6 Animals You Can Still Hunt in the Summer

If you can’t wait until deer season, there are other hunting options.

The off-season can feel so long sometimes, can’t it? We all just want to get back in the woods, yet deer season is so far away.

However, you can hunt these six animals this summer and sharpen your skills before deer season.

1. Feral hogs

Feral hogs are a major threat to both wildlife and the environment. They tear up farmers’ fields and cause terror in game lands. Wild hogs usually have unrestricted bag limits, so load up the freezer with meat. It’ll be easier to find places to hunt these destructive pests than any other game animal out there. Knock on farmers’ doors and you just might make a new friend if you’re a hog hunting enthusiast. The featured image shows the Hogzombies husband-and-wife hunting team with a nice hog.

2. Coyotes

Coyotes eat anything they can find. Game laws are generally hands-off for coyote hunting, so you can hunt these pests in the summer or later in the season. Save some wildlife, domestic pets and livestock and shoot some coyotes this summer. Removing coyotes will pay off when the fall rolls around and your game populations are thriving.

3. Groundhogs

Woodchucks, whistle pigs or groundhogs, they all dig holes. They also eat farmers’ crops. Summer is when these beasts crawl out of their holes and fatten up, so take advantage and target these lowly creatures. Prairie dogs also fall into this category for our friends out west. They’re a popular small-game species for long-range shooting. They all offer great summer hunting opportunities when the weather heats up in the off-season.

4. Crows

Crows many times have open seasons in the summer. They gather in large groups to feast in freshly tilled and planted fields. Load up the shotgun and engage them in the air, or snipe them with rifles at a distance while they feed on the ground.

5. Pigeons

Pigeons or squab make a mess out of everything they come in contact with. Shotguns and even air rifles make great fun when hunting these pests.

6. European Starlings

In the world of invasive birds, the European Starling has done better than the rest. When illegally released, they just kept breeding and forcing native bird species out. Flocks of these raucous birds are great sport for a blast of No. 8 shotgun pellets. Find out where they roost and let them have some lead medicine.

Do you like articles about the outdoors? Click here to view more articles by Eric Nestor. You can follow him @ericthewoodsman on Twitter, The Classic Woodsman on Facebook, and @theclassicwoodsman on Instagram. You can view more Nestor Photography photos at Nestor Photography.