2023 Fall Squirrel Season...........

[ETipp]

Been enjoying your ramblings and writings, ETipp. Since I broke my ramrod earlier in the Fall, and haven't made a satisfactory maple or hickory rod, though tried on numerous efforts, the .32 Cherokee sits safely in its place. Been using the .22 for the few recent trips out to collect a little more squirrel meat. I'll get around to making a good ramrod sometime with the weather is worse than it is now.

My observations have mimicked yours in many ways. The fine days one would expect to see the the woods that were a few months ago teeming with the little critters are a bust. The numbers are considerably less than when the nut trees were full of food and foliage. I think they came in droves from all around to certain older oak trees to gather up the acorns in Sept & October, but now that the leaves and nuts are on the ground only the locals are around to pick them up.

I've seen the chasing going on this past week when out deer hunting, too. Thought that interesting that breeding season has begun in SW Ohio. I'm about 4 hours north of your southern Kentucky mountains, if you are near Somerset.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I quietly crept through a length of woods that were packed full of greys just a few months ago. Not a hide nor hair until 9:30 am. At first I thought I had been spied as two zipped up the big sycamore tree 25 yards ahead of me, but turned out that wasn't the case. The sow kept going up and then out while the boar made multiple trips up with a mouthful of leaves to stuff inside the den before heading back down to scrounge up more bedding material. Almost felt a twinge of sympathy for the hard worker as I finally squeezed off a headshot. Knowing that if I held still the female would eventually begin looking for her mate, or the sound of the shot, I stood quietly. About 5 minutes later, to my right, she finally made some noise. Possibly 2 more minutes elapsed before she scurried up a small tree a bit over head height to eyeball me, knowing exactly where I had been the whole time. I was impressed. She was, too, until another head shot dropped her. Both greys. She skinned easily. He held to his hide like a vise. Pressure fried them a week later with egg/Mayo wash, seasoning and dredged in flour. 10 minutes of the pressurized heat ensured both were tender and tasty.

When I was a young man all we had were Fox squirrels. Big, tough, and less active and more easily agitated to sit and bark at you than their grey counterparts. Grey were only found in town and off limits. Now, nearly 40 years later I'm intentionally targeting the Grey Squirrels nearly everywhere I hunt them. The Greys and Fox Squirrels are living in the same wood lots, too. For the first time this year I shot a small squirrel in the early Fall that had the rising sun behind it, thinking it was a very small Grey. Turned out it was a Red Squirrel. I was shocked, as this is the first time I've ever seen one in these parts. Looked it up on my phone to verify the pretty little rodent. Concerned I may have shot a protected species but ODNR lists them as legal game. That gave me a sigh of relief.

What a fun sport this is becoming once again. Now to work on that ramrod before too long. A bit of smoke to keep me right with you fellas.

Good review of your squirrel hunt. Glad you got out and had some fun.

I think you will like hunting them with a ML. A lot more work, and definitely frustrating at times, but when you score, it means more. At least it does with me.

 

[ETipp]

Well, well. It finally happened today. Been waiting and hoping I would run up on this again ever since last June, the first time I witnessed it. And sure eoungh, it finally happened again today

Got out in the woods at barely daylight. Stood next to a tree for a few minutes when I heard "Tuk, Tuk, Tuk,. Looked over and saw some squirrels chasing and doing their gang sex thing. They were going bonkers. Running up and down trees, across the ground, back up trees and out to the ends of the highest branches, then back down again. Several groups in single file lines running everywhere. And they do not pay much attention to their surroundings while doing so. Also, they do not stop for much of anything. So they make a very hard target while chasing. Between there and another place about 300 yards over, I was able to get 5 today.

It was heavy overcast and rain much of the day. I was out for 7 1/2 hours.

It was an excellent day.

 

[ETipp]

While cleaning them I noticed this. It looks to me like their tails have been bitten off. These were on males that were chasing.

 

[Jim K]

Man Ed, you’re a squirrel killing machine. Glad you had a good day. I look forward to your stories. Keep em coming.

