Squirrel, rabbit forecast looks good for Louisiana despite hot, dry summer
A dry, hot summer has been the big news leading up to the small game hunting season in the Sportsman’s Paradise.
Arthur Hebert, 36, who earlier this summer succeeded Tony Vidrine as biologist supervisor for the Lafayette Region WMAs, and other biologist supervisors and biologist managers across the state were sweating through the record-breaking heat wave while contemplating how it might affect small game hunting on WMAs.
Hebert believes the region’s mast crops may suffer “a little bit” from the intense heat and dry spell, more than likely at least one species in particular. He noticed it during a dry, hot period in late summer 2022.
“I saw some of our red oaks drop some of their buds last year that would be acorns this year. I’m afraid the (current) drought may be detrimental to the mast crop,” the veteran biologist said, adding this year’s mast survey in his region will be conducted in late September or early October.
Historically, Hebert said in early August, squirrel populations adapt and as a result don’t fluctuate much each year regardless of the weather conditions. For example, the Lafayette Region boasted the largest harvest of squirrels at Richard K. Yancey WMA in Louisiana last season as well as a 2.5-squirrel per hunter effort on Attakapas WMA inside the Atchafalaya Basin.
“Squirrels are resilient,” he said. “They’ll find something to eat out there.”
Rabbits generally flourish during dry weather months, he said. With some females attempting as many as six litters of four to five rabbits each year, their babies often have a higher survival rate in a dry nest on the ground.
That could mean a bumper crop this year from one of the hottest rabbit hunting WMAs last season in the Sportsman’s Paradise. You can read the details in the report below about the harvest that nearly doubled from the 2021-22 season to 2022-23 on Attapakas WMA.
The Pineville Region’s WMA biologist supervisor said the heat wave puts a stress on animals. The key to enduring it is a water source, according to Cliff Dailey, a 15-year LDWF veteran biologist who has been in his current position since 2013.
“Luckily, the areas I manage have ample creeks and sloughs,” Dailey said the second week of August.
He, too, has concerns about the mast crop during prolonged drought conditions. He has seen bitter pecans and some overcups and willow oaks dropping mast.
“As far as mast crop, there might be an abortion of the mast crop … not a total abortion. There could be a reduction,” Dailey said, noting dry weather is helping the staff’s work to draw down waterbodies to combat salvinia on Dewey Wills WMA.
“It’ll probably be an average small game year (for Pineville Region WMAs),” he said. “It would be nice to get a little rain or break in the heat.”
Hammond Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Pearl River WMA: 1,768 squirrels reported, (1.2 squirrels per hunter effort)
Maurepas Swamp WMA: 429 squirrels reported, (0.8 squirrels per hunter effort)
Tunica Hills WMA: 169 squirrels reported, (0.8 squirrels per hunter effort)
Top WMA Rabbit Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Maurepas Swamp WMA: 180 rabbits reported, (0.8 rabbits per hunter efforts)
Joyce WMA: 36 rabbits reported, (2.4 rabbits per hunter effort)
Two years ago, Hurricane Ida hit squirrels and everything else where they live when it smashed into southeast Louisiana in August 2021.
Hammond Region WMAs felt the brunt of the storm, particularly Maurepas Swamp WMA, a 112,615-acre area in Ascension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes. Trees were uprooted along spoil banks and, as a result of reduced hunter access, 395 rabbits were killed in 2021-22. However, rabbit hunters harvested 429 there in 2022-23.
The area is recovering but it isn’t out of the woods yet, according to Hammond Region WMA biologist supervisor James Donovan.
Mast crop surveys in fall 2022 showed below average production at Maurepas Swamp WMA. With slightly less hard mast available to squirrels last season, their body conditions may be poorer and lead to less reproduction.
Pearl River WMA’s 2022-23 squirrel harvest numbers led the region with 1,768, a big increase over the previous season’s 904.
Maurepas Swamp WMA’s rabbit harvest far outpaced the other public areas in the region with 180 in the bag in 2022-23, a harvest that nearly doubled the harvest the previous season. Donovan attributed that to greatly improving habitat conditions for rabbits to those spoil banks with uprooted trees growing beaucoup briar patches.
Joyce WMA’s marsh is recovering from Hurricane Ida, he said. Thirty-six rabbits were harvested on the area last season.
