Since I was a little bitty kid, squirrel hunting was high on my list of fun things to do. Following along behind my dad, careful not to step on dry sticks or big brown leaves, I watched him as he sneaked up on a feeding squirrel.
Observing the way he did it, sneaking up behind a big tree to conceal his movements, he would get the squirrel in his sights, hit the trigger and to a kid, it was thrilling to watch the squirrel tumble to the ground in a shower of leaves. He would let me go pick up the squirrel, bring it to him as he slipped in in his vest.
As I grew older, dad got me a second-hand .22 rifle, gave instructions about how to handle the rifle safely and taught me to shoot it. Eventually, I was permitted to take my .22 with me as I tagged along with him, finally letting me try my hand at downing a squirrel. I’d miss; he’d finish the job with his shotgun until I was finally proficient at bagging a squirrel or two myself.
Once we got home, I helped him clean squirrels we had bagged where they were turned over to my mom who would convert a freshly cleaned squirrel to a fine meal. Older squirrels, too tough to fry, were slow cooked until tender. If it was young enough to fry, she would place the pieces of squirrel, all crispy and tasty on a platter alongside a bowl of rice and the gravy she made from the drippings. Adding a pile of her homemade biscuits, this was a meal that would rival anything Col. Sanders could produce with his yard birds.
Squirrel hunting, especially on opening day, became a tradition for me and I hunted them early in season for decades until walking the woods and sneaking up on squirrels became more than an aging body could handle.
A few years ago, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, (LDWF) opened a spring season for squirrels that took place during the month of May. I decided to try it but it just wasn’t the same as being in the woods on chilly mornings after squirrels. Something about being there in woods that had greened up with purple martins twittering overhead just didn’t seem the same, so I never went back.
That time is on us once again as our spring season started on Saturday May 3 to run through May 25. Daily limit is three with possession limit of nine.
There are some who look forward to the spring squirrel season for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a great time to take a youngster out without having to worry about coming in contact with other hunters after deer or turkeys. Secondly, the quality of squirrels taken in spring is better on the dinner table than those you get in fall. According a friend of mine from Arkansas who loves to squirrel hunt in spring, the meat is sweeter because the squirrels are feeding on tender buds and shoots while in fall and winter, the diet is hard mast, and this apparently makes the taste stronger.
Season is open on private lands while some state wildlife management areas are closed. If you decide to give it a try on a wildlife management area, you’ll need to check with LDWF to see which areas are open.
Now that spring turkey season is coming to a close but you still have a hankering to hunt, you might want to give spring squirrel hunting a try. As for me, I think I might sneak out to a private pond where the bluegills are bedding. That just seems more natural to me.