Squirrel Doggin' 2018
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
short hunt, dogs struggling from fatigue, handler even more so. shot one of squirrel, let the other go since I could not get a reasonable shot. should not have gone squirrel hunting yesterday, but wanted to get in one more hunt before ml season. I was so wiped out after four days of squirrel hunting and one evening of mothers that I couldn't drag my ass out of bed this morning. had a solid, sure fire bow hunt planned today. arrow one tomorrow instead, I guess. dogs won't work again until the end of next week as I have some work to do starting Monday.
Sadly I can’t get here for the next 3 weekends, I got to looking and the wife and I are gone to Wyoming next 2 weekends and then soccer tournament the next weekend. We will make sure we get together next season.
had a pretty good day today. a few ups and downs, but that's what makes it fun, I guess. Slick got on one within 30 seconds of me turning them loose on our first stop well over 200 hundred yards from where I let them go. Lefty joined him promptly. I get there and see the squirrel immediately, Slick running off of the tree. He gets so damned excited, it really is fun to watch, but bad for business. after the third time I herded him back on the tree and he left again I said fuck it and moved the dogs on. I'm not giving either one of them a squirrel for that shit ever. the next tree was Lefty, but he didn't have a squirrel, he had a dead coon, lol. I looked hard for a squirrel, but if it was there it hid from me good or snuck out before I got there. coon laying in a fork 40' up in this tree dead as he could be. was gonna shoot it out until I noticed it was already dead. 
for whatever reason, on our first stop I could not get a clear shot at any of the squirrels they treed, and one was in a very small hickory. I shot at least four times at every squirrel I saw on that drop. kept hitting twigs. usually if there is some crap in the way you can shoot it out of the way with a few shots. no such luck this morning. a couple bailed and provided some fun chases, and one even laid up long enough after a 100 yard dash for me to shoot it after dogs caught up with it. we got three on the first drop, and I think I shot 20 times at least. I shot them all in the head, eventually, but damn it was a struggle to get a clear shot. our second stop was in a pretty small woods, but Lefty found his wheels, dashing nearly 300 yards out of the gate and treed solid in less than one minute. that one came quietly, only requiring one squeeze of the trigger. on the last stop, both dogs found a tree of their own pretty quick. Lefty was closer, so I went to him first and he had one. Slick gave up on his and joined Lefty. I moved into position and both dogs ran off the tree right at me, which really pissed me off, lol. I herded them back on the tree and got into position again and was able to get a shot pretty fast. squirrel fell immediately and Lefty pounced on it. I juiced him and yelled and he didn't even think about stopping. I'm running as fast as I can, laying on the trainer and yelling and he still thrashing my squirrel by the time I got to him and kicked him off of it. I called him to me and he ran away. I nearly stroked out. I walked toward him and he ran away from me again. If the look on my face could have killed him, he would be in a hole now. another dead rat flogging was in order. I dragged him, and I mean dragged him, by his collar about 30 yards through a bunch of briars back to the dead rat. beat him over the head with a dead squirrel and that was that. I sent them off, and away they went. Lefty took off like Slick usually does and Slick just trotted off like Lefty usually does. weird.
these Cur dogs are very headstrong, and have to be kept in their place. while this all may seem a little extreme or unreasonable, if I don't maintain absolute dominance over them, they will be out of control, and that is bad for all concerned parties. for whatever reason, being hit in the head with a dead squirrel does have a positive affect on Lefty. Slick stays on a tree better when I give him some juice if he runs off, which seems counterintuitive, but it is working. they are quirky and cannot help themselves sometimes. is all part and parcel with the breed. I would never seriously hurt my dogs no matter how mad I might get at them or how much correction they require. they get way more rewards and praise than "beatings" from me, although one often comes right on the heels of the other. a dog handlers work is never done, apparently.
Slick nailed the last one, and did his job staying on the tree without any juice. I had to be patient to get a good shot at this one. both dogs stayed on the tree and eventually the squirrel gave me half his head and I hit it. Lefty didn't touch this one when it hit the ground. all's well that ends well. we got us a limit, but had to work for it. I love squirrel hunting with dogs.
the dead coon tree.
Slick treed 5 and Lefty 2. Slick only getting credit for 4 since his gooney ass wouldn't stay on the first tree.
Slick 62
Lefty 40
for whatever reason, on our first stop I could not get a clear shot at any of the squirrels they treed, and one was in a very small hickory. I shot at least four times at every squirrel I saw on that drop. kept hitting twigs. usually if there is some crap in the way you can shoot it out of the way with a few shots. no such luck this morning. a couple bailed and provided some fun chases, and one even laid up long enough after a 100 yard dash for me to shoot it after dogs caught up with it. we got three on the first drop, and I think I shot 20 times at least. I shot them all in the head, eventually, but damn it was a struggle to get a clear shot. our second stop was in a pretty small woods, but Lefty found his wheels, dashing nearly 300 yards out of the gate and treed solid in less than one minute. that one came quietly, only requiring one squeeze of the trigger.