Lafayette Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Richard K. Yancey WMA: 5,926 squirrels reported (1.6 squirrels per hunter effort)
Sherburne WMA: 2,599 squirrels reported (1.0 squirrels per hunter effort)
Attakapas Isand WMA: 955 squirrels reported (2.5 squirrels per hunter effort)
Grassy Lake WMA: 518 squirrels reported (1.4 squirrels per hunter effort)
Pomme de Terre WMA: 393 squirrels reported (1.4 squirrels per hunter effort)
Top WMA Rabbit Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Attakapas Island WMA: 2,105 rabbits reported, (3.17 rabbits per hunter effort)
Sherburne WMA: 322 rabbits reported, (0.3 rabbits per hunter efforts)
Rabbit hunters had an incredible season, one to remember, in 2022-23 on Attakapas WMA.
Are you ready for Incredible Season II? That would mean harvesting more than 2,105 rabbits, the number recorded last season on the 27,962-acre WMA inside the Atchafalaya Basin. It could happen again there, especially after a dry spring and summer, according to Arthur Hebert, WMA biologist supervisor for the Lafayette Region.
Last season was a dream come true for rabbit hunters who hunted the boat-only accessible WMA in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes. Hebert remembers it well. The University of Louisiana-Lafayette graduate said word spread quickly about the great rabbit hunting at Attakapas WMA. Deer hunters at first were concerned about the large amount of hunting dogs running on the WMA (perhaps mistakenly believing they were deer dogs) and contacted the Lafayette Region. That they were rabbit dogs let the cat out of the bag.
“We got the self-clearing permits and started looking at the numbers,” Hebert said. “They (rabbit hunters) really capitalized on it.”
According to those permits, 2,105 rabbits — 3.17 per hunter — were harvested there compared to 113 in 2021-22. The 2022-23 total was the most in the region.
Hebert expects the region’s Eastern cottontail rabbit, average 2 to 4 pounds, and the swamp rabbit, average 4 to 6 pounds, to flourish this spring and summer with a low Atchafalaya River. The swamp rabbit can be elusive, he noted, as it won’t hesitate to jump into water to escape rabbit dogs.
“I expect all our WMAs to do great for rabbits,” Hebert said, also pointing rabbit hunters to Richard K. Yancey WMA and Sherburne WMA.
Attakapas WMA also yielded the region’s largest squirrel harvest per hunter for squirrels last season with a 2.5 average but the most squirrels were killed on Richard K. Yancey WMA, where 5,926 were harvested compared to 7,879 squirrels bagged in 2021-22.
Lake Charles Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
West Bay WMA: 109 squirrels reported, 314 hunter efforts (1 squirrel per 543 acres, 1 squirrel per 3 hunter efforts)
Fort Polk-Vernon WMA: 75 squirrels reported, 124 hunter efforts (1 squirrel per 1,407 acres, 1 squirrel per 2 hunter efforts)
Clear Creek WMA: 70 squirrels reported, 195 hunter efforts (1 squirrel per 505 acres, 1 squirrel per 3 hunter efforts)
Sabine Island WMA: 63 squirrels reported, 78 hunter efforts (1 squirrel per 138 acres, 1 squirrel per 1.5 hunter efforts)
Peason Ridge WMA: 39 squirrels reported, 191 hunter efforts (1 squirrel per 222 acres, 1 squirrel per 5 hunter efforts)
Top WMA Rabbit Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Clear Creek WMA: 104 rabbits reported, 154 hunter efforts (1 rabbit per 505 acres, 1 rabbit per 2 hunter effort)
West Bay WMA: 13 rabbits reported, 85 hunter efforts (1 rabbit per 4,553 acres, 1 rabbit per 7 hunter efforts)
Squirrel hunting should be fair to good on the Lake Charles Region WMAs, Wendell Smith was happy to predict recently.
The 34-year Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries veteran biologist said the mast crop production last year was “pretty good,” something he saw when working on another project earlier this year.
“I learned that when we started looking for turkeys,” Smith said. “So the squirrel population ought to be good this year.”
The mast crop has rebounded from 2020 when Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta dealt destruction in back-to-back months in southwest Louisiana.
Thanks to an increased food source, last season’s squirrel hunting numbers increased significantly over the 2021-22 season on five WMAs in the Lake Charles Region. Leading the way was West Bay WMA, where 109 were bagged compared to 60 in 2021-22.
West Bay WMA’s squirrel harvest was followed by Fort Johnson-Vernon WMA (formerly Fort Polk-Vernon WMA) with 75 squirrels harvested compared to 49 the previous season and by Clear Creek WMA, where hunters bagged 70 squirrels compared to 39 in 2021-22.
