Category: Blog

Squirrel hunting for food and sport is a tradition deeply rooted in Kentucky hunting culture.

In early Kentucky, squirrels were present in our woods in surprising numbers.

Dave Baker, editor of Kentucky Afield magazine, recounted an astonishing observation of the abundance of squirrels in an article he wrote, citing the memoirs of naturalist John James Audubon.

In the article, Baker wrote that “in 1819, Audubon was in a boat floating down the Ohio River when he began to see thousands of squirrels (jumping) into the water and swimming across the river toward Kentucky, (first) near present-day Ohio. Milton, in Trimble County. The waves of squirrels continued (on and off) for about 300 miles, until the boat was near “Smithland,” at the confluence of the Cumberland River.

“The boys, along the shores and in boats, were clubbing the squirrels in great numbers, though most of them made it across safely,” Audubon wrote.

Biologists today still debate the reasons for these migrations, huge mass movements of squirrels from their home territories, a phenomenon that has not occurred frequently during modern times.

ideal habitat

The high-quality, diverse forests of early Kentucky were ideal habitat for the state’s two native squirrel species.

The gray squirrel thrived in the old-growth forests that covered about 90 percent of the state’s more than 40,000 square miles. The fox squirrel was most abundant in the rolling land of the interior, where park-like savannahs stretched for miles, with stands of huge oak, hickory, walnut, and blue ash trees interspersed with grasslands and river reedbeds.

In the 19th century, large game animals such as bison, elk, deer, and wild turkeys began to disappear due to habitat loss and unrestricted subsistence hunting.

“With the scarcity of other game animals, squirrels became the main source of wild meat,” Baker wrote.

The squirrel was often one of the main ingredients in the popular vegetable and meat stew known as burgoo, which was simmered in a large iron pot and served with cornbread at family or community gatherings in the region.

The Kentucky Rifle

A sleek, long-barreled, highly accurate muzzle-loading rifle, the Kentucky Rifle was ideal for the eastern frontier, more than adequate for squirrels and any larger game that could be found. It was typically .40 to .45 caliber, so less lead and powder were required, which meant the rifle was inexpensive to fire compared to larger calibers, and more ammunition could be carried.

The Kentucky Rifle fired round lead balls, wrapped in an oiled patch, that were slightly smaller in diameter than the rifle’s bore. A hickory ramrod was used to push the ball down the barrel and seat it on the powder.

The hunter of that time carried the rifle accessories in a leather shoulder bag and the black powder was secured in horns or brass flasks. The harvested squirrels were placed in another shoulder bag, usually made of cloth, which was the origin of the modern term “bag limit”.

barking squirrels

Shooting squirrels with a flintlock rifle demands a high degree of accuracy, and good shots sometimes showed off their shooting skills by engaging in friendly competitions for bragging rights.

In John James Audubon, The Naturalist, a memoir edited by his widow and published in 1870, an entry details a hunt in Frankfort, Kentucky, in which celebrated frontiersman Daniel Boone demonstrated the sport of “barking squirrels.”

Audubon wrote: “We walked together and followed the rocky banks of the Kentucky River until we came to flat land covered in black walnut, oak, and hickory trees. Since the mast was good that year, squirrels were seen frolicking in all the trees around us.

My companion, a portly, strong, athletic man, dressed in a home-knitted hunting shirt, with bare legs and (in) moccasins, carried with him a heavy rifle which, as he loaded it, he said had proved effective in all his attempts. chores. previous undertakings, and that he hoped not to fail this time, as he was proud to show me his ability. He cleaned the gun, measured the powder, patched the bullet with six-hundred-thread flax, and sent the load home with a hickory stick.

We did not move a step from the spot, because the squirrels were so numerous that it was not necessary to go after them. Boone pointed out one of these animals that he had observed us and was crouched on a branch about fifty paces away, and he asked me to mark well where the ball should hit. He gradually raised his piece until the bead (which is the name Kentuckians gave to the sight) on the barrel lined up with the spot he intended to hit, and he fired.

I was astonished to discover that the bullet had struck the piece of bark immediately below the squirrel and reduced it to splinters; the shock it produced killed the animal and sent it spinning through the air as if it had been inflated.”

