushwhacking Bushytails
Day 3: Take More Squirrels During the Rut
Editor’s Note: Everybody knows about the tried and true techniques for squirrel hunting – stalking, sitting and using a dog, but, chances are you haven’t tried these wrinkles that will put more game into your bag by day’s end.
 Another highly-skilled bushwhacker I knew was Chuck, who was what you call a close preserver.  Chuck was a man of the woods. Most of the meat that he ate during the year was taken from the woods. Chuck believed that, “There’s only one time of the year to hunt squirrels, and that’s when they are in ‘the rut.’ You can get twice as many squirrels for half as much money when you’re hunting squirrels during the rut. When squirrels are in the rut, they are much like deer. They lose a lot of their fear and aren’t as cautious. They also will have mating on their minds. Most of the time during the rut, you will see two or three squirrels playing together. I usually slip-up as closely as I can to the trees where the squirrels are playing. I’ll be real patient and watch the squirrels. Before long they’ll begin to mate, and that’s when you shoot. Instead of one squirrel tumbling from the tree, you’ve got two with one shot, which makes your hunting costs more effective.” Chuck never took over the limit of squirrels, and I never remember his carrying more than four 12-gauge shotgun shells to get his limit.
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