 

[Jim K]

Ed, when is your knee surgery? I hope your getting your honey do list done.

 

[ETipp]

Man Ed, you’re a squirrel killing machine. Glad you had a good day. I look forward to your stories. Keep em coming.

Ed, when is your knee surgery? I hope your getting your honey do list done.

Indeed, that hunt was perhaps one of the best hunts I have ever done. The second part (after the squirrels chasing with their crazy "Tuk, Tuk" and other strange sounds) was the best of all. Last night when I finally got everything done and was typing the description of it, I was trashed. There was a couple of things I learned that I wanted to pass along to you all that may very well benefit you in your squirrel hunting quests.

The first one is of special note. That would be downed trees. The last area I eased into is still on the side of the mountain, almost to the top, but it has a few mostly level benches. Evidently there was a big time wind storm that hit in that one spot that knocked down several large trees a couple years ago. Most of those were blown over with root systems attached. Apparently, when they blew over, they took down other trees as they hit. Most of those were snapped off like big sticks. I have learned that all of those are squirrel magnets. Not only do the snapped off trees make good den trees for squirrels, but those little buggers love to hang out on and around the downed trees. They even go in and out of the many thick branches that are all squished up thick. So thick that you cannot see through them. For whatever reason, they love those places. If you ever find a location like that while out in the woods, I highly suggest you make note of it and go back during squirrel season and hunt it.

This was not the first time I've hunted those places. I have already posted of at least one hunt where I was able to kill a few squirrels in trees that were very close to those blown down trees. That was earlier when hickory nuts were on the trees. However, I had no idea it could be so advantageous during the early winter months. And I certainly have never seen that many squirrels in there like I did on this hunt.

Here's another example of what I'm referring to.

After getting pretty darn wet from the rain, as well as after I slipped over in to that location and shot some squirrels, the rain stopped and the sun was shinning nice and bright, which warmed things up fast like. Only took a few minutes before I began to overheat. So, the hunting suit had to come off. So I eased over to one of the blown down large oaks that crossed one of the benches, sat down, and removed my hunting suit. After the shooting and walking around picking up my squirrels, I could hear squirrels barking in different directions. So I thought it be best to sit fairly tight and let things quiet down for a while.

After the last shot I retrieved my squirrels and didn't reload due to needing to wipe out the bore. Considering squirrels being everywhere, I just kept reloading and kept shooting (with a few misses). That was not the time to be running patches down the barrel.

For whatever reason, I decided to reload my loading block and then grab a granola bar. In the process of doing so, I looked over and downhill about 30 yards and dang if there wasn't a squirrel sitting on a small limb next to a broken off beech tree. But there I sat out in the open, in the bright sunlight, on a big old log, with possibles lined up along beside me, and an empty squirrel rifle that really needed to be wiped out. I loaded one more patch and ball into my loading block while telling myself "no way is that squirrel going to stay there until I can reload". But, after a minute or so I decided to give it a try anyway. So, with the squirrel looking at me, I dug through my possibles bag for more powder tubes, and slowly began reloading. That squirrel just sat there until I was reloaded but I knew I cannot hit squat with that rifle when shooting offhanded. The only way was to a slowly sling my legs around behind me, get on the other side of the log, down on my knees and try give it a try as slowly as possible. To my amazement, I accomplished that task and Mr. Squirrel remained in place. Ole Mr. Squirrel will not be celebrating another birthday.

The last thing I wanted to pass along to you all is not only do squirrels like to hang around downed trees, but, for whatever reason, they also like trees that are arched. Many a times have I seen squirrels running on arched trees.

To answer your question, Jim, knee surgery is in 11 more days and that will put an end to my hunting for the year. I'd like to take advantage of any days I deem fit to hunt. Rain and/or getting wet doesn't bother me too much but my knew pain does. Windy days are a no-go. In between hunting (which has been priority for this ole boy) I have accomplished some of my chores but there's more to do. Most likely can get those done in a couple of full days, hopefully this weekend.

