Missouri’s squirrel season is open throughout the summer. It’s not commonly realized that right now, you can venture outdoors in the Show-Me State and bag a limit of bushytails. It may not feel much like hunting season outside when temperatures push into the 90s, but when you combine squirrel hunting with float fishing a river, you can stay a little cooler on the water. Bayou Bill Scifres called this “squirrelishing.”
Bill Scifres, known as Bayou Bill, was an avid outdoor writer for more than 50 years. He’s an Indiana outdoors legend to his readers and fellow communicators. So, who better to invent his own tradition for sportsmen yearning for water and woods. It turns out to be a perfect summer months pursuit for well-rounded outdoorsman wanting to make the most of the season in Missouri.
Squirrelishing was Bayou’s answer to the problem of choice, as it simultaneously serves the sporting desires of those who equally enjoy fishing and hunting. Growing up along the banks of the Muscatatuck River, Bayou Bill hunted and fished for sustenance. His family depended on the food nature provided. In their eyes, there was never a reason to separate the seasons. If one could bring home both fish and game, that’s what they should do.
“Boiled down to its simplest terms, squirlishing is hunting squirrels and fishing. There are as many ways to participate in this activity as there are species of fish and methods of catching them,” Bayou Bill said.
Squirrelishing can be accomplished by carrying a .22 along while floating a canoe down the river and fishing. Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time on the water, weather it be a lake or stream, is aware of the number of squirrels often clamoring about in the trees along the bank barking at you and causing commotion. Squirrelishing is the answer for what to do about those squirrels.
Imagine yourself sitting in a canoe watching a bobber in hopes of a strike. Nothing is happening, but all of a sudden you hear a squirrel chattering on shore. You paddle over, grab your trusty .22 and start your stalk. Of course, you must either be on public land or have permission to access private land.
From a non-motorized craft, you can glide over to the tree line, spot the squirrel up in the branches, and level your rifle. One shot later, the bushy tail is lying at the base of the tree. You retrieve it, then paddle off to another fishing hole in hopes of adding to the day’s bounty. A dinner of deep-fried fillets alongside some squirrel etouffee over rice is about as good as it gets.
If you’ve been clamoring for a summertime outdoor adventure, there are many rivers across the state of Missouri where you can go squirrelishing all day and spend the night on a gravel or sand bar. It’s a very affordable and fun getaway for sportsmen with a little extra fire in their pursuit of fish and game.
Emerging from your tent mere feet from rippling water as an early morning mist rises all around you makes for a magical camping experience. Few places offer as fine of an opportunity to experience such a soul cleansing escape as a gravel bar in the wilderness of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) in southern Missouri.
When it comes to gravel bar camping few rivers match the allure of Missouri’s Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. These two magnificent rivers make up the ONSR, which has been a national park since 1964. The park encompasses 85,000 acres of public land that stretches 135 miles along the two rivers.
Although this land is a national park, you can hunt it. There is no entrance fee and no camping fee along the water away from designated camping areas. So, load up your canoe, or rent one from a local livery and hit the river for a multiday wilderness camping and squirrelishing experience. If you happen to catch a few goggle-eye and shoot a few squirrels, give ol’ Bayou Bill a tip of your cap out of respect for shared passions.
See you down the trail…
Brandon Butler
driftwoodoutdoors@gmail.com
Pic: Squirrels are half of the hunt when squirrelishing.
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