You have them days Jamie, I've had two of them days where nothing was moved.... Keeps us humble buddy lol...
Merry Christmas too you and your wife and daughter buddy....
Merry Christmas too you and your wife and daughter buddy....
Squirrel Doggin' 2016
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
indeed. still, Lefty hunted well and the one that got away fled to a hole before we had any chance for a shot. I do think the weather has had an ill effect on the squirrel activity for the last couple of weeks. on the plus side, rat rut is starting, going on for a few weeks, so there will be some shooting again soon, no doubt. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well, J. and everyone else, too.
That's why I like to carry the scatter gun. Shoot them as they jump from tree to tree.
Sounds like Slick is a natural. It will feel real nice when they are both trained and rocking for you.
Doesn't look like the weather is gonna clear up for a week or so. I'll get ahold of Brock and see what Mason's schedule looks like.
I sure did a lot of walking to lay eyes on only one squirrel all day. Lefty went to five den trees all day plus managed to find the one. I was reluctant to shoot it since it was likely the only one I was going to see, but he did such a good job staying on the tree I just had to give it to him. he stayed on that tree for 15-20 minutes as I had to walk nearly 800 yards to get there. that is an eternity for him. a fine day to be walking in the woods, squirrels not doing anything. Hopefully some will be moving tomorrow for Slick.
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I am too, Brock. I haven't had much to get excited about in the squirrel woods for two weeks. the last really good day we had was two weeks ago today in a bunch of snow. tomorrow will be a fun day, but today was special. The "A Team" spent the day resting up for tomorrow and keeping Nancy company. Slick and I went to work in a couple of small woods close to home. nothing moving on our first drop, which is where I do most of my deer hunting. they are taking timber off of it now, and are about half done. I was hoping for some displaced, homeless rats to be running around, but no such luck. I don't think I'll go back there for a while. pains me to see what is becoming of the best deer hunting place I've ever had. not sure it will ever be the same again. c'est la vie.
On to stop number two where Slick got his first squirrel. Ironically, this is the exact same woods where Lefty got his first one, not 50 yards from where Slick collected his first tail. Slick nailed one last Friday, but I was not able to seal the deal due to my own lack of preparedness. I already wrote about that, but I did not express very well how important this is to his development so early on. It is paramount.
we have a long walk to the woods from the house where I park because it is much too soft to drive back there now, so I keep the dogs on a lead until we get near the woods. I let Slick loose about twice as far from the woods as I usually would just to see what he would do. He ran about halfway to the treeline, stopped to look back at me, peered into the woods for a about 10 seconds then took off like he was shot out of a cannon. I didn't see any flags, so I was rather hoping it was a squirrel. just about the time he got out of my sight he started barking. as I hurried to catch up his barking took on that very distinct change in tone that says "I'm totally sure now". he was on the tree that I found the squirrel in and I was pretty close for the shot, but since the dog was hot on the tree, I did not move an inch, but rather just chambered a round and shot the squirrel off hand, hitting in the chest as my shot was a bit low. as he and I waited for the squirrel to fall, another squirrel that I had not seen timbered out of a tree just a few yards from the one we were on. Slick saw it and took off, staying with it until it found a hole in a gigantic old Beech, then got on that tree and cut loose again. I collected the dead squirrel, went to the other tree and tied him, gave him some serious praise and encouragement, and went around the tree with my binos pretending to look for a squirrel that was already in a hole while encouraging the dogs excitement and barking for a few minutes. you cannot script a teachable moment better than that, and I was able to make the most of it this time. I blind person would have been able to see his level of intensity rise as we hunted on after all of that. he did make two more trees, but they were both obvious dens. My pup done me proud today, and he showed me more treeing instinct today than he ever has. Young Slickie's future looking brighter all the time.
ickle:
On to stop number two where Slick got his first squirrel. Ironically, this is the exact same woods where Lefty got his first one, not 50 yards from where Slick collected his first tail. Slick nailed one last Friday, but I was not able to seal the deal due to my own lack of preparedness. I already wrote about that, but I did not express very well how important this is to his development so early on. It is paramount.
we have a long walk to the woods from the house where I park because it is much too soft to drive back there now, so I keep the dogs on a lead until we get near the woods. I let Slick loose about twice as far from the woods as I usually would just to see what he would do. He ran about halfway to the treeline, stopped to look back at me, peered into the woods for a about 10 seconds then took off like he was shot out of a cannon. I didn't see any flags, so I was rather hoping it was a squirrel. just about the time he got out of my sight he started barking. as I hurried to catch up his barking took on that very distinct change in tone that says "I'm totally sure now". he was on the tree that I found the squirrel in and I was pretty close for the shot, but since the dog was hot on the tree, I did not move an inch, but rather just chambered a round and shot the squirrel off hand, hitting in the chest as my shot was a bit low. as he and I waited for the squirrel to fall, another squirrel that I had not seen timbered out of a tree just a few yards from the one we were on. Slick saw it and took off, staying with it until it found a hole in a gigantic old Beech, then got on that tree and cut loose again. I collected the dead squirrel, went to the other tree and tied him, gave him some serious praise and encouragement, and went around the tree with my binos pretending to look for a squirrel that was already in a hole while encouraging the dogs excitement and barking for a few minutes. you cannot script a teachable moment better than that, and I was able to make the most of it this time. I blind person would have been able to see his level of intensity rise as we hunted on after all of that. he did make two more trees, but they were both obvious dens. My pup done me proud today, and he showed me more treeing instinct today than he ever has. Young Slickie's future looking brighter all the time.
ickle:
It ain't looking that good for me...work is wanting me to pull some crazy hours tomorrow. Trying to get out of it as I type.
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We had a great time today Jamie! We are certainly glad you made the trip. Lefty is a pro and about as well mannered as any dog I've ever seen. Enjoyed it immensely.
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That sure was a fun day of squirrel hunting. Lefty found us some squirrels, shooters knocked them all out but one that bailed on us and ran to a hole. Mason stacked them up like cord wood this morning with his air rifle. pleasant weather, dog doing his job, shooters on the mark. It doesn't get any better than that. I appreciate the invitation. happy you enjoyed it.
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