By Rory Aikens, public information officer, AGFD

Clean and oil your favorite .22. A superb mushroom crop combined with plentiful acorns in Arizona’s high country means this is a good year to go tree squirrel hunting, and the season is even longer this year, remaining open until Dec. 31.

In fact, to squeeze the most out of your recreational dollars, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has a tip for you: mix squirrel and grouse hunting (grouse season is open from Sept. 12 – Nov. 12) with trout fishing and camping.

You might even team up with others to share experiences and expenses.

This is a pretty good year for a hook-and-bullet expedition.

“The acorn, mushroom, pine cone and berry crops are looking pretty good this year in Arizona’s high country,” said Randy Babb, a department biologist and avid small game hunter. “So hunters of all ages can expect fat, healthy tree squirrels.”

Although blue grouse are not abundant in this state, they do offer hunters an opportunity for diversity. Blue grouse like the spruce and mixed-conifer habitats where red squirrels are found. And our biologists report seeing lots of red squirrels this year.

The blue grouse season opened Sept. 12 and the squirrel season opened Oct. 3.

Plus, last year’s abundant snow pack resulted in significant runoff, filling and spilling most high country trout lakes last spring.

Even lakes that had been very low in past years due to drought, such as some of those in the Williams area, filled this year.

Big Lake in the White Mountains is experiencing its highest lake level in more than a decade. Here’s another idea – if you want to get the most out of your gas dollars, take a friend, relative or neighbor along.

It’s a similar theory to car pooling, but you would be pooling your resources for a high country adventure everyone will be talking about for years.

Fall is one of the two best times of year to catch trout. The fish feed aggressively to put on fat before winter conditions arrive, so we typically see catch rates increase for most anglers. That means you can catch more fun.

We are also entering the prime time of the year to hear bull elk bugling in the forest during the rut. Who knows, you might even see or hear bull elk clashing their antlers in the forest. It’s an exciting time to be in the high mountains.