Outdoors for 9-23-26 by Nick Hromiak

Gray squirrels are the most populated small game species in the state. And their hunting seasons are lengthy.

These bushy-tailed, nimble, acrobatic residents of tree tops, are bird feeder robbers and are opportunists. The other day I watched as one had a piece of pepperoni pizza in its mouth that it deposited on my neighbor’s porch.

And as said, they’re nimble, as they can hang by one foot on a thin limb to grab a nut from another branch of a walnut tree or a bird feeder. One time while bowhunting from a tree stand, I watched as a squirrel was being chased in a tree by another squirrel and it lost its footing. It fell about 14 feet to the woodland floor but merely bounced once, then scampered off seemingly unscathed from the fall.

Squirrel hunting is a good way to introduce youngsters to the sport of hunting. As a mentor, this can be done by sitting together against a tree and scanning the treetops. And sometimes they can be called in. One simple trick used for generations is to suck on the back of a hand to make a squeaking sound. It may be enough to pique a squirrel’s curiosity and draw it into shooing range.

Speaking of shooting, squirrels can be hunted with a shotgun and small #8 shot. Problem with this is picking the spent shot out the squirrel’s body so you don’t break a tooth when eating it. A scoped .22 caliber rifle is better for a youngster as recoil is negligible compared to a shotgun, plus it sharpens a junior hunter’s shooting skills.

I remember when I was a kid my avid hunting uncle took me squirrel hunting and equipped me with what he called a Junior .22 rifle. It was an appropriate firearm for a little guy like me. It had a short stock, short barrel length and open sights. And we hunted to the rear of his fathers’ house - my grandfather, in Ironton. While we didn’t down any squirrels, the day was more of a learning session for me with safe gun handling, lots of hunting tips and some woodsman ship.

In addition, squirrel’s make good table fare as their meat is sweet as their diets consist primarily of nuts, flower buds, berries, mushrooms, pine seeds, germ at the base of a corn kernel, dogwood, wild cherry and black gum fruits.

This year’s squirrel season kicked off Sept. 12 and runs until Dec. 24. It reopens Dec. 26 to Feb. 28, 2027, all with a daily limit of six and 14 in possession.

SALTWATER FISHING REPORT

From On the Water reporters, Spanish mackerel, bonito, albies and bluefish continue to run the northern New Jersey beaches with shiny metal and epoxy lures working the best. Tuna fishing, however, has slowed. Fluke fishing is good on the reefs but there’s only a week remaining in the season as it closes Sept. 25.