Can You Squirrel Hunt During Deer Season, and Will It Scare Away the Deer?

Although squirrel hunting seems to be waning in popularity, it’s still a relatively popular game species and a popular vehicle for introducing kids or new hunters to hunting in general. With more than 25 years of experience as a squirrel hunter, I have seen the best and worst of times when it comes to this type of hunting.

I have had some great successes, as well as some frustrating failures. In this post, I will share some of my insights and experiences so that you can make the best decision for yourself when it comes to answering the following question: can you squirrel hunt during deer season?

Can You Squirrel Hunt During Deer Season?

Depending on the specific game seasons and rules where you live, the quick and dirty answer may be no; you can’t squirrel hunt when deer season is in effect. This is especially true if deer and squirrel hunting seasons do not overlap.

However, in most states, the squirrel season and deer seasons will overlap, so there is the possibility of squirrel hunting while deer hunting is in season. There are several factors to consider when answering this question, including the following:

• Hunter Safety
• Potentially Scaring the Deer Away
• Public Land Concerns

Let’s take a minute and dive deeper into each area of concern.

Hunter Safety

In the event that you can hunt squirrels during deer season or hunt deer during squirrel season, concerns about hunter safety come into play. Those concerns are probably more of an issue for hunters on public land versus private land, but I’ll discuss the sub-topic below.

Most deer hunters (but not all) are hunting from an elevated tree stand and scanning the ground for deer, while most squirrel hunters are hunting on the ground and scanning the ground and trees for squirrels. If a hunter from either of these groups fails to properly identify the target before shooting, it could lead to tragic results.

When I squirrel hunt during deer season, I make sure to wear a significant amount of hunter orange (more than I typically wear while squirrel hunting outside of deer season) in an effort to be as visible as possible to other hunters.

Here are a few other hunter safety tips to consider when hunting squirrels during deer season:

• Follow all local hunting regulations: Squirrel hunting during deer season may have additional regulations that must be followed. Make sure to check and obey all local hunting laws and guidelines.
• Be aware of your surroundings: Squirrel hunting during deer season requires paying attention to your environment, including the presence of other animals and hunters. Keep an eye out for deer and other large game, and ensure you know where other hunters are at all times.

Potentially Scaring the Deer Away

Another factor to consider is the possibility that squirrel hunting during the deer season may scare the deer out of an area or, even worse, force them to relocate to another location with fewer interactions with people.

If you have access to private land or a hunting lease, there’s always the chance that squirrel hunting, while deer season is still allowed, could adversely impact your deer hunting success as well.

I don’t believe that a deer who encounters a squirrel hunter one time will relocate, but repeated encounters could potentially be a different story. For this reason and hunter safety concerns, I don’t typically go squirrel hunting during deer season on any private or public land where deer hunting is happening.

However, I’m fortunate enough to have permission to hunt several private tracts of land where the land owner or lessee does deer hunt. In those situations, I only squirrel hunt those locations after deer season has ended.

Public Land Concerns

I briefly touched on this topic previously, but I take a different approach to squirrel hunting on any public land and typically won’t hunt squirrels in that situation. About the only time I will squirrel hunt on public land with deer hunters are in cases where the area being hunted is so remote that the chances of encountering another hunter are incredibly slim. I’ve had a few unpleasant encounters with other hunters during deer season, so I opt not to hunt public land when deer is in season.

Hunting on public poses more potential hunter safety issues than on private land and more chances of a conflict with another hunter because your presence negatively impacted his or her deer hunting.

Here’s how I approach squirreling during deer season:

• On private land I control and have no other hunters, I routinely squirrel hunt during any deer season.
• On private land shared by other hunters (say a hunting club), I skip any squirrel hunting while deer season is in effect.
• On public hunting land, I generally avoid squirrel hunting on public land during deer season except for very specific occasions.

However, those are just my own personal approaches, so you may feel differently.

FAQS

Will squirrel hunting ruin deer hunting?

That’s a difficult question to answer because a person’s perspective plays a significant role in how they answer that question. For example, most deer hunters feel that squirrel hunters in the woods, while they are trying to deer hunt, ruins their deer hunting.

I wouldn’t say that squirrel hunting ruins deer hunting, but I would say that hunting squirrels during deer season can potentially cause some complications for deer hunters sharing the same woods.

Is squirrel hunting public land during deer season legal?

The answer will depend on the hunting regulations in your state. Most states allow squirrel hunting and deer hunting seasons to overlap, so it’s legal in those states.

However, being legal does not necessarily make it a good idea. Therefore, I would suggest exercising great caution when hunting squirrels on public land during deer season for all the reasons discussed above.