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Hey out there! Can you hear me? Does anyone hunt squirrels and rabbits anymore? For the life of me, I don’t know why these critters now are taking a back seat to all other hunting?
There was a time whenm a kid’s first introduction to hunting was sitting with his pawpaw underneath an oak or wild pecan tree just before sunrise waiting for squirrels to arrive. Sadly, today kids that hunt pretty much go from being potty-trained to sitting in a shooting house overlooking deer feeders.
Nonetheless, from a fore-cast standpoint there may not be a more under-utilized, more abundant hunting resource, than small game in the form of rabbits and squirrels.
The most recent population status survey I could find on the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Website was compiled from the 2012-2013 season. According to the survey 22,100 rabbit hunters harvested 180,100 rabbits. That same report indicated 50,700 squirrel hunters harvested 872,100 squirrels.
By contrast, the most re-cent data compiled concern-ing the waterfowl program on the LDWF website was from 2001. At that time some 1.8 million hunters took to the field and marshes to hunt ducks and geese according to the report. This number was derived from hunters 16 years of age and older.
If my math is correct, there were 81 times more waterfowl hunters than rabbit hunters and 35 times more than squirrel hunters.
Oddly enough, unlike wa-terfowl and deer hunting, there is tremendous oppor-tunity to hunt small game on public land. Nearly every state wildlife management area allows rabbit and squir-rel hunting.
All one has to do, is go to the LDWF website, scroll over to public areas and facilities, and click on wildlife management areas. There is an interactive map where you can highlight the particular WMA you’re interested in. All you have to do next is locate it on the alphabetized list to find everything you wanted to know about the area – including if rabbit and squirrel hunting is allowed.
Additionally, there are 23 National Wildlife Refuges scattered across the state north, south, east and west, many which allow small game hunting. By doing a web search you can go to www.fws.gov/refuges/refugelocatormaps/louisiana.html where you’ll find a refuge locator map. Once you’ve located the refuge you’re interested in, you can do an additional web search to review its particular hunting regulations.
Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge in St. Mary Parish is a 9028-acre refuge located in the coastal towns of Franklin, Garden City, and Centerville. This particular NWR allows both rabbit and squirrel hunting.
Perhaps there is no greater opportunity to hunt small game than on Kisatchie National Forest. Kisatchie is massive, spanning some 604,000 acres in five ranger units (Evangeline, Vernon, Caney Lake, Middle Fork Unit, and Corney Lake).
I floated the Dugdemona River through the Kisatchie forest a number of years ago hunting both squirrel and wood ducks. The pine trees along the river looked like they touched the sky. And, the squirrels were abundant.
I did this trip just prior to Christmas, when the leaves were pretty much off the trees. Around each bend, squirrels were foraging along the banks of the Dugdemona. The challenge was getting off a shot from a sitting position while the canoe drifted with the current.
There was also the chal-lenge of how fast these critters could get up the side of the trees. My shots were quite often 30 to 40 yards up, by the time I squeezed the trigger. I quickly learned, Kisatchie is a place where you’ll want to use high brass number 6 shot when trying to shoot a mess of squirrels.
The thing about hunting squirrels north of I-10 in the upland piney woods, bottom-land hardwood swamps along the tributaries of Mississippi and agricultural woodlots is the abundance of mast crop. Even some of the worst years produce more acorns and wild pecans than necessary to sustain Louisi-ana’s thriving population of tree- rats.
It’s the same with the coastal parishes where there are abundant populations of gray squirrels in the marsh. Squirrels are omnivorous. Besides mast, they eat berries, buds, and even bird eggs. Barring any tropical events, coastal squirrels do quite well. What’s more, there’s nothing quite like paddling a pirogue along a canal bank in the marsh on a cool October or November morning, while quietly sneaking up on squirrels feeding in the hackberry and myrtle trees.
Rabbit hunting in the coastal marsh most years is nothing short of legendary. Following the waterfowl season is when things usually get cranked up on the Atchafalaya Delta WMA.
