2024/2025 Squirrel Hunting Thread...........

[yellowhammer]

Well fellers, spring squirrel season opens in the morning here. Low clouds and rain in the forecast but I’m going anyway. Can’t kill em sitting on my butt in the house.

"The whangleather ghosts of Coulter and Glass,
Boone, and Wetzel, and all the old crew,
Paused at their phantom hunting today,
And grinned down from the Rendezvous.
A boy and his rifle have come to the woods..."

Have fun; good luck; they're looking down at you. Wish I could go.

 

[Gum Slough Muzzleloader]

Kinda

Well fellers, spring squirrel season opens in the morning here. Low clouds and rain in the forecast but I’m going anyway. Can’t kill em sitting on my butt in the house.

Best to ya Ed.
It's been a good long while since your last squirrel hunt. You'll have a Blast! Hope you limt out. Be careful Brother.

Take Care Stay Safe

 

[Banjoman]

I think the name wolves is a southern thing. Growing up in south Tennessee that's what everybody called them. Never understood why.

I grew up here in East Tennessee and southeast Kentucky and have heard that term all my life. I never thought about wolves being an unusual term until I read this thread. We always knew they were caused by bot flies and everybody called them wolves. We wouldn’t eat squirrels with them. It’s one reason a lot of older folks wouldn’t squirrel hunt till cold weather. I reckon it’s just another one of those southern things like Tim said.

 

[snakebit]

I grew up here in East Tennessee and southeast Kentucky and have heard that term all my life. I never thought about wolves being an unusual term until I read this thread. We always knew they were caused by bot flies and everybody called them wolves. We wouldn’t eat squirrels with them. It’s one reason a lot of older folks wouldn’t squirrel hunt till cold weather. I reckon it’s just another one of those southern things like Tim said.

I always knew them as warbles (Midwest). Never had one on any squirrel I killed in my youth, and our season opened in August. I killed a ton of them in the 2 weeks before it was back to school time. I have shot a couple of rabbits that had them.

 

[Hermit Tim]

Well fellers, spring squirrel season opens in the morning here. Low clouds and rain in the forecast but I’m going anyway. Can’t kill em sitting on my butt in the house. Been moving some very heavy furniture the last two days. Even my toenails are aching. I hope it’s not going to be too much of a factor in the morning during my hunt. Perhaps it will keep me moving slow and easy, as I should be doing.

I don’t expect a great day of hunting our furry little friends. But we shall see.

Best of luck. Ours opened last Saturday but haven't had the chance to go. Hopefully one day next week. Would love to do a little early morning squirrel hunting followed up by some fly fishing for bass. A good day like that would be much appreciated right now. Gotta quit storming first.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I grew up here in East Tennessee and southeast Kentucky and have heard that term all my life. I never thought about wolves being an unusual term until I read this thread. We always knew they were caused by bot flies and everybody called them wolves. We wouldn’t eat squirrels with them. It’s one reason a lot of older folks wouldn’t squirrel hunt till cold weather. I reckon it’s just another one of those southern things like Tim said.

Yep. When I was a kid they wouldn't let me start squirrel hunting until opening day of quail and rabbit in November because of the wolves. Those were the only three game animals on our farm so it was always a mixed bag. Loved it.

 

[LANEY REECE]

You can do it!

Well fellers, spring squirrel season opens in the morning here. Low clouds and rain in the forecast but I’m going anyway. Can’t kill em sitting on my butt in the house. Been moving some very heavy furniture the last two days. Even my toenails are aching. I hope it’s not going to be too much of a factor in the morning during my hunt. Perhaps it will keep me moving slow and easy, as I should be doing.

I don’t expect a great day of hunting our furry little friends. But we shall see.

WATCH out for the no shoulders.

 

[ETipp]

Kicked the season off with 4 squirrels. 2 off of the ground and 2 out of trees. Difficult morning to hunt.

 

[Gum Slough Muzzleloader]

Good going, Ed.
I know you would get some if you were able to get out there.

Was this at the Thickett from Hell?

 

[snakebit]

Kicked the season off with 4 squirrels. 2 off of the ground and 2 out of trees. Difficult morning to hunt.

Good way to knock the ring rust off buddy! Well done!

How did the knee hold up?

 

[ETipp]

Good going, Ed.
I know you would get some if you were able to get out there.

Was this at the Thickett from Hell?

Hey Fred. No, none were in the thicket from hell but I did have to walk through it to get to the hardwoods. While doing so I did put the sneak on one in there. As I have said, it had rained all night and just stopped a few minutes before I headed out. Everything was so wet that I didn’t want to be going through any brush. So, I was walking up a narrow log road in there on my way to the big woods when a squirrel in close proximity began barking at me. I instantly stopped and froze for about 10 minutes until the barking had slowed way down. Then I very slowly eased into there on one of the paths I had cut a couple weeks ago, which fortunately was right in front of me. Only walked about 10 yards until I could see one of the three smaller trees I knew he had to be up in then stopped next to a tree for a while. It was thick and dark in there but I finally saw some movement in one of the trees. Then the little bugger moved to another tree so I had to move a little to the next tree over. He was obviously was in search of something to eat and he wasn’t remaining still at all. I had one opportunity to shoot and just as I was about to squeeze the trigger, he moved again. This game went in for about 20 minutes until he decided to move out. Unfortunately, and how it often does in there, he abruptly came straight towards me and wound up over my head as I was trying to get a bead on him. He paused for a few seconds and just when I was about to pull trigger and at about 8 feet away, he started moving again, saw me, and was outta there rather quickly.

