Chapter 1 WELCOME TO SMALL GAME HUNTING A boy and his sister enter a forest near their home The October sun is warm The sky is blue The trees are covered in yellow orange and red leaves The young hunters sneak to a 4
In many states small-game hunting opens in early fall and lasts into winter wide oak tree They load their 22 caliber rifles Then the siblings sit down on opposite sides of the tree and quietly watch their surroundings After a long wait the boy sees movement in the tree limbs A big speckled gray squirrel sits 5
Squirrels can be found in the woods at any time of day But they are most active in the morning on a tree limb only 20 yards 18 m away The boy takes careful aim Crack At the sound of the shot the squirrel falls to the ground The hunters get up to claim their trophy 6
A month later a light dusting of snow covers the area around the siblings home This time the young hunters are in an area of thickets filled with brush grass weeds and thorny raspberry branches They are looking for cottontail rabbits Suddenly a rabbit runs out of a brushy tangle It looks like a streak of gray But the white snow helps the girl see the animal She swings her shotgun makes sure the shot is safe and pulls the trigger Boom The rabbit skids to a stop in the snow The young hunter walks over and picks up the animal She admires it for a moment before putting it in the game bag of her hunting vest The hunters continue walking in search of more cottontails Small Game through History Small-game hunting has a long history in North America Native Americans hunted small game using bows and arrows traps and snares 7
