The Roving Fisherman
My topic today is squirrel hunting. When I was eight years old, my father taught me how to use a single barrel shotgun and how to hunt squirrels. One day my father told me to go and get some squirrels for supper. I took my dog down to Salado Creek, and pretty soon he treed a squirrel in a large oak tree. I shot him, and kept hunting. Pretty soon I had four nice squirrels. I took them home and showed them to my mother and father. They told me I had done a good job. That night we had fried squirrel, biscuits, and gravy. It sure was good. Times were hard in those days, and even though we had a chicken on Sunday and bacon and ham from a couple of hogs that we killed each winter, squirrel was a welcome change.
Squirrel hunting ranks number one among the fall season hunters. There is a long fall season running from October through December. Fall is the best time of the year to hunt squirrels after the leaves have fallen off the trees. You can see the squirrels better then. There is a month-long season in the spring opening May 15. The hunters cannot use dogs during the spring season.
We have two kinds of squirrels in Arkansas - the Eastern Gray Squirrel and the Southern Fox Squirrel. Hunting is good along the creeks and river bottoms. About 67% of Arkansas is timberland. Squirrels especially like acorns, so they can usually be found in and around oak trees.
Just like with me, squirrel hunting is a good first hunting experience for kids. They should be taught how to properly shoot a gun of the right size for them. They should be taught all the safety rules and the right way to hunt for squirrels. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is the place to start. g