One thing is for sure. All this squirrel squirrel hunting in steep terrain tends to wear down and work on a fella. This morning as I type this, even my eyelashes are hurting. However, todays weather forecast sounds favorable so I'm trying my best to keep moving and get out there again.

After all, squirrel hunting is a dirty, rotten nasty job, but someone has to do it.

 

[user 31232]

Indeed, that hunt was perhaps one of the best hunts I have ever done. The second part (after the squirrels chasing with their crazy "Tuk, Tuk" and other strange sounds) was the best of all. Last night when I finally got everything done and was typing the description of it, I was trashed. There was a couple of things I learned that I wanted to pass along to you all that may very well benefit you in your squirrel hunting quests.

The first one is of special note. That would be downed trees. The last area I eased into is still on the side of the mountain almost to the top, but it has a few mostly level benches. Evidently there was a big time wind storm that hit in that one spot that knocked down several large trees. Most of those were blown over with root systems attached. Apparently, when they blew over, they took down other trees as they hit. Most of those were snapped off like big sticks. I have learned that all of this is squirrel magnets. Not only do the snapped off trees make good den trees for squirrels, but those little buggers love to hang out on and around the downed trees. They even go in and out of the many thick branches that are all squished up thick. For whatever reason, they love those places. If you ever find a location like so while out in the woods, I highly suggest you make note of it and come back during squirrel season and hunt it.

This was not the first time I've hunted those places. I have already posted of at least one hunt where I was able to kill a few squirrels in trees that were very close to those blown down trees. However, I had no idea could be so advantageous during the early winter months. And I certainly have never seen that many squirrels in there like I did on this hunt.

Here's another example of what I'm referring to.

After getting pretty darn wet from the rain, as well as after I slipped over in to that location and shot some squirrels, the rain stopped and the sun was shinning nice and bright, which warmed things up fast like. Only took a few minutes before I began to overheat. So, the hunting suit had to come off. So I eased over to one of the blown down large oaks and sat down, sat down and removed my hunting suit. After the shooting and walking around picking up my squirrels, I could hear squirrels barking in different directions. So I thought it be best to take sit fairly tight and let things quiet down for a while.

After the last shot I retrieved my squirrels and didn't reload due to wanting to needing to wipe out the bore. Due to squirrels being everywhere, I just kept reloading and kept shooting (with a few misses). That was not the time to be running patches down the barrel.

For whatever reason, I decided to reload my loading block and then grab a granola bar. In the process of doing so, I looked over and downhill about 30 yards and dang if there wasn't a squirrel sitting on a small limb next to a broken off beech tree. But there I sat out in the open, in the bright sunlight, on a big old log, with possibles lined up along beside me, and an empty squirrel rifle that really needed to be wiped out. I loaded one more patch and ball while telling myself "no way is that squirrel going to stay there until I can reload". But, after a minute or so I decided to give it a try anyway. So, with the squirrel looking at me, I dug through my possibles bag for more powder tubes, and slowly began reloading. That squirrel just sat there until I was reloaded but I knew I cannot hit squat with that rifle when shooting offhanded. The only way was to sling my legs over behind me, get on the other side of the log, down on my knees and try give it a try as slowly as possible. To my amazement, I accomplished that task and Mr. Squirrel remained in place. Ole Mr. Squirrel will not be celebrating another birthday.

The last thing I wanted to pass along to you all is not only do squirrels like to hang around downed trees, but, for whatever reason, they also like trees that are arched. Many a times have I seen squirrels running on arched trees. s

To answer your question, Jim, knee surgery is in 11 more days and that will put an end to my hunting for the year. I'd like to take advantage of any days I deem fit to hunt. Rain and/or getting wet doesn't bother me too much. But windy days are a no go. In between hunting (which has been priority for this ole boy) I have accomplished some of my chores but there's more to do. Most likely can get those done in a couple of full days, hopefully this weekend.

Good thoughts for your upcoming surgery

 

[Jim K]

Like I said earlier, I’m a sitter and I like to be near downed logs as they do like to run on them I’ve noticed. I always figured it was because of not making noise running in the leaves. But I do like to set up within range of downed logs. I’ve noticed the leaning tree thing too. Good observations Ed!

