Six Louisiana’s Wildlife Management Areas are squirrelly to the max when it counts.

Those half-a-dozen public land tracts each gave up more than 1,000 squirrels to hunters in 2023-24. They stand out among the 51 WMAs covering more than 1 million acres across the Sportsman’s Paradise.

Many of them attract the most experienced and avid squirrel hunters from all corners of the state. Most leave with the tasty game in the bag.

The 2024-25 season opens Saturday, Oct. 5.

Last season’s squirrel harvest leader was in the Lafayette Region, where hunters bagged 7,882 squirrels at a rate of 2.1 squirrels per hunter on Richard K. Yancey WMA. Those numbers are mind-boggling considering no other WMA in the state had more than 4,000.

There’s a reason for the 7,882-squirrel harvest (2.1 squirrels per hunter effort) last season on Richard K. Yancey WMA. It’s a vast forest system dominated by oak trees across 70,782 acres in Concordia Parish. It gave up 5,926 squirrels in 2022-23.

According to a veteran game biologist, Richard K. Yancey WMA enjoyed a fruitful mast crop last year despite the drought. The mast was small but utilized by squirrels nonetheless, according to Arthur Hebert, Lafayette Region biologist supervisor.

Richard K. Yancey WMA appeals to squirrel hunters for more reasons than its bountiful squirrel population. It has numerous gravel roads, woods roads and trails that traverse the interior, so access isn’t a problem.

Another Lafayette Region attracting squirrel hunters is Sherburne WMA, where 4,525 squirrels (1.6 squirrels per hunter effort) were harvested in 2023-24. Its mast production wasn’t as good last year as it was at Richard K. Yancey WMA but still above average for many species, Hebert said about the WMA that ranked second in squirrel harvest among all WMAs in Louisiana.

Nuttall and water oak acorn production for 2023 was great at Sherburne WMA, which features an understory that’s easy to move around in in many areas of the public land, and includes 11,800 acres of state land, 15,220 acres of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge plus another 16,618 acres owned by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Many squirrel hunters take full advantage of the ease of squirrel hunting on the WMA. It is located in Iberville, St. Martin and Pointe Coupee parishes.

The second-largest squirrel harvest on WMAs statewide last season was 3,971 harvest (2.1 squirrels per hunter effort) at Dewey W. Wills WMA in the Pineville Region. Cliff Dailey, the region’s biologist supervisor, however, believes the harvest will be lower this season because of a “below average” mast crop last fall.

The WMA’s appeal is its size. There are 64,984 acres in LaSalle, Catahoula and Rapides parishes that hunters can spread out on while hunting Dewey W. Wills WMA, thus creating more opportunities, Dailey said recently. Top spots include Muddy Bayou Watershed and Nolan’s Bayou, which some hunters paddle to further get away from the crowd.

The Monroe Region boasted two WMAs with more than 1,000 squirrels harvested in 2023-24, according to Mitch McGee, the region’s biologist manager. He expects another fair to good season on Big Lake WMA in Franklin, Tensas and Madison parishes and Bouef WMA in Caldwell and Catahoula parishes.

Big Lake WMA’s squirrel harvest totaled 2,136 (1.7 per hunter effort) while Bouef WMA had 1,769 bushy-tails harvest (1.4 squirrels per hunter effort) bagged in 2023-24.

The Minden Region’s Bodcau WMA is the go-to place for hundreds of squirrel hunters, according to biologist manager Jeff Johnson. It showed out last season when 1,413 squirrels were harvested (1.24 squirrels per hunter).

The 33,766-acre WMA in Bossier and Webster parishes is the largest in the region with plenty of prime squirrel hunting habitat and a diverse mast crop.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.