Squirrel Hunting in Kentucky Today

Squirrel populations are not as high now as they were 200 years ago.

Deforestation and the loss of the state’s majestic chestnut trees, which fell victim to a blight in the early 20th century, have been contributing factors.

But the outlook for squirrels and squirrel hunting in Kentucky is excellent, as 46 percent of the state, or about 12 million acres, is forested, according to the Kentucky Division of Forestry. A high percentage of Kentucky’s trees are mature, on which squirrels thrive, since the oldest trees produce the most masts (nuts).

Squirrels remain a popular small game species and the fall/winter squirrel hunting season is the longest in Kentucky’s hunting season calendar, at 195 days in length.

The 2019-2020 squirrel hunting season in Kentucky is split. It opened on August 17 and lasted until November 8. Three days later, the season reopened on November 11 and will continue until February 29, 2020.

The end of the season is a good time to hunt squirrels.

In winter, the food that squirrels seek is found mainly on the ground. The squirrels create a cache of nuts and seeds. They return to nuts that they have buried or hidden in tree cavities.

A proven late-season hunting strategy is to walk around for a while, then sit for a while and wait for the squirrels to show up. The squirrels are noisy, barking and chattering, and chasing each other as their second breeding season is about to begin.

Shots tend to be longer, and small caliber muzzleloaders are ideal for bagging squirrels.

The squirrel harvest decreases at the end of the season in part because there are fewer hunters. Years of Squirrel Hunter Cooperator Survey data have found that hunter effort is greatest toward the beginning of the fall season and decreases as the season progresses. In most years, less than five percent of squirrel hunts take place in January, and even fewer in February.

Hunters typically see about half as many squirrels at the end of the season, compared to August and September.

Squirrel hunting with a long flintlock rifle takes hunters back to the roots of hunting in Kentucky. The hunting of this rudimentary game animal is celebrated and revered as a symbol of our proud frontier heritage and hunting culture.

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – This is the time of year Arizona’s small game and waterfowl hunters have been waiting for.

In addition to the start of the tree squirrel and band-tailed pigeon seasons on Friday, hunters can chase sooty (blue) grouse through November 8 and chukar through February 7, 2021. The season for the cottontail rabbit runs through June 30, 2021 and the start of the season for Gambel’s and scaled quail is October 16.

Johnathan O’Dell, a small game biologist with the Arizona Department of Fish and Game, and an avid squirrel hunter, expects even better hunting this season than in 2019.

“The second straight year of wet winters, and not all snow in the highlands, means acorns and pine cones should be plentiful this fall and provide excellent resources for Abert’s squirrels,” O’Dell said. “Both Arizona gray squirrel and Mexican fox populations should also be improving due to recent wet winter conditions. Squirrel hunting should definitely be better this year.”

For more information on Arizona small game, check out the AZGFD Small Game Forecast at azgfd.com/hunting/species/smallgame/forecast/.

Meanwhile, the general waterfowl and snipe seasons in the “Mountain Zone” (Game Management Units 1-5, 7, 9, 11M, 12A, and portions of Units 6 and 8 within Coconino County) begin on October 2, 2020, and valid until January 10, 2021.

AZGFD recently completed a fall waterfowl census in Units 5B, 6A, and 8. While the area received good rainfall in the winter and spring months, the monsoon was disappointing and well below normal for most of the year. from the Flagstaff area.

Wetlands like Marshall Lake, Prime, and Vail are mostly dry and duck-free. Many shore tanks are also dry throughout the area, but there are still decent numbers of waterfowl in some of the larger waters.

Most of the waterfowl were found in Mormon Lake, JD Dam, and Long Lake. Mallards were the most common species observed and Canada Geese were the second most common species. In general, most wetlands ranged from poor to fair in terms of numbers of waterfowl and available water. The one exception was Long Lake in Unit 5B-South, which had excellent bird numbers. Canadian geese were observed in Mormon, Scholz, and Marshall lakes.

