Photo by Bruce Ingram

It was the Christmas holidays this past December, snow had finally stopped falling, and my thoughts naturally turned to — squirrel hunting. After the intensity that often occurs during our pursuit of deer and turkeys over several months every autumn, there is something marvelously restorative to a human’s sporting soul about seeking out bushytails.

Squirrels don’t sport antlers, beards, or massive weights, but they do provide plenty of relaxing hunting. So I grabbed my 20-gauge Remington autoloader and headed for my favorite squirrel woods.

Not long after I entered the woodlot, I spotted snow cascading from the canopy — a bushytail was on the move and the powdery stuff clinging to the branches had betrayed him. I silently slipped through the 10 inches of granular white stuff, positioned myself below the tree that had just sent snow showers downward and waited for the gray squirrel to pause in its ramblings. A blast from the 20-gauge sent the animal plummeting to the ground and caused one of the creature’s brethren to commence barking.

The second squirrel was so agitated, close and visible against the white background that there was no need for a stalk. So I pointed the gun’s muzzle toward the general direction of the fired-up bushytail, and waited for it to poke its head a little higher. When that event transpired, I touched off the scattergun and squirrel No. 2 tumbled.

No other squirrel showed itself for five minutes or so, thus I decided to move a little deeper into the woodlot. I still-hunted for several more minutes and then heard the sounds of a squirrel gnawing on a nut. The animal was perched on a downed hardwood and contentedly feeding on an acorn, which were abundant last year in West Virginia.

I fired again and the squirrel fell to the ground. I had only been in the woods about 15 minutes and had killed three squirrels. Should I try to kill my daily limit of six or should I clean these and have fresh squirrel for lunch? Then I could go out the next day and try to take several more. I opted for the second option and so began the process that lead to my favorite dish for this small game animal — squirrel casserole.

Besides being relaxing to hunt, squirrels also have the virtue of being abundant in every county in West Virginia. While I have often driven many hours to chase turkeys or deer in the Mountain State, given the high price of gas and the abundance of squirrels, there’s no need to drive far away to seek them out.

Outstanding public land hunting for squirrels exists in every district. In District I in northern West Virginia, possibilities include the 1,162-acre Briery Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Preston County, 2,215-acre Cecil H. Underwood WMA in Marshall and Wetzel counties, 13,590-acre Lewis Wetzel WMA in Wetzel County, and 3,092-acre Snake Hill WMA in Monongalia and Preston counties.

For District II in the Eastern Panhandle, choices include the 6,202-acre Allegheny WMA in Mineral County, 10,675-acre Nathaniel Mountain WMA in Hampshire County, and 22,928-acre Sleepy Creek WMA in Berkeley and Morgan counties.

Central West Virginia’s District III has the 18,225-acre Elk River WMA in Braxton County, 2,985-acre Stonecoal Lake WMA in Lewis and Upshur counties, and 5,974-acre Summersville Lake WMA in Nicholas County.

For District IV squirrels in the southern part of the state, choices include the 1,792-acre Anawalt lake WMA in McDowell County, 7,647-acre Beury Mountain WMA in Fayette County, and 17,280-acre R.D. Bailey Lake WMA in Mingo and Wyoming counties.

Western West Virginia residents of District V can choose from the 7,061-acre Amherst/Plymouth WMA in Putnam County, 6,000-acre Big Ugly WMA in Lincoln County, the 22,928-acre East Lynn Lake WMA in Wayne County, and 7,000-acre Fork Creek WMA in Boone County.

In the north central part of the state, District VI folks have the 2,587-acre Frozen Camp WMA in Jackson County, 1,675-acre Stumptown WMA in Calhoun and Gilmer counties, and 2,848-acre The Jug WMA in Tyler County.

RABBITS
As is true in every Southeastern state, private land rabbit hunting is far superior to public land options in the Mountain State. That’s due to the nature of wildlife habitat in the vast majority of cases. However, several West Virginia public lands contain some habitat for rabbits. In a few instances it’s a little, in others a fair amount.

Among those WMAs that hunters can consider as destinations are the 2,212-acre Hillcrest in Hancock County in District I; 12,579-acre Burnsville Lake in Braxton in District III, 3,655-acre McClintic in Mason County in District V; and 1,696-acre Woodrum Lake in Jackson County in District VI.

