This month, hunters will get an extra three weeks to target the bushytails they overlooked in the fall.
Chances are that practically every hunter in Louisiana over the age of 40 got started in the hunting game by learning to sneak up on bushytails in the fall. Skills learned during these days helped hunters move on to pursue deer and other more wary game.
Younger deer hunters, sadly, seem to have side-stepped this important experience. In many cases, the first hunting experience for young hunters today is sitting with dad in a box stand waiting on a deer to walk up to the automatic feeder or begin munching clover on a food plot.
“Put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeeze the trigger,” is a familiar command whispered by dads to young hunters. If the shot is true, they’re soon high-fiving and admiring the deer. The youngster has bagged the first animal he hunted, and if the experience is a favorable one to him, and it usually is, he’ll be back in the stand with his dad next weekend to do it all over again.
Let me hasten to make the point that there is not a thing wrong with the above scenario. A dad and his son have been able to share something special, and the dad has put his youngster on a path that will likely continue long after the child becomes an adult.
The problem is that, quite frankly, it is easy to kill a deer that has been programmed to visit food plots and feeders. From the vantage point of a well-concealed box stand, it’s not that hard for a youngster to learn how to effectively shoot a deer.
The problem is compounded when that youngster who regularly shoots a season limit of six deer would not be able to sneak up on and bag a squirrel if his life depended on it. Take away the box stand, the food plot and the automatic feeder, and he probably won’t find hunting to be as much fun, and his interests could turn to something else.
However, if that youngster has served his apprenticeship in the squirrel woods, he has already learned what hunting is all about, and is more likely to see hunting as a lifetime activity that is fun and challenging.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is doing its part to see that more young hunters get into the sport of squirrel hunting with the implementation of the state’s first spring squirrel hunting season set to begin on private lands in Louisiana on May 5 and extending through May 27.
David Moreland, head of the Wildlife Division for the LDWF, said getting youngsters involved is one of the principal reasons for offering a spring squirrel season to the state’s hunters.
“We set the season for May because there is no other hunting season open during the month, and there should be less competition from other activities, such as deer hunting. This would be a fine time for a dad to take his son or daughter to the woods and help them learn the fine points of how to really hunt,” said Moreland.
Squirrel hunters have been schooled all their lives on how to hunt squirrels, but they’ve done it during the traditional time when squirrel hunting takes place — the autumn. To hunt squirrels during the crisp days of October involves listening for the scraping of incisors on a hickory nut or the dropping of acorn hulls as a squirrel feeds on a variety of nuts available during this period of year.
By late spring, most of the nuts have dropped and have already been consumed by squirrels, deer, turkeys, hogs and other wildlife. A squirrel has to eat to survive, but his choice of food differs when the acorns and hickory nuts are gone. Thus, hunters have to become re-educated in order to locate squirrels in May.
I sat down recently with a hunter who has chased squirrels in spring in his native Arkansas for years, and says it is one of his favorite things to do in the outdoors. Keith Sutton, who lives in Little Rock, is an outdoor writer as well as an accomplished squirrel hunter.
Since I plan to be in the squirrel woods in May, I needed to know what to expect when I go out. I took the opportunity to pick the brain of Sutton who has hunted squirrels in spring for years.
“The first thing you need to understand,” Sutton began, “is that you have to scout differently in spring because the foods on which squirrels rely are different this time of year. They won’t be feeding on hard mast like acorns and hickory nuts, but instead will be looking for such things as mulberries and leaf buds on sweet gums and maples. They love the seeds that form on maples and they’ll eat flower buds on a variety of plants.
“Another thing to keep in mind is the temperature. You’ll need to dress differently in May than you would in October, and you’ll have to watch where you step because snakes will be out more in May.
“Foliage is another thing that will be different. I know that in Louisiana during early October, the leaves will still be on the trees, while during late season, they’ll be gone. Hunting squirrels in May is a lot like hunting in October, as far as having to contend with foliage that can obscure a squirrel’s movement around the trees.
“You’ll find that you’ll be able to sneak closer to a squirrel in spring than you can in late fall after the leaves begin to shed. I have also found that my weapon of choice for spring hunting is a shotgun over a rifle. Because of the foliage, the shot shells seem to work more effectively than .22 rifle bullets.”
