Correction: A previous version of the story incorrectly listed the number of states that participate in squirrel hunting season throughout the year. It has been updated with correct information for the spring season.
Hunters in the Ozarks often share tales of their bountiful harvests and the exhaustion of their deer, turkey and bear tags. Taxidermists have long banked on those successes.
But one of Missouri's longest outdoorsman traditions — a sanctioned hunt that predates the inception of the Missouri Department of Conservation — doesn't generate nearly as much boasting: squirrel hunting season.
The rodents don't provide as much sustenance as most game animals and are rarely presented in prize fashion, but they still require the purchase of a small game permit in the state of Missouri.