ALBANY‒ Whereas it doesn’t get the identical fanfare as opening day of deer, turkey or duck searching season, many Georgia hunters have been counting down the times till Aug. 15, when squirrel season kicks off in Georgia. With simply 20 days till the beginning, chances are you’ll need to begin making ready, too.
The grey squirrel is the most typical recreation animal in Georgia and is present in massive numbers in each rural and concrete areas. As such, very like Rodney Dangerfield, the season doesn't at all times get a lot respect.
Nevertheless, this has not at all times been the case. Because of its reputation as a staple of American frontier household eating, the long-lasting “Kentucky squirrel rifle” emerged. Developed on the American frontier within the early 18th century, the rifle was light-weight, elegant in look, and frugal in its consumption of lead and gunpowder. However most significantly, it was extraordinarily correct – an necessary issue for the shooter making an attempt to hit a goal that was barely smaller than a golf ball.
Though grey squirrels are plentiful, they are often very elusive within the wild. Hardly ever does the hunter see the attribute pose of a squirrel sitting within the shadow of its personal tail. This iconic pose gave the species its scientific title. Sciurus, is derived from the Greek phrases; Skia, that means shadow and Oura, that means tail, mixed as “shadow tail” or “one who sits within the shadow of its personal tail.”
Grey squirrels frequent mature upland and bottomland hardwood forests. These areas usually comprise a various mixture of oak, hickory, and different hardwoods. Squirrels may also be present in blended hardwood and pine forests when pure hardwood forests are unavailable. They eat every little thing from hardwood timber to flowers, dogwood fruits, berries, grasses, mushrooms, and forbs.
Remnants of their foraging efforts are one of many main items of proof hunters can use to find out if squirrels are in an space. Nutshells, partially eaten mushrooms, and pine cone flakes scattered on the bottom are proof that squirrels are feeding in an space. Hardwood bottoms with streams or creeks working via them are additionally a very good place to hunt, as squirrels like quick access to water when potential. Squirrels might periodically steal nesting fowl eggs, bugs, and small invertebrates.
They’re, nonetheless, primarily vegetarians and stay close to the underside of the meals chain. Avian predators, together with hawks and owls, assault them from the air. Bobcats, foxes, and coyotes stalk them on the bottom. With these quite a few enemies, the grey squirrel should depend on its eager eyesight, vigilance, and agility to outlive. They’ve additionally mastered the artwork of “freezing,” or remaining immobile, by clinging tightly to the trunk or branches of a tree, changing into practically invisible to the untrained eye.
Like most recreation animals, squirrels are most energetic within the early morning and late afternoon whereas foraging. They are often noticed venturing towards water sources later within the morning. Through the noon, their actions are restricted, as they’re on wet and intensely windy days. Whereas squirrels aren’t as energetic through the noon hours, they are often discovered close to nesting areas.
There are three fundamental strategies for efficiently searching squirrels. The primary is assessed as “static searching.” This nomenclature is a bit complicated, because the hunter truly strikes as slowly and quietly as potential via the squirrel’s habitat. On the identical time, the hunter is frequently watching each the forest flooring and the branches above in an effort to see the motion of the squirrels as they feed. To achieve success in this sort of searching, progress should be extraordinarily sluggish, with frequent stops subsequent to massive timber in an effort to hide motion via the forest.
The second methodology requires the hunter to pick a spot in a promising feeding space, sit on the base of a tree whereas ready immobile for feeding squirrels to return inside vary. This turns into a ready recreation, not not like sitting in a stand whereas searching a deer. Though the hunter could also be tempted to maneuver to different places, this normally backfires. After a profitable shot, it’s best for the hunter to stay immobile, marking the situation of downed squirrels fairly than transferring to retrieve them instantly.
With expertise, the hunter learns to discern the sounds squirrels make when feeding or scampering, each on the bottom and in timber. When utilizing any of those strategies, hunters may select to periodically use a squirrel decoy to encourage a curious squirrel to hunt out a rival in its feeding space. It may also be used to attempt to get a partially hidden squirrel to maneuver, giving the hunter a greater likelihood.
The third methodology, although just like the primary, requires hunters to be assisted by a number of canine, who largely use their pure instincts to “cover” the squirrels earlier than the hunter. Small canine, normally of the terrier breed, help the searching occasion through the use of their sense of scent to find squirrels that will in any other case go unnoticed, in addition to attracting the squirrel’s consideration so the hunter can get a greater shot.
When selecting a firearm, rifles are usually both .22lr or .17hmr caliber. At present, most hunters select to make use of some sort of optic to enhance their probabilities of touchdown the aforementioned headshot that gained't spoil the meat. If a shotgun is the caliber of alternative, the scale doesn't matter, though a 20 gauge is adequate with #6 buckshot because the supplied load. The talk over which firearm is greatest has but to be definitively answered. A stationary squirrel might supply a difficult rifle shot, whereas a squirrel working shortly via tree branches might show a problem to the shooter.
Squirrels, in addition to different small recreation and furbearing species, could also be hunted on most Wildlife Administration Space lands, in accordance with state seasons and bag limits, until in any other case posted for a particular space. Searching of small recreation and furbearing animals is mostly not permitted whereas conducting quota hunts in a particular space. Daylight fluorescent orange is required for searching small recreation (besides doves and waterfowl) concurrently with firearm searching of deer and bear.
Georgia hunters are allowed to hunt 12 squirrels per day. When searching in a wildlife administration zone and different state-managed property, solely one in all them could be a fox squirrel.
Though the squirrel will not be as extremely thought to be the state's large recreation animals, it’s the second hottest species behind the dove. In a survey carried out through the 2002-2003 searching season, 65,000 hunters reported harvesting 803,000 squirrels.