If you can stay quiet, taking a squirrel doesn't have to kill your deer hunt

Taking a squirrel or two while deer hunting doesn't have to run your chances at a whitetail.

Make your bow a more quiet weapon or pack a .22 pistol for bushytails

Theodore Roosevelt called shooting small game while hunting big game the cardinal sin for hunters. With North Carolina’s squirrel season already open, the temptation to shoot a bushytail while deer hunting is ever-present. Sometimes the urge proves too strong, and when it does, hunters need to be as quiet as possible to avoid scaring away a big buck. With the right equipment, archers can shoot squirrels quietly from a tree stand while waiting for a big buck to stroll past.

Making the bow quiet is the first consideration. Use a string suppressor and sound dampeners to eliminate the excess noise caused when the arrow fires. Suppressors are the rubber-padded “sticks” extending back from the riser to meet the bowstring. As the bow fires, it stops the string at the resting position — stopping the extra movement forward that normally occurs as the string pushes the arrow forward.

Major manufacturers like Hoyt, Mathews and Elite are beginning to make this a factory feature. Those with older models can buy the accessory and attach it to the reverse side of the riser from the stabilizer. It doesn’t make the bow silent, but it does go a long way toward stopping the slap of the shot.

Wait until the squirrel gets directly under the stand before shooting. The sound will travel down with the arrow instead of out into the woods following the shot. Again, the shot won’t be silent but the sound can be muffled.

Pick your shots carefully. Hitting a stray rock under the leaves will make a shot ring through the woods. Make sure to only take shots that you know will kill the animal quickly, preventing the squirrel from calling out or rustling leaves when it is hit.

North Carolina allows archers to carry a .22-caliber pistol afield to finish off wounded deer. Loading this with subsonic .22 Long Rifle — or .22 Shorts if the gun allows — can let a hunter plunk a nearby squirrel without too much sound. This also allows for tree shots where an arrow would get stuck.

Killing squirrels does more than kill time between deer sightings. It’s an enjoyable archery opportunity that just happens to fall inside another popular hunting season. Quietly doubling up on species lets bow hunters have the best of both seasons.