The general waterfowl and snipe seasons in the “Wilderness Zone” (Game Management Units 10 and 12B through 46B, and those portions of Units 6 and 8 within Yavapai County) begin October 23, 2020 and end on January 31, 2021.

The following (excluding scaup) are legal wild animals in both highland and desert areas: ducks, including mergansers, coots, and common moorhens (gallinules); white geese (snow, blue and Ross); and dusky geese (Canada, crowing, brantin, and white-fronted).

Scaup can be harvested in the mountainous zone from October 17, 2020 to January 10, 2021, and in the desert zone from November 7, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

All waterfowl hunters over the age of 18 must possess a valid Arizona hunting license and a state migratory bird stamp, as well as a federal migratory bird stamp. All waterfowl hunters over the age of 16 must also possess a federal migratory bird stamp.

Do you need a license? Visit www.azgfd.gov/license/. Keep in mind that a combined hunting and fishing license is only $20 more (for in-state residents) than the price of an individual hunting or fishing license. As a reminder, a combined hunting and fishing license for youth (ages 10-17) is only $5 and includes the privileges associated with the state migratory bird stamp.

AZGFD has posted the 2020-2021 Arizona Waterfowl and Godwit Regulations at azgfd.com/Hunting/Regulations/. For more information on hunting waterfowl, visit azgfd.com/hunting/species/waterfowl/.

Copyright 2020 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

Abert’s squirrel. Courtesy/NMG&F

From New Mexico Game & Fish:

Have you ever considered small game hunting in New Mexico? Specifically, squirrel hunting? If not, you probably should. Everyone who participates in the big game drawing will have a hunting license, which includes small game such as squirrel.

In addition to this license, you will need a habitat stamp and a habitat access and management validation stamp. In total, this will cost $25 for a resident adult. These noisy aerial acrobats are fun to watch and listen to.

They often bark alert warnings when you get too close and are the perfect quarry for beginners and younger children practicing stalking and stalking skills. Squirrels are often within a half-mile walk of any logging road, so don’t plan on walking too far. In addition to the chasing experience, squirrels make a wonderful meal at the table. Squirrel meat has a lighter flavor, often compared to chicken.

There are four species of squirrels to hunt in New Mexico. These include the Abert, fox, gray and red. They require a different habitat and can be found in various places in the state.

Common destinations to find four local squirrels:

• Abert’s chipmunk, also called tassel-eared, due to its long, furry ears. Their bodies are gray to dark brown with a red stripe down their backs. They depend on Ponderosa pines and can be found in the Manzano and Jemez mountains.
• Fox squirrel: the largest of the four; It has a golden brown body. It can be found in pecan and walnut orchards near Roswell and Carlsbad. Additionally, it lives in riparian areas along the southern Pecos River.
• Gray Squirrel: Grayish-brown in color with a white belly. They live at mid-elevations in the mountains, in a broadleaf riparian habitat. Grays are found in the Gila National Forest in Catron, Grant, and Luna counties.
• Red Squirrel – also called Chickaree, it is the smallest of the four. Its predominant habitat is spruce and fir. They can be found in the Sangre De Cristo, San Juan, Sacramento, Capitan and San Mateo mountain ranges.

Squirrels can be legally hunted with a variety of weapons, including: .177 caliber and larger pellet guns, shotguns, rimfires, muzzleloaders, bows, and crossbows.

A good hunting pellet gun can be found for less than $100 today. Check with the manufacturer to make sure the muzzle velocity of your pellet gun is 1,100 feet per second or higher. Pellets will also be needed, and these can be purchased for around $5 for 250. Lastly, a good sharp knife or hunting shears are required to skin and butcher the squirrel. These can be picked up for about $15.

So with your hunting license and stamps, pellet gun, ammo and knife, you’ll have all the essential gear you need to hunt squirrels for less than $145.

Some non-essential equipment to consider:

• Camouflage clothing including hat, pants, shirt, and boots.
• Global Positioning System Unit or a good land access app for your cell phone
• Binoculars
• Backpack
• Food and water
• compass and map

The bag limit for small game is much more liberal than for big game, and squirrels are no exception. Each legally licensed hunter can take a maximum of eight squirrels per day, which is known as the bag limit. Possession limit is 16 squirrels – this is the maximum number each hunter can have in the freezer. Remember to consume some squirrels if you are at the possession limit before going back to hunting squirrels. A good rule of thumb is to consume game meat within six months of freezing to reduce the risk of freezer burn.

