Where to Hunt Spring Squirrels

Posted 2020-05-14T12:47:00Z

Grab your favorite gun and lightweight camo, and get after bushytails right now

Spring squirrel hunting is an opportunity many of us overlook, and a family tradition for others. The following states offer short spring seasons or longer seasons that stretch into next year. Many of the same sit-and-wait or spot-and-stalk tactics you use in the fall and winter work now, too.

Springtime squirrel hunting provides opportunities to get outdoors and put food on the table. © Justin Dutcher-Shutterstock photo

Arkansas

Spring season (statewide): May 15, 2020-Feb. 28, 2021
Daily limit: 12
Possession limit: 48

First, that's a healthy daily limit. And you can keep a bunch in your freezer, and hunt squirrels 10 months a year. The state is, after all, nicknamed the Land of Opportunity.

Squirrels may not be hunted with rifles or handguns larger than a .22 caliber rimfire or with muzzleloaders larger than .40 caliber (unless a modern gun or muzzleloader deer season, bear season or coyote season is open). Also, squirrels may not be hunted with shotguns using rifled slugs or shot larger than T shot, but heck - no squirrel hunter I know would anyway.

Kansas

Spring season: N/A, as of this writing
Daily limit: 5
Possession limit: 20

Kansas spring squirrel dates for 2020 are currently unavailable. Last year, opportunities ran from June 1, 2019 through February 2020. Check the Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism website for updated details, include COVID-19 insights regarding public lands.

Kentucky

Spring season: May 16-June 19, 2020
Daily limit: 6
Possession limit: 12

The squirrel-hunting tradition is alive and well in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky shooting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset, and hunters are permitted afield before and after shooting hours. Our Realtree.com editorial team's Kentucky spring squirrel hunt from a few years back included slipping into the woods at daybreak and stalking squirrels in the leafed-out hardwoods, with some good success. Watch this Realtree video below for more on that hunt.

Louisiana

Spring season: May 2-24, 2020
Daily limit: 3
Possession limit: 9

Louisiana shooting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Spring squirrel season is closed on the Kisatchie National Forest, National Wildlife Refuges, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properties and some state WMAs (check the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries website for details).

Missouri

Spring season: May 23, 2020-Feb. 15, 2021
Daily limit: 10
Possession limit: 20

As with Kentucky, there are lots of legal methods for hunting Show-Me-State squirrels.

Oklahoma

Spring season: May 15, 2020-Jan. 31, 2020
Daily limit: 25 fox and gray squirrels combined
Possession limit: 50

Chances are you did a double take when you read that daily limit of 25 squirrels. It's correct, as the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation strongly encourages small game hunting.

Tennessee

Spring season: May-June 14, 2020
Daily limit: 10
Possession limit: N/A

Fox, gray and red squirrels are legal here. The two other species living in Tennessee - the largely nocturnal southern and northern flying squirrels - are off-limits.

Texas

Spring seasons: May 1-31, 2020 (East Texas); elsewhere, year-round.
Bag limit: None
Possession limit: N/A

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife (TP&W), squirrels can be legally hunted in 208 of 254 counties. Check the website for drop-down menu details.

Virginia

Spring season: June 6-20, 2020
Daily limit: 6
Possession limit: N/A

National Forest lands are closed to spring squirrel hunting. During the spring season, gray and red squirrels may be taken statewide, unless otherwise posted, and on specific wildlife management areas. Check the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for details.

Food for the Table

In these days of COVID-19 social distancing - something many of us hunters have always done anyway - springtime, and even summer, squirrel hunting provides opportunities to get outdoors and put food on the table.

[Squirrel recipes from Realtree's Timber2Table]