When the squirrel hunting season opens Oct. 3 in Louisiana, thousands of hunters will continue a long-standing tradition by getting into the woods and swamps on private and public hunting lands.

The majority of those public hunting lands offer some of the best opportunities across the state to bag a limit (12 per person) of squirrels. One of those areas, however, was damaged heavily and another apparently endured moderate damage from Hurricane Laura, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Aug. 27 in southwest Louisiana.

Wendell Smith, Lake Charles Region biologist manager for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said West Bay WMA was on the “dirty” side of Hurricane Laura. High winds cracked trees to the point the Wolf Bay Campground off Louisiana 112 in Allen Parish has been closed until further notice by the LDWF.

LDWF personnel are working to clear roads and trails, Smith said at midday Thursday, the first day back since Hurricane Laura in the heavily damaged office in Lake Charles. The WMA’s main roads, however, have been cleared and damage repaired.

Smith estimates that it will take several more weeks before other roads and trails completely passable. The hunting seasons will go on as scheduled.

But squirrel hunters may want to consider the squirrels’ food supply, mast from trees, was wiped out because when the hurricane roared through there it still was a Cat 3.

Perhaps the most famous squirrel hunting WMA in Louisiana for decades also was grazed by Hurricane Laura. Sabine Island WMA, though, was on the west side of the hurricane when the eye passed near it that Thursday morning.

Smith said he hasn’t been able to inspect the WMA but believes there was a significant impact.

“I expect some tree damage on the island and some loss of mast crop,” he said, noting the area was pounded by high north winds.

There was no significant flooding there, he reported.

He believes the squirrel population is, for the most part, OK.

“They are hardy animals. Yeah, squirrels, when there are winds like that, they go to the ground,” Smith said.

The most worrisome thing is the loss of mast crop. Water oaks were starting to drop acorns when the storm hit, he said.

“They’ll find something to eat,” he said, noting red oak and white oak mast crops hold up a little better in high winds.

“There are cat squirrels all over there,” Smith reported.

The veteran biologist pointed out that Sabine Island WMA is accessible by boat only and cautioned squirrel hunters to carry a GPS with them to navigate the island.

There are plenty of acres for the public to hunt in this region. Some of the finest squirrel hunting — hinging on weather conditions, naturally — in the state is on WMAs within an hour or two drive of the Teche Area.

The Atchafalaya Basin offers squirrel hunting at its best at times, particularly opening day, on the Attakapas WMA and at Sherburne WMA. Tony Vidrine, Lafayette Region biologist manager for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, has monitored the success on those and other WMAs in his region for years.

The preseason outlook was promising for both Attakapas WMA and Sherburne WMA, as well as Richard K. Yancey WMA and Thistlethwaite WMA.

“With the good mast crops we have observed the last couple of years, we expect the squirrel population should remain favorable to hunters on both private lands and WMAs this coming season,” Vidrine reported over the summer.

Sherburne WMA experienced a good acorn crop last year, he said.

According to Vidrine, more and more squirrel hunters are going into the woods with a good squirrel dog or two, which adds to the experience … and to the squirrel bag.

To the north, the area’s small game hunters might want to go after squirrels on the spacious Dewey Wills WMA, where more than 4,000 squirrels were harvested in 2019-20. From all indications, 2020-21 is going to be just as good or better, according to Cliff Dailey, Pineville Region biologist.

However, squirrel hunters might want to miss out on opening weekend and shoot for hunting midweek at Dewey Wills WMA. Opening weekend brings in beaucoup outdoorsmen who camp and enjoy the squirrel hunting.

Habitat conditions in the weeks leading up to the season are average or above average, Dailey reported.

Another top squirrel hunting public area in that region is Little River WMA, which has much less hunting pressure, according to Dailey.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.