 

[Christophero]

Good review of your squirrel hunt. Glad you got out and had some fun.

I think you will like hunting them with a ML. A lot more work, and definitely frustrating at times, but when you score, it means more. At least it does with me.

O, I've hunted the busytails considerably with the Cherokee in years past. Put it together as a kit Spring break of 1987. Dropped many squirrels in the ensuing years. But with a growing family squirrels were regulated well on to the back burner. Hunted with the prb .32 in June of 2022 down your way along the Cumberland River. Missed a few. Had fun making smoke. Dropped the first squirrel using the T/C Cherokee this Fall. As you just described in a most recent post of the melay of multiple targets along with a fouled barrel I broke the ramrod hurrying to pop off another shot.

And it was still fun. Now to procure a suitable replacement rod.

 

[ETipp]

Like I said earlier, I’m a sitter and I like to be near downed logs as they do like to run on them I’ve noticed. I always figured it was because of not making noise running in the leaves. But I do like to set up within range of downed logs. I’ve noticed the leaning tree thing too. Good observations Ed!

Agreed, Jim.

Ya know, the "why" factor of squirrels being attracted to those downed trees continued to stick in my mind. So, yesterday morning I went back up to that location. However, there was somewhat of a change in weather conditions but not that much.

Woke up around 0400 and went outside to look up at the sky. I was delighted to see quarter moon in all its glory, along with many stars. No thin overcast that morning. It was cooler than the previous day, about 33* and calm wind. For whatever reason, its always colder over at my happy hunting grounds, and its not far from here as the crow flies. So it was expected. Got put together, did my animal chores, gathered up all hunting gear and headed out.

On the drive over, as soon as I dropped over the east side of this mountain top I live on (against my will) I ran into a wall of fog that was very thick. It was like a brick wall. I estimated visibility to be down to maybe 40 yards. Being still dark out I arrived at my location, grabbed my gear and began the walk up that hillside. Knowing that there's many den trees near those downed trees, I did my best to walk as quietly as possible. Found an oak that is close to one of he two downed trees that's about 26" in diameter and just stood there waiting for more daylight and just listening. The leaves at that time were somewhat wet from the thick fog and previous rain, so no sitting. Not now anyway, perhaps later on.

After about maybe 15 minutes or so I sky-lined two squirrels going up to the tops of trees, but it was still pretty dark out so I remained still. As luck would have it, all of a sudden deer started snorting loudly. They were uphill and they were not very far away. They kept on snorting and finally I could hear them crashing around as they ran off. And so did every squirrel in the county. That's all it took for them to start barking from most every direction.

Remaining still, I was facing the tree with my Crockett rifle leaning up against it directly in front of me. I had one hand near the end of the barrel and one hand on the tree. I was kind of hiding myself from view of the downed tree limbs about 15 yards away but could still see off to the sides. And then that distinct sound. Small claws on tree bark directly above me. Before I could even think about looking up slowly, I could tell it was only a few feet up and I best not move. As soon as I heard the purring sound they make prior to whining or barking, that verified the squirrels proximity. They gotta be close to hear that sound. And by close I mean only a few feet away. At about the same time something caught my eye to my right and it too, was very close. So close that without moving my head I could see the gray fuzz through my trifocal. It stopped about 5 feet away, began barking trying to get me to move, then it turned around and went back in the direction it came from. I could hear the squirrel above me run climb up the tree as the squirrel on the ground headed out. All the time I didn't move a muscle. Still standing there with my face only about 10" or so from the tree. It never ceases to amaze my that whenever I am trying to stand perfectly still during scenarios like that, that all of a sudden I get to itching in places on my body that hasn't itched in the last 5 years. Also, due to the cold, my nose was draining and it too, was itching like crazy. But I remained still anyway.

