Squirrel season is now open in New Jersey! Of course hunting public land in my small, heavily populated, over-developed state is not like hunting in many other states. Animals were very spooked. Added to my own inexperience it meant that I came home empty handed. The good news is I learned a lot of very basic stuff as it was my first day out as a hunter.
What I saw;
The Clinton WMA: This is a nice looking if small piece of public hunting land that also has public ranges to practice shooting on. Bow, shotgun, slug gun, muzzle loader and rimfire rifle are allowed. I saw about a dozen folk overall using the 3 ranges and all practicing marksmanship safely but only one other actual hunter this day. The terrain is mild but just hilly enough to be an interesting walk. Natural growth fields and mowed-down fields are interspersed with wooded breaks to form what should have been great game habitat but I guess it's just over-hunted. Being my first time out I did not wander more than about 1800 feet or so from the parking area near the Fish and Game office so I did not explore all of the land by any means.
The game & non-game species: The only game I saw strong signs of were woodchuck. Dens all over the place! I've been told they are not very good eating so I did not try to wait one out. In the part of the land I was hunting I found there was not really enough "mast producing" (food producing) trees for squirrel and I did not see any squirrel. More surprising is that I did not see rabbit or hare despite obviously good habitat for them. Probably my inexperience and maybe the wrong time of day (early afternoon). NON-GAME: I saw many hawks, mockingbirds, heard blue-jays. Jet black snakes of about 20 to 25 inches long were common. Animals were very spooked out! Nothing let me get close not even those snakes. I felt like Godzilla stomping through Tokyo the way they fled. Not like animals in the city or suburbs or even the nearby (non-huntable) reservation at all! Even with my inexperience I could see the impact that hunting pressure had created.
What I learned;
(1) I need to get out more regularly and exercise. It's amazing what the weight of a shotgun and a small bag of implements will do to you when you are only used to walking on cement with whatever is in your pockets.
(2) I need to study up more on what public lands here in NJ have the right food sources for squirrels. I'm fairly sure if I find an abundance of acorns somewhere, I'll find the tree-rats. Out again this Saturday! (Too bad I can't take the ones in my back yard.)
(3) Despite not bagging any game it was pleasant to be out there hiking about the WMA, and, good to get started with actually prepping for, conducting and unpacking from a hunt. I believe that because I'm starting with no experience at all, everything I do to get ready, participate or wind down counts as gained knowledge.
May your game bag always be full!
BB