Well, I made a mistake yesterday. I went squirrel hunting for the first time this season and ended up hunting deer... mentally.
I decided since I had only seen live deer once since our PA late ML season started on Dec 26th, including not one track in the snow the last couple days... that I would hunt squirrels. This adventure went wrong from the start. I decided to take my .36 Seneca for it's first hunt, I acquired it back in early Summer 2024. After putting my kit together, filling the loading block and getting dressed, I loaded and off we went.
I have four trail cams still out so the plan was a long slow loop to hit all of them and swap cards. Between cam 1 and 2 I cross a small food plot and head down a slope past a box blind I built in 2023. This overlooks a large weedy/briar infested swamp-like wetland area. I have taken a few deer down there and have a food plot right below the box. I'll add pics to amuse you all...
Anyway, as I am about 30 yards from the blind I look down toward the creek about 150 yards away and there stand three doe. I am not interested in shooting another doe this year, two already in the freezer is enough for me. So, "Live deer"... Check... now I'm sure I'll see a nice legal buck soon enough.
I proceeded to the next two cameras and then headed off to the last one deeper in the woods. Tracks everywhere, droppings, buck and doe here and there. And here I am with a 25 grain load in a .36 cap gun, totally illegal for deer. I had told the wife before I left the house that the surest way to see a deer is to not be prepared to see a deer.
Picked up the last card, again, the ground littered with tracks. Oh well, lots of squirrels in the woods. I found a nice boulder that I like, totally flat side perfect to lean against looking at big oaks and some open trails. 20 minutes there and no squirrels. I move forty yards to a low set ladder stand up the hill. Not there five minutes and there are three squirrels in the trees all but above that rock I sat against. Busy buggers! No shots really as they seldom stopped long enough to aim. Overall I saw five different squirrels all going about their business. Feel-like temp was in the teens with light to moderate wind. "My" squirrels don't mind the wind much lately, it seems, as they are out all hours of the day over the last week or so.
In summary... went squirrel hunting during flintlock deer season. With snow on the ground I found myself still technically 'deer' hunting. Every time I thought of trying a shot at a squirrel, I felt compelled to look around and be sure no deer where there. I spent the time mostly obsessing over spotting a deer and more worried about stirring up the woods by shooting squirrels!
Personal moral of the story: Hunt deer in deer season(s) and wait until that is closed to hunt squirrel and rabbit. Apparently my mind can't do both.