on the last stop, both dogs found a tree of their own pretty quick. Lefty was closer, so I went to him first and he had one. Slick gave up on his and joined Lefty. I moved into position and both dogs ran off the tree right at me, which really pissed me off, lol. I herded them back on the tree and got into position again and was able to get a shot pretty fast. squirrel fell immediately and Lefty pounced on it. I juiced him and yelled and he didn't even think about stopping. I'm running as fast as I can, laying on the trainer and yelling and he still thrashing my squirrel by the time I got to him and kicked him off of it. I called him to me and he ran away. I nearly stroked out. I walked toward him and he ran away from me again. If the look on my face could have killed him, he would be in a hole now. another dead rat flogging was in order. I dragged him, and I mean dragged him, by his collar about 30 yards through a bunch of briars back to the dead rat. beat him over the head with a dead squirrel and that was that. I sent them off, and away they went. Lefty took off like Slick usually does and Slick just trotted off like Lefty usually does. weird.these Cur dogs are very headstrong, and have to be kept in their place. while this all may seem a little extreme or unreasonable, if I don't maintain absolute dominance over them, they will be out of control, and that is bad for all concerned parties. for whatever reason, being hit in the head with a dead squirrel does have a positive affect on Lefty. Slick stays on a tree better when I give him some juice if he runs off, which seems counterintuitive, but it is working. they are quirky and cannot help themselves sometimes. is all part and parcel with the breed. I would never seriously hurt my dogs no matter how mad I might get at them or how much correction they require. they get way more rewards and praise than "beatings" from me, although one often comes right on the heels of the other. a dog handlers work is never done, apparently.
Slick nailed the last one, and did his job staying on the tree without any juice. I had to be patient to get a good shot at this one. both dogs stayed on the tree and eventually the squirrel gave me half his head and I hit it. Lefty didn't touch this one when it hit the ground. all's well that ends well. we got us a limit, but had to work for it. I love squirrel hunting with dogs.
the dead coon tree.
Slick treed 5 and Lefty 2. Slick only getting credit for 4 since his gooney ass wouldn't stay on the first tree.
Slick 62
Lefty 40
Lol, I would’ve been no help rolling on the ground laughing! I probably would been next in line for a good squirrel beating
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Ok, Jamie... Dumb question, coming from a novice up-and-comer squirrel hunter...
What are the ideal weather conditions for squirrel hunting? Maybe not even just weather... What are the overall ideal conditions, time of day, etc? I see a lot of squirrels while deer hunting but I've honestly never paid enough attention to put a pattern together. My initial thought for this time of year, when it's cold, is that middle of the day and/or sunny (warming) conditions are favorable for squirrel activity. My assumption is they tend to hunker down and not move much when it's cold and cloudy, in order to save valuable energy and fat reserves. Is this accurate? I've just recently gotten into squirrel hunting a bit, albeit in a nonchalant kind of way. I went out with a buddy this morning in what appeared to be an average-to-good squirrel woods. There was plenty of fresh cuttings and general squirrel sign. We walked in at 9:30 and hunted for the better part of 2 hours. Never saw a squirrel. It's been cold and cloudy all morning.
What are the ideal weather conditions for squirrel hunting? Maybe not even just weather... What are the overall ideal conditions, time of day, etc? I see a lot of squirrels while deer hunting but I've honestly never paid enough attention to put a pattern together. My initial thought for this time of year, when it's cold, is that middle of the day and/or sunny (warming) conditions are favorable for squirrel activity. My assumption is they tend to hunker down and not move much when it's cold and cloudy, in order to save valuable energy and fat reserves. Is this accurate? I've just recently gotten into squirrel hunting a bit, albeit in a nonchalant kind of way. I went out with a buddy this morning in what appeared to be an average-to-good squirrel woods. There was plenty of fresh cuttings and general squirrel sign. We walked in at 9:30 and hunted for the better part of 2 hours. Never saw a squirrel. It's been cold and cloudy all morning.
this is a tough time of year to still hunt or ambush squirrels, especially Greys. I've killed limits of squirrels on windy days, rainy days, snowy days, bitter cold days, 65 and sunny perfect days and everything in between. been skunked as many different ways, too. the answer, my answer, to your question is there is no rhyme or reason to when or why squirrels are active. I've tried to find patterns watching them all these years while bowhunting, and for the last 10 hunting them with dogs. I don't really have anything to show for it. I think they do move ahead of weather fronts like most game animals. yesterday was a prime example of that. they hole up when conditions are really bad, come out in droves when the storm passes, just like most all four legged critters.
hunches I have. proof is anecdotal at best. they have to move about to eat, but with the caches of food that they can usually put up, they don't have to move as much as they actually do. I conclude that they are busybodies by nature, and they are like the one nosey neighbor in every neighborhood that makes it their business to know everything that is happening on their block all the time. they see it all from the tops of naked trees. they run around testing each others boundaries, eating what is still laying around, and for breeding. squirrels always know you are in their woods this time of year if they are out of their holes. best to sit still and hope you see them before they see you. is a different story in September when there is still plenty of cover. still hunting can be very productive then.
you want to have some fun and kill some rats, you need to come and hunt with