SPORT IN SQUIRREL-SHOOTING 
Hunting Fox Squirrels with a 16-Gauge Gun 
BY ERNEST CAVE 
HERE is one thing that 
“the enthusiastic squirrel 
hunter must impress up- 
on the mind of his fellow 
sportsman who _ never 
shot a squirrel, and that 
is that his favorite jaunts 
in quest of the tricky fox 
squirrel are anything but 
slow and uninteresting. This his friend 
of no experience invariably disputes. 
As a rule, the State game laws permit the 
shooting of squirrels from September 
r until January 1. Thus the season extends 
over what one might call four months, 
taking in three seasons, summer, fall and 
winter. One-third of a year is a pretty 
long time for Mr. Squirrel to be careful 
of just where he goes and what he does. 
Then, too, the hunter is not his only enemy; 
he has others and plenty of them, of which 
I will speak later. In September, Mrs. 
Squirrel invariably has a family which 
is yet too young to be thrown upon its own 
resources, and I am sure the thoughtful 
hunter would not wish to break up a 
family by killing the mother, and thus 
causing the death of four or five young. 
Also, the weather in September is, as a 
general rule, quite warm, the trees have not 
taken on their true autumn colors, which 
signal cool, frosty days, nor is the meat 
of the squirrel firm and of the rich flavor 
the crisp mornings seem to put into it. 
October and November are ideal months 
for squirrel-hunting. The rusty brown of 
the cunning fox squirrels harmonizes com- 
pletely with the rich autumnal colors which 
cover both the ground and the trees. The 
crisp, cool air seems to put new life into 
both the squirrel and his patient pursuer. 
Now is the time when the lazy, big fox 
squirrel, who would not work when the 
harvest was ripe, must rustle around 
pretty lively to scrape together enough 

food to keep him snug and decently fed 
within doors in the cold winter. Hence he 
is up early in the morning and late in the 
evening picking up a nut here and there 
on the ground and stealing a few from his 
watchful neighbor, the gray. This is the 
time when the hunter enjoys the best kind 
of squirrel-shooting. 
As the latter part of November and the 
month of December draw on and bring 
with them the early snows, the big fox 
squirrel stays indoors for longer periods, 
or else, in his disgust at the approach of 
foul weather, he starts out some _ bright 
morning and travels south to some timbered 
bottom land where he can find something 
to eat under the protection of the heavy 
forest cover. The weather is now nearly too 
cold for one to waste much time watching 
and waiting for squirrels, and, besides, there 
are now lots of prime rabbits, which, if 
hunted without the use of a dog, afford 
fast and interesting sport. So, all in all, I 
think it would be best to let our bushy- 
tailed friend alone for at least ten months 
of the year. 
Now, having decided that October and 
November are the only real months in 
which to hunt squirrels, we will take up 
the much-discussed subject of the proper 
gun to use. At once we recognize three 
different types of squirrel hunters, and each 
has his own idea of the only gun that can 
be used on squirrels with complete satis- 
faction. There is the man who always 
has used a 12-gauge for all kinds of game, 
and, in his opinion, no other is worth while 
owning. Then the man who always shoots 
them—“‘in the head’’—with a small-caliber 
rifle must be considered, as he is scattered 
over the country in quite large numbers. 
Last we have what might be classed the 
up-to-date squirrel hunter, who uses a 16- 
gauge and still-hunts for his quarry. Let 
a shooter try a 16-gauge for this particular 