Sutton pointed out that he sees more squirrels in trees than on the ground during spring. He cautions hunters to look higher in the trees in spring because squirrels are often out at the end of branches feeding on tree buds.
“Squirrels have more than one breeding season a year, and you might find some rutting during May, but you won’t hurt the squirrel population by hunting them during their breeding season,” said Sutton. “They’re so plentiful that it probably would have little impact on the population if they were hunted all year long.”
Sutton has a favorite method of hunting squirrels in spring, one that could combine two of his favorite sports, squirrel hunting and bass fishing.
“I like to float hunt for spring squirrels,” he said. “I’ll often take a buddy along, and while one paddles, the other shoots. Squirrels like to hang around water where most of the soft mast is produced, and you can have a ball sneaking up on them in a boat or canoe and then get in a little fishing as well.
“One of my most memorable hunts was a day years ago when I was trying for my ‘Arkansas Grand Slam’ for squirrels. We have gray squirrels, fox squirrels and some are of the black phase. On this particular day, I decided to see if I could complete the ‘slam’ with a gray, a fox and a black squirrel.
“We were hunting the Ouachita River in Arkansas, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when after bagging both gray and fox squirrels I was finally able to float up on a solid black squirrel and put it in the bag.
“I have found that hunting squirrels in spring is a great time to introduce youngsters to hunting. They have been cooped up in school for the past nine months, and are ready for some action once school ends in May. My own kids used to love that first squirrel hunt at the beginning of the summer vacation.
“Another good thing about spring hunting is that kids can move more quietly without so many dead crunchy leaves underfoot.”
As far as hunting squirrels in spring versus hunting them in fall, Sutton said you have to listen for more subtle sounds in spring.
“Because a squirrel makes virtually no noise eating berries and buds as compared to cutting the hard shell of nuts, you have to use your eyes more than your ears,” he said. “When you’re in an area where you suspect squirrels are feeding, pay particular attention to the ends of branches where squirrels are likely feeding on tree buds. They’ll often sit in one place and not move about the tree as much as they do in the fall.
“Another difference is that squirrels are more likely to stay out later and feed in spring than in fall. You are just as likely to locate feeding squirrels at mid-morning in spring as at sunrise in the fall. Their activity period lasts later in the morning and often begins earlier in the afternoon.
“One reason for this, I believe, is that fall foods are more nutritious, so they don’t have to feed as long whereas spring foods are not as nutritious and, therefore, they have to consume more in order to feel filled. If you want to sleep in and hit the woods later in the morning, hunting spring squirrels is a good way to catch a few extra hours of sleep.”
To ensure hunting success, Sutton likes to move slowly and deliberately, keeping his eyes on trees ahead.
“I’ll walk 10 steps or so, stop and look, and then walk another few steps and stop,” he said. “You’ll more likely see squirrels feeding than you’ll hear them, and by walking slowly and stopping you’ll spot those you might miss otherwise.
“Another thing I always carry with me when hunting squirrels in spring is a good pair of binoculars. Squirrels tend to gather where the food is more plentiful, and with the naked eye, you might spot a couple feeding, but the binoculars may help you spot others feeding in the same tree.
“When I shoot a squirrel, I’ll mark where it fell, and I’ll stand quietly in the same spot. Chances are, the other squirrels will soon begin feeding, and I have limited out in one tree by not rushing.”
As stated earlier, Sutton prefers using his shotgun when hunting squirrels in spring.
“I like No. 6 shot, which cuts through the foliage effectively. You’re not likely to get as many open long shots as in the fall, so you really don’t need a rifle.
“I usually find more squirrels around water in spring, and where the situation is favorable I like to walk a creek bottom. The ground is softer, and sneaking is usually more effective.”
As far as table fare, Sutton says that squirrels he kills in spring are usually tastier than those he kills during the fall season.
“It’s like their diet is more ‘salad’ (soft mast) in spring compared to ‘steak’ (hard mast) in the fall. They just seem to be sweeter and tastier to me this time of year,” he said. “I think Louisiana hunters are going to be pleasantly surprised at how much fun it is to hunt squirrels in spring. You’ll likely find more young squirrels, which are easier to hunt and tastier as well.
“Hunting squirrels in spring is a great way to have fun during a time when no other season is open.”
