Squirrel hunting could be edging back into the spotlight.
Joe Mosby
Mar 03, 2009
SOURCE: Log Cabin Democrat
Squirrel hunting could be edging back into the spotlight.
That is a stretch, of course, with the predominance of deer hunting all around Arkansas, with duck hunting and turkey hunting competing for runner-up status.
If you missed the news the other day, the wildlife staff of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is recommending that the daily bag limit on squirrels be raised from eight to 12 and the possession limit from 16 to 36. The commissioners will make the decision on this issue at either their March or April meetings.
Most of the focus on hunting rules for the 2009-2010 season is on deer with a number of major changes suggested. Debate and howls from hunters is expected to be considerable, except form past history, many deer hunters don't think about new rules until they are getting ready to go into the field - October, in other words.
Arkansas has had a daily limit of eight on squirrels for decades. The AGFC's wildlife people say there are plentiful populations of squirrels all across the state and that raising the limit won't endanger their overall healthy status.
Squirrel numbers traditionally are cyclic, meaning they go up and down depending on favorable or unfavorable conditions. Primarily this is food. When acorns and other squirrel food is abundant, the squirrels increase in number. When food is short, the numbers go down, and this is usually in periods of extended drought.
OK, how about the heavy damage to hardwood trees by the recent ice storms? This will probably be good for squirrel food, said a long-time AGFC biologist. "The broken trees that are still alive will put a lot of energy into re-growing tops and branches, and this means growing acorns and nuts. Squirrels and other wildlife should benefit in the long run."
The biologist went on to say the ice damage will also result in ground level growth, since the broken trees and branches will allow more sunlight to reach the ground, benefiting native grasses, shrubs and bushes in forested areas.
Squirrel hunting in Arkansas likely out-ranked deer hunting in number of participants in the past.
Deer numbers nose-dived in the 1920s and 1930s, leveled off in the 1940s then started their comeback in the 1950s. But hunters had squirrels all along. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, squirrels furnished meat for many tables, especially in rural areas, right along with rabbits.
People talk about deer camps. Much less heralded but just as viable are squirrel camps, traditional for some hunters. This is where the proposed change in the daily limit came from.
Small groups of Arkansas hunters get together, set up camps in the forests and hunt squirrels over a weekend, a long weekend or even a week or so. They enjoy it. They have fun. They tell stories and acquire new stories. And they kill squirrels, many of the hunters do.
Under the old rules a hunter could posses 16 squirrels, two daily limits. At a camp under good conditions, this meant two days, and the hunter was finished. With the increased limit of 12 a day, 36 in possession, a successful hunter can take home plenty of squirrel meat. And that is some good eating.
The AGFC's Squirrel Management Team said, "Once a hunter makes it to camp, he ought to have the latitude to stay a while and hunt, particularly if it won't significantly affect the resource.Raising the lag and possession limit should have little or no effect on a resource that is under-utilized at present."
In today's Arkansas hunting, a young person often breaks into hunting by being allowed to go on a deer hunt. He or she is handed a rifle that is loud, kicks and that the youngster pay have shot just a few times in practice.
In bygone times, young people broke under hunting by going after squirrels. This pursuit required them to move quietly and slowly through the woods, to be observant of little movements, to listen carefully to sounds. The young hunter had to be accurate with a .22 rifle or with a .410 or 20-gauge shotgun.
Many hunters today regard squirrel hunting as the primer, the foundation, not deer hunting.
