 “HOW
TO HUNT SQUIRRELS AGGRESSIVELY”
Cutting
EDITOR’S NOTE: I've learned you can take more
squirrels by talking and walking to bushytails rather
than by sitting and waiting on them. Instead of moving
into an area where I've seen cut nuts and uneaten nuts
and sitting and waiting on one or possibly two squirrels
to appear, I aggressively walk, hunt, call and cover
a lot of ground to find large groups of squirrels. Squirrels
often travel in bands with as few as five to as  many
as 20 squirrels moving and feeding together. Hunting
areas with larger numbers of squirrels allows me to
take more bushytails in a shorter time. I call to the
squirrels, listen for them to call back and then stalk
in closer before I start calling again. Squirrel calling
can add a new dimension to your bushytail experience
and actually increase your odds of finding and taking
more squirrels. The many new tactics that have been
developed and the new calls on the market have made
the sport of calling squirrels much more fun, exciting
and productive than ever before.
“When squirrels eat nuts, they must first cut
the hard, outer shell of the nut away from the meat
of the nut with their teeth,” Brad Harris,  nationally-known
hunter, mentions. “This sound is very distinctive
and often can lead hunters to bushytails. However, a
hunter imitating this sound was difficult. But now there
is a cutter call, which I have used on many occasions
to take more than one squirrel out of the same tree.
When you shoot the first squirrel, don’t retrieve
it but instead, stand still. Then start using your cutter
call. When squirrels hear the crack of a rifle or the
blast of a shotgun, most of the time they aren’t
aware of what has happened. But they will be frightened
and will run to hide. When they hear that cutting sound
made by feeding squirrels, they often will  come
out of hiding thinking danger has passed and begin to
feed once again. Using a cutting call, you may bag a
limit out of a couple of trees in a short time.”
To make the cutting call, simply move the plastic pallet
down the screw type sound chamber of the cutter call,
using the same rhythm you hear squirrels make when they
cut nuts. Remember, if you’re hunting an area
with soft nuts like white oak acorns or water oak acorns,
give the call lightly. But if you’re hunting a
hickory ridge where bushytails must cut hard to break
shells away from the nuts, call louder.
TOMORROW: RUSTLING LEAVES TO
DRAW SQUIRRELS
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