“But I think that kind of damage will be limited to the southern half of the state. In north Mississippi, even though there was a huge loss of mast, you have to remember that we were coming off those years of good acorn crops. Squirrels were plentiful and in good health. I don’t think we’re going to see a big impact on squirrel hunting opportunities in the northern half of the state.”

Those looking for public lands to hunt should be investigating wildlife management areas in the south Delta, which, being on the western side of the state, dodged most of Katrina’s wrath as the storm moved from southwest to northeast Mississippi.

Twin Oaks WMA near Rolling Fork and Mahannah WMA are first-tier choices, but they offering limited opportunities, since no squirrel hunting is allowed during any open deer season. Note that at Twin Oaks, probably the top public tract in terms of bushytail action, squirrel dogs are allowed.

“We have hunted there several times in the early seasons without dogs, and have been able to limit out most of the time,” remarked Coleman. “But once the deer seasons are over and the leaves are off the trees, that’s when we load up TerryJo and really get down to business. I have always been surprised that we don’t see that many hunters, especially in February after deer season’s over.

“I kind of hate to publicize Twin Oaks, but this year, knowing that so many south Mississippi squirrel hunters are going to be needing places to hunt, I don’t mind. If they need a place to hunt, that’s the first place I’d recommend they start looking.”

Maps, regulations and other information on Twin Oaks and other Delta WMAs are available online at www. mdwfp.com. Follow prompts through Wildlife to Wildlife Management Areas; then, click on District 3.

RABBITS
As devastating as Katrina was to squirrel hunting, Godwin observed, it was beneficial to rabbits. “You hate to say anything like there being an upside to an event like Katrina, but it will be good for rabbit hunting in south Mississippi for years to come,” he said. “South Mississippi already had fair rabbit hunting, but it’s likely that rabbit populations will explode in the coming years. We are going to see a dramatic increase in rabbit habitat-- or what we call ‘rabbitat.’

“Katrina cut huge swaths in the forest canopies. That created an immediate increase in rabbit habitat with so many brushpiles, and it will continue to produce even better habitat as sunlight hits the forest floor and we see a tremendous increase in briars and bramble. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of acres.”

As adept as rabbits are at speedy reproduction, it won’t take long for their numbers to swell enormously. And, Godwin asserted, it will happen -- there’s no maybe to it. “It’s a proven fact that hurricane destruction is good for rabbits,” he stated. “I have talked with biologists in other states that have sustained similar destruction in forests. In South and North Carolina, they had that kind of catastrophic forest loss after Hurricane Hugo cut a crescent-shaped swatch through that area. The biologists there said they saw an immediate increase in rabbitat and, subsequently, in rabbit populations.”