Aside from the liberal bag limit, squirrel hunting season is pretty long. They can be hunted for three months, statewide, in the fall. A hunter may chase squirrels from September 1 to November 30 of each year. That makes for a lot of potential family weekends when parents and kids alike are off work and school to hunt squirrels. By far the best time of day to hunt squirrels is in the early morning and late afternoon, when the squirrels are most active.

There are two main ways to hunt squirrels. The first is called stationary hunting. Locate the trees that squirrels prefer, sit down, preferably behind some cover, and wait for them to move or make noise. It is looking for a moving brown or gray main body attached to a bushy tail, a moving branch on a tree, or debris falling from a tree. Sounds you may hear include chattering, leaves rustling on the forest floor, or a squirrel squeaking its teeth into a nut. Once you see a squirrel, wait for it to stop moving before shooting.

The second way to catch a squirrel is by stalking. Stalking involves moving quietly through the woods, a few steps at a time, while looking and listening. Pausing for ten seconds can be productive in hiding your outline and allowing the squirrel to reveal its hiding place. Whether in a tree or on the forest floor, always aim for a headshot as it will preserve the most meat and is the most humane place to aim.

Once you’ve caught a squirrel, they’re easy to clean. Cut the squirrel tail at the base. Make sure the cut is straight down and then generously salt the base of the tail and let it dry. Squirrel tails can be sold or traded for lures at the Mepps Fishing Lure Company. They make line spinners out of hair. Remove the head and all four legs just above the joints. Make a circular incision around the middle of the torso, in the belly area, being careful not to puncture the internal cavity. Move your fingers under the cut skin along the spine, to loosen and then pull the skin up and down from the abdomen. I should get out right away. Make a straight cut from the anus through the pelvis, down to the neck. Insert one or two fingers into the chest cavity and pull out the entrails. Both hind legs can be removed from the torso at the hip joint and stored in a freezer bag. The front legs remain attached to the torso and are placed in a different freezer bag.

The next time you’re considering a fall weekend activity, try squirrel hunting. You can’t go wrong walking through the fall woods, whether you pick up a squirrel or not.

Baked squirrel with butter

Ingredients:

Salt
Pepper
unsalted butter
Peppers
Four squirrels cleaned and quartered

Method:

Parboil the squirrel pieces until tender, about an hour. This is done in a large pot, covering the pieces with water mixed with two tablespoons of salt. Cook over low heat. This will ensure that even the meat from an old squirrel is tender. Remove from water and pat dry with paper towels. Generously shake the pepper, salt, and paprika on both sides of the dried squirrel pieces. Cut 10 squares of butter and spread into individual pieces. Place in a single layer in a baking dish and place inside a preheated 350 degree oven. Cook until golden brown, about an hour.

This recipe serves four people.

Hunting season is coming to an end, sporting show season is over (either gone virtual or canceled), and as of this writing, there isn’t enough ice to go fishing safely, so What’s a nature lover to do?

It’s been a strange winter, and one that only serves to reinforce the idea that one has to strike when the iron is hot, that is, seize your outdoor opportunities when they arise, and not wait for a better day, because that day may Never comes.

It could be as simple as sledding on an inch of snow and not waiting for the big northeast wind to cover the hill, or something more challenging like fishing on Lake Erie the last time January temperatures hit 40 degrees. The point is that there are still opportunities out there, you just have to take advantage of them.

From fishing to hiking to bird watching to hunting, the last days of January and all of February have a lot to offer.

While there is still some goose hunting and deer bow hunting available during the first week of February, one of the more enjoyable winter hunting opportunities is open until the end of the month, and that is rabbit hunting. While the sound of a good beagle dog adds volume to the rabbit hunting experience, simply getting out and kicking through piles of brush and walking between rows is good winter rest therapy.

Even young people feel threat in an upturned face.

