Kentucky’s spring squirrel season opened yesterday, so I had to go. I was looking forward to the day in the woods, but didn’t expect to see many squirrels, and that proved to be the case. Don’t know why, I just don’t seem to have a population of squirrels on my place in the spring.They are there all other times of the year, especially in the fall when the walnut, hickory, oaks, persimmons and such are producing, but I’ve decided there isn’t a good food supply for them in the spring, so they move and nest somewhere else. I’ve been hunting the place for over 30 years, I see squirrels at other times, have seen 9 in smoothbore range while sitting for deer one day, for example, but I’ve spent many an hour staring at empty trees over the years in the spring.
Carrying my double flint 20 gauge shotgun, I eased into the woods before full light, in an area with a few mulberry trees. It’s too early for them to be fruiting, so I was surprised to see a gray squirrel jump in the foliage not five minutes later. It was gloomy in there, couldn’t really see the squirrel well, but it ran onto a small horizontal limb, and, I thought, stopped. I held on the lump and fired. The smoke cleared quickly, and I saw nothing move, didn’t hear that nice thud I expected. Drat, must have missed. I reloaded, walked forward, and was pleased to see a big boar gray lying there. That got the juices flowing, and I had the thought that maybe this spring would be different. Wrong again. I spent the next 6 hours carefully hunting most of the woods on the place and never saw another hair.
Well, there are worse places to be than in the Kentucky woods in the spring, so I relaxed and enjoyed it. Had an opossum walk right up to my boot, then turn and walk away, making some sort of grumbling sound all the while. One of the larger woods patches has a nice little wet weather stream running right down the middle of it, and I frequently hunt in the stream, it’s quieter and the stream is pretty in places. It was wet enough yesterday that the stream was flowing, and a section where it widens out and stair steps over a series of limestone ledges was picturesque, so I decided to have a photo session. I’ve killed a lot of squirrels right in that spot, in a small grove of hickories up the bank, but they were nowhere to be seen, today.
I was loaded with 70 grains Goex 2F and equal volume of #5 shot, using tow and brown paper as wadding, and the shot was near 25 yards. I think I’m going to like that combination.
Spence
Carrying my double flint 20 gauge shotgun, I eased into the woods before full light, in an area with a few mulberry trees. It’s too early for them to be fruiting, so I was surprised to see a gray squirrel jump in the foliage not five minutes later. It was gloomy in there, couldn’t really see the squirrel well, but it ran onto a small horizontal limb, and, I thought, stopped. I held on the lump and fired. The smoke cleared quickly, and I saw nothing move, didn’t hear that nice thud I expected. Drat, must have missed. I reloaded, walked forward, and was pleased to see a big boar gray lying there. That got the juices flowing, and I had the thought that maybe this spring would be different. Wrong again. I spent the next 6 hours carefully hunting most of the woods on the place and never saw another hair.
Well, there are worse places to be than in the Kentucky woods in the spring, so I relaxed and enjoyed it. Had an opossum walk right up to my boot, then turn and walk away, making some sort of grumbling sound all the while. One of the larger woods patches has a nice little wet weather stream running right down the middle of it, and I frequently hunt in the stream, it’s quieter and the stream is pretty in places. It was wet enough yesterday that the stream was flowing, and a section where it widens out and stair steps over a series of limestone ledges was picturesque, so I decided to have a photo session. I’ve killed a lot of squirrels right in that spot, in a small grove of hickories up the bank, but they were nowhere to be seen, today.
I was loaded with 70 grains Goex 2F and equal volume of #5 shot, using tow and brown paper as wadding, and the shot was near 25 yards. I think I’m going to like that combination.
Spence
Looks like you had a good day in the woods. :thumbsup: Larry
