The moment in which the grouse busts skyward is no time for indecision: In that split second you must locate the grouse, bring the shotgun to your shoulder and fire -- because once the target's on the move though the trees, the window of opportunity slams shut Most grouse hunts are judged not by birds downed, but by number of flushes and shots taken.

SQUIRRELS
Like many other members of the baby-boom generation, I cut my hunting teeth on small game -- in particular, squirrels. We, unlike most youngsters today, didn't begin with deer and turkey hunts: Back then, we hunted what was available close to home. But for better or worse, small-game hunting has declined over the years, and at present, 75 percent of all hunting is for deer.

A pellet gun was the weapon with which I took my first shots at squirrels and rabbits. From that I moved up to a single-shot .22 Remington rifle; then, it was a used 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. Whatever I brought home in my game bag was prepared for dinner by my mother, or saved for the next campout.

Gray and fox squirrels both will be found throughout Georgia. The tail, a squirrel's most distinctive physical feature, provides balance for running, jumping and climbing, and acts as a parachute to break unexpected falls. It supplies warmth in cold weather and helps cool the little rodent on sunny days, and when rapidly flicked back and forth, it acts as a warning signal, or as a decoy to distract enemies. But it's also the part of the critter that most often alerts hunters to its presence.

Still-hunting or slow stalking are the techniques that most squirrel hunters prefer. However, the use of dogs has gained popularity in recent years. While it's possible to use dogs to hunt squirrels at any time during the season, it's much more enjoyable, not to mention profitable, to wait until late fall and winter, when the leaves have fallen from the trees, depriving the bushytails of the dense arboreal foliage in which they're nearly impossible to locate.

Squirrels normally have two distinct breeding periods in Georgia -- the first in June and early July, the second in December on into early January -- which accounts in part for their abundance. Females ("does"; the males are "bucks") usually produce their first litter at 1 year of age. The gestation period for both species is approximately 45 days; litter sizes range from one to five kits, three on average. The life expectancy of squirrels in the wild is 1 to 2 years with about 50 percent of the population being lost to predation, accident and disease each year.

An adult squirrel consumes about 2 pounds of food each week. Major fall foods are mast crops such as acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, pecans, and walnuts, plus pine seeds and the fleshy fruits of dogwood and blackgum trees.

Although fox squirrels can move over a mile in a day, both species typically use less than five acres surrounding the den tree. The total area used during the year is usually less than 30 acres. Amid the pine stands so plentiful in the state, hardwood corridors along streamsides and in drainages are likely locales in which to find bushytails.