Many waterfowl hunters who have moored camps on the refuge take full ad-vantage of the sheer abun-dance of swamp rabbits and extend their winter stay well into late Februray. What’s more, it’s one of those best kept secrets they tell few about – other than close friends and family.
2018 has been quiet, where tropical storms are concerned for our area. Moreover, there has been plenty of sunshine and rainfall to promote an adequate supply of food resources for small game. The question is, will you take the time to go out and chase a few rabbits and squirrels this fall?

Chase Fourcade passed for four touchdowns and ran for another to help Nicholls State beat Incarnate Word 48-21 Saturday.
Fourcade was 15-of-18 passing for 266 yards with one interception, and Damion Jeanpiere Jr. had three receptions for 127 yards and a score for Nicholls State (5-3, 4-2 Southland Conference).
Dontrell Taylor raced 66 yards for a score on the first play from scrimmage, and after an Incarnate Word fumble, Fourcade led an 11-play, 73 yard drive capped by his 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Talley.
Ahmani Martin's strip-sack of Jon Copeland two plays later was recovered by Laryon James, and Talley scored on an 8-yard catch to make it 21-0 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.
Copeland hit Phillip Baptiste for a 2-yard touchdown fewer than three minutes later, but the Colonels answered on their next drive as Fourcade connected with Gabe Fuselier on a 42-yard touchdown pass.
Lorran Fonseca added a 29-yard field goal, and Fourcade scored on a 10-yard run to make it 31-7 at halftime.
Copeland was 32-of-47 passing for 392 yards and three touchdowns for Incarnate Word (4-4, 4-2).
Nicholls State junior wide receiver Stefano Guarisco had three catches for 26 yards. Guarisco, a Central Catholic alum, had a long gain of 14 yards.
Nicholls State redshirt junior Garrett LeBlanc also received playing time.
Additional reporting by The Daily Review Sports Editor Geoff Stoute.

Central Catholic outlasted Centerville 40-30 Friday at Tiger Stadium in Morgan City for homecoming.
The Eagles took a 10-point halftime lead and held off the game Bulldogs in District 8-1A action on a touchdown run by Dede Gant and a 50-yard pass from Gant to Bryce Grizzaffi with 9:40 remaining.
CCHS (5-3, 4-1) took at 24-8 lead when Gant hooked up with Grizzaffi on a 17-yard touchdown score at 7:05 to extend the Eagles lead from to 24-8.
Centerville added an 39-yard touchdown run from Jaylon Cooks to pull within 10 points again at 24-14 with 5:55 remaining in the second quarter.
“I worked with (Central Catholic Coach Tommy) Minton, and I knew they weren’t going to take a step back,” Centerville Coach Mark Millet said. “Our kids played hard, but the turnovers hurt us.”
Central Catholic converted three turnovers into touchdowns in the first half and Centerville had four turnovers overall.
“We were moving the ball early, but the turnovers hurt us,” Millet said. “We were able to take the air out of the ball.”
Central Catholic, however, continued to make big plays in the second half. The Eagles added an eight-play, 72-yard drive to open the second half.
Gant was 10-of-15 passing for 229 yards with two touchdown and an interception while Bryce Grizzaffi was 1-of-1 for 50 yards and a touchdown. Thomas was the top receiver with four receptions for 147 yards, while Gant had one catch for 50 yards and a score. Grant Stansbury had two catches for 36 yards. Nathan Hebb had two catches for 24 yards, and Grizzaffi had two receptions for 22 yards.
The Bulldogs made a run after Cooks added a 54-yard yard run before he added a 2-yard touchdown run at 5:19. Centerville added a two-point conversion to pull within 10-points again 32-22.
Centerville went on a long-drive, but Central Catholic ended that threat with an interception with one minute left in the quarter.
Central Catholic’s top rushers were Gant with 10 carries for 121 yards and two scores, while Davidyione Bias had 19 carries for 56 yards.
Central Catholic will travel to Vermilion Catholic Friday.