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Squirrel Doggin' 2017: The Chronicles of Lefty and Slick, Chapter II

Jamie

Senior Member
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177
Ohio
I took both dogs north yesterday, and they did ok for the first hour. after that Lefty didn't do hardly anything. Slick found two for me. the second squirrel must have timbered out to a nearby tree as both dogs were hot on one smallish tree that I'm quite sure there was not a squirrel in. after I excused them from the tree, Slick took off to find another while Lefty stood there looking at me and as I started to walk away he let out a bark and started looking up, so I looked up and there was a squirrel in a tree 10 yards from the one they were on. He winded it. He settled on the correct tree fast, giving me enough time for a close off hand shot before squirrel bailed or tried to hide. we walked a long way yesterday to see two squirrels, both of which came home with us. Slick is really doing well. Lefty doing nothing but offering support. At least Slick doesn't pay any attention to Lefty's poor attitude.

Lefty was happy to stay home today, so Slick and I left early to get in a 4 or 5 hours of hunting before the rain set in. I had business to tend to in Columbus this afternoon, so it was going to be a short day rain or shine. the first stop produced three Mountain Jacks, two fled to holes in a blur, the other stood still long enough for me to deliver lethal head trauma. This is the first Pine squirrel I've shot in the woods in a couple of years, and the first time I've seen three in less than an hour. they must be rutting, too. Dog does not know the difference, apparently. Slick managed to find three on the next stop, and did a great job figuring out the tracks on all three. I gave him a little more time that I usually would, and it paid off. two more got head trauma, but the third required a long shot with no rest and I could not hold still at all. three missed shots before it ran in a hole. on the third stop Slick ran off with his ass on fire a couple hundred yards and treed. took me a while to get there across a fast moving, half frozen creek, but dog stayed treed solid the whole time. one more in the bag. Slick treed another pretty quickly and was on this one hotter than I've seen. I eventually figured out why as I made my way about half way around the tree. Squirrel was in a hole and it's tail was sticking out and he could see it. I emptied a magazine around the hole, hitting the tail twice and that sumbich wouldn't budge. was hard to call Slick off of that one, but there was nothing else to do. I lost count of how many dens he treed on today, but it had to be a dozen or more.

Slick is really hunting well, covering ground like I want, and staying treed once he commits. Committing a little faster sometimes now, too, which tells me he's trusting his nose more, which is strictly a function of experience. Three times today he worked tracks to just where he was about to commit, barking and all, but left those tracks/trees on his own. I did give him a little extra time before moving in and I'm glad I did. That is important progress as he is beginning to master his nose, distinguishing between dead ends and tracks worth following without any encouragement (or discouragement) from me. He is starting to chew up my dead squirrels. I juiced him off all four of them today, and he nearly ripped one in half before I got to the button. He does respond well to the stimulation, but it's a problem. rain off and on was a bit of a bother today, but our timing was good. just as I was letting Slick into the cab of the truck to go home it started pouring buckets. Slick done me proud again. We're probably done until at least Sunday with more shit weather coming. Glad we got out today

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Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I took both dogs out for an afternoon hunt on sunday. nothing much moving. plenty of tracks in new snow, but we went to a bunch of dens and nests. they hunted pretty well, even Lefty. only saw one squirrel, and I spotted it moving around before the dogs actually figured it out, but did not make a move until they found it. within about one minute they were both on the tree and that squirrel ran straight to a hole before I could even get the gun up. was a pretty cold afternoon for a walk in the woods.

stayed in yesterday, Nancy got a surprise snow day today, so we headed out and started hunting about 12:30, once it got into double digits. Slick nailed one about a hundred yards from the truck. I don't usually shoot when I have somebody with me unless it's necessary, and this time it was. Nancy spotted the squirrel while I was maneuvering around to the other side of the tree. Squirrel on my side, so I slipped the rifle off my shoulder, chambered a round and promptly missed completely, best as I could tell. Squirrel ran down the trunk about 10 feet then jumped. Fatal mistake for squirrel as it landed about 5 feet from both dogs who promptly had a brief tug-of-war before I lit them both up to collect my unearned rat. Was rather tough plodding along in about 8" of snow, and it was damn cold if the wind got on us much. Slick found another pretty quick and Lefty was the closer as Slick was on the wrong tree by about 10 yards. Nancy out of position again, but did spot the squirrel. I didn't miss that time. :smile: Two in the bag in about 30 minutes was about 200% better than I expected to do. We hit it just right today as we were in the right place for the half hour rats came out of their holes. Dogs did tree another Pine squirrel a short time later, but after extensive searching while dogs were on two trees side by side, the little bastard jumped to another tree and raced into a hole.