As for rabbits, the harvest at Clear Creek WMA was up from 49 two seasons ago to 104 in 2022-23. Also, West Bay WMA’s 2022-23 total of 12 rabbits last season was lower than the 31 the previous season.
Early successional vegetation has offered above average selection for foraging rabbits, Smith wrote in his report.
“I expect a good season,” he said in mid-summer. “I have been seeing a lot of rabbits, a lot of bunnies now, and there are a lot more grasses.”
Minden Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Bodcau WMA: 675 squirrels reported (0.88 squirrels per hunter effort)
Loggy Bayou WMA: 283 squirrels reported (0.98 squirrels per hunter effort)
John Franks WMA: 250 squirrels reported (1.64 squirrels per hunter effort)
Soda Lake WMA: 41 squirrels reported (0.3 squirrels per hunter effort)
Bayou Pierre WMA: 25 squirrels reported (0.35 squirrels per hunter effort)
The Minden Region WMAs’ biologist supervisor points squirrel hunters to two public areas as the season approaches.
“Bodcau and Loggy Bayou WMAs have the most potential,” Jeff Johnson wrote in his report for Louisiana Sportsman’s annual Wildlife Management Area Small Game Hunting Guide.
Johnson, who has been the region’s biologist manager since 2020 as well as a 22-year veteran biologist as of this month with LDWF, listed Bodcau WMA as the top destination despite a decrease in the squirrel harvest last season when 675 squirrels were killed compared to 960 in 2021-22. Based on habitat conditions, it’s due to rebound.
“The mast crop was noticeably better last fall than it had been the two previous years. That should lead to better squirrel numbers for the upcoming season. From what we’ve seen so far, that appears to be the case,” Johnson reported.
Many squirrel hunters anxiously await.
Loggy Bayou WMA, which has primarily bottomland hardwood, still has a “decent range” of mast-producing species from really low site species such as bitter pecan, overcup oak and willow oak to slightly higher site species such as water oak. While there is minimal upland area compared to bottomlands, there are stands of white oak in the uplands, which should result in higher squirrel harvest numbers for 2023-24.
Last season’s squirrel harvest there was 283, up from 232 in 2021-22.
Johnson turned his attention to rabbit hunting and said the same public areas offer the most promise again this season but in reverse order.
“Loggy Bayou and Bodcau should be the top two. These two WMAs consistently produce the most rabbits harvested out of the WMAs in the Minden Region. The numbers aren’t incredibly high but all things relative, these are usually the top two,” the veteran biologist wrote. “Food and cover are in good shape currently. As long as we continue getting occasional rains and avoid a summer drought, I’d expect conditions will remain all right.”
Monroe Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Bouef WMA: 1,632 squirrels reported, (1.3 squirrels per hunter effort)
Big Lake WMA: 1,554 squirrels reported, (2.4 squirrels per hunter effort)
Russell Sage WMA: 342 squirrels reported, (0.6 squirrels per hunter effort)
Buckhorn WMA: 329 squirrels reported, (1.5 squirrels per hunter effort)
Bayou Macon WMA: 245 squirrels reported, (1.4 squirrels per hunter effort)
Top WMA Rabbit Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Bouef WMA: 10 rabbits reported, (0.8 rabbits per hunter effort)
Big Lake WMA: 8 rabbits reported, (1.1 rabbits per hunter effort)
Russell Sage WMA: 3 rabbits reported, (1.18 rabbits per hunter effort)
Buckhorn WMA: 31 rabbits reported, (0.2 rabbits per hunter effort)
Bayou Boeuf WMA showed out, as they say these days, when 1,252 squirrel hunters gave it a try in 2022-23.
The Monroe Region’s 51,110-acre WMA in Caldwell and Catahoula parishes didn’t disappoint as it gave up 1,632 squirrels, or 1.3 squirrels per hunter effort, during the season. That take was down from the previous season harvest of 1,955.
Bayou Boeuf WMA’s harvest last season was the highest in the region, even superseding Big Lake WMA, which led the region’s squirrel harvest two seasons ago with 3,984 but registered 1,554 in 2022-23.
“We have a lot of people who like to squirrel hunt up here. It was kind of down but they gave it an effort,” Mitch McGee, the Monroe Region’s biologist supervisor, said.
McGee, an LDWF employee since 2000, believes squirrels on both public areas will bounce back this season.
