I’m an old lady who just turned 50 (super old I know), and I have lots of firearms and airguns that I use for competition. But I’ve never been hunting until today. I couldn’t seem to get anyone I knew IRL or on Facebook interested in going squirrel/rabbit hunting, so I just went by myself today to Tawakani WMA at the Duck Creek inlet and the Pawnee inlet. Mine was the only car in the parking area at both locations.

No luck for me. I saw no rabbits or squirrels. I saw no rabbit droppings. I saw no squirrel nests at Duck Creek, and maybe two at Pawnee, but they could have been old or something else. I saw raptors overhead (all hawks I think). Usually just one or two but sometimes as many as 8.

My goal is to learn how to dress and prepare small game and non game animals as a survival skill. Any advice on where I might have better luck? Any guides in the area that would lead this type of hunt and teach dressing and prep skills?

You might hit up a processor. Watch them on the hogs etc, then the little animals will be easy

Thanks for the suggestion.

One thing I noticed at Tawakani was I didn’t see any oak trees. Or maybe I just didn’t recognize them? Anyway, I saw no acorns anywhere. I searched for a map of Texas that shows oak tree coverage and cross referenced that with the map of public hunting areas. It does look like Lake Tawakani WMA is situated in an oak tree free zone. Old Sabine Bottom WMA looks. Ore promising for squirrels assuming acorns equals squirrels. Is that a safe assumption?

My attempt to attach a photo.

Tawokani squirrels prefer meth j/k not really

Just walk and sit down

sounds like fun

Someone told me that squirrels tend to hibernate this time of year and that I should be shooting into squirrel nests when I find them.

Who ever it was that told you this is wrong ! Best I can remember, without research to be positive, but as best as I can remember, and I have never done it, but shooting into rests is very illegal......

Actually the opposite is true for this time of year. All the trees have lost their acorns, pecans ect and the squirrels spend time on the ground looking for them and digging up what they buried during the fall. Squirrels on the ground are very wary, they prefer the safety of the trees.

Thanks for the responses. The weather has been horrid last week and then again next week. It looks like this part of squirrel season will end before I can get back out there. I was reading tips on squirrel hunting and hunting them alone is supposedly very difficult because they get on the other side of the tree trunk and keep moving as you move to give you no shot. Hunting over bait is allowed on private property in Texas, I think, but my land is only an acre with never any squirrels on it. I think I can take European starlings and grackles with an air rifle though. Any reason I can’t put out a feeder and take these birds in my back yard with an air rifle?

I hunted squirrels alone for years. You can throw your pack, a big rock or log, whatever to the other side of the tree to trick the squirrel into moving around the tree. If that don't work, squirrels have a short attention span. Just sit against a tree without moving and wait. They will forget your there and start moving eventually. And you can try sitting at the tree and using a squirrel call to get them to look and bark back. Use a call sparingly though. You can also try rabbit hunting as the season is always open in Texas. On the corps lakes that allow hunting walk behind the tree lines along the lakeshore and around the thickets. I have taken a few rabbits with that strategy some years at that lake near you named after a guy named Ray. Know that rabbits and squirrels are cyclical. On any given area they will have a population boom some years and seem non existent other years. Travel to an entirely different hunting area if your not seeing game at the one your at.

Don't shoot into nests or dens. It would be considered unsporting. If you kill anything that way, you will not be able to retrieve it. Shooting birds in your backyard likely falls under local regulations and not allowed. Your not going to want to eat grackles. If your just wanting to get out to shoot something Crow season in Oklahoma runs into March. Texas does not have a Crow season. Oklahoma does have one because of the damage Crows do to the Pecan harvest. With an oklahoma hunting license, you would have access to any of the wildlife management areas just over the Red River. Most if not all allow crow hunting and it is stupid easy. Amazon order a couple Crow decoys, owl decoy, and crow call and go. Move often around the WMA setting up in a run and gun strategy. Use it as a scouting tool to find some good areas to hunt other game for next season. That Oklahoma small game license is expensive, but purchased now would be good through December 31st of next season. Other than that, it's time to fish until Spring Squirrel season. Spring Squirrel focus more on the non Corps WMAs like Caddo and Engeling or any of the National Forests or WMAs with a lot of hardwood mast east of that imaginary line between those two. As well some of the WMAs around you start opening up for Hog hunting after regular seasons close.