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Hunt Prospects Good
For Most Species
In spite of the fact that nature dealt Virginia's small game populations some rather severe blows during the past 12 months a poll of Game Commission employees throughout the state indicates that hunters have a lot of good sport in store for them this season. Squirrels were hit most severely when a May frost in 1966 destroyed nearlj all of last year’s mast crop from the foothills of the Blue Ridge westward. Last winter was a bad one for the bushy tails and they are reported extremely scarce over most of this area. Apparently some parts of the southside of Virginia were spared and squirrel numbers are good to excellent in these sections. Turkeys also felt the brunt of the mast shortage and have declined over much of the state in spite of a high carryover last fall. A late wet spring reduced hatching success in many areas further reducing potential fall stocks. Hardest hit was the central mountain section where turkeys had been at record abun dance. In spite of the drop in numbers, turkey hunting should still be good compared to the average for the state. Turkeys have shown some increase in northern Virginia counties.
90.4%