“Populations were down last year but should improve this coming year. Squirrel populations are tied very closely to previous mast crops,” McGee wrote in his annual report for Louisiana Sportsman, also noting some outdoorsmen might have been frustrated.
The mast crop last year should make a significant difference in the squirrel harvest this season, he said from his office in early July. He labeled that mast crop “fair.”
Both WMAs are popular among squirrel hunters because of sprawling acreage of older age class bottomland timber.
“Boeuf and Big Lake WMA should be on any squirrel hunter’s list,” he wrote.
With little spring flooding, rabbit hunters should enjoy a fair season, McGee wrote.
“Rabbit populations are increasing across the Monroe Region. Hopefully this year’s population will bounce back and be more abundant for hunters. Russell Sage and Boeuf WMAs should be fair …,” he reported, noting both areas have reforested areas with plenty of ground cover and briars.
Bouef WMA’s 10 rabbits led the way in last year’s harvest. Big Lake WMA had 8.
Pineville Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Dewey W. Wills WMA: 2,863 squirrels reported (1.2 squirrels per hunter effort)
Sabine WMA: 185 squirrels reported (1.25 squirrels per hunter effort)
Alexander State Forest WMA: 258 squirrels reported (1.0 squirrels per hunter effort)
Top WMA Rabbit Harvest Numbers for 2022-23
Sabine WMA: 124 rabbits reported (0.9 rabbits per hunter effort)
Dewey W. Wills WMA: 215 rabbits reported (0.4 per hunter effort)
Cliff Dailey’s preseason call last season was spot on for squirrel hunting success.
Before the 2022-23 season, the veteran biologist predicted a subpar mast crop might lead to lesser numbers on Dewey Wills WMA. Dewey Wills WMA’s 2022-23 squirrel harvest was at 2,863 (1.2 per hunter effort) compared to 6,721 in 2021-22.
Dailey’s outlook for the huge WMA (63,984 acres) is more optimistic before this season.
“I think Dewey Wills is going to be about like it has been. If we get 2 ½ squirrels per hunter effort, that’ll be a good average for us,” he said, noting overcup, willow and nuttall are the primary oak species on the area providing groceries for squirrels.
Dailey reminds small game hunters about the two Small Game Emphasis Areas (4,440 acres total) on Dewey Wills WMA that allow outdoorsmen to bring their dog(s) to train June 1-Aug. 31 and hunt squirrels the first part of the season Oct. 7-Nov. 19.
For the region’s other WMAs, he said, “It’ll probably be about an average harvest. Maybe down some from last year just because the mast crop was a little down.”
Sabine WMA apparently will be a good second choice for squirrel hunters who like hunting public lands. Harvest there last season was 185, with 1.25 squirrels per hunter effort, with most of the hits near the hardwood zones along creeks and drains with oak, hickory and beech trees.
Sabine WMA’s rabbit harvest doubled from 59 in 2021-22 to 124 last season, while Dewey Wills WMA’s rabbit hunters killed more than four times as many rabbits in 2022-23 (215) than they did in 2021-22 (43).
Dailey also talked about top rabbit hunting sites this season.
“I think Dewey Wills is going to be about like it has been. Sabine will probably be above average just because of the work going on over there,” Dailey said about rabbit hunting prospects. He also said many rabbit hunters favor the former because they can hunt bottomland hardwoods.
Coastal Lafayette Region 2023-24 Outlook
Top WMA Squirrel Harvest Numbers for 2021-22
Pointe-aux-Chenes WMA: 19 squirrels reported (0.23 squirrels per hunter effort)
Small game hunters historically take to the vast coastal WMAs mostly for rabbit hunting and will do so again in 2022-23.
Most of them will need a boat, said Vaughan McDonald, the Coastal Lafayette Region WMAs region manager and a veteran LDWF biologist since 1997.
“With the exception of Pointe-aux-Chenes WMA, all of WMAs in the Coastal Lafayette Region are only accessible by boat,” McDonald wrote in mid-August. “Most of the rabbit hunting in the Coastal Lafayette Region occurs in marsh habitats.”
The 2021-22 rabbit harvest was at least fair on most of the WMAs, he said, but the numbers were unavailable. He anticipates fair to good rabbit hunting again barring a hurricane between August-October.
Much of the success will be enjoyed on the Atchafalaya Delta WMA, followed by Lake Boef WMA. Both are accessible by boat only.
Hurricane Ida’s impact in August 2021 adversely impacted rabbit populations on Pass-a-Loutre WMA, Point-aux-Chenes WMA and Salvador/Timken WMA.