Due to all the above, there were several squirrels in the trees still barking all around me. Finally I slowly moved my head around to look at the downed trees and to look for possible targets. The fog was still fairly thick and being so early it was pretty darn dark up on that mountain. There was, however, those two squirrels still on the other side of the downed tree up in tops of a couple of trees standing trees that I knew were somewhat close. A few more minutes had passed and one by one, the barking stopped. All except for one. That squirrel behind me had definitely spotted me and was not about to shut up. Turning around I scanned the trees and ground but for the life of me I could not find "Loud Mouth Larry". I knew he was fairly close but try as I did, I could not locate him. This went on for quite some time as I remained standing by that tree and continued looking for a closer up squirrel. And ole Loud Mouth Larry actually became so irritated that he sounded ticked off. He kept on and kept on, without taking a break, for much longer than I care to think about. Then all of a sudden, and what seemed to be after an eternity, Loud Mouth Larry stopped. No slowing down like squirrels do, no taking a break like they often do, he just went silent. My guess is that ole Loud Mouth Larry either destroyed his vocal chords or passed out due to the lack of molecules in his lungs from excessive demand and over-exertion. My hopes were I could finally locate him and perhaps get a shot at him as he climbed down from where ever he was hiding, but I never saw him.

Later, I finally did get a shot at one squirrel that decided to run in and out of the downed tree limbs and I missed. After that, all the squirrels just seemed to vanish.

I do know that the squirrels were not out nearly as much as they were the day before. And the ones that were out and about mostly stayed up in trees just sitting and watching. My only guess is they do not like the cold fog so they hold pretty tight to the trees. Therefore, I remained there for about another hour or so, and not seeing or hearing any more squirrels, I decided I needed a change of scenery. Before I left I chuckled and in a soft voice I said "I'll be back in a little while, Lawrence, unless I get a better offer". Then headed out. I really did say that and I really did mean it.

When leaving those downed trees, I decided to climb a little higher to the next bench and go out that way instead of the path I came in on. Didn't go far before I saw where those deer had been that were blowing at me and letting everything within the next zip code know of my presence. They had been digging in the leaves looking for acorns. After easing along for about another 45 minutes or so I heard the distinct sound "Tuk, Tuk, Tuk". The fog was burning off by then to where visibility was about 100 yards. Looking in front of me for where that delightful sound was coming from, there were 3 squirrels chasing each other up in a tree. Around and around they went, up and down, but they remained in that tree. Getting close trying to get a shot, once again there were 2 other squirrels that were not in on the festivities but were still hanging around it fairly close. I do not know why that is. The very same thing happened the day before. Easing my way closer, one of those two on the ground saw me and ran up onto a lower limb of a small tree. Fortunately, I there was a tree next to me I was able to get a rest off of and, to my likin, I was able to finally get my first squirrel of the day. Then the "Tuk, Tuk" party was over. They departed as I tried my best to fallow them, but try as I did, I simply could not keep up.

By now the fog was gone and the sun was peeking out from behind a few clouds every few minutes. So, back towards the downed trees on the same bench I had came in from an hour or so earlier. By the time I eased my way back to the downed tree area, the sun was shining through nice and bright. Just what I had been hoping for. Sneaking back, I parked just above the two downed trees to where I had a good view of both of them. Those were the same two downed trees that had been providing much squirrel activity, so I sat there on the hill and observed. To my surprise, still no squirrels to be seen or heard anywhere. What the heck? Nice weather, nice location that contained many squirrels just the day before, but no squirrels. Getting ready to formulate a new plan, I looked over to my
left and there sat a squirrel looking at me. It had walked up from downhill where I couldn't see and from the base of the closest down tree. Only about 15 yards off and out in the open, I took an offhand shot from a sitting position and missed again. I swear, I cannot shoot that darn little rifle accurately offhanded to save my life. Lucky for me, the squirrel wasn't really scared and hopped over a few feet and just sat on a chunk of old tree limb. Thinking this was not going to happen, but with great hopes anyway, I reloaded, eased over a couple of feet to a smaller tree to get a rest off of, and shot. Dead squirrel. Alrighty then, that helped ease my bad mood a tad anyway.

