And just like that, firearms season on deer has ended. If you’re not ready for hunting season to end you only need to shift your focus to game on the smaller side. In fact, trying to get the drop on a sharp-eyed squirrel will make you a better hunter on the bigger stuff.

When I lived in Maine, I loved hunting snowshoe hares with beagles. The baying of the dogs rang in the stillness of the snow-and-ice clad woods as we moved into position on snowshoes of our own. My friend and Maine guide Ray Miller had two awesome beagles, Bucky and Dottie and we had tons of fun days in the field with them.

Back here in Pennsylvania, I like to go after our abundant gray squirrels. I find them interesting to watch, even after they’ve made me sneak to my feet and grab my bow – thinking I’ve heard a deer approaching. Unlike deer season – did it rain every Saturday? – squirrel season is long. We can hunt squirrels (and rabbits) now and through February 28, so you can choose your best-weather days. In fact, on Monday, January 21, you can even celebrate the little-known National Squirrel Appreciation Day, founded in North Carolina in 2001.

What else is neat to know about squirrels?

I can’t imagine walking through the woods and being prepared to duck one of these things – but the largest squirrel lives in China. It’s a flying squirrel, and it’s three feet long!

There are felons in the woods. Squirrels lose nearly 25 percent of the food to bury to thievery, mostly done by other squirrels. In fact, squirrels will often pretend to bury nuts and other food.

Our gray squirrels are the most common of all squirrels and there are more than 200 species of them. Gray squirrels are causing quite a ruckus in the U.K., where they were introduced. They are now considered “invasive” and are threatening the country’s native population of red squirrels, which are much smaller.

An adult squirrel eats a pound of food a week.

In Brevard, North Carolina, 1 in 3 squirrels has white fur.

Squirrels teeth grow 6 inches a year, so they must gnaw things to keep them the right length. A baby squirrel is 1 inch long.

I don’t like to hunt something unless I’m going to eat it. I’ve tried several recipes over the years, admittedly with limited success. Here’s the only recipe I use:

Brunswick Stew

Ingredients: one squirrel and one rabbit, cut up into sections; one pound of beef steak; 2 to 3 large potatoes, cubed small; one large onion, diced; 1 can each of whole corn, pinto beans and lima beans; one large stalk of celery, sliced thin; 2 or 3 large carrots, sliced thin; large clove of garlic, smashed.

Directions: In a large stew pot, place rabbit and squirrel pieces, cover by 3 inches of water. Stew until meat falls off the bones (1 to 2 hours). Meanwhile brown steak pieces in a skillet. Pull meat from rabbit and squirrel bones and add to steak in the skillet. Let the stewing water cool, and skim off any fat. Then put all the meat back in the stew pot and heat to simmer. Add potatoes, onions, corn, beans, carrots, celery and garlic. Add water if needed to cover all ingredients by about 2 inches. Simmer several hours to thicken. Feeds a crowd (as long as you don’t tell everyone what’s in it).