Protein is, without doubt, the foundation of a good survival diet. But in an unfamiliar environment, like the wilderness, you’ll have to work for it. Vs. visiting a store like you could in the city.
Hunting small game is therefore a worthy skill to master if you plan to spend an extended period in the wild. Not only will it keep you well-fed, with valuable meat, it’ll help to boost morale. Since nothing beats that feeling of a perfect kill-shot. Plus, it’ll give you a strong sense of independence, security and dominance over the environment.
Squirrel hunting is an old skill that’s fast becoming a thing of the past. As deer, boar and other big game prey steal the limelight. In fact, many hunters these days won’t even consider bagging these pesky critters. But is this bad news? After all, it’ll only make your squirrel hunting skills more valuable when SHTF. When other prey get scarce. Even better, you’ll be surprised at how good it tastes. Once you learn to prepare it.
Even better, it’s not as expensive to hunt squirrels as other animals. With minimal gear needed. These small, elusive creatures also make great target practice.
Now, before you plan your first hunt, you should know that there are several subspecies in North America. While those you should target include the eastern fox and eastern gray squirrel since these are the most abundant.
How to tell them apart
To differentiate between these two species you should first look at their size since fox squirrels tend to be larger. The problem with both however is they rarely reach their full growth potential since they’re the preferred prey of many predators.
In terms of color, gray squirrels are a solid gray with small hints of brown and a white underbelly. While fox squirrels are mostly red-brown in color with hints of gray on their back and an orange-red underbelly.
Range and habitat
Gray and fox squirrels can be found throughout North America. From New Brunswick, to California, Florida, and British Columbia. If you live in the Southwest desert areas, nevertheless, you’re out of luck since such squirrels prefer the forests of Arizona and New Mexico. In general, they also prefer conifer woods, with nut-producing hardwoods, but you can also find them in pine forests since they love to eat pine cones.
The favored hardwoods of squirrels are:
- Hickory
- Oak
- Beechnut
- Pecan
- Walnut and black walnut
- Osage orange
Squirrels spend most of their time in the canopy above the forest floor and live in mature trees with an open understory. This creates a safe environment for them since they will spend a good part of the day on the ground searching for food and places to hide it.
They also nest in trees, but will prefer the safety of a den or hollow if available. If you have good eyesight you might even be able to even spot their nests, made of twigs and…