Newspaper Page Text
Page 6
Wed., Jan. 5. 2000. Houston Home Journal
Mid winter is great time for getting squirrels
When the squirrel season
opens in mid August of each
year we might tell ourselves
there's too many ticks and
chiggers to be in the woods.
Then the dove season rolls
around and, and, oh yes, we
love that wing shooting!
Suddenly, before we know
it, we are fully engaged in
deer hunting, which now
represents about 75 percent
of all hunting activity in the
state.
But while the most popu
lar small game hunting,
which is for dove and quail,
is on the decline because of
loss of habitat and shrinking
populations, squirrels are
very numerous across the
state and very under uti
lized.
A lot of hunters don’t ever
think about squirrel hunting
until after the deer season
but Just after the leaves drop
off the trees is a prime time
for squirrels. So consider
taking a few trips into the
hardwoods in November and
through early winter for
some great bushy tail hunt
ing.
Mid to late season squir
rel season is considerably
different than early fall
hunting. In the August to
October time period most
squirrels are still swinging
in the tree limbs among the
hickory nuts and acorns,
thus they hang out where
the food is located.
Hidden among the canopy
of thick tree leaves, they are
not nearly as skittish or as
wise as late season squir
rels.
Everything changes
quickly after the leaves hit
the ground. With all the
mast crop on the ground,
the squirrels pretty much
abandon the tree tops,
except for sleeping in nests
and lounging around.
Squirrels quickly learn, or
at least the survivors do,
that hawks and owls can
swiftly snatch their brethren
from tree branches or large
patches of open ground.
Regardless of whatever the
squirrels are doing, some
hunters think the number
one occupation for squirrels
in November and December
is harassing deer hunters!
Just think about the
times you’ve been covered
up with squirrels while sit
ting on your deer stand. One
of the most common conver
sations among deer hunters
goes something like this.
“Seen anything this morn
ing?" “No, just a bunch of
squirrels!"
On occasions like this it
has probably occurred to
more than one hunter that
perhaps they should be
squirrel hunting rather than
deer hunting.
With a handy 22 rifle or
shotgun they might have
gone home with a game bag
Rill of squirrels rather than
going out of the woods with
Clark
the NBA. playing on two Los
Angeles Lakers champi
onship teams. During his
career, Nixon averaged more
than 15 points a game while
dishing out an average of
just over eight assists.
These great athletes are
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John
Trussel
I
Home
Journal
Outdoors
a sore rear end from hours
of sitting with no action.
Well here’s how you can get
in on some good hunting.
The first thing to do is
narrow down a place to find
concentrations of squirrels.
Of course if you scan your
brain you’ll easily remember
all those hoards of squirrels
you saw while deer hunting.
Early in the hunting season
the acorns usually are con
centrated and the squirrels
are found in hardwood
groves. By winter however
most of the nuts are gone or
buried by squirrels.
Then begins the period of
time when squirrels start to
disperse in search of food.
To narrow down your
search for good squirrel
hunting locations, try scout
ing for stands of hardwood
trees and looking for signs of
“cutting” activity, such as
the hulls of hickory nuts,
which squirrels cut through
earlier 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 gre
garious animals and like the
company of their own kind.
After 19 minutes 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 clicking
noises with the tongue
against the roof of the
mouth) when they are either
curious about what’s hap
pening, they want to start a
“conversation" with other
squirrels in the area, or even
when they want to sound an
alarm.
A squirrel call, which imi
tates the squirrel’s bark, is
an ideal tool for locating
frisky squirrels and many
accomplished squirrel
hunters can fool them just
by using their mouths to
mimic the animal’s bark.
Stand hunting for squir
rels is very simple and prob
ably the most productive for
the average squirrel hunter.
After I have found plenty of
squirrel signs, such as fresh
nut cuttings and an abun
dance of old squirrel nests, I
just sit down with my back
against a tree and watch for
the squirrels, sometimes
among the treetops or most
usually running across the
ground, in the winter.
Continued from page 5
the greatest among many
Georgia natives who have
made names for themselves
during the past hundred
years. It s an impressive list.
And surely there are others
who would be included on
your own list!
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 congregate 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 unusual
among experienced squirrel
hunters.
Squirrels have a bag full
of tricks to avoid detection,
with running into a knot
hole or hollow cavity rank
ing among the most effec
tive. 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 I’ve watched a few hid
den squirrels for as long as
an hour without them com
ing back out. Usually I give
these squirrels a “free pass"
and try to catch them
another day.
Squirrels which retreat
into high leaf nests are usu
ally safe also, but if it’s low
enough to have a vine grow
ing into it you might have a
chance to roust the squirrel
out of the nest.
Just grab the vine at the
base and give it a couple of
quick yanks. Often the
squirrel will abandon ship
and run up into the top of
the tree, giving you the
opportunity for a shot.
But don’t attempt to fire a
round into the nest if the
squirrel doesn’t come out.
Not only is that unsports
man like, the shot could kill
Panthers
Thomas said that the
team had set a goal of fin
ishing third or higher in the
sub-region.
“The way the region tour
nament falls, third is an
ideal spot for us," Thomas
said.
In girls action. Perry’s
Lady Panthers were also
defeated by the AAAA
Eagles. Perry held their own
in the first, but Northside
shot out to a 25-15 halftime
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the squirrel in the nest, and
be a total waste.
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 squir
rel 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 they simply
move to opposite sides of the
tree so one can get a shot.
But the lone hunter must
resort to trickery himself by
picking up a limb, pine cone
or whatever’s 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. The hunter has to be
quick to capitalize on the
opportunity.
Another common squirrel
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 hut
still be able to see the top
branches and study the tree
carefully with a rifle scope
or binoculars. Often it's pos
sible 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.
(Continued next time.)
Continued from page 5
lead that the Panthers could
not come back against.
Freshman Natassija
Mitchell, led the team with
14 points, the only Panther
to hit double digits.
Percy 33 Northside 59 (Girls)
Code 2. Ragin 2. Woodard !,
Mitchell 14. Overton 6. Hill 4
Perry 50 Northside (Hi (Hoys)
Allen 3, Thorton 3. Robinson
13, Foster 3. Asbtirv fc>. Whitehead
1. Scogin 18. Stripling 2. Mont
gomery 2
Three pointers Robinson 1.
Asburv 2. Scogin I
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