Did you know that you can hunt throughout the entire year? When we think about hunting, most of the time we think about hunting deer, turkeys, doves and waterfowl. Those are the top four types of wildlife that most hunters pursue and harvest and they all have regulated seasons.

However, there are many other game animals that have unregulated seasons and still some wildlife that have seasons that regulate when they can be hunted. In addition there are some wild animals that are not considered wildlife and they have no regulated seasons and can be harvested at any time.

Let me first deal with the wildlife that are most pursued and have upcoming seasons or dates when they can be harvested. The fall hunting season gets started in August each year when squirrel season opens. If you are not aware, the season for harvesting squirrels began on Aug. 15 and runs through Feb. 29, creating one of the longest seasons for any wild game animal.

I thoroughly enjoyed hunting squirrels when I was a young boy, but boy things have changed. When growing up, my family hunted squirrels to put food on the table. We had a small “feist” dog that could find a squirrel if one existed anywhere in the woods we were hunting.

There were just not that many squirrels in the woods back then and a good day’s hunt might produce three or four squirrels. Today, I could harvest ten in my yard in as little as one hour. The abundance of squirrels seems to have lead to fewer hunters pursuing this so-called wild game animal.

I don’t hear many folks talking about eating squirrels these days but they made many a meal for my family while growing up in Alabama. Todays’ squirrels are very fat and likely very tasty with all the birdseed, tomatoes, figs, blueberries, apples and other backyard ingredients that fills their bellies.

Squirrels also have “wolves” or “warbles” under their skin at certain times of the year. Those things feel like marbles to me and that makes them undesirable as table fare for many folks. I recently offered a man some squirrels that I trapped in my yard but he said he only ate squirrels during the winter season due to those “wolves” under their skin.

Right now, the most anticipated wildlife season that is approaching is the start of deer season and it will begin on Sept. 12 when the archery season opens. But many hunters will anticipate the opening of this year’s dove season, which begins statewide on Sept. 5.

Let me talk a minute about conflicting priorities. We need to delay the opening of the college football season or delay some of the opening days for the fall hunting season because they can make for some tough decisions on what we are to do.

An individual who is both a diehard hunter and a diehard college football fan can almost make himself or herself sick trying to decide if he or she will grab a shotgun and head to the dove field, grab a bow and head to the woods or visit a football game in person or watch it on TV.

Now, I know that today’s electronic devices make the decision easier for hunters but you have to admit that when a dove flies by you in the field and you are watching Georgia’s Nick Chubb run for a touchdown, the dove is likely going to win that moment. Also, standing in your deer stand and yelling “run Chubb run” will likely scare off any deer within five miles of your stand.

There are other wild things you can hunt all year. Many hunters are now hunting wild hogs and they can be hunted all year and have no harvest limit. I will take a look at hog hunting in a future article. There are also some wild animals that fall into what I call nuisance animals that can be found even around your home.

The first of those is the coyote and they are beginning to be hunted aggressively because they are harmful to wildlife like deer and turkeys. They can be hunted and harvested throughout the year and their populations have exploded. They are comfortable in your yard or in the woods and have been also responsible for the disappearance of many pets.

Other wild creatures that visit our yards that I call nuisance animals include raccoons, possums, crows and armadillos. Be aware that raccoons, possums and crows have regulated seasons. Armadillos are not regulated and can be harvested anytime.

For homeowners, the armadillo is one of the most destructive animals that can visit your yard. I did battle with them last year when they began to root up my lawn. Folks in my neighborhood, including me, harvested around eight of the rascals last year and I personally have harvested another two in the last couple of weeks.

So, if you hunt there are things you can hunt all year. But you need to be aware which wild things are regulated and those that are not. The best way to learn about all the rules regarding harvesting all wildlife is to get a copy of the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division’s booklet titled “Georgia Hunting Seasons and Regulations 2015-2016” that is now available at most bait and tackle stores. Good hunting and see you next week.

Bobby Peoples can be reached at brpeoples@windstream.net.