Newspaper Page Text
Wed., Jan. 27, 1999, Houston Timei-Joumtil
Page 8A
You, too, can find hunting success with midstate squirrels
It’s ironic that Georgia’s most abun
dant small game animal is also it most
nnderhunted species.
According to Joe Kura, chief of
game management for the Georgia
I )cpartmcnt of Natural Resources, in
the not too distant past, squirrels were
the No. 1 game species in our state.
Presently they rate only fifth in hunter
popularity, despite the longest season of
any game species in Georgia, a liberal
game bag limit of 10 per day and a high
population of squirrels statewide.
All this spells success to the Georgia
small game hunter who desires a fine
sporting animal in his sights and a
weighty game bag at the end of the
hunt. •
The bottom line question, then, is
where to begin. “Regardless of where
uiu’rc at, there’s very little sauirrel hunt
ing pressure,” said Kurz, “and hunters are
missing out on some might good hunt
ing opportunities in Central Georgia.”
Pood sources are the key to finding
squirrels. Acorns were a litde slim last
year, but with all the rain this year, both
acorn and hickory nut trees are loaded
with nuts. This should mean good
hunting for both squirrel and deer
hunters. Many hickory trees are so
loaded with nuts their limbs arc break
ing off from all the weight.
To narrow down your search for
good squirrel hunting locations, try
Wrestlers prepare to host major tournament this weekend at Panther Pit
IU ALLISON KENT
i'ok tuf Times Journal
Perry wrestlers chalked up a
l ig victory at home Jan. 22, win
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TIGHT FOR THE BALL Brandi Thomas (20) fights with a
Dodge County player for possession. The Lady Panthers took a
loss in the game.
Andrew United Methodist
sets new service hours
Members of the Andrew United
Methodist Church at 2430 Ga. 127 in
Kathleen welcome visitors to two
morning worship services.
The traditional service begins 8:30
a.m. and the contemporary service
begins 11:00 a.m. and features the
Praise Rand.
Church members will hold a break
fast beginning 9:30 a.m.Jan. 31. Come
for the early service and stay for break
fast or come for breakfast and stay for
die late service. Church membership is
not a requirement.
Lenten Bible Study begins Feb. 17
and will be held weekly for seven
weeks. The study will be incorporated
with the Wednesday Night Fellowship
Supper beginning at 6:30 p.m. followed
bv the special Bible study.
Robins Frederal offers
scholarships
Robins Federal Credit Union
executives announced that five four
year college scholarships of SI,OOO
per year will be awarded to graduating
seniors who are Credit Union mem
bers, said Dee Dee Cote Robins
Federal Credit Union Director of
Marketing.
The winners will form what the
Credit Union calls its 1999 Robins
Most Excellent senior Team.
Futher information on how to
apply is available at the Credit Union
or by calling (912) 923 - 3773.
John
Trussed
Times-Joumal
Outdoors
scouting for stands of hardwood trees
and looking for signs of “cutting” activ
ity, such as the green hulls of hickory
nuts, which squirrels cut through earli
er in the season to get to the meat of
the nut. Shredded-up pine cones,
another leftover from the bushytail’s
diet, is also a noteworthy sign.
When in doubt, just stop, observe
and listen for a few minutes. Squirrels
are gregarious animals and like the com
pany of their own kind. After 10 min
utes or so, most squirrels will lose their
caution and reveal their positions. If
none are close by, try “barking.” Barking
is the sound squirrels make (similar to a
human making clicking noises with the
tongue against the roof of the mouth)
when they are either curious about
what’s happening, want to start a “con
versation” with other squirrels in the
area, or even to sound an alarm.
A squirrel call which imitates the
squirrel s bark is an ideal tool for locat
ing Sciurus caro/inensis, and many
accomplished squirrel hunters can fool
ning all three of their matches.
The Panthers defeated Pike
County 65-6, Americus 38-35
and Macon County 66- 18.
%Ukvti £ Bms
• Battle of Champions
V andgjgggl
Present
(Amertca’si Jtfafavrtie
One Show Only!!
FVi., Jan. 29, 11:30a.m.
Georgia National Fairgrounds
Educational!!
Educational Groups - $16.11 par parson
Children- $17.11 par child
Adults - slß.ll par adult
Any questions, please call 1-800-436-4386
-
them just by using their mouths to
mimic the animal’s bark.
Stand hunting for squirrels is very
simple and probably the most produc
tive for the average squirrel hunter.
After I have found plenty of squirrel
signs, such as fresh nut cuttings and an
abundance of old squirrel nests, I just
sit down with my back against a tree
and watch for the squirrels, either
among the treetops or running across
the ground.