After wiping out the bore and reloading, I eased over, picked up my squirrel, and began slowly walking downhill. I spied a squirrel that was on the ground quite a ways off. I would reckon it was 100 to 125 yards away. It was digging in the leaves and remained in the nearby area. During my slow sneak downhill, I would lose sight of it every now and then, so I would stop next to a tree until I located that squirrel again. Using the larger trees as a shield, I eased up to about 40 yards to where the that squirrel was hanging out but, I lost track of it again. As my luck has been all this season, when I finally did see the squirrel, it was hopping straight towards me, and getting close, fast like. It was maybe 20 yards away. I tried to get into position to fire while leaning up against a big tree, but squirrel was advancing so fast and got so close that it saw me first, turned around, ran up the closest tree, then parked on in a fork about 20 feet up. My guess is the shot was 30 yards. That was my final squirrel for the day.

I find it amazing how much difference there can be from one day to the next in the squirrel world. Same place, same basic weather, difference in squirrel activity.

This just about wraps up my hunting for the year. I had one more squirrel to get to reach my intended target goal, but I'm not sure if I will even go back out. A few things are mad it me right now. My wife is threatening to do me great bodily harm if I keep bringing in more squirrels, due to our freezers being full. My bad knee (that is scheduled to be replaced in a few days) let me know yesterday that it is no longer interested in further hillside toil. I'm sure the squirrels are upset at me for continuously interrupting their quiet woods, and even our little 5 pound dog is mad at me for leaving him home alone every day while I'm out squirrel hunting.

 

[Jim K]

Agreed, Jim.

Ya know, the "why" factor of squirrels being attracted to those downed trees continued to stick in my mind. So, yesterday morning I went back up to that location. However, there was somewhat of a change in weather conditions but not that much.

Woke up around 0400 and went outside to look up at the sky. I was delighted to see quarter moon in all its glory, along with many stars. No thin overcast that morning. It was cooler than the previous day, about 33* and calm wind. For whatever reason, its always colder over at my happy hunting grounds, and its not far from here as the crow flies. So it was expected. Got put together, did my animal chores, gathered up all hunting gear and headed out.

On the drive over, as soon as I dropped over the east side of this mountain top I live on (against my will) I ran into a wall of fog that was very thick. It was like a brick wall. I estimated visibility to be down to maybe 40 yards. Being still dark out I arrived at my location, grabbed my gear and began the walk up that hillside. Knowing that there's many den trees near those downed trees, I did my best to walk as quietly as possible. Found an oak that is about 26" in diameter and just stood there waiting and listening. The leaves at that time were somewhat wet from the thick fog and previous rain, so no sitting.

After about maybe 15 minutes or so I sky-lined two squirrels going up to the tops of trees, but it was still pretty dark out so I remained still. As luck would have it, all of a sudden deer started snorting loudly. They were uphill and they were not very far away. They kept on snorting and finally I could hear them crashing around as they ran off. And so did every squirrel in the county. That's all it took for them to start barking from most every direction.

Remaining still, I was facing the tree with my Crockett rifle leaning up against the it right in front of me. I had one hand near the end of the barrel and one hand on the tree. I was kind of hiding myself from view of the downed tree limbs about 15 yards away. And then that distinct sound. Small claws on tree bark directly above me. Before I could even think about looking up slowly, I could tell it was only a few feet up and I best not move. As soon as I heard the purring sound they make prior to whining or barking, that verified the squirrels proximity. At about the same time something caught my eye to my right and it too, was very close. So close that without moving my head I could see the gray fuzz through my trifocal. It stopped about 5 feet away, began barking trying to get me to move, then it turned around and went back in the direction it came from. I could hear the squirrel above me run back up the tree when the squirrel on the ground headed out. All the time I didn't move a muscle. Still standing there with my face only about 10" or so from the tree. It never ceases to amaze my that whenever I am trying to stand perfectly still during scenarios like that, that all of a sudden I get to itching in places on my body that hasn't itched in the last 5 years. Also, due to the cold, my nose was draining and it too, was itching like crazy. But I remained still anyway.

