Was a good morning to be in the woods. Stepped out of the truck at 6:10 am, and the truck said it was 56°. Slapped my snake gaiters on, grabbed my hunting bag and the Crockett and started walking. I had to walk up the gravel road cutting through the Game Land due to the gate still being closed for whatever reason DNR is slacking I guess. Once off the road, I capped the ol girl and headed to the spot I wanted to start at. When I got there, got my seat roped onto a tree, fired up my thermacell, layed the rifle across my knees and waited. I hadn't been in these woods since last winter, and was surprised how thick it was. Reminded me of Crow Valley in the Philippines, triple canopy jungle. Didn't take long before you could here the squirrels cutting, and moving from tree to tree, just couldn't see them. About 5 minutes to seven, a small bachelor group of bucks came within 15 feet of me, 2 of them being legal shooters, and one pretty decent. We had a staring contest for 3-4 minutes, when they decided to vamos. Bout 5 after 7, squirrel comes in hopping along and starts to climb a tree about 12 yards in front of me, I went to full cock, set the rear trigger, and slightly turned on my seat while raising the rifle in one motion. She stopped long enough for me to put the front bead on her head, exhale and slowly squeeze. She fell about 40 feet and didn't move. I reloaded quick and continued to wait. Didn't take long for another squirrel to jump to the same white oak I shot the first one from, but it never quit moving, and disappeared into the canopy, so I went back to half cock, and kept my vigil. Caught movement to my left, turned slowly in time to see a black bear crossing the two track I was hunting off of and go into the woods behind me, maybe 30 yards. Those jokers can move quiet when they want, I watched it walk away, not making a sound. Sat till about 8:30, and decided to go grab my squirrel and still hunt my way back to the road after a couple of loud talking fellas walked behind me carrying shotguns. When I picked up my squirrel, she must of moved at the shot, or I pulled low, because she was hit right through the back, and the 32 ball cut her spine in two. No action on the way back, they were there and moving, just too thick for a clear shot. When I get back to the parking area , I showed my gear, poured a cup of coffee, and started cleaning the young doe squirrel. I got the hide, head, and feet off, just cut up the ribs, and am pulling the guts out when a couple of hippies with huge backpacks come walking down the road. The look on the lady's face was hilarious, I did my best not to laugh.
All in all a good day. Saw a total of 7 deer, a bear, and 2 hippies. The bugs didn't bother me, and I've got a tender squirrel sitting in salt water waiting for the hot oil tomorrow. Good luck, and safe hunting to all. And watch out for them D**n hippies while hunting public land.
Hope to let her eat.