The squirrels that were chattering and barking minutes ago turn silent as the eyes on the ground look skyward. The quivering tails that marked the location of a squirrel lie still as its owner hugs a limb so tightly it’s virtually indistinguishable from wood.

Almost indistinguishable, but not quite. I followed a squirrel bark to this tall white oak tree, but it wasn’t easy. Squirrels are master ventriloquists. A single squirrel may sound like it’s directly above you, but seconds later you’d swear there were three or four trees there. Or over there.

It is a triangulation game. If you listen carefully, you will eventually identify the exact tree, and then the stem will begin. From where I am, there were many leaves and branches between us, preventing a clear shot. With a shotgun, a full choke, and 11/8 ounce of No. 6 lead, I could punch through obstructions and take him down.

What I’m doing is surgical. I’m using a short barreled .22 caliber rifle loaded with 40 grain hollow points stuffed into tiny long rifle cases. Any obstruction, be it a twig or a leaf, will deflect the bullet and miss. I have to get closer, and the squirrels sense that a shape crawling on the forest floor is dangerous.

Once I point to his tree, I watch the movement for several minutes. A wagging tail is a golden gift. A lead brick is a squirrel that runs to the end of a branch, jumps onto another branch, then another until it is safe and out of sight.

Less movement, I also look for the triangular shape of a squirrel sitting upright on a branch or a dark shape at the junction of two trunks or the forks of large limbs. I don’t see any of these, so I walk around the tree at a rate of two steps every five minutes. The view changes with each step.

Having made a semicircle around the tree, I see the leaves snap at the top of the canopy as a squirrel climbs higher to put distance between us. So, everything is quiet again.

I didn’t see the squirrel, only its wake. I look over the last move to see if it’s creeping higher. The natural tendency is to focus on where you last saw movement, but that’s a mistake. You have to look where it is going, not where it was.

There is no more movement. The squirrel is on the tree nearby, flat on a branch watching, waiting. He will try to wait for you, but squirrels are also very nervous and fickle. You have little time before he loses his temper and runs away. With a shotgun, you can make a squirrel run away. With a rifle, that’s unlikely.

Wearing polarized sunglasses, my eyes scan each branch from trunk to tip. One branch at a time I look higher and higher. I finally see it, an almost imperceptible lump on top of a branch among a tangle of leafy twigs. Raising my scope to 9x, I get closer. It takes almost 15 minutes, but I find it. It is well hidden, but there is a small opening that can be opened with a 40-grain hollow point.

I steady the rifle, center the scope, exhale half my air, and squeeze. The little rifle clicks and my prey falls.

Squirrel season opened May 15 in Arkansas, and with the cool weather, the early part of the season is as enjoyable as hunting in the fall. In some ways it’s also easier, not least because the moist ground cushions a hunter’s footsteps. You can creep more stealthily in the spring than you can in the crisp, crackling forest of fall.

In spring, the squirrels scatter. You have to cover a lot of ground and hunt them down one at a time. In the fall, large concentrations of squirrels descend on small areas of acorns and ripe hickory nuts. Sometimes you have to go a lot of ground to find those areas, but in the right place you can quickly fill a boundary.

When I was younger and my only goal was to kill, I used a shotgun. I came to despise the noise and weight of a shotgun. My rifle is nimble and light, and doesn’t splatter meat with buckshot. Instead of the thunderous pops that send squirrels running for cover, the .22 makes a loud crack. It stops the squirrels for a while, but the duration of the alarm is much shorter.

The spring woods are infested with ticks and chiggers. Mosquitoes swarm in the mornings and evenings. I spray my boots, cuffs, shirt collar, and pants tubes generously with high-potency repellent. For my skin I use OFF! botanicals. Even so, I have managed more ticks since May 15 than in many years. It makes me hate them even more.

The season is young but fruitful. I’ve shot 17 gray squirrels, including on the glorious opening morning when I knocked three out of a tree with four shots in about 10 seconds. My shot-to-kill ratio was almost 1:1 until two days ago, when I missed six rounds.

When squirrels are especially cautious, you get impatient and make mistakes. It happens to the best of us, but squirrels are far better hunters than all of us.

Sports on 05/31/2020