Fox Forest Wildlife Management Area

Transcription

(music) >> THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GUN. LET'S GO QUIETLY, NOW, MACY. (music) THIS IS A GOOD LOOKING SPOT. I HAVE FOUR DAUGHTERS. MACY IS MY OUTDOORS PERSON, SO SHE LIKES TO GO AND... (bird squawks) ...TROMP OUT IN THE WOODS, 'LONG AS THE BUGS DON'T BOTHER HER TOO MUCH. COME AROUND THIS SIDE OF THE TREE. >> JOE DAVIS AND HIS DAUGHTER MACY ARE HUNTING ON THE GUS ENGELING WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA. IT'S IN THE HEART OF EAST TEXAS, WITH OVER 2,000 ACRES OF PRISTINE HARDWOOD FOREST. >> THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. AND THE SQUIRREL HABITAT, I HAVEN'T SEEN LIKE THIS SINCE I WAS A KID HUNTIN' IN SOUTH ALABAMA. I'M NOT SURE I SAW ONE, BUT I THINK I DID. >> DAD! THERE'S ONE BEHIND THERE THAT STICKS OUT. STRAIGHT BEHIND THERE. >> THAT LOOKS LIKE A GOOD ONE, DOESN'T IT. (click of rifle) (rifle shoots) MACY, BE SURE HE'S DEAD BEFORE YOU PICK HIM UP. >> I KNOW THAT! >> OH, YEA. YEA. THAT OTHER SQUIRREL HAS GOT TO BE RIGHT HERE. >> DAD, PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET. WHICH ONE, THIS ONE? WOOOO, THAT'S COOL! >> SEEN SQUIRRELS AND A HOG. HEARD CROWS AND WOODPECKERS AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS. (sound of bird squawking) BUT WE KILLED, HOW MANY DID WE KILL THIS MORNING? >> FOUR. FOUR? >> I THINK THAT MAY BE RIGHT. >> THREE? >> FIFTEEN? I THINK WE KILLED FIFTEEN THIS MORNING, DIDN'T WE? >> NO! (music) >> IN YEARS PAST, A YOUNGSTER LEARNED WOODSMANSHIP AND HUNTING SKILLS WITH SMALL GAME LIKE RABBIT AND SQUIRREL. IT WASN'T SO MUCH A SPORT AS A PRACTICAL MEANS OF FEEDING THE FAMILY. MANY MOVIES HAVE PORTRAYED SMALL GAME HUNTING FOR WHAT IT ONCE WAS - A RITE OF PASSAGE AS KIDS GREW TO TEENAGERS. >> LOOK IT, PA. THESE HERE'S FOR YOUR SUPPER. AND I ONLY WASTED TWO SHOTS. >> THAT'S MIGHTY FINE, SON. >> I'M TAKING CHARGE, ALRIGHT. AIN'T I, PA? EVERYTHING'S COMING ALONG JUST FINE. (music) >> FAST FORWARD 100 YEARS OR SO, AND THE THINGS THAT MADE HUNTING SUCH A SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE AND NECESSARY PART OF OUR SURVIVAL HAVE FADED AWAY. >> TAKE THESE BIRDS? (guns firing) >> THE RESULT - EACH YEAR WE HAVE FEWER AND FEWER YOUNG HUNTERS. AND, EACH YEAR, OUR TIES TO NATURE WEAKEN EVER SO SLIGHTLY. >> I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE 1983 AND I HAVE MORE AND MORE APPRECIATION THE LONGER I'M HERE FOR THIS PLACE. >> HAYDEN HAUCKE IS A BIOLOGIST WHO SPENT HIS CAREER IN THE FORESTS OF EAST TEXAS. OVER THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY, HE'S SEEN THE NUMBER OF SQUIRREL HUNTERS DECLINE BY NEARLY 70 PERCENT. >> THERE'S A LOT OF US, I KNOW IN THE WILDLIFE PROFESSION, YOU GO AROUND AND ASK THEM, THAT'S HOW THEY WERE INTRODUCED TO HUNTING, MAYBE 12 OR 13 YEARS OF AGE TO RABBITS OR TO SQUIRREL. AND SO WE'RE WANTING TO CONTINUE THAT TRADITION IN THE HOPES OF IN STILLING CONSERVATION ETHICS AND JUST THE LOVE OF BEING IN THE OUT OF DOORS. >> AND THAT'S WHY HUNTERS LIKE ORRIN, HIS DAD KELLY, AND FRIEND SAM COME TO HUNT AT ENGELING. >> ORRIN, TAKE YOUR TIME, SON. THIS IS A DYING THING, ALL THESE HARDWOOD BOTTOMS. YOU