NC BHA’s 5^th Annual Hunt for Squirrels & Trash on North Carolina’s Public Lands

Saturday, January 28th — Saturday, February 12th

Trashy is back!!

Too good to be true? Nope. Too cool for school? Yep. Too hot to handle? Maybe. Too cold to hold? Shoot straight and find out.

NC BHA’s fifth annual Trashy Squirrel Hunt is going to be the best one yet! We’re adding an extra weekend on the front end, which means more time to collect trash and tails on North Carolina’s public lands.

We’ve updated the scoring system so be sure to READ THE RULES BELOW. Don’t be fooled by the length of the typed-out rules! They’re easy to understand and it’s super simple to play along. Take two minutes and give ‘em a read. And, if you’ve got questions at the end, no problem! Fire away at [email protected].

Here’s the TL;DR version: Go hunt squirrels and pick-up trash. Bring new hunters along and sign-up BHA members. Win respect, gratitude, and the Trashy Trophy.

And here’s the full Monty:

Official TSH Rules

• Rules and Regulations set for the 2022-23 season by the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC) must be adhered to at all times by everyone.
• Competing teams are defined by the NCWRC’s nine districts (shown here).
• Participants may hunt and clean on ANY public land (federally managed or state owned) and all points accrued and registered will contribute to the participant’s chosen district regardless of in which district the points are obtained.
• Points will be awarded via tail-count & pounds of trash with bonus points available for bringing out new hunters & signing up new/renewing members to BHA. The breakdown is as follows:
  • 1000 points per tail
  • 5 points per ounce of trash w/ a maximum point value of 500 per single item (i.e., anything above 6.25 lbs)
    • The 500-point max becomes pretty crucial when you find a big cache of big trash (real life examples include: a pile of old tires, rolls of carpet, broken coolers, steel drums, etc.).
    • District 1 won the first TSH in 2019 on trash alone and most of that poundage was from items that hit the 500-max limit. Rugs, appliances, tires, doors, paint cans half-full or more, etc., etc.
    • Just record an honest estimation of how many of these items you pull out of the woods and do the quick math.
  • 1000 points for each New Hunter
    • An individual can only qualify for the new-hunter bonus for one hunt during the tournament.
    • A new hunter will be defined as an individual that either does not have a hunting license or received their first hunting license for the 2022-23 season.
      • Note: Those participants without a hunting license need only be present for the duration of a hunt and must follow all rules and regulations set by NCWRC.
  • 1,000-10,000 points per New/Renewed/Upgraded Membership
    • The person must become a member of BHA or renew a membership sometime during the dates of the tournament and show proof of membership via receipt (email or screenshot).
    • The new/renewing member does not have to participate in a hunt for a team to receive the bonus points. However, a single individual can qualify for both the new/renewing member bonus and the new hunter bonus if the respective requirements are met.
    • Point breakdown is as follows and gift memberships are welcome!

• • Scoring Example
    • Three days into the tournament a group of five participants get together for a morning hunt in Uwharrie. One of the five in the hunting party is both a new hunter and became a new individual member of BHA the previous evening. Another person in the group renewed and also upgraded her membership from individual to 3-year on her smartphone while eating a biscuit at El Dorado Outpost before hitting the woods. During the three-hour hunt, the hunt party takes 7 squirrels, 33lbs 8oz of bagged trash, and 5 big heavy items that for sure weigh over the 500-pt max limit. For this hunt the team will receive the following points:
      • 7000 (tails) + 536 (bagged trash) + 2500 (big stuff) 1000 (new hunter) + 1000 (new member) + 3000 (renewing 3-yr member) = 15,036 points total for the hunt.
        • Note: If the person who is both a new hunter and a new member then goes on an evening hunt later that day, then the team will receive neither the 1000 nor the 500 bonus points again.
  • Tallied points (with a helpful breakdown, if you’re so inclined so we can keep track of all your good work!) must be sent to [email protected] along with some fun photos from the day with any names or social media tags and cool details you’d like share. PLEASE DO THIS! WE LOVE TO SEE ALL THE THINGS AND WE WANT YOU TO WIN!!!
    • The Honor System will be the guiding principle, but teams are very strongly encouraged (and thanked in advance!) to submit photos showing (1) tail count, (2) a scale readout showing poundage (fish & bathroom scales work great!), (3) screenshot/receipt for new members, and/or (4) the new hunter with at least one licensed and experienced hunter in the photo frame
      • Don’t over-complicate this. Here’s an example photo
             
      • Point Total = 2,000 (two tails) + 1,000 (two max’d out single items (the tires)) + 1,728 (345.6oz of trash x 5pts/oz) = 4,728 points
      • ONLY squirrels taken and trash removed from Public Lands (State or Federal) will be counted (see Honor System comment above)
      • Use of squirrel dogs is permitted where permitted.