Keeping your shotgun clean is an integral part of waterfowl hunting. Whether you’re scavenging in the swamps or crouching in the dark during a blizzard, your gun will get dirty. Here are some tips to keep your Inertia Shotgun cycling all season long.
After disassembling your gun, use Break Free CLP to clean all surfaces and remove any residue such as gunpowder, mud, and salt. If necessary, wrap your rag around a screwdriver to get into hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, and be sure to pay close attention to the back and inside of the receiver.
Once everything is clean, spray a small amount of Hoppe’s No. 9 Dry Lube on the bolt, let it dry, and wipe off any excess with a clean, dry rag. He reassembles his gun and tries the bolt. It should be very fast and responsive and keep you shooting even on the coldest days of the season.
In a recent column by Chip Minemyer, “The Squirrels, a Water Gun, and Me,” he very cleverly identified not only the wildlife that he is attracting to his feeders, but also the challenges posed by the squirrels that constantly consume the fuel that currently it costs gasoline. bird seed that he is buying to feed that wildlife.
During the long COVID-19 blackout, and unfortunately for my heirs, my neighbors, and the charities I used to share my pensions with, I too began this journey.
Chip very eloquently described this squirrel challenge and then went into detail about how he was tackling what can only be described as a hopeless journey to inhibit his successful consumption of those expensive seeds.
One of our close friends saw the numerous feeders I have placed outside our living room windows and said, “Stop spoiling those birds. Let them work to find their dinner like the rest of us. Now, that’s a pragmatist.
Our cat spends her days sitting on the back of the sofa watching their antics and from time to time throwing herself against the window. It’s her way of showing them that they’re just a thin pane of glass away from becoming cat food. (She has never eaten a bird and she is afraid of them).
A friend interrupted his bird feeding when his wife saw rats, not squirrels, feeding in the middle of the seed houses. (Those city squirrels don’t know when to hold them or when to bend them.) There aren’t many things nastier than an arrogant city rat.
Another friend had to hire a trapper (live traps) to help her keep raccoons away from her birdseed and suet. That trip to raccoon hunting is costing him almost as much as her seed, and there’s no guarantee that they or her closest relatives will want to return.
Finally, a doctor friend of mine had to remove the feeders because every night a mother bear and her little cubs would attack her yard and knock over the feeders. Once they had a belly full of that delicious bird seed, like all good bears, they went right back into the trash cans.
Many of my college years were spent at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. On the campus of this school there is a beautiful park-like setting called Oak Grove. That grove was full of oak trees and dozens of cute gray squirrels. Those squirrels became the center of an obsession for my father.
When he visited them, he loved to sit on the benches under those huge oak trees. We would talk about school. He usually ended our visit by handing me a $5 bill, and life was good.
I could tell he loved the fun of seeing the little gray vermin running up and down the trees, playing, eating, and being, well, like a squirrel, as well.
In fact, he fell so in love with their antics that he decided our little town deserved a similar vibe. That’s when he set out to fill our town with gray squirrels.
While visiting my brother, he noticed that the owner’s property was also populated by gray squirrels. So he made a deal with him. Every time a squirrel was caught in a live trap, my dad would drive the 55 minutes to Jeannette to pick it up and bring it back to our yard. Within three months we had gray squirrels everywhere and their dreams came true. Before long, our little town resembled Oak Grove in Indiana.
However, when hunting season arrived, everything changed. Instead of squirt guns, our neighbors started turning these little creatures of God into squirrel skewers.
To finish, I suggest approaching this adventure as a casting for a Disney movie. We have chipmunks, bunnies, squirrels and all kinds of birds that frequent our smorgasbord. Oh, and we found really cheap generic bird seed. (Just not under the rat food section.)
Nick Jacobs of Windber is a healthcare consultant and author of the book “Taking the Hell Out of Healthcare.”
Nick Jacobs of Windber is a healthcare consultant and author of the book “Taking the Hell Out of Healthcare.”
Texas has eight species of squirrels divided into three groups: ground squirrels, tree squirrels, and flying squirrels. Only two species, gray or “cat” squirrels and fox squirrels, both tree squirrels, are classified as game animals.
Fox squirrels are the larger of the two, weighing up to 2.5 pounds compared to 1-1.5 pounds for the gray squirrel. These large squirrels with their tan/orange undersides are the most widely distributed squirrels in the state, from East Texas to Central Texas. They prefer more open upland forests that are home to large numbers of oak, pecan, hickory, and other mast-producing trees.
RELATED: Squirrel Hunting Isn’t As Popular As It Used To Be
Gray squirrels prefer dense forests such as those found in the wide lowlands along rivers and streams in East Texas.
East Texas has the largest population and concentration of squirrels in the state, with gray squirrels making up 75 to 80 percent of those animals.