So, it is still possible to squirrel hunt in there this time of year but it’s also difficult. Fixing to head out here in a few minutes to the same place. Now that things have dried out some, I hope to hunt in that thicket from hell on my way back out from the big woods.

 

[ETipp]

Good way to knock the ring rust off buddy! Well done!

How did the knee hold up?

Thanks, Tom.

The knee held out pretty darn well overall until the end of the hunt. By the time I got back home, it wasn’t happy with me at all. Should have iced it to get the swelling down but I was too worn out. So, after cleaning my squirrels and my Crockett, getting something to eat, took a shower, put on some Native American flute music, had a few shots of Jim Beam, chatted with my wife, then went to bed.

I was somewhat concerned about how it would be this morning but to my surprise, it’s still swollen but not much pain. I’m dragging big time and got up late so I’m grabbing my stuff and heading out the door for another hunt.

 

[yellowhammer]

WATCH out for the no shoulders.

Prob still a little too cool to worry where Ed is hunting up in KY. Still, it pays to be vigilant.

 

[ETipp]

To my surprise, today was not productive. The wind picked up early and I saw only 4 squirrels. None of which presented me a shot. Knee not doing good so I came home early. Dang thing still swollen and hurting big time. Been off of it the rest of the day and back to the ice, again.

Maybe, if I’m really lucky, this damn knee will stop giving me a fit by 2025 spring season.

 

[Gum Slough Muzzleloader]

That's a bummer!
Sorry to hear that Ed.
Atleast you were able to get out and get some squirrels yesterday...
I hope, your knee is better sooner than the 2025 spring season.
Take Care Ed.

 

[snakebit]

To my surprise, today was not productive. The wind picked up early and I saw only 4 squirrels. None of which presented me a shot. Knee not doing good so I came home early. Dang thing still swollen and hurting big time. Been off of it the rest of the day and back to the ice, again.

Maybe, if I’m really lucky, this damn knee will stop giving me a fit by 2025 spring season.

Bad day hunting is better than a good day at work. While icing that knee, drop a few cubes in a glass, pour enough amber liquid in it to float the cubes, sit back, sip and relive the hunt from yesterday and years past. Plenty more to come.

 

[longcruise]

Maybe, if I’m really lucky, this damn knee will stop giving me a fit by 2025 spring season.

Give it some rest and keep on after those squirrels.

Got a strange email with my new avatar attached. I was confused but it turned out it's from "The Colony". They are putting it on the new flag.

I went through a tough recovery curve with a leg injury. My doctor said I was one of the fastest healers he ever saw. I ate a lot of protein and dropped all junk foods. If it wasn't just plain old nutritious food I didn't eat it. Don't know if it made a difference but something was working in my favor.

 

[ETipp]

That's a bummer!
Sorry to hear that Ed.
Atleast you were able to get out and get some squirrels yesterday...
I hope, your knee is better sooner than the 2025 spring season.
Take Care Ed.

Bad day hunting is better than a good day at work. While icing that knee, drop a few cubes in a glass, pour enough amber liquid in it to float the cubes, sit back, sip and relive the hunt from yesterday and years past. Plenty more to come.

Give it some rest and keep on after those squirrels.

Got a strange email with my new avatar attached. I was confused but it turned out it's from "The Colony". They are putting it on the new flag.

I went through a tough recovery curve with a leg injury. My doctor said I was one of the fastest healers he ever saw. I ate a lot of protein and dropped all junk foods. If it wasn't just plain old nutritious food I didn't eat it. Don't know if it made a difference but something was working in my favor.

My apology for complaining, guys. The fact of the matter is, I'm just ticked off because I don't have time in my life for this stubborn knee issue that refuses to go away. I have much physical work to be done and I was hoping to be able to enjoy a few squirrel hunts in between.

Tom, your suggestion has merit and it works. I did that yesterday some while watching a movie. Despite the weather, I did enjoy myself Saturday for opening day so that's a plus.

Cruiser, I love the avatar. How anyone could come up with something like that is amazing. Very fitting.

I think I will work on my diet a bit better. I eat a lot of protein but am bad about skipping meals, mostly lunch. Time to start getting into those freezers and cooking up more deer meat I reckon. I eat our own farm fresh eggs for breakfast.

 

[Jim K]

Ed, maybe I can cheer you up. As you know I’m in Maine turkey hunting. I got in my blind this morning at around 3:40. Yes AM!! It gets light early up here.

Decoys out sitting waiting for daylight. It’s foggy. At 4:45 a turkey gobbles right next to me. CLOSE!

Finally flies down into the field. I looked at him through my binos to make sure he wasn’t a jake. It’s foggy. Nope, it’s a Longbeard. I promptly missed him!!

Still sitting here until 8:30 this evening unless another comes in and I don’t miss him.

Not the first one I’ve ever missed but it has been a long time. Oh well. Hope your knee gets better soon.

 

[yellowhammer]

Ed, My wife's knee similar. Swelling and pain got pregressively worse; impacting daily life and mobility. Regular doc a good guy, but it just aint his balliwick. Finally she went around regular doc and went directly to see her Orthopedic Surgeon. He gave her a steroid shot with a long needle right into the knee, and prescribed Mobic daily. It has really helped her get back to close to normal. She gets the shot every 3 months to maintain her mobility.