Three straight weekends, three different small-game animals pursued -- that's a wonderful way to enjoy Virginia January Saturdays.

A fascinating aspect of January hunting is how Virginians go about pursuing small game. Amos told me that his basic approach is for him and his friends to move slowly through dense habitat, stopping often when they reach particularly birdy cover.

Joe Trickey, who lives and hunts in Southside Virginia, likes to spend his winter Saturdays going after bunnies.

"My dad and I find most of our rabbits in cutovers and it seems the populations can be spotty," Trickey said. "For example, we may hunt one farm and not jump that many but go two miles down the road and find plenty of rabbits. We have a lot of predators here, and they make it hard for rabbits to survive.

"My dad, who is 65, talks a lot about the old glory days of rabbit hunting when he could easily jump 16 to 20 rabbits a day. I have hunting buddies who still do this, but it is on very exclusive private farms. My dad cares very little about eating a rabbit since he is all about hearing the dogs run, and I feel the same way. My dad is happy if he hears a good chase and we may kill one or two per day."

Dr. Carol Croy, forest wildlife biologist for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest (GWJNF), offers this insight not only for hunting grouse in the national forest but also on private land.

"Ruffed grouse in the Appalachians are found in two distinctive forest types: mixed mesophytic (plants that do well when receiving at least average amounts of rainfall) and oak-hickory (typically dry) forests," Croy said. "Mixed mesophytic forests are found in regions with higher annual rainfall, the Allegheny Highlands of Virginia, far southwestern Virginia, and along the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

"These areas are often characterized as having cherry, birch and an abundance of herbaceous plants supporting insects. Oak-hickory forests are usually found in the drier regions of the Appalachians and are the dominant forest type in most of western Virginia."

Croy relates that on mixed mesophytic sites, grouse home ranges overall tend to be smaller and more centralized around high stem density habitats, like those found in clearcuts from four to 20 years in age. On oak-hickory sites, home ranges tend to be larger overall and have a distinct seasonal shift. During the day, grouse frequent riparian areas, access roads and hollows with water. In the winter during the day, the birds especially prefer stands of rhododendron for foraging. Then to roost, grouse move upslope to ridges with mountain laurel thickets.

"If I were hunting for grouse in Virginia, I would need to know what type of forest I was hunting in, whether it is mixed mesophytic or oak hickory," continued Croy. "That would help me to decide what my hunting strategy would be. If I were hunting in mixed mesophytic forest types, then the more traditional grouse hunting strategy of concentrating around timber cuts should be the best way to find grouse.

"But if I were in the drier oak-hickory forest type, I would focus on access roads, riparian areas and mesic (wet) hollows with rhododendron thickets, within a mile radius from either a 4- to -20-year-old (clearcut) or prescribed burned or wildfire area, that has patches of early successional habitat. The access roads, riparian areas and mesic hollows would be the best places to find grouse during the day.