Due to all the above, there was several squirrels in the trees still barking. Finally I slowly moved my head around to look at downed trees and to look for possible targets. The fog was still fairly thick so being so early it was pretty darn dark up on that mountain. There were those two still on the other side up in trees that I could see that were somewhat close. A few more minutes had passed and one by one, the barking stopped. All except for one. That squirrel had definitely spotted me and was not about to shut up. Turning around I scanned the trees and ground but for the life of me I could not find "Loud Mouth Larry". I knew he was fairly close but try as I did, I could not locate him. This went on for quite some time as I remained standing by that tree and continued looking for a closer up squirrel. And ole Loud Mouth Larry actually became so irritated that he sounded ticked off. He kept on and kept on, without taking a break, for much longer than I care to think about. Then all of a sudden, and what seemed to be an eternity, Loud Mouth Larry stopped. No slowing down like squirrels do, no taking a break like they often do, he just went silent. My guess is that ole Loud Mouth Larry either destroyed his vocal chords or passed out due to the lack of molecules in his lungs from over-exertion. My hopes were I could finally get to see him and perhaps get a shot at him as he climbed down from where ever he was hiding, but I never saw him.

I finally did get a shot at one that decided to run in and out of the downed tree limbs and I missed. After that, all the squirrels just seemed to vanish.

I do know that squirrels were not out nearly as much as the day before. And the ones that were out and about mostly stayed up in trees. My only guess is they do not like the cold fog. Therefore, I remained there for about another hour or so, and not seeing or hearing any more squirrels, I decided I needed a change of scenery. Before I left I chuckled and in a soft voice I said "I'll be back in a little while, Lawrence, unless I get a better offer". Then headed out.

When leaving those downed trees, I decided to climb a little higher to the next bench and go out that way instead of the path I came in on. Didn't go far before I saw where those deer were had been that were blowing at me. They had digging in the leaves looking for acorns. After easing along for about another 45 minutes or so I heard the distinct sound "Tuk, Tuk, Tuk". The fog was burning off by then to where visibility was about 100 yards. Looking in front of me for that wonderful sound, there were 3 squirrels chasing up in a tree. Around and around they went, up and down, but they remained in that tree. Getting close trying to get a shot, once again there were 2 other squirrels that were not in on the festivities but were still hanging around it fairly close. Easing my way up, one of those on the ground saw me and ran up onto a lower limb of a small tree. Fortunately, I there was a tree I was able to get a rest off of and was able to finally get my first squirrel of the day. Then the "Tuk, Tuk" party was over. They departed as I tried my best to fallow them, but I couldn't keep up.

By now the fog was gone and the sun was peeking out from behind a few clouds every few minutes. So, back towards the downed trees on the same bench I had came from an hour or so earlier. By the time I eased my way back there the sun was shining through nice and bright. Just what I had been hoping for. Sneaking back, I parked just above the two downed trees that has been providing much squirrel activity and observed. To my surprise, still no squirrels to be seen or heard anywhere. Getting ready to formulate a new plan I looked over and there was a squirrel looking at me. It had walked up from downhill and from the base of the closest down tree. Only about 15 yards off and out in the open, I took an offhand shot from a sitting position and missed again. I swear, I cannot shoot that darn little rifle accurately offhanded to save my life. Lucky for me, the squirrel wasn't really scared and hopped over a few feet and just sat on a chunk of old tree limb. Thinking this was not going to happen, but with great hopes anyway, I reloaded, eased over a couple of feet to a smaller tree and shot. Dead squirrel. Alrighty then, that helped ease my bad mood a tad anyway.

After wiping out the bore and reloading, I eased over, picked up my squirrel, and began slowly walking downhill. I spied a squirrel that was on the ground quite a ways off. I would reckon it was 100 to 125 yards away. It was digging in the leaves and remained in the nearby area. During my slow sneak downhill, I would lose sight of it every now and then, so I would stop next to a tree until I located that squirrel again. Using the larger trees as a shield, I eased up to about 40 yards to where the that squirrel was hanging out but I lost track of it again. As my luck has been all this season, when I finally did see the squirrel it was hopping straight towards me, and getting close fast like. It was maybe 20 yards away. I tried to get into position to fire while leaning up against a big tree, but squirrel was advancing so fast and got so close that it saw me first, turned around, ran up the closest tree, then parked on in a fork about 20 feet up. My guess is the shot was 30 yards. That was my final squirrel for the day.

