SQUIRREL SEASON PERFECT BAPTISM FOR NEW GENERATION OF HUNTERS

As sure as most squirrels cut hickory nuts, most hunters cut their teeth on squirrels.

Any time I idly sniff a freshly fired shotgun shell, I'm apt to get flashbacks to a humid riverbottom woods. Mosquitoes drone, hovering just out of range of my repellent. The air is thick and heavy, sweetly rotten with the aroma of the duff and dirt of forest floor.

An elderly, hand-worn singleshot is clutched in sweaty palms, a thumb in full alert position on the cool metal of the uncocked hammer. My eyes strain for a sliver of gray in the green above me where a shagbark limb dances with the motion of a squirrel hidden in the canopy foliage.

Whether a sportsman's chosen mission is deer, waterfowl, turkey or small game, in this part of the world and throughout much of the United States, hunters quite frequently started out with squirrels as their initial quarry.

Several reasons make squirrel season tailor-made for beginning hunters.

Squirrels are widespread and abundant. Virtually any woodlot to which one has access and permission is suitable squirrel hunting territory.

A minimum of equipment, expertise and prior experience are required for the typical, low-keyed squirrel hunt. A basic shotgun, perhaps a single-shot, the ability to make an aimed shot at a stationary target and the sense to absorb a few basic lessons in woodsmanship are about all one needs.

Most important, though, a fledgling hunter needs a mentor, someone who's willing to invest a bit of time to teach a youngster how to hunt, the right things about hunting and even why he might hunt.

Many mature hunters came by their pursuits by lineage, having been taught by a father or grandfather who, in turn, was inducted into the realm by a father or grandfather of his own.

Things are a good deal different nowadays, however. Fewer people are growing up in rural settings where squirrel hunting spots are just across the road or back behind the house. More people are reared in suburban or urban circumstances that require at least a modest trip to get to a place where hunting is possible.

Perhaps more socially significant is the change of the increase in single parent home, typically where Mom is the only adult of the household. A growing number of kids don't have live-in fathers, the guys that in years past were the fellows who passed on hunting traditions to the offspring. A high percentage of the mothers who raise these kids don't hunt.

Anyway you look at it, many more children are being reared in non-hunting families. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's a pity that more youth don't have the chance to see what it's all about and, if they like it, have a shot at learning how to do it right. Statistics indicate that people who don't hunt or fish as youngsters probably won't engage in those activities as adults.

Sportsmen have a sort of moral responsibility to pass it on, this business of hunting. It's a matter of sharing the bounty that's out there. And from a selfish standpoint, the more people who know and understand hunting, the more people who will support the right for hunting to continue.

With these reasons in mind, squirrel hunting is the ideal starter for a young person. Veteran hunters who can guide youngsters into hunting through squirrels will do themselves and their charges a favor.

A kid who is taught in small servings will learn about wild things, about nature and, consequently, his own world. A squirrel hunt can be a primer on the chain of life. It's a revelation on the pursuit of game and the glaring difference between hunting and mere killing.

A short saunter in a nearby grove could open someone's doors to a lifetime's wealth of outdoor experiences. The axiom about bent twigs and how they grow usually holds true.

Steve Vantreese is outdoors editor at The Paducah Sun.