This weekend’s rainy cold front may have put a damper on some bowhunters’ plans. Happily, I suspect the cool, drier forecast (at least for the Southwestern part of the state) has many of you skipping out of work early or coming in late, your bow and gear living behind the seat of the truck. This is a beautiful time of year to be a deer hunter.

Unless you hunt whitetails with things that go “bang,” rather than things that go “twang.”

Not counting the youth season, Ohio only offers about 20 days of muzzleloader and modern gun hunting. That’s broken up into two- to seven-day stretches over the next few months; hardly enough time to keep one’s woodsmanship skills sharp or feed the hunting fix for another year.

So what can a gun hunter do to stay in shape for the fleeting deer gun season?

Look up for an answer.

Ohio boasts a fantastic squirrel season. With the exception of modern gun season for deer, squirrel season is open from the first of September to the final day of January 2010.

I can hear some of you now:

“Squirrels? The little critters I used to tag with a .22 when I was a kid? Get serious.”

But I am serious. Bushytail hunting is a wonderful way to stay in shape for the deer gun season, and a worthwhile pursuit in its own right.

Like many squirrel nuts I’ve met, I prefer still hunting the rodents. The amount of noise squirrels make cutting nuts and their tendency in the early fall to trust you can’t see them in the leaves make geting within iron-sights range relatively easy. Just take your time, walk softly and stay aware of your surroundings.

I use “relatively” to make a point. Even if squirrels can’t see, hear or smell like deer, they aren’t completely stupid. A cleanly shot squirrel at the end of a long stalk is a prize to be proud of, even if you don’t need a rope to drag it back to the car.

If you consider that the state’s seasonal bag limit for deer is less than the daily bag limit for squirrels, it’s a no-brainer that you’ll get a lot more trigger time each season if you pursue tree-dwellers in the early and late seasons.

And make it useful. Ditch the shotgun or shoot-a-mile varmint rifle and take the critters with something more challenging, like an air rifle.

This fox squirrel fell to a clean neck shot from a break-barrel air rifle. Small game with a small-caliber rifle can equal big fun in the early season.

No, not the Daisy you got for your 9th birthday. A modern hunting air rifle.

I’m using a Remington Summit. It’s a Crosman product, manufactured by an Asian company and pretty close to the Gamo break-barrels we offer at the Outfitters. It’s incredibly accurate for what I paid for it, and I picked it up with a 3-9X40 scope that certainly helps in that department. Yes, I have to spend more time stalking to get within my self-imposed 35-yard limit for a shot at the head. Yes, I have a longer reload time as I fold down the barrel, insert a .177 caliber pellet, reset the barrel and raise the gun.

But these “drawbacks” mean more time in the woods stalking game and a bigger self-imposed challenge. That’s half the fun for me. Plus, the pellet, when placed right, damages a fraction of the meat even a .22 hollowpoint can do while still anchoring the squirrel.

And they don’t call them chicken of the trees for nothing. Shorten your favorite poultry recipe’s cook time by a minute or two, and squirrel makes for a mighty fine meal.

So go get that old .22 out of the closet or pick up a new air rifle (who doesn’t like that new-rifle smell?) and hit the range. When you can place a group of 5 in a walnut-sized circle from 25 yards or so, you’re good to go. The acorns are coming into season, and if the amount of fur I saw wriggling through the hickories in my favorite squirrel spot this month is any indication, then October should be a good month for squirrel hunters.