squirrels again

[George]

Did another little squirrel hunt this morning, this could get to be a habit. It was a very nice day for it, temperature 53°, no wind, partly cloudy. I hit the woods 20 minutes after sunrise and set my hunt up to move toward the west to keep from having to stare at the early morning sun. That cost me some shots, last time out.

I carried a gun I haven't used for several years, and almost never for squirrels, my Navy Arms 12 gauge double percussion by Pieta. To see if I could have the good results Skychief has been having, I loaded a 12 gauge version of his in one barrel”¦. 70 grains 2F Goex, one 1/8" hard card, 1 1/4 oz. of #5 shot and a lubricated 1/2" cushion wad. The other barrel was loaded with wads ala V. M. Starr, 70 grains 2F, two 1/8" hard cards, 1 1/4 oz. #5 shot and a thin overshot wad. I killed two squirrels, one with each of the two loads, but neither was far enough to tell anything about Skychief's quirky load.


I've been hunting squirrels a long time, but I had something different happen this morning. Early on, I was creeping along watching for any movement, listening for any sound, and enjoying the beautiful yellow early morning sun casting long shadows in front of me. I saw a patch of leaf shadows waving in the breeze and thought, drat, the weatherman said wind would be calm until later in the day. The next thought was wait, there is no wind”¦ that is the shadow of leaves moved by a squirrel! Sure enough, I turned and looked behind me, saw a fox squirrel in plain sight 20 yards back. That one was killed with the Skychief load.



Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Pretty double gun Spence.
Just a joy this time of year.

:hatsoff:

 

[robinsroost]

Nicely done Spence! That is a fine looking shotgun, dose it have chokes or is it cylinder bored? My only BP shotgun is a 20ga Pietta, bored IC and Mod. I would have preferred it to be cylinder bored........Robin :wink:

 

[George]

I can't be certain about that, have never been able to figure it out. There are no markings on either barrel which indicate choke, at least not that I recognize. The left muzzle is smaller than the wads, but the right is larger, actually has a little slop. The right muzzle measures a bit larger than the left, but then gets smaller down the bore, as though it is flared a bit. Patterns always seem a bit tighter from the right barrel, though, so it's a puzzle. I know both barrels are hell on running rabbits, so I don't worry about it much. :haha:

Spence

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: NICE.THAT'S GETTIN ER DONE. :hatsoff:GRIZ

 

[Skychief]

Sounds like a great morning to be in the squirrel woods Spence!!! :thumbsup: I'm happy that you went and just as happy to read about it here.

Skychief vs. Mr. Starr. :hmm: I'm humbled to be mentioned in the same breath with him Spence!

I hope this is the first of more "Skychief Special" trials! :haha: :thumbsup:

Thank you for sharing, Skychief.

 

[Spikebuck]

Sounds like a great morning! Good picture too.

I had a similar thing happen with a squirrel shadow. Was a very bright sunny day in the winter...thick blanket of snow on the ground. I was taking a break looking out over a valley and suddenly on the shadow of a tree that came from behind me and to my left I notice a moving shadow. Turned around and no more than 10 yards behind me was a huge fox squirrel about 10 feet up the tree just looking at me and twitching his tail. He shouldn't have done that! :wink:

 

[robinsroost]

I can't be certain about that, have never been able to figure it out. There are no markings on either barrel which indicate choke, at least not that I recognize. The left muzzle is smaller than the wads, but the right is larger, actually has a little slop. The right muzzle measures a bit larger than the left, but then gets smaller down the bore, as though it is flared a bit. Patterns always seem a bit tighter from the right barrel, though, so it's a puzzle. I know both barrels are hell on running rabbits, so I don't worry about it much. :haha:
Spence

Most gun shops sell a triangular shaped gage that you insert into the barrel(s). One side is for 20ga and the other is for 12ga. The gage is marked Cyl, IC, Mod and Full. I think I paid $1.00 for mine, but I've had it for a while......robin :wink:

 

[James Stella]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[George]

Then of course comes one of the payoffs of a good squirrel hunt, the big dish of Squirrel and Dumplins. Made like Gandmaw did her chicken and dumplings when I was a kid, tender, tasty, hot and plentiful. Plus, I stalked and collected it, I cleaned it and I cooked it. Seems only fair I should get to eat it. The whole thing. So I did. :haha: :haha:



Spence

 

[Silky921]

Fit for a king Spence.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Looks delicious :hatsoff:

B.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Outstanding, ole son, outstanding! Though we have a year long open season here in Texas, I save floppy ears adn limb chickens till it gets colder...still bumping 100 most days here. Dont' know that they'd be bad but just an old rule hammered into my soft head! :wink: :haha:

 

[hanshi]

Sounds like that right barrel may be jug choked. :idunno:

 

[George]

Not unless Pietta does jug choking at the factory. The gun was bought new in about 1982-3.

Spence

 

[George]

Two squirrels, two dishes. This one I made as teriyaki squirrel, served over hot rice with a flask of sake on the side.



Ah, so. Good.

Spence

 

[Britsmoothy]

Great stuff Spence but really you should get that old gravy off that plate before you use it again!

:thumbsup:

 

[Skychief]

Man, does that ever look good!!!

I just got in from work and sat down to check things out here. Now, you have my belly growling. Literally!

Thanks Spence. :surrender:

 

[Ben K]

Great photo again, and the double gun looks really cool! And, good food!