Hunt was at Sandhills Game Land
Bailey Harrell killed a black phase fox squirrel at North Carolina’s Sandhills Game Land on Oct. 26 during a hunt with some friends.
Leaving from Granville County around 4:30 a.m., Harrell and friends Landrum Carver and Austin Williams arrived at the Game Land around 6:30. Then they hiked into an area that Carver had seen fox squirrels the year before. They spotted a few of their intended quarry right away.
“We saw three fox squirrels, but they were all too far away for a clean shot,” said Carver.
After trying that spot with no luck for a little while, they decided to relocate.
“We traveled to the other side and Austin spotted a fox squirrel at the top of a dead pine tree,” he said.
That’s when they saw a different type of squirrel. And it wasn’t the more common gray squirrel.
“We thought the fox squirrel made it into a nest at the fork of the tree, so I hit the squirrel call a few times to try and lure him out,” said Landrum. “But surprisingly, a flying squirrel poked his head out.”
After looking around the tree a little more, they finally saw a fox squirrel in range.
“After a while, we spotted the black fox squirrel, flat on the shady side of the tree,” he said.
Harrell had the best shot at the animal, so he took one shot, and the squirrel came crashing down.
Fox squirrels are more abundant in areas that are rich in pine trees, unlike gray squirrels, which prefer hardwood trees, or at least a mixture of hardwoods and pines. They come in several different color phases.
Sandhills Game Land, which is located in Richmond County, NC, is a 60,000 acre parcel, and is widely known throughout the United States as a prime example of longleaf pine habitat. For hunting regulations at Sandhillls, visit www.ncwildlife.org.
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