DON'T SEE THIS MUCH ANYMORE. >> I LIKE THE HARDWOOD BOTTOMS. LOTS OF SQUIRRELS. BE BETTER IF I COULD SHOOT STRAIGHT. >> SEE WHERE I'M POINTING HERE? SEE THIS LIMB COMING DOWN HERE? I'M GOING TO WALK AROUND. YOU WATCH HIM AND COME AROUND TO THIS SIDE, RIGHT UP HERE AT THE TOP. HE'S BEEN PRETTY GOOD BOYS. BOTH MY BOYS. TURNED OUT PRETTY GOOD. AND I THINK HUNTING HAS A LOT TO DO WITH IT. SPENDING TIME WITH THEM DOING ANYTHING. (gun shoots) GOOD SHOT! (laughs) THEY FINALLY GOT ONE! >> WHAT YA' GOT? >> ANOTHER LITTLE CAT SQUIRREL. ROAMING THE TREES. >> I'M GETTING ME A SQUIRREL BEFORE WE GO HOME. >> HUH? >> I'M GETTING ME A SQUIRREL BEFORE WE GO HOME TOMORROW. (music) >> FOR A SQUIRREL, A MATURE HARDWOOD FOREST IS A BIG GROCERY STORE STOCKED WITH BERRIES, ACORNS AND PECANS. A HEALTHY HARDWOOD ECOSYSTEM ALSO CREATES SOMETHING AKIN TO A HUGE SQUIRREL CONDOMINIUM, PROVIDING DEN SITES FOR FEMALES TO RAISE AND SHELTER THEIR YOUNG. BUT QUALITY HABITATS LIKE THE ONE AT ENGELING ARE RARE. (trees sawed down) MANY OF THE OLD-GROWTH HARDWOODS HAVE BEEN CUT DOWN AND REPLACED WITH HUGE PINE PLANTATIONS. (trees falling) (chain saw) >> IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT WE HAVE FEWER TREES. WE HAVE FEWER OF THE HARDWOOD TREES THAT CREATE THE FOOD TO SUPPORT A DIVERSE WILDLIFE POPULATION. >> BIOLOGISTS TALK ABOUT MONOCULTURES AND HOW MONOCULTURES CAN BE CONSIDERED WILDLIFE DESERTS. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE THE DIVERSITY THAT WE HAVE ON ENGELING, YOU'RE PROVIDING LOTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF HABITAT TYPES. DIVERSITY IS A KEY FOR WILDLIFE. >> MACY'S EYES ARE A LITTLE SHARPER THAN MINE. SHE CAN LOOK UP IN THE TREES AND SAY "THERE'S ONE". AND I SAY WHERE? SHE SAYS "RIGHT THERE". HE'S GOT TO MOVE PRETTY GOOD BEFORE I SEE HIM. >> SEE HIM? HE'S GOING UP THE TREE. >> I DON'T SEE HIM. >> YOU DON'T SEE ANY OF THEM. THERE HE IS. >> OH, YEA. YEA. HE'S JUST A LITTLE TOO FAR. (gun shot) (music) BISCUITS AND GRAVY AND SQUIRRELS, IS WHAT WE HAVE IN MIND. I MAY TAKE SOME TO MY DAD. HE LIVES IN MISSISSIPPI. AND HE LOVES THEM. AND HE'LL COOK THEM FOR ME. I'M NOT SURE MY WIFE WILL COOK THEM OR NOT. >> THE POPULATION OF MOST WILDLIFE SPECIES DEPENDS LARGELY ON THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF THE HABITAT. THAT'S WHY SQUIRRELS ARE SO PLENTIFUL HERE AT ENGELING. (gun shot) BUT... ...AS THE HARDWOOD BOTTOMLANDS ACROSS EAST TEXAS DISAPPEAR, THE TRADITION OF HUNTING SQUIRREL - A PRACTICE PASSED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION - COULD DISAPPEAR AS WELL. >> I HOPE SHE JUST REMEMBERS SPENDING TIME WITH HER DAD. HE WAS WAY UP IN THAT TREE, WASN'T HE? I DID THAT WITH MY DAD AND REMEMBER THOSE DAYS. AND I HAVE GREAT MEMORIES, AND I THINK IT'S THE SAME THING WITH HER. >> AND JOE DAVIS HOPES MACY'S GENERATION WON'T BE THE LAST OF THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS. (music) THE ANNUAL PUBLIC HUNTING PERMIT PROVIDES ACCESS TO LOW-COST HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES ON NEARLY 1.2 MILLION ACRES OF LAND, INCLUDING THE GUS ENGELING WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA. FOR MORE INFO, LOG ON TO OUR WEBSITE.