A tradition of fun and good eats
It may not get the hype that deer and turkey hunting does but the fun is equal to any other hunting season and the memories and fun are wonderful. Rodney Martin, Bill Ryan Tabb and Allen Towles have been squirrel hunting and enjoy the family get-togethers.
“Squirrel hunting is just a little different,” explained Martin. “There’s no pressure. You can do it with groups of people. This past weekend, we had three generations of people hunting together – grandparents, parents and sons and daughters.”
The sport is different from deer and turkey and other “trophy” type of hunting.
“You can get out and enjoy it without the pressure of ‘is it big enough?’ ‘Is it small enough?’ ‘Is it old enough?’ It just brings back a lot of joy in hunting,” explained Martin.
When hunting in groups and with dogs, most squirrel hunters will choose a shotgun due to the fast moving animals working the tree canopy. But when hunting with less numbers and no dogs, some hunters prefer a .22 rifle. Martin normally uses a shotgun and none of the squirrel hunting harvest is lost.
“We’ll get together and cook a lot of them,” said Martin. “I have several people that I give a lot to. We never kill any that we don’t keep or give away. That part of it to me is very important.”
The sport has brought a lot of family together where folks walk, ride in side by sides and not everyone carries a gun.
“You don’t have to walk 10 miles. You can walk or ride and just be together and enjoy everybody’s company. We probably had nine or ten with us and not everybody had a gun. For me, I like watching the dogs work.”
Martin has one Feist that is specifically trained for squirrel hunting.
“I have two, and they are really small, and they work well together,” he said. “They are different from retrievers. Mountain Cur is a good squirrel dog too and I’ve had those as well.”
Hunting with Bill Ryan Tabb and Allen Towles, the outings have expanded to next generations.
“Squirrel hunting to me is just really an enjoyable time. It really is. People like me and Bill Ryan have been doing it for a while, and two boys, they’re both married now, but they love it, and they’ve been doing it now together for a long time,” said Martin. “Allen and I have just been really doing it for really the last couple of years, and then he just really took to it this year and loved it. This past week his whole family – his wife’s mother and father and then their kids — even their two daughters — and their son all went on one big hunt together. It’s just a rarity where you can do that with any other kind of hunting.”
The group hunts in different spots – inside the levee, public land and wherever they get invited.
“Some of the hunts are nothing but walking. You get in there and you walk and you enjoy it,” said Martin. “Inside the levee we do a little more road hunting where we can ride and do it different ways.”
Martin has seen the sport grow due to the fun and ease of it and his crew has hunts lined up throughout the rest of the squirrel hunting season.
“Once you’ve taken people one time, they want to go back. They’ll plan a weekend and bring friends,” he said. “Now till the end of February, we’ll have every weekend hunting somewhere.”
When it hits the dinner table, Martin prefers fried squirrel but recipes, including squirrel dumplings, are a popular Delta dining option.