2. When to hunt
In the 51 East Texas counties with the highest chipmunk populations in the state, Texas wildlife managers have established two hunting seasons, one in the fall and one in the spring, for these game animals. The dates of the 2018-19 season are from October 1 to February 1. May 24 and 1-31. Daily bag limit is 10 squirrels, grays, or foxes, total.
The fall hunting season is by far the most popular among Texas squirrel hunters.
In 157 Texas counties outside of East Texas, there is no closed season for squirrels, but the 10-bag-per-day limit does apply. Forty-six counties in the Panhandle and far west Texas, where squirrels are absent or in very low numbers, do not have squirrel season.
All persons hunting squirrels in Texas must have a valid Texas hunting license.
3. Which firearms are the best?
Most Texas squirrel hunters pursue their prey using still hunting, a tactic that involves moving slowly and quietly through the woods, stopping frequently, often sitting at the base of a large tree and carefully scanning the ground. forest canopy looking for squirrel movements. The most productive areas to hunt during the fall season are those with large numbers of red or white oaks and other trees that produce poles. Acorns and other hard masts, such as hickory nuts and walnuts, are the preferred forage for squirrels during the fall and winter.
A smaller number of Texas squirrel hunters hunt with canine companions. These squirrel dogs, usually feist, cur or small/medium terrier breeds, hunt along the forest floor, pick up the scent of squirrels looking for food, follow them to the tree the squirrel climbed when it left the ground and bark to tell the hunter that the dog is gone. wooded a squirrel.
Most squirrel hunters use a .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight. Some prefer a shotgun loaded with number 4, 5, or 6 shot shells; Shotguns are especially effective early in the fall squirrel season, when most trees still have their leaves on and it’s hard to shoot a squirrel moving through the leaf cover. At the end of the season, when most of the trees are bare of leaves and opportunities for unobstructed shooting are more frequent, the .22 rifle is the most widely used firearm by squirrel hunters.
4. Where to hunt
While most of the squirrel hunting in East Texas occurs on private property, the region offers plenty of public hunting opportunities. Squirrel hunting is permitted in large portions of the Sabine, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and Angelina National Forests. In addition, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s public hunting program offers dozens of tracts (state wildlife management areas, private leased lands, portions of national forests) where squirrel hunting is permitted to license holders. a $48 Texas Public Hunting permit.
More information on public hunting opportunities in national forests: www.fs.usda.gov/texas
More information about the Texas Public Hunt Program: tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/
5. How to cook and eat
Chipmunks have been a traditional, even staple, food in much of East Texas, and much of the southern US, for generations. Sometimes called “limb bacon” or “limb chicken,” the squirrels’ lean, dark meat lends itself to a number of traditional recipes.
Quartered young squirrels, especially young gray squirrels, are most often fried in a cast-iron skillet, much like fried chicken, and traditionally served with homemade biscuits and gravy.
The larger or older squirrels are most often cooked in a stew or as the main ingredients of a pot of squirrels and meatballs where slow, long cooking tenderizes the sometimes tougher meat of the older squirrels.
For the Native Americans, kya (the turtle) symbolizes wisdom. For Europeans, bears are an important element of their history. Which animals mean the most to you and why are they so important? Cultures around the world have empowering relationships with wild animals, and meeting those animals promotes a deeper connection to spirituality, geography, and pride.
For Black people, our connection to nature and the cultural significance of mammals stems from traditions practiced during the era of slavery and continues into modern pop culture. As we commemorate the nation’s newest federal holiday on June 19, June 19 (observed this year on Monday, June 20) provides an opportunity for both celebration and reflection. We celebrate the emancipation notice that finally came to Texas to end slavery in the last Confederate state in 1865. We also reflect on the harsh legacy of oppression that still permeates our society and reinforces white privilege. We celebrate how black people in the US often represent the ultimate rags-to-riches narrative.
As a Black environmentalist who studies large mammals, I believe June 19 should also be a time for the nation to reflect on wild mammals who share in the epic story of a people’s transformation. These mammals that, over time, have influenced and encapsulated the rise of blacks. Come take this journey with me.
We share the Earth with almost 6,000 species of mammals. In general, what most black people (like most other people) think they know about mammals comes from animation and pop culture, but remember that Disney and rap music are not experts on the subject. Unfortunately, when it comes to our relationship with the wildlife around us, the problem historian Carter Goodwin Woodson wrote in his seminal 1933 book, The bad education of the black keep going.
Film depictions of enslaved people in the US omit crucial components of their lifestyle. For example, enslaved people did not rely solely on their enslavers for rations, but supplemented their diets with meat from wild animals such as Virginia Opossums. By applying hunting skills for self-reward, the enslaved built their psychological independence. Plantation owners may have thought this saved them feed costs. However, hunting possums allowed enslaved people to break the rules and explore the forest at night (since possums are nocturnal), which may have aided navigation and strategy for future escapes.
