Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Squirrel Doggin' 20-21

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I've been looking forward to this day for ten months. my squirrel hunting always begins in earnest Monday after gun season every year. Dogs have been antsy for the last few days as I've been switching gears from deer hunting mode into squirrel hunting mode. shooting the rifle, cleaning deer gear out out of the back of the truck, charging collars, etc. they know it's time.

Squirrels not out much today. Lefty got one, Slick got two and we went to I don't even know how many den trees. dogs hunted like champs for the first half of the day, but they both petered out pretty bad at the end. Our first stop produced two live ones, and I shot them both in the noggin. Lefty got the first one, and it came quietly. Slick wined the second one and was bouncing between two trees for a while before I spotted the squirrel. I made a nice head shot, but this one got hung up falling. hanging by the middle of its lifeless body, perfectly balanced on a vine less 1/4" in diameter. unfrigginbelievable. I tried to shoot the vine in two about 15 times before I gave up and shot the squirrel in the head a couple more times and almost knocked it free. I finally realized that there was a large vine that I could shake to maybe move it enough to free it. smdh, I could have saved an entire full magazine if I had looked closer before getting aggravated. it took some doing, but I finally got it to drop. our second stop in a pretty big woods did not produce a squirrel sighting. decided to try one more small woods before calling it a day. two dens, and then Slick took off hell bent for Lexington. 400 yards later I hear him open up, but barely. off I go. I had to cross a very deep and very steep ravine to get there, then go through 200 yards of 5 foot tall Japanese Honeysuckle. it was a very long quarter mile, and all the while I'm thinking this has got to be another den. Slick found a live one, and grey squirrel to boot. first one I've ever seen in that woods, and only the second one I've seen on the entire place. I made another good shot and turned the dogs back. neither of them would hunt after that squirrel. after trying unsuccessfully to get them moving for a half mile, I loaded them up and called it a day. I swear, I think they get bored when there isn't enough squirrel smell around to keep their attention. try again tomorrow.

12-7-20.jpg


including our first hunt a couple weeks ago

Slick 7
Lefty 2
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
Squirrels out some this morning, not so much after noon. dogs hunted like their asses were on fire this morning, not so much after noon. we got a mixed bag today, but did not see a squirrel after noon. fun morning. lots of dens morning and afternoon again today. Slick got three, they shared one, and Lefty got two. One of Lefty's trees produced a squirrel that was hiding up underneath a large sheet of loose bark on a giant dead Ash. I tried to scare it out with a couple of shots that sprayed it with bark, but squirrel held fast and got to live. Lefty's other tree happened to have two squirrels in it that weren't so fortunate. saw 7 got 6.

12-8-20.jpg


Slick 10
Lefty 5
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I guess I might be living large. that is an ambiguous notion, but I'm all about doing what I need to do to get what I want out of life. I'm getting what I want ouf of life, mostly. maybe that's the same thing. I'm not qualified to make the distinction.

Uncle Charlie and I had a pretty good day today. Both the dogs and I are tired after two pretty big days in the squirrel woods, so we dialed it back a little today. We visited two smallish woods on private ground, both teeming with squirrels. Both dogs hunted well today, and the shooting was frequent and on the mark. head shots galore. Lefty treed 4, Slick treed 6 and we killed 9. One got away on a missed shot. a very entertaining ground chase ensued and the squirrel wound up seeking refuge in large crevice in a, well fuck, I don't know what kind of tree, about 6 feet off the ground. We could see it's tail and tried to roust it out with a gun barrel and a stick, but poking that squirrel wasn't working. it just barked and carried on while I was literally poking it with a stick, but would not budge. Stubborn squirrels live longer. :) I wonder if stubborn people live longer? doubtful.

fun day in the squirrel woods today. plenty of action, a lot less walking. the skinning boy never seems to get a break around here, though. :D

first six
IMG_3210.jpg


the whole mess
IMG_3214.jpg


Slick 16
Lefty 9
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I told the Goof while we were driving that we would surely get two limits of squirrels today. mild temps, light winds, cold front coming, and we're en route to a spot I have not to been since last year.