RELATED CONTENT: Beagling Rabbits

When I go rabbit hunting these days, move around, targeting different destinations. For example, last winter some friends and I planned an itinerary where we were to visit several different rural properties that ranged from 30 to 82 acres. Our game plan was a “hit-and-run” tactic. That is, arrive at a property, loose the beagles, allow them to explore a series of brush piles and overgrown fencerows for a chase or two, and then move on to the next destination.

On that outing, my group killed several rabbits. No one came close to the five-rabbit limit; however, no one was disappointed with the day’s take or the strategy.

For the most part, modern day rabbit hunting is like that in West Virginia.

GROUSE & WOODCOCK
It’s no secret that ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting, especially on West Virginia’s Monongahela and George Washington and Jefferson national forests, is a shadow of its former self. This is true at least partly because preservationist groups have fought timber cutting on public lands under the misguided notion that downing trees is bad for wildlife.

Against that backdrop, I contacted the Ruffed Grouse Society, perhaps America’s foremost advocacy group for grouse and woodcock. Ron Burkert, information systems and Webmaster for the RGS, has a masters degree in wildlife management from West Virginia University, so he is very familiar with the Mountain State. He is quite knowledgeable about what ruffs and woodcocks need to experience a population rebound on our national forests.

“More thick, young forests,” was Burkert’s quick reply. “Not only would grouse and woodcocks benefit from this, but so would rabbits, deer, turkeys, non-game animals and numerous species of songbirds. In fact, research has shown that at least 43 species of songbirds can utilize young forests for nesting, feeding, and escape cover.”

Burkert added that sportsmen and conservation groups are making some inroads on changing the general public’s minds about the necessity of young growth. Some of the preservationist groups, such as the Audubon Society, are starting to realize that constantly advocating for old growth forests is not a sound biological act.

Brian Smith is the Appalachian Joint Venture Coordinator with the American Bird Conservancy. His organization is a major bird watching group. As part of his job, Smith is advocating more forest management, including selective timber cutting and prescribed fire, on the region’s national forest and state lands.

Burkert agreed about the need for more prescribed fire.

“Prescribed burns are a great way to set back forest succession and return it to the early growth that grouse and woodcock need,” he said. “Continuous habitat alteration in any form is good for grouse.”

Burkert added that much of West Virginia’s forests were cut between 1870 and 1930 and what exists today are trees that are second or even third growth and between 80 and 100 years of age. The relatively even aged forests of today do not benefit many species of wildlife.  The RGS professional next described an ideal 100-acre plot of land in West Virginia on either public or private land.

“I would cut 10 acres of that property the first year and every decade after I would repeat the process,” he explained. “So after 100 years, you would have stands that were 100, 90, 80 years old, etcetera. Creatures like pileated woodpeckers would thrive in the older forests; creatures like golden-winged warblers, grouse, and woodcock would do well in the young forests. This would be a very vibrant forest full of wildlife.

“Woodcock do well in woodlots zero to 5 years of age, but their numbers start to drop by the time a stand becomes 10 to 15,” he continued. “Grouse do best in forests 5 to 15 years of age. To give an example of why this is so, the Coopers hawk is a major predator of grouse and woodcock. Coopers have real difficulty flying through timber stands that have 10,000 stems per acre. In dense forests like that, specifically if they are moist, woodcock can safely feed on the earthworms and other bugs that they need, and grouse can find safety and food in that dense undergrowth as well.”

Burkert said the 10,000-stems per acre is very good breeding cover for ruffs, and 15,000 to 20,000 as being a good mix for woodcocks. Of course, he noted, these are just general figures and every woodlot is different. Elevation, sun exposure, presence or absence of water, and tree species present are just a few of the factors that can influence forest growth.

Burkert added that West Virginia grouse and woodcock enthusiasts can log onto the RGS Web site to find a host of information that they can use in public meetings to present their case for more timber cutting. That Web site is found at www.ruffedgrousesociety.org.

SUMMING IT UP
Of course, there are other small game animals that can be pursued this winter. The quail season continues until January 1, but this game bird is extremely difficult to find in West Virginia.

A few of the WMAs in the Monongahela National Forest conceal snowshoe hares and the season is open until February 28.

Although crows are not listed as a small game animal, they are fun to hunt and the season for these creatures is January 1 to March 5, although nuisance crows can be killed at any time.