Hunting is available every time of year

Sunday, July 3, 2005

With the temperatures hovering around the 90-degree mark, hunting seasons seem far away. However, there are a few diehards who hunt nearly year round.

Jack Larson is one of those few who brave the heat, underbrush and bugs to enjoy hunting squirrels, and this past week he has been looking forward to the opening of the bullfrog season that starts at sunset June 30.

Larson, as usual, started hunting squirrels the last weekend in May and has taken his limit of six bushytails nearly each time out.

"I have a lot of people who must think I'm crazy," he said. "I have hunted squirrels since I was seven years old and haven't missed a season since 1988 when I had surgery. There's always plenty of squirrels out there and I don't have to go very far from home to find them."

The veteran squirrel hunter gets out early in the morning before it gets too hot and he uses lots of bug repellent, but the rewards are worth it to him.

"There's a lot to be said about hunting squirrels," he said. "There is never much competition and frying up a mess of squirrel along with biscuits and gravy make a great breakfast."

Larson, like many squirrel hunters, uses a .22 rifle to bag his quarry. "I have tried using a shotgun, but after breaking a tooth on some shot, I stayed with the .22," he said.

Squirrel hunters in Missouri have one of the longest seasons in all of hunting since the season opens on Memorial Day weekend and runs through Feb. 15 the following year. The population of bushytails has remained high for a long time and with a daily limit of six, hunters who have the patience can usually bring home a limit.

Another veteran squirrel hunter, Bob Vickers, Kansas City, gets his squirrels by using a muzzleloader. "It's a big challenge to bag a squirrel with a muzzleloader, but I can usually bring in a few each time out," he said.

Vickers hunted squirrels when he lived in the Ozarks nearly 20 years ago and even after moving to the city, he still found plenty of squirrel timber to hunt.

"I have my favorite hunting spots within a short drive from the city. Of course, people look at you a little strange when you tell them you are going hunting in the summer. If it was legal to hunt in my neighborhood, I could get my limit from my back porch. The squirrels are thick in town," he said.

Larson pointed out that when he first started hunting squirrels in the Ozarks most of them were the pesky gray squirrels and when hunting farther north, most of the squirrels were red ones. "Today, it seems, a majority of the bushytails are gray, but there are still plenty of reds, which I prefer because they are larger," he said.

So although it's hot outside today, the hunting for squirrels can be hot too for those hunters who can handle the heat, ticks, underbrush and mosquitoes.

Meanwhile, froggers who have June 30 at sunset marked on their calenders are ready for their season.

Harry Thomas is a 67-year-old frogger who will be after those tasty frog legs over the weekend, but he remembers the "good old days" when it was no problem to find big bullfrogs in nearly every pond.

"Things have changed," he said. "When I first started frogging, there were frogs in nearly every pond and although there may be more ponds today, the frogs aren't in a big part of them. I have a special pond where I have seen a few big frogs, but in many places where I could always count on getting a limit just don't seem to hold the bullfrogs like they used to. That won't stop me from being out there after them. The thought of a mess of frog legs is enough motivation."

Add the early migratory bird seasons announced recently and hunting doesn't seem so far away.

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