Last year Dan 22Fowl and I started what will hopefully be an annual small game hunt at "The Land" which is our hunting lease.
We knew this year's hunt was going to be tough because there was a near total mast failure and during deer season we were seeing very few squirrels, though rabbits were more abundant. Also, Dan and his nephew had already done a multi-day hunt in late December and had seen little small game.
I arrived Friday late in the morning, and after pulling my gear the mile back to the old farm house on snowshoes and sled, got it stashed and decided to load up and hit the woods. Not five minutes into my hunt I spied a big fox squirrel feeding in a tree. He seemed unfraid as I approached to within range of my .62 cal Virginia smooth rifle loaded with 50 grs of 2F KiK, two lubed felt wads, 1 1/8 oz of #6 shot and two overshot cards, and gave me the perfect opportunity. Moments later I was collecting my prize.
Dan arrived a few hours later and we decided to try for some late afternoon rabbits. Here's Dan with his half-stock 10 GA Fowling piece stomping the rabbit brush.
Even though there was a quite a bit of fresh rabbit sign in the form of tracks and droppings in certain brushy areas, they were really holed up and holding tight. We only got one to kick out when Dan was working some brush and all but stepped on one before it darted out. Neither Dan or I could get a shot at that one.
On Saturday, the weather wasn't really that good for squirrels with cloudy skies and a brisk north wind, but we headed out in high hopes anyway.
As it turned out, we were right about the conditions not being conducive to squirrels being active. The squirrel sign was pretty scant with only infrequent sightings of tracks in the snow. But we had a great time anyway seeing several deer and having a great snowshoe hike in the beautiful hills of SE Minnesota.
The view from Preacher's Point is breathtaking:
A beautiful trout stream winds through one of the valleys on the property:
Neither Dan or I had ever tried starting a fire with Flint and Steel before. I had assembled a small fire kit a while ago, but hadn't really taken the time to try it. While I had the flint, steel, and some char cloth, I did not have any tinder. Suitably dry material was not abundant and while I got the char cloth started right away my bundle of tinder (I called it a "nest") smoked, but just didn't ignite. Dan also made a tinder nest and he got his going on the first try. It took some lung power, but we did get a small fire going.
We ate a little lunch and when our small fire burned out, we moved on. The day ended with no squirrels seen. It was a great day anyway! :thumbsup:
Today was our last day and the weather was a bit worse with higher winds and a bit of snow spitting from the sky from time to time. Dan spent some time tuning the load on a new .58 flinter he recently built.
While there is no picture, Dan was also finally successful at dispatching an annoying pine squirrel he'd been after all summer.
As always seems to be the case, soon it was time to pack out.
Turkey season is just a few months away and soon we'll be back to the peace and serenity of our lease. Thanks for joining us on this hunt!
We knew this year's hunt was going to be tough because there was a near total mast failure and during deer season we were seeing very few squirrels, though rabbits were more abundant. Also, Dan and his nephew had already done a multi-day hunt in late December and had seen little small game.
I arrived Friday late in the morning, and after pulling my gear the mile back to the old farm house on snowshoes and sled, got it stashed and decided to load up and hit the woods. Not five minutes into my hunt I spied a big fox squirrel feeding in a tree. He seemed unfraid as I approached to within range of my .62 cal Virginia smooth rifle loaded with 50 grs of 2F KiK, two lubed felt wads, 1 1/8 oz of #6 shot and two overshot cards, and gave me the perfect opportunity. Moments later I was collecting my prize.
Dan arrived a few hours later and we decided to try for some late afternoon rabbits. Here's Dan with his half-stock 10 GA Fowling piece stomping the rabbit brush.
Even though there was a quite a bit of fresh rabbit sign in the form of tracks and droppings in certain brushy areas, they were really holed up and holding tight. We only got one to kick out when Dan was working some brush and all but stepped on one before it darted out. Neither Dan or I could get a shot at that one.
On Saturday, the weather wasn't really that good for squirrels with cloudy skies and a brisk north wind, but we headed out in high hopes anyway.
As it turned out, we were right about the conditions not being conducive to squirrels being active. The squirrel sign was pretty scant with only infrequent sightings of tracks in the snow. But we had a great time anyway seeing several deer and having a great snowshoe hike in the beautiful hills of SE Minnesota.
The view from Preacher's Point is breathtaking:
A beautiful trout stream winds through one of the valleys on the property:
Neither Dan or I had ever tried starting a fire with Flint and Steel before. I had assembled a small fire kit a while ago, but hadn't really taken the time to try it. While I had the flint, steel, and some char cloth, I did not have any tinder. Suitably dry material was not abundant and while I got the char cloth started right away my bundle of tinder (I called it a "nest") smoked, but just didn't ignite. Dan also made a tinder nest and he got his going on the first try. It took some lung power, but we did get a small fire going.
We ate a little lunch and when our small fire burned out, we moved on. The day ended with no squirrels seen. It was a great day anyway! :thumbsup:
Today was our last day and the weather was a bit worse with higher winds and a bit of snow spitting from the sky from time to time. Dan spent some time tuning the load on a new .58 flinter he recently built.
While there is no picture, Dan was also finally successful at dispatching an annoying pine squirrel he'd been after all summer.
As always seems to be the case, soon it was time to pack out.
Turkey season is just a few months away and soon we'll be back to the peace and serenity of our lease. Thanks for joining us on this hunt!