I find it amazing how much difference there can be from one day to the next in the squirrel world. Same place, difference in squirrel activity.

This just about wraps up my hunting for the year. I had one more squirrel to get to reach my intended target goal, but I'm not sure if I will even go back out. A few things mad it me right now. My wife is threatening to do me great bodily harm if I keep bringing in more squirrels due to our freezers being full. My bad knee (that is scheduled to be replaced in a few days) let me know yesterday that it is no longer interested in further hillside toil. I'm sure the squirrels are upset at me for continuously interrupting their quiet woods, and even our little 5 pound dog is mad at me for leaving him home alone every day while I'm out squirrel hunting.
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Ed, I’m going to miss your stories when you get your new knee!! That was good story’

But I’ll look forward to your spring stories.

 

[ETipp]

Ed, I’m going to miss your stories when you get your new knee!! That was good story’

But I’ll look forward to your spring stories.

I thank you, sir. I am sad that its over but its time for other things right now.

Truly, I love this stuff, like no other. I know most people do not understand it, but a few of us do. I put every ounce of energy I have into not only every hunt, but this unique sport as a whole. It is my great escape from all the craziness and evilness in the world. In addition, I love to share my experiences with others, as well as read and learn from their experiences.

 

[Daytime Smoker]

I have been reading this book that I had heard about from a friend. Very informative and interesting things about squirrels. Check it out if yall get a chance.

Anthony

 

[ETipp]

O, I've hunted the busytails considerably with the Cherokee in years past. Put it together as a kit Spring break of 1987. Dropped many squirrels in the ensuing years. But with a growing family squirrels were regulated well on to the back burner. Hunted with the prb .32 in June of 2022 down your way along the Cumberland River. Missed a few. Had fun making smoke. Dropped the first squirrel using the T/C Cherokee this Fall. As you just described in a most recent post of the melay of multiple targets along with a fouled barrel I broke the ramrod hurrying to pop off another shot.

And it was still fun. Now to procure a suitable replacement rod.

Chris, if memory serves me correctly I got all of my ramrod stuff from TOTW. Its been holding up fine so far. If I had to do it over again, which I might have to do, I'd buy two ramrods and fixins.

 

[ETipp]

I have been reading this book that I had heard about from a friend. Very informative and interesting things about squirrels. Check it out if yall get a chance.

Anthony

Thank you for posting that DS. I will look into finding one of those books. Knee replacement on the 18th and no doubt I will be down for a while. A good book like that will be welcome and help pass the recovery time.

 

[stikshooter]

I've never hunted squirrels with dogs; coon, yes squirrels no. We've always had dogs but currently this is the first time in my adult life that I haven't had a 4-legged friend. We've had as many as 4 at a time and to me they are children. I like to spoil them, keep them happy and make sure they have the kind of love other family members share. The pain of losing one is agony and I seem to never know how to deal with that agony and I have never gotten over losing one regardless how long ago it may have been. We've rescued them, some were even gifted to us, some we fostered and a couple we paid for. I just wish humans were as honest, loyal and loving as dogs are.

Most of my humans are honest/loyal/ loving(maybe) but I am selective too!/Ed

 

[Jim K]

I have been reading this book that I had heard about from a friend. Very informative and interesting things about squirrels. Check it out if yall get a chance.

Anthony

I just sent my daughter a link to this book. She’s been wanting to know what to get me for Christmas. Thank you!

 

[ETipp]

I have been reading this book that I had heard about from a friend. Very informative and interesting things about squirrels. Check it out if yall get a chance.

Anthony

Wife found some on Amazon. Said she's going to order one for me.

Thanks again, Anthony.

 

[BuffaloSoldier]

Please keep the titles coming!!

 

[ETipp]

Please keep the titles coming!!

I'm sorry. What do you mean when you say "titles"?