Can you hunt small game anytime?

[southerngal]

Can you hunt small game like gophers, rabbits, and squirrels anytime or do they have certain seasons like the larger game do? I have never been squirrel hunting before but we definitely have plenty of them!

 

[woodzman]

In many places most game animals have a closed season during the times that they are rearing their young. Here in NY a couple exceptions are woodchucks and red squirrels. The seasons on most small game, here at least, run from fall through the winter.

 

[southerngal]

Good to know woodzman. I am in Georgia so I'll haveto look it up and see what the regulations are. I know turkey season is about to be over and the next season here is alligator...think I am skipping out on that one.

 

[wildberry]

Southerngal do you eat the squirrel? There are lots of critters out there that don't seem like they would be bad eating. And, I love rabbit! But, squirrel and possum just don't seem like they would be tasty to me. :brushteeth:

 

[Bumpkin]

My husband is from Texas and they eat squirrel there. I don't think he cares for it much, but he knows a lot of people who eat it.

 

[dinosaur]

For almost every type of game, the reason some people don't like the meat is because it has not been properly prepared. You have to know how to make it taste good.

However, I've been hunting for a long time and tried many ways of preparing Opossum. I have yet to find one that was palatable. They're just too greasy.

 

[Mountainman]

I have pret near et anything wild game with 4 legs and fur on it. When I was a kid, my granny used to make a passle of differnt stews and soups using whut my granpa called rat meat. He meant squirrels, possums, rabbits, ground hogs, badgers, coyotes, etc. Granny used something like an old cast iron crock pot and we usually had turnips, mashed sweet taters, cole slaw, corn bread, dumplins, corn on the cob, rutebegas, and lots of beer or coffee. Most of the small game was taken year round with a single shot or pump .22 rifle. .22 longs and long rifle were pretty spensive so we used .22 shorts cause they didn't travel too far, were quiet and cheap. Got so head shots were made all the time so the squirrels were hit and fell right out of the tree. Body shots wasted meat and oftener than not the squirrels would grab hold of the branch they was on and we had to chuck rocks to knock them down. One thing I do recall is that red suirrels that hung out in oak and other hardwood trees tasted better n the gray squirrels that staye mostly in pine trees. Ifn ya shot rabbits during warm weather, moren likely the was full of worms too, so ya had to be a might picky. That's when we got the cane poles out and also set up trot lines to fill the meat lockers. Pigeons and doves were also available as were prairie chickens, partridge and quail, but them was regulated by seasons in the fall as were the green head ducks and snow geese.