Most hunters spend August prepping for deer season and completely sleep on squirrel season. Big mistake.

Here's why early squirrel season is one of the most valuable things you can do as a Midwest hunter:

1. It puts you in the woods when no one else is

While everyone else is watching YouTube, you're on your feet learning the terrain. You're finding the white oaks dropping early. You're seeing fresh deer sign. Squirrel season is free scouting.

2. Mast crop = everything

Early season squirrels concentrate on whoever's dropping first — typically white oaks before red oaks. Find the trees littered with cuttings and half-eaten acorns on the ground, and you've found your spot. That same white oak flat? That's where the deer will be in October.

3. Movement windows are tight

First hour after first light, and again an hour before dark. Don't bother sitting midday in August — they've gone thermal and you're wasting time. Get in, be mobile, hunt the edges where hardwood canopy meets open sky.

4. Shot discipline transfers directly to deer season

Squirrels are small and fast. Running them with a .22 or a shotgun teaches you trigger control and patience — skills that pay off when a buck steps out at 40 yards and your heartrate spikes.

Early season opens soon across most of the Midwest. Don't let it slide by.

If you hunt the Midwest and want weekly early-season breakdowns, scouting intel, and a community that actually hunts — come find us.