Virginia opossum, the only marsupial in North America. Credit: Arco/TUNS/Alamy Stock Photo
While fighting for their freedom, fugitives from the transatlantic slave trade were not only hiding from their captors and bounty hunters; they still contributed to the nation’s economic growth. In the 1800s, black sailors built cities through work in the whaling industry. One such town was New Bedford, Massachusetts, where the renowned Frederick Douglass found his first home after escaping from slavery. Sadly, the contributions of former and runaway slaves were marginalized, despite direct advances as inventor Lewis Temple improved the harpoon design, for which he never received credit. A common species hunted by freemen and fugitives was the sperm whalewhich was most famously performed as Moby Dick.
Unfortunately, dogs have long played a role in black trauma. Whites trained dogs to track down so-called fugitives to aid in lynching efforts and to terrorize protesters during civil rights demonstrations. Fortunately, in later years, we have been able to reap the benefits bestowed by “man’s best friend.” We use dogs to support agricultural activities by herding, protecting and driving away pests. We even draw inspiration from them for art, as is evident in painting. part wolf of the great neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. We recover the language with “that’s my dog”, slang for a trusted friend; and the iconic growl of the recently deceased rapper DMX successfully evokes the kind of bullying that embodies the “top dog” found in the social structure of gray wolves.
Because our connection to place runs deep, the pride many Blacks feel is tied to our strong African roots. As such, various African mammals help us develop our sense of empathy and wonder towards wildlife. For example, african elephants insight reminds us that humans are not that different. They remember particular events and places with a kind of mental map, and even mourn the loss of relatives. “When Great Trees Fall,” a mourning poem by Maya Angelou, is one of many literary works by black artists that feature elephants.
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Over the years, blacks have gone from a dark and harrowing past to becoming iconic symbols of fashion. Wearing and designing clothing with camouflage became a statement of resistance during the rebellions. The skin serves as an emblem of wealth. Musicians such as Lil Wayne, Future and Jermaine Dupri have mentioned chinchilla in their songs. They are some of the most expensive fur in the world because an extremely high fur density (hair per follicle) provides a lot of insulation and warmth. Perhaps the most famous ode to this mammal comes from Beyonce’s 2006 hit “Ring the Alarm,” with the opening lyric saying “she gon’ be rockin’ chinchilla coats” as a symbol of confidence and independence.
Spirituality, folklore, and often Christianity have served to stabilize, embolden, and preserve African Americans throughout the centuries. Putting into practice a famous Bible verse, Ephesians 6:11, many of us have had to “beef up” when faced with society at large or known enemies. Therefore, we revere mammals that possess weapons to help them survive, from the spines of hedgehogs to the quills of porcupines to the tusks of walruses. But animals like white bellied pangolin, found throughout Africa, remind us that armor is often not enough. This mammal is covered in scales and yet on the verge of global extinction. Like the bodies of black people who were bought, sold and traded for exploitation in even more horrific ways, pangolins are one of the most illegally trafficked animals in the world. But unlike the descendants of the formerly enslaved, who refused to go extinct, the fate of pangolins remains unknown.
Colorism has plagued the black community with some giving a better deal to lighter-toned people as they can often pass for non-black. Shadow matters with darkness commanding respect both in human society and in the animal kingdom. But now, with more inclusive views of beauty, we celebrate the blackness of all hues, including Tupac’s classic homage “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.” We are especially attracted to the power conjured by black cats; recall Janet Jackson’s 1989 hit “Black Cat.” More recently, the Marvel sensation Black Panther, which raised more than $1.3 billion, evoked universal pride among the black community. Ultimately, we were portrayed with intelligence, status, and strength in a Hollywood that often turns blacks into villains and underlings. Of the 40 cat species worldwide, nearly half have black or melanistic color morphs. So, the term “panther” does not refer to a species, but to panther It is the genus of big cats. the black jaguar it is particularly ferocious, a skilled predator found throughout the Americas. It is capable of killing even crocodiles.
Black Panther. The Panthera genus includes species of lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars. Credit: Anna Valova/500px/Getty Images
All cultures depend on mammals for food and companionship. We show reverence to its power and beauty. We integrate them into our language and customs. We even emulate their behaviors, as we flaunt possession and physicality to attract peers and gain the respect of others.
Acknowledging history includes understanding the evolution of our relationship with nature over time. Juneteenth symbolizes the rise of a nation and the transformation of a people, and that transformation is revolutionizing our world. The history of the African American is a history of social ascension, since even with persistent inequalities, our culture has permeated all facets of society. Our creativity, skills and innovations are creating one of the most powerful global economies. Although we remember the importance of the past, our future, including our environmental impact, will be a rich and flowery history of will and wealth that cannot be divorced from wildlife.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the opinions expressed by the author(s) are not necessarily those of American scientist.
