The first day of squirrel season is almost upon us. Most bushytail addicts are getting revved up just thinking about it. For my hunting group, the opening of squirrel season is a big event and viewed as the inauguration of all the fall seasons to follow. But squirrel season isn't just a precursory surrogate to hold our interest until bigger and better hunting seasons come along. Quite the contrary, it provides a great experience all its own and is a favorite time of year for countless small-game hunters.

The early part of squirrel season is filled with a lot of fun and excitement. There are usually plenty of squirrels and the weather is normally very pleasant. Hitting a favorite spot before daylight on opening day with a full thermos of coffee is nearly perfect. To brandish an oft-used phrase, it just doesn't get any better.

Unfortunately, most every good thing comes with a downside. Early- season squirrel hunting has several. Obviously, heat and a plethora of biting and nagging insects are what first come to mind. Another is merely squirrel location. Often in the early part of the season, the bushytails are tucked high in the tops of tall trees, barely visible among the thick tangle of leaves. This leaves one to ponder the choice of firearm.

While many die-hards will opt for scoped .22 rifles or even air guns (where legal), the majority of the rest of us will turn to our trusty shotguns. Nevertheless, the bushytails can be so far away and in such thick foliage they can be hard to bring down even with a scattergun. To turn the tide, some resourceful hunters are deviating from the norm and seeking out alternative loads to harvest these early-season sky-dwellers.

Most everyone has old unused boxes of shotgun shells sitting around collecting dust. A few of these might come in very handy this season. Some squirrel hunters are turning to heavier turkey loads and old waterfowl loads to bring down the bushytails from greater distances and in thicker cover. This may sound hokey at first, but it definitely has some merit.

The first thought that comes to mind is probably that the heavier shells will ruin the meat. Well, that would probably be true at close range, but we're mainly talking about targeting squirrels in hard-to-reach foliage a long way off. This means fewer pellets will actually hit the squirrel and, with the larger shot size, it may only take one pellet to bring it down. The heavier shells actually have much more knockdown power than say a box of No. 6 field loads.

Of course, not every shooting opportunity is guaranteed to be at an extreme range, so there is always a need for a backup plan. With a pump shotgun, some folks will stack two different shot sizes back to back -- one for close range and one of heavier shot for long distances.