we turned the dogs loose in another woods nearby, but only went to 4 den trees before we were froze and packed it up. too cold for pics. this weather sucks ass.
 

brock ratcliff

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Supporting Member
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This weather does suck! Glad you and Nancy made it out regardless. Hopefully this weekend will be more conducive to putting meat up.
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I have my fingers crossed that Lefty may have turned a corner. I took both dogs again today since it seems like Lefty is doing better; getting over himself and working for me, that is. This was another cold-ass, ho-hum day of squirrel hunting. barely any fresh tracks where we went today, but man alive, deer tracks everywhere. Both dogs worked their asses off today. Slick still cutting up the woods, and Lefty hunted better today with Slick than I can recall. I mean he actually hunted. They did split tree twice today, which was quite a joy for me, although neither tree produced a squirrel either time. The important thing is that they are both hunting independently, but join the other if they don't have their own thing going at that moment. I've come to trust Slick considerably in the last few weeks, but still not quite as much as I trust Lefty. We did manage to find two squirrels, and they both got capped. Lefty got the first one, Slick the second. Was a hard day of trudging through 8" of loose powder all day after doing it half the day yesterday. ice mostly not thick enough to walk on made crossing creeks treacherous. did anyone notice that it was damn cold again today? We covered considerable ground today for two squirrels and 15 or so dens, but both dogs did their job with enthusiasm today. Bright spots this season have been very few in number. We keep on trying until it's over. Hoping things pick up with a little warm up coming to end the season.

stone cold.
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brock ratcliff

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Yo, Jamie... pics.
 

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brock ratcliff

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more...
 

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brock ratcliff

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Last ones...
 

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Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
Good company, good weather, dogs hunted for us, squirrels, however, mostly reluctant to come out and play with us. shooters did pretty good. we did kill every rat we sent lead after, but did see several other squirrels that ran to a hole before the dogs could find them. Brock made the shot of the day (again), beaning one dang near through both eye sockets at what we estimated to be just about 600 yards, sun in his eyes, off hand, in high winds. I figured 580, he figured 640. no matter really, he brained it either way. :p

good day, fellers. thanks for having us.

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Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
Jesse, you're going to have to wait until next season for the Salt Fork Massacre. oh, and btw, now that I'm inspired to make squirrel agnolotti, I also have to learn to make pasta since I cannot find it fresh/frozen in sheets. so, thanks for that.:tantrum: after much research, I settled on an old skool Italian pasta roller, which is sitting on my desk, still in the box. 6 more days of squirrel hunting, four days of deer hunting(indeed, I'll be reaching deep down into the proverbial hat for a very elusive rabbit, but I'm really feeling good about it.), then I conquer fresh pasta.

The dogs both worked as hard and with as much enthusiasm yesterday as I've seen all season, especially Lefty. We covered a ton of ground, and covered it well. Most of it excellent squirrel woods. I think there are ample squirrels at Salt Fork, but Grey squirrels tend to move very little this time of year, so a wise squirrel hunter would focus on them in December, save the Fox squirrels for later. We visited a dozen or so dens and couple of leaf nests. Slick found the first one pretty fast on the first drop. As we approached the end of our last stop for the day, Lefty treed. He was barking rather half-heartedly, so I did not get my hopes up as that had been the story all day. I could see the truck from where I started glassing the tree, and sure enough, Lefty had pulled one out of his ass. One dopey fox squirrel in the middle of grey squirrel country and Lefty found it 100 yards from the truck. classic. he offered himself up nicely for an easy shot, too. I enjoyed that immensely.

I like it out there. I could live without the ticks, though. The up and down is awful hard on me, but there is plenty of room to roam, and lots of very good habitat for rats. I barely scratched the surface this year in our two trips. We wreak havoc there earlier in the season next year. We'll keep working for the duration, but we are not going to kill a limit of squirrels again this season. Lefty has come around, for the most part, and that makes everything about this easier and more enjoyable. And it is tremendously good for Slick, as he hunts all on his own no matter what Lefty is doing. They are both doing what they do in their own respective ways, but in harmony. progress for all of us, big relief for me. the game bag has been light most of the season, and yesteday was no different. we'll go on a shorter hunt today, save some leg for a trip south tomorrow.

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