While Arizona, Colorado, California, Illinois, Indiana and other states have recently considered challenges or outright bans on hunting and trapping feral cats, officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are proposing an expansion of wildcat seasons within of the Lower Peninsula of the state.
Michigan DNR has documented stable populations of bobcats throughout the state, and short-tailed cats have a strong foothold in every county in the state. As a result, the agency has proposed expanding the existing seasons in the Lower Peninsula from 11 to 20 days and creating a new 11-day season in nine counties in the southern part of the state. Game drives in the Upper Peninsula, with its more liberal seasons, will remain unchanged.
Like many species of wildlife in Michigan, bobcat populations in the lower peninsula plummeted in the late 1800s when a logging boom swept the state. But as habitat has regenerated, connectivity has improved, and today the cats have reclaimed their place in the Great Lakes State ecosystem.
“In the northern half of the Lower Peninsula, we see bobcat populations that are doing well, even with harvest,” Adam Bump, Michigan DNR bear and fur specialist, told MeatEater. “We have seen that occupancy increases over time. They’re filling in that good habitat wherever it exists.”
According to Bump, the goal of the proposed expansion is to provide more hunting and trapping opportunities while maintaining the state’s thriving bobcat population.
“The populations look stable, healthy and resilient,” he said. “What we’re seeing are some pretty modest increases in opportunity and we’re expanding into an area that has bobcat populations that are connected to everywhere else.”
Bump said that opponents of the proposals have been sounding, but so far, there hasn’t been any organized opposition that can really prevent the expansions from moving forward.
“A representative of the HSUS [Humane Society of the United States] was present at last week’s meeting of the Natural Resources Commission expressing his opposition,” he said. “The NRC indicated that they have received calls and emails from people who are opposed to the idea, but there were also two people who came forward in favor of season expansions, one representing a collection of capture groups and one representing a collection of capture groups. speaks for some hunting groups here. in Michigan”.
Nick Green is the public information officer for the Michigan United Conservation Club. MUCC is Michigan’s largest conservation organization with some 40,000 members statewide. He said his organization supports the proposed expansion of Michigan’s wildcat hunting and trapping seasons. He does not expect substantial opposition to materialize, much less stand in the way of future proposals.
“We have a good outdoor heritage ethic here,” Green told MeatEater. “We are a state that was founded on the backs of trappers. Even people who don’t hunt or fish in our state often approve of the lifestyle. There will always be antis, but the foothold they have here is not very strong.
Michigan’s strong outdoor heritage aside, a small but vocal group of animal rights activists are beginning to voice their opposition to the proposed expansion of bobcat seasons in the Lower Peninsula.
In a recent interview with online media outlet MLive.com, Molly Tamulevich, Michigan director of the Humane Society of the United States, sought to cast doubt on the methodology used by the DNR to determine population stability. of wildcats in the state, a methodology that relies heavily on harvest data from hunters and trappers.
“The fact is that the number of dead bobcats has absolutely no relationship to the number of live real bobcats in Michigan,” Tamulevich told _MLive. _“The bottom line is that the Michigan DNR has no idea how many bobcats there are in the state, but wants to allow even more to die, for no other reason than to accommodate the demands of a small and shrinking minority. who want to get a trophy or a skin.”
In stark contrast to Tamulevich’s characterization of bobcat hunters and trappers as a “tiny and shrinking minority,” is a recent survey released by the Michigan DNR, “2020 Harvest of Wildcat Hunters and Trappers in Michigan.”
This survey shows that 13,472 Michiganders earned a bobcat harvest tag for the 2020 season. That equates to a 23% increase from 2019 and a 34% increase from 2018.
For his part, Adam Bump points to the data his agency has amassed over the years, data that supports the contention that bobcat populations in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula are strong enough to sustain a modest increase in catch quotas. At the same time, he rejects the idea that challenges to hunting or trapping the bobcat are based on legitimate biological concerns about the long-term viability of the species.
“If you look at some of our neighboring states like Illinois or Indiana, where bobcat hunting is being challenged, they don’t have population issues,” Bump said. “The only challenges they have for their seasons come from people who don’t want bobcats to be harvested. They are not shutting down these seasons because they have biological concerns. It is more a response to social pressure.”
The proposal to expand Michigan’s bobcat hunting and trapping seasons will be put to a vote at the March 10 meeting of the Natural Resources Commission. NRC meetings are streamed live on the Michigan United Conservation Club Facebook page.
This weekend will be the last without an ongoing hunting season in Kentucky for a long time.
Although it’s only mid-summer, Kentucky’s so-called “fall” squirrel hunting season begins on August 15 on the traditional third Saturday in August. It is the beginning of a progression that stretches from summer through fall and well into winter with a variety of seasons for small game, migratory birds, big game and furriers.