During the early fall, the majority of
the squirrels will be spotted among the
high branches because that’s where the
food is. After the leaves and nuts fell by
mid-November, they’ll spend a lot of
time on the ground.
Spotting squirrels among the
branches of 80-foot oak trees is not so
simple; in fact, it can be quite difficult
until the leaves fall off the trees. Once a
squirrel gets into a tree top, especially in
the early fall, he won’t move around
much for the simple reason that he
doesn’t have to, food is all around.
Thus a hungry squirrel can fill him
self up with nuts without moving far or
causing much commotion, so he’ll be
difficult topick out among the leaves of
the trees. This is when the hunter will
have to look for gentle, subtle motion
among the branches or listen for hick
ory nut hulls hitting the ground.
Although it takes a trained eye, with
Several of the teapi members
went undefeated on the day.
Ernest Howard, Tony Sollazo,
Quinton Johnson, Demetrius
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GO IN, BALL - Seventh grader Chris Fryer (34) looks for
three points in Perry Middle School action against Northside.
The Panthers won the game.
Williams, Maurice Hamilton
and Fred Ridley all went 3-0
during the tournament.
Ben Kashtor, another Panther
a little patience and careful observation,
soon you’ll get the knack of locating
squirrels. And while you can shoot the
first squirrel you see, I’ve found that if
you wait just a little longer, you can
increase the weight of your game bag.
That’s because squirrels like to congre
gate together and often where there is
one squirrel, there’s a few more.
I’ve taken as many as five squirrels
from one tree and that’s not too unusu
al among experienced squirrel hunters.
Squirrels have a bag full of tricks to
avoid detection, with running into a
knot-hole or hollow cavity ranking
among the most effective. If you have
spooked a squirrel into a hollow cavity,
you can wait him out, but you might be
in for a long wait. The squirrel might
ease back out in five minutes, but Tve
watched a few hidden squirrels for as
long as an hour without them coming
back out. Usually I give these squirrels
a “free pass” and try to catch them
another day.
Other squirrels try to hide on the
opposite side of the tree from the
hunter and this seems to be a universal
trick among squirrels. To make matters
worse, when the hunter moves, the
squirrel moves, so it’s often hard to get
the squirrel to make a mistake and
show himself.
This standoff can be quickly
resolved if there are two hunters and
who had a 3-0 day, beat an
Americus opponent who was an
area placer last season.
Jan. 23, Perry participated in a
tournament which included their
opponent Carroll Central, ranked
10th in AA, Chatooga, ranked
7th and 3rd ranked Morgan
County.
Perry finished up strong,
according to Head Coach Sean
Moistner. “We competed well,”
he said. “Just a few breaks against
Morgan County and things
could have turned out different
for us.”
The Panthers finished second
in the competition.
Kashtor and Williams again
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they simply move to opposite sides of
the tree so one can get a shot.
The lone hunter must resort to
trickery himself by picking up a limb,
pine cone or whatever’* handy, and
tossing it to the opposite side of the
tree. The squirrel, hearing the noise,
shifts back to the hunter’s side of the
tree. Offering a shot if all goes well, but
the hunter has to be quick to capitalize
on the opportunity.
Another common sauirrel trick is for
the squirrel to just lay flat on a big, high
branch where you can’t see him and
sometimes moving around the tree or
throwing sticks to the opposite side
doesn’t help the situation. The best
strategy to deal with this predicament is
to move back away from the tree as far
as possible, but still be able to see the
top branches and study the tree careful
ly with a rifle scope or binoculars.
Often it’s possible to pick out the
top of the squirrel’s back or*the end of
its tail, and then with a little more
maneuvering, you can get a clean shot.
Firearms for squirrels are the shoot
ers choice, but a good selection would
be either a .22 rifle loaded with solid 22
long rifle cartridges or your choice of
shotgun loaded with number six shot.
Personally, I like to squirrel hunt with
my Ruger Model 10-22 Carbine,
topped with a big game four power
scope.
went 3-0. Howard and Johnson
both lost in close matches to top
ranked wrestlers from Morgan
County.
Moistner seems satisfied with
his team’s progress over the sea
son, commenting that his team,
ranked sth in the state continues
to improve.
“We know what to work on
for state tournament. We have
three weeks to work on our mis
takes before state,” he said.
Perry hosts their huge invita
tional tournament this weekend.
Seventeen schools arc expected
to compete. Action will start Jan.
29 and continue Jan. 30 at the
Perry High gym.