Fall Small Game Seasons

OK, this article isn’t about fly fishing, but I thought I’d share anyway. Small game season is upon us and I had some thoughts I’d like to pass along for this coming Fall small game season …

Shhhhh… be vewy quiet for we are about to hunt the waskly wabbit; no better words could be spoken than this famous and favorite line of my childhood hero, Elmer Fudd. Rarely did I hunt rabbits in southern Indiana while a boy and not have Elmer’s phrase line running through my head. Maybe it’s not so good to be so close in spirit with a cartoon character…but you have to admit he was one perseverant hunter, not too successful, but always in hot pursuit.

For many of you the fall hunting season is already in progress as you have been sitting, early mornings and late evenings, in your tree stand in hopes of getting that chance at a trophy whitetail deer. For the rest of us who don’t hunt deer, the small game season is just around the bend and soon we too, will have our chances.

If you are a turkey hunter then you will know that fall turkey season started last Wednesday, the 19^th and will run through October 30^th here in southern Indiana. The fall turkey season is for any turkey and hunters may harvest one turkey per season. I love fall turkey season. There is something about just getting out, walking, listening, spotting, stalking….all in hopes of getting within shotgun or bow range. We are blessed with numerous turkeys here locally and if you have never given turkey hunting a try…the fall is an awesome time to get started and might just lead you into an addiction; a good one, which might just find you continuing the chase come this next spring.

For those of you that have your pack of beagles or revved up and ready to go, rabbit season starts November 4^th and runs through February 15^th of 2012. I am not sure how it is everywhere but I know that over the past 20 or 30 years, rabbits have had many peaks and valleys and at this point I have to believe we are in a peak as I see lots and lots of rabbits along the roads in the morning on my way into school. There were times this past winter and spring when I could step out at my house and see as many as 5 adult rabbits in one part of our yard. This was not the case 5 years ago…now while I like to see wildlife, rabbits hopping around in front of bird dogs isn’t the best combination; if you don’t know a German Shorthair would quickly become a beagle if they were allowed. Anyway…I hope that many of you give your inner “Elmer Fudd” a green light and go out and whack a bevy of bunnies.

Last and certainly not least is our upland bird season that will also start on November 4^th of this year and for pheasants, will run through December 18^th; quail runs through January 15^th south of state road 26. Bag limits for pheasant is two per day and quail in the southern 2/3 of the state has a limit of 8 birds per day. I did a pheasant forecast a couple weeks back and it doesn’t appear that this year is bright…but just like with most things there will be pockets of birds that will offer up some good hunting. A good example of this practice was the opener in North Dakota this year. My good buddy Kenny made his annual pilgrimage to ‘Nordakota’ and reported that they had great success and on their second day his party was done and had limited out by 10:30am. Knowing how Kenny shoots it was clear to me that a few of the guys in his party could actually shoot. On the other hand another group of Hoosier hunters were also in North Dakota and the news wasn’t as good; their party of five guys worked hard the entire first day and bagged a whopping two pheasants! The moral to the story is do your homework and be ready to be mobile; it will do you no good to stay in an area with few birds and become more frustrated each day.

Quail has become a real crap shoot in the past few years and frankly it is bleak in many areas. I drive by so many spots that less than 10 years ago held birds…and I know that they just aren’t there anymore. I am not a biologists by any stretch of the imagination but I think we have lost most or a good part of the cover. If you look, many places have homes and or businesses and the big sections of land that quail once inhabited just aren’t there. Now…clearly this isn’t the case everywhere but my guess is you are going to have to drive an hour or so south to really find good numbers of quail. There is nothing like a beautiful fall day, a covey or two of quail, a pocket full of 28 gauge shells, a brace of good German Shorthairs and plenty of land to stretch your legs on…let’s get going!

I hope your fall finds you slipping up on many Hoosier critters. Take your camera along and take as many photos as you can; you’ll remember the photos much longer than the pot of deer chili on the stove. Grab a youngster and ask them to come along; it’ll do your heart a lot of good as you both Enjoy the Great Outdoors.