The hunting year, like the license year, technically runs from March 1 to Feb. 28 in Kentucky. And there’s the spring hunting, primarily in the spring turkey season and secondarily in the spring squirrel season.
However, most hunting of game animals and birds is concentrated from late summer to early winter, the period when wildlife numbers are most generous and hunters’ harvest falls short of what is equivalent to surplus: animals and birds that would actually be lost to natural death.
The fall squirrel season is the most generous of all, from the opening on August 15 through the end of the 2020-21 hunting year, which closes on February 28. The marathon season only lasts for two days. during this stretch, suspended for the Saturday and Sunday of the opening weekend of the firearm deer season (November 14 and 15 of this year).
The regulations should be familiar to this year’s traditional bushytail season; They have not changed. Chief among these is a bag limit of six squirrels per day and a possession limit of 12 after two or more hunting days.
Technically, if one hunted every day of the traditional squirrel season and took a legal limit of squirrels each time, it would still be legal without a possession limit violation by constantly eating the crop or at least giving it away so as not to have more than 12 available anytime.
If that hypothetical result were achieved, a single hunter with full success on each of the 196 hunting days could legally catch 1,176 squirrels during the season. Many, many hunters could do that, depending on the regulations.
Damn, one wonders. What keeps squirrel season from killing the squirrel population?
Hunter harvesting doesn’t work like that. Packing a daily limit of six squirrels is more likely to be the exception than the rule. You probably won’t take squirrels on a squirrel hunting outing much more often than you take a cap. Much more conventional would be to take one or two, maybe three or four.
During the early part of the traditional season, such as opening days next weekend, conditions are not optimal for a bountiful harvest anyway. In the summer part of the season, the heat, humidity, and tormenting insects can make it difficult for hunters to go on long sessions in the woods.
Summer hunting means completely green foliage in forests and groves, and visibility is compromised. It’s hard to catch squirrels when they might even be a short distance up in the tree branches above you, but you can’t see them.
Another possible misconception about long squirrel season leading to overharvesting is related to the involvement of hunters. Surveys from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources show that the large percentage of squirrel hunting trips take place within the first two to three weeks of the season. In other words, the “average” squirrel hunter in Kentucky may spend a time or two right after the season starts, but after the “opening day” attraction wears off, the rest of the often months-long season it is ignored.
Additionally, there is a general trend today among outdoor enthusiasts to neglect small game opportunities in favor of more attention to the major species, primarily deer, wild turkey, and perhaps waterfowl. Squirrels once ran neck and neck with rabbits as the most hunted game in Kentucky, but that was when there were no huntable populations of deer and turkey.
These days, only a few squirrel hunting specialists hunt a significant number of days during the long season.
Biologists say that many more hunters could chase squirrels much more frequently and still not have a significant effect on the squirrel population. As it is, hunters essentially have no impact on squirrel numbers.
The squirrel population is largely controlled by the annual harvest of masts, most critically by the supply of acorns that oak trees produce each fall.
When there is a large supply of acorns, hickory nuts, and other spars, the squirrels thrive and survive in greater numbers, later producing more offspring in breeding seasons. When this essential food supply is in short supply, the number of squirrels decreases accordingly.
Even if there were much more productive squirrel hunters, their impact on squirrel numbers would be negligible compared to the richness or scarcity of acorns and other spars.
• Although we are now right at the midpoint of summer, don’t imagine that it’s not getting late. Technically, we’re about to enter the tail end of summer’s infamous Dog Days.
Dog Days by consensus have come to mean the hottest and muggy days of summer. Since the weather varies, that could be just about any stretch from late spring to early fall. There are scorching days in June and September, just as there are pleasantly balmy days in the height of summer. Earlier this week a cold front brought us some cool, mild conditions that felt oddly nice for August.
According to the calendar, Dog Days are officially from July 3 to August 11, which means that this period, when the heat and humidity are supposedly the worst, will be gone by the middle of next week. Another official way to measure Dog Days is to calculate from 20 days before to 20 days after the peak intensity date of July 23.
That seems to fit with the temperature records. Three weeks or so in July is traditionally a blazing hot and humid period here.
Historically, however, the observation of Dog Days is more related to astronomy than meteorology. The event was first noted by the ancient Greeks and Romans who observed the dog star, Sirius, rising in the sky at dawn during this period.
Sirius, the brightest star in our sky, is part of the constellation Canis Majoris (“the big dog”). That’s where the name Dog Days for the period originated.
The Sirius dawn period doesn’t really seem to have any effect on climate, but it also coincided with the hottest times for the ancients and for us. The Greeks and the Romans lumped those two things together. The Dog Days became known as the star-studded moment when both dogs and people can go crazy from the heat.
