Oct 31, 2015 4 min read

I don’t like to dwell on the past but can’t help but think of those days when there were more cars parked along rural roads on the opening day of small game season than there were on the deer opener.

Oh, how things have changed. I am sure that the loss of the wild pheasant is part of the reason, along with that the limited places to hunt rabbits and a decline in the number of grouse, at least locally.

The reluctance of hunters to switch prey also enters the picture.

In the past few weeks, I have enjoyed the company of a few outdoorsman who are spending quite a few hours pursuing the small game available and have had a good time doing it.

We had a nice time hunting squirrel. I have never understood why more hunters don’t look for this prolific small game animal. After all, they are better to eat than rabbits, in my opinion.

It’s not too hard to find squirre. All you need to do is find a woods with a good supply of nut-bearing trees. Another plus to squirrel hunting is you can chose hunting with a shotgun or a rim-fire rifle.

Mike Weber of Scenery Hill not only hunts squirrel but cooks some of the best squirrel I have ever eaten. He takes advantage of almost all hunting in southwestern Pennsylvania that is available and has agreed to give me his secret recipe to making those squirrels so tasty.

For squirrel, I use a pressure cooker. In the pressure cooker I place 3 cups of water, 4-6 squirrels, whole, skinned and cleaned. Two diced cloves of garlic, half an onion diced and cover it lightly with salt and pepper.

Bring the pressure cooker up to pressure. Run it for 12 minutes then shut it off and cool it down. The squirrel will fall right off the bone.

This recipe is delicious. Try it yourself and let me know how you like it.

Weber invited me on another overlooked hunt close to home this past week and some more delicious food. I couldn’t go but stopped by as they were wrapping things up.

The goal that morning was the geese that are in high numbers at this time.

With Weber were two of his friends from the Bentleyville area, Dave Magera and Andy Burchinn. When I drove my Explorer through the field to where they were hunting they were picking up decoys and geese. They also were stacking 15 Canada geese in Burchinn’s pickup along with the 70 decoys they were using.

Later, I would eat goose breast prepared by Weber and to those who say goose is not good to eat, I say that is not correct. You just have to know how to prepare them.

While we were talking, a flock of geese flew over us and veered away as they spotted the truck and four potential hunters watching them.

One thing I learned long ago is that geese have wonderful vision, much like all birds, and camo and good cover are necessary when trying to call them in to shotgun range.

If they have been hunted before they are especially wary and a high number of decoys become a must. Another thing hunters must do is keep the vehicles out of sight or a good distance away.

Of cours, geese are attracted to grain fields but unknown to some is that they are also grass eaters. In the eastern part of the country a favored place to hunt them is on sod farms.

Locally, they like golf courses and more than one golfer has found his golfing shoes covered with goose feces. They can be a nuisance and the early season is properly named the early nuisance goose season.

Not only is a hunting license required but the federal duck stamp and an inexpensive stamp from the Pennsylvania Game Commission is also required.

As far as equipment that is needed, a full-choke 12-gauge shotgun or larger should be used and remember do not have lead shot in your possession. Even having lead ammo in your pocket is a violation of the law.

Steel shot is most commonly used but I tend to lean toward bismuth shot, which is a heavier shot than steel.

There is still plenty of game to be hunted and cooked in small game season. We just need to learn to switch up a bit. Owning a shotgun is not a waste of time.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.