You know it's going to be a good day when you have one in the game bag within two minutes of turning the dogs loose and without firing a shot. Slick caught one right off the bat. squirrel bailed out of two trees to the ground and Slick caught him the second time. an intense bolt of greased lightening, this dog is.

IMG_3227.jpg


for whatever reason, Lefty has had several amazing days in this particular squirrel woods, and today was no exception. His best showing in a pretty long time. The old man has still got it. Slick made five trees, and we didn't have to shoot the first one. :D Lefty made four trees today and lucked into a triple AND a double, the other two being singles. We only went to four or five dens this morning. I knew the rats would be active, but this morning was spectacular, and the dogs both hunted well and delivered the goods. Lefty, feeling his oats, demolished three squirrels for me before I could get him off of them. We left the truck a few minutes before 9 and were back at the truck by noon, even after taking the time to get some pics of the first ten in the woods, then packing them up and hunting our way back to the truck . We killed the last two after the photo session. We got seven before turning back, got the last five hunting back through where we started. the shooting left a little to be desired, but we saw 12, and I skinned 12. Lefty got a lucky 7, Slick got an honest 5, one on his own. Nancy says Lefty is just working smarter, not harder. I'd rather be lucky than good, too. a lot less work;) helluva morning hunt.

first ten
IMG_3240.jpg

IMG_3235.jpg

IMG_3247.jpg
 

Bowkills

Well-Known Member
2,577
85
Nw oh
Lefty has a bigger smile on his face in the second picture than you do!!!!! In the third he looks to be tired of all these damn photo ops! Nice day look forward to the dinner threads.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jamie

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
lol, I could barely get either of them to take their eyes off of that tree. we had just shot three squirrels out of it five minutes before, and I guess they were hoping for more. it was a very exciting morning for all of us, and a massacre. :D forgot to update the body count. Lefty gaining ground with his three big scores this week. two doubles and a triple. lucky bastard. :LOL: to his credit, he has been hunting like his old self, though. makes me very happy.

Slick 21
Lefty 16
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,690
177
Ohio
I took a squirrel dog noob and The Goof out with me today. Rusty is one of The Goofs former coworkers (The Goof is retired now). I swear, Lefty puts on a show for strangers every damn time, and he did it again today. The dogs both hunted great today. Did me proud. Lefty made three trees himself, one of which was another triple! unfriggenreal. we ended up shooting all five of those. Slick made five trees, and had a double himself, but of the six squirrels he treed, we only killed two them. One got away after hiding from three of us looking for 15 minutes, then timbering out to a hole, another got away on a missed shot by the Goof. tree was swaying pretty bad, so it was a tough shot. Both squirrels on Slicks double got to live. one ran to a hole in the tree they were on, the other laid up under some loose bark on the tree. I looked and looked for a clear shot, but always had too many little branches or part of the tree was obscuring the squirrel. I could see his head, and it was the only shot I would take, but couldn't find a clear enough shot to try. We walked away from that one. We went to more than a dozen dens, too. Saw 11 killed 7.

The only shooting I did today was shooting one on Lefty's triple because I had the only shot, finishing another wounded one of the three on Lefty's triple, and the last squirrel of the day which nobody could see but me. Rusty and The Goof did most of the shooting today, and it was not exactly fabulous. LOL, I tried hard to not let them know it. might have slightly failed at that. ;) We had a really fun day and plenty of action. Rusty likes squirrel hunting with dogs, and learned how to clean a Fox squirrel the easy way. We sent him home with 7 rats, a couple of pounds of Oyster mushrooms and a squirrel gambrel.

Rusty finally hit one in the head. The dogs were relieved.:LOL:
IMG_3252.jpg

IMG_3258.jpg

and I happened across a nice flush of Oyster mushrooms. Rusty recognized them as fast as I did, and we quickly collected them all while we sent the Goof after the dogs barking on a tree 300 yards away. :)
IMG_3260.jpg