I don’t know about freaking out, but the typical Dog Days weather certainly adds an element of testiness. Recognizing that, it seems a good thing that dog season is about to end. It still has a right to be sultry for several weeks, but we’re much closer to the soothing moderation of fall.
On Saturday morning, teams of hunters young and old will rise early and head into the woods of South Jersey.
They will be looking for squirrels. Preferably large.
This weekend marks the First Annual Family Squirrel Classic, hosted by the Inskip Antlers Hunting Club in Winslow. It is billed as a celebration and event to introduce new hunters to a centuries-old tradition.
But to some, it is an abomination.
The protesters, including members of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, plan to protest the competition Saturday morning in front of the hunting club. To them, the hunt is nothing more than a killing contest, made exponentially worse by the inclusion of children.
Cody McLaughlin, a spokesman for the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and a small game enthusiast, describes squirrel hunting as a peaceful time in the woods, with less pressure than hunting larger game like deer. Most people hunt squirrels with small 22-caliber rifles, though McLaughlin said some people prefer to use a bow.
The hunters will likely be out in the woods around 6 am on the morning of the contest, McLaughlin said. The weigh-in will be open at the hunting club from 8 am to noon. The rules of the contest are simple: the biggest squirrels win.
Hunters will be able to work in teams of up to six people, which McLaughlin says allows teams to be large enough to include children.
As barbaric as this may sound to non-hunters, squirrel hunting is actually nothing new. People have been killing and eating squirrels in New Jersey for as long as people have, well, been living in New Jersey. And while this may be the inaugural iteration of this particular event, McLaughlin said squirrel hunting contests are a long-standing tradition in South Jersey.
“What’s going on down there is a perfectly safe, legal, time-honored tradition of getting outside and enjoying our natural resources,” McLaughlin said.
But for people like Janine Motta, director of programs for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, tradition isn’t enough to justify this contest.
That’s why members of his group and other animal rights activists plan to protest outside the hunting club on Saturday morning.
Motta makes it clear that while he is firmly against the killing of any animal, he understands that hunting is legal and regulated. What makes this situation different for her, Motta said, is that the pageant is sold as a family event. She argues that it only serves to “[desensitize] children to the plight of animals.
“Having a family event that revolves around killing and bringing children into this is inconceivable,” Motta said. “What is the message here? Does the family that kills together stay together?
The protest, according to a Facebook event, is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 a.m. and more than 30 people have indicated they plan to show up.
That moment could disappoint the protesters a bit. McLaughlin points out that the hunters will be in the woods, not the hunting club, during those first few hours.
In the week leading up to the contest, opponents of the hunt have tried to pressure local officials to cancel the event.
Winslow Mayor Barry Wright said the City Council has been inundated with emails and calls urging the event to be cancelled. He described some of the messages as threatening and aggressive. One caller, Wright said, threatened to “kill him” if the squirrel hunting contest was allowed to continue.
“I have never been addressed in emails, verbally or anything the way some of these animal rights people address me,” Wright said.
Wright emphasized that Winslow is not opposed to the hunt and that the city has no place to step in and cancel the event.
But Wright said he is uncomfortable with hunting contests. That’s why he joins the Camden County Freeholders in asking the state legislature to ban these types of events in New Jersey.
“Contests that reward people for killing the most targeted wildlife are unacceptable,” said Freeholder Jeffrey Nash. “The vast majority of the time, the animals that perish in these contests are not used for their meat and their slaughter does not benefit the ecosystem.”
But as for Saturday? Wright said she will be in Washington, DC, away from the drama, to watch her daughter play in a volleyball tournament.
Michael Sol Warren can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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We recently had a visit from some out of state relatives, one of whom was a teenager fresh off his first deer hunt. Speaking of hunting in general, he mentioned that a friend of his was hunting squirrels after a successful deer season.
The teenager’s mother was less than enthusiastic about all this interest in hunting and, looking at me, asked, “Why would anyone hunt squirrels?”
I offered a short and simple answer that I thought was appropriate for the occasion, replying, “First of all, they’re good to eat.”
This concept was obviously quite unpleasant, as evidenced by his facial expression. I gently reminded her that prior to her years in a more metropolitan setting, she enjoyed a certain stir-fry dish at our home along with a number of other family members. They just couldn’t seem to get enough of the combination of tender, boneless squirrel meat and seasoned vegetables. His memory seemed to improve when other people present remembered the same food.
This little incident really got me thinking about squirrels and small game hunting in general. How many years has it been since I went into the woods specifically to hunt squirrels? I have observed the trend with other hunters; As we age, we seem to focus on hunting deer and other larger game. I know that personally, given the choice between deer archery season or a day to hunt squirrels or grouse, my efforts lately have been focused on deer.
Of course, when he was young, he was out in the woods at every opportunity, finding time to hunt whatever was in season. Small game hunting, to me, is a lot like fishing; It’s a lot of fun as long as there’s action. This doesn’t always translate to many animals brought home, but even miss shots of a speedy grouse, weaving rabbits, or squirrels in the treetops have always been a good moment for me.
All of this reminds me of a guy I sometimes found myself in one of my favorite valleys. He came to McKean County from the Pittsburgh area and apparently stayed at a campground here with some friends. At the time I met him, he was at the stage in life where I thought he should walk about half a mile in the woods before he started hunting.
This gentleman stayed a couple of hundred yards from the paved road as his walks were limited by respiratory problems caused by many years in the coal business. In deer season, he often saw it sitting in a stand of hemlock, often within sight of the road. In squirrel season, I saw him less often, but he taught me some valuable hunting lessons.
I was amused when I first met him, thinking it was cool that he wanted to be in the woods, but what were the chances that he would actually see deer from that spot? I began to understand after several times, when walking back through the woods, I found my friend with a dead deer at his feet while I was often empty handed.
Still not quite understanding it, I saw him from time to time in the small game season, enjoying his time in the warm autumnal woods. His stall sight was usually within a hundred yards of his deer season spot, and armed with a good .22 rifle with a scope and snacks, he was ready to spend some time watching bushy tails.
Very often, after greeting him or stopping briefly for a visit, I would hear his deadly .22 shooting at the squirrels as I kept walking further and further into the woods. I finally realized that it was much more important to find a specific place with good food, shelter, and game signs than to put my boot prints all over the woods.
I think he used his time in squirrel season not only for the sport he enjoyed, but also to look for signs of deer in the general area. Often in squirrel season there are deer tracks, scuffs and scrapes that are easily visible. Over the years, she gained a lot of confidence in this area and it has resulted in great success.
All this aside, squirrel hunting is in itself a worthwhile hobby for any hunter. As mentioned above, given the chance, most people like meat. To be sure, the effort of processing any small game animal does not produce the results that you get from slaughtering a deer, but I realized long ago that there is much more involved than the weight of the meat obtained.
Beautiful fall foliage, warm weather, and more casual hunting are good reasons to visit the squirrel forest in October. The practice gained from following a bushy-tailed rodent at your scope as it swoops down from tree trunks and your attempts at a good shot with a small-bore rifle will put you in excellent shape for shooting big game seasons.
My first hunt of any kind of game was squirrels. My dad trained me while he was taking aim at a gray squirrel climbing up a big old oak tree. The critter, thinking he was hiding in the crotch of a large limb, was probably no more surprised than I was when he fired the old double-barreled shotgun. In no time at all, I managed to knock another gray off a limb, and just like that, I was a happy 12-year-old hooked for life.
Although an accurate .22 rifle is the classic squirrel gun, I’ll admit I shot a fair number of them in my youth with 12-gauge shotguns. This came about in part because there was always a chance of shooting a grouse, but also because it’s important For a young hunter to bring something home, the shotgun creates a better chance of success.
Over time, I have used a wide variety of .22 and other rifles to kill squirrels and a few grouse that foolishly crossed my path. Shooting grouse out of the pot on Canada hunts will be a story for another time.
It may not be as dramatic to describe a tough shot on a squirrel to your friends as it is on a male eight pointer, but one skill can easily lead to the other. I had a friend who described my squirrel hunting as “the surgical removal” of bushy tails from the woods. I still consider it one of the best compliments I have received on my photography.
I’ll try to remember all of this next fall and try to pack enough squirrels for another stew or stir fry. Most people like it very much.
(Retired Bradford Police Chief Roger Sager is a lifelong firearms expert and hunter.)
It feels weird to talk about turkey scouting. After all, a lot of longbeards are killed every spring by people who get out of the truck in the morning with no intelligence and no real plan. There is no great need for the big country run-and-gun crowd to engage in much turkey reconnaissance, but for many turkey hunters, yes.
If you bowhunt from a blind spot, have plans to take out some youngsters, or are relegated to small holdings where the burnout factor might be high, hunting for turkeys makes sense. The best way to do this is to install some trail cameras in places with high probability.
outdoor turkeys
Exodus Outdoor Gear co-founder and president Chad Sylvester recommends turkey scouts familiarize themselves with their camera settings. “When you’re talking about field edges and other openings, there’s no better setting than time lapse,” Sylvester said. “Set them up to take pictures during certain windows of the day and at a time that allows you to see who is eating or strutting in their spots.”
Time Lapse is perfect for this task because it will take photos regardless of a triggering event. If a bird struts 200 feet away on the opposite side of your food patch or field, time-lapse footage will show it even if it never gets close enough to trigger the camera.
These images can also be viewed in chronological order, like a stop-motion movie. This allows you to quickly look at each day to see when the turkeys are, how they get to your spot, and how they leave. All of those details are crucial to planning hunts.
turkeys on trails
While many hunters are drawn to open areas for turkeys, if you are hunting pressured birds, you may want to think about travel routes. Like deer, longbeards (and the chickens they covet) tend to choose the easiest path from point A to point B.
Log roads, two tracks, and well defined trails through the woods will cut it. So will the tall thorns of land between swamps, hilltops, and anywhere you see turkeys walking naturally. When it comes to these areas, or any area really, it’s always a good idea to pay attention to the prevalence of signs as well. The more footprints and droppings, the more likely your camera recognition will yield results quickly.
Time-lapse mode isn’t enough to monitor these tighter spots, unless you like to fill your SD card with useless forest footage. A better bet is to opt for video mode or burst mode when it comes to gathering information on turkeys on travel routes.
Video mode is my favorite because I can set the camera to take two-minute clips at a time, all while collecting sound. This means that the lead chicken will often trigger the camera, and then whoever is behind her will eventually walk past. You will also often hear other birds singing during these clips.
Burst mode is another option, but it’s less effective. You will probably miss birds even with your camera set to take up to nine photos per trigger event. It’s still much better than a one-shot build with a long delay between brewing, which is a mistake Sylvester warns against.
“Whether you’re running a 90-second video or in burst mode, always check the shutter lag on your camera,” Sylvester said. “Reduce to the fastest option, so your camera is ready to go almost instantly, no matter how many times the birds trigger it. For most cameras, this will mean a five-second or one-second delay.”
what to do next
Let’s say you’ve been using cameras for a few weeks and have a decent amount of videos and photos. The next step is to find patterns.
How often and when do turkeys walk each location you are monitoring? Are you dealing with a morning spot, where they fly, or a strut zone that sees its most action during the lunch hour? Are the birds consistent regardless of the weather, or do they only appear when the sun is shining and the wind is calm?
Pay attention to whether you’re catching entire flocks, lone toms, or small packs of jakes, and consider any turkey setups in your yard. That information can guide you on where and when to hunt and what lures to use.
But most of all, this type of turkey scouting allows you to be efficient and tip the odds in your favor to be in action no matter what. That’s the real point of using tracking cameras to pinpoint current turkey activity, and it works well.
Delaware hunting seasons generally begin in September and run through early February of the following year. Specific seasons, depending on the species and the method of capture, begin and end on different dates throughout the year.
Complete and detailed information on hunting seasons can be found in the Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide.
Sunday deer hunting is permitted every Sunday through January 31, 2022, using only legal hunting methods for the respective established deer seasons.
Wildlife area maps and rules are available online and for download.
Opening of hunting seasons in February
A wide variety of hunting opportunities are available in February, including the opening of the White Goose Conservation Order on Tuesday, February 1, and the second special youth waterfowl hunting day on Saturday, February 5.
the one day special Youth waterfowl hunting day. is open to hunters ages 10-15. Normal daily waterfowl hunting limits and hunting rules apply during the special youth waterfowl hunting day, including a limit of 25 white geese and one Canada goose.
the White Goose Conservation Order is open Tuesday, February 1 through Friday, February 4 and closes on Saturday, February 5 for Junior Waterfowl Day and a one-day reopening of the White Goose regular season. The Snow Goose Conservation Order reopens on Monday, February 7 and runs through Friday, April 8.
Continuous hunting seasons
gray squirrel: Until February 5, 2022 (half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset)
Ring-necked Pheasant (male only): Until February 5, 2022
Cottontail rabbit: Until February 28, 2022
Coyote (hunting): Until February 28, 2022
Red fox (hunting): Until February 28, 2022
Raccoon and opossum (hunting): Until February 28, 2022
ravens: until March 26, 2022, from June 23 to 25, 2022 and June 30, 2022 (only Thursday, Friday and Saturday)
Groundhog: until June 30, 2022
Continuous catching seasons
Muskrat, mink, otter, raccoon, opossum, otter:
New Castle County: Until March 10, 2022 (March 20 in embanked meadows)
Kent and Sussex counties: until March 15, 2022
Red fox and coyote: Until March 10, 2022
Beaver: Until March 20, 2022, only on private land
Licenses and other requirements
A Delaware hunting license or license exemption number (LEN) is required to hunt. Most waterfowl hunters require a Delaware waterfowl (duck) stamp and a federal migratory bird (duck) stamp.
All migratory game bird hunters, except raven hunters, including duck and goose hunters, also need a Federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) number, which can be obtained through the DNREC ePermitting system or by calling toll-free 1-855-335-4868.
Hunters using the ePermitting system must create a profile or use the “Quick Hunt Registration” option.
Anyone born after January 1, 1967 must successfully complete a basic hunter education course before obtaining a Delaware hunting license.
Registered motorized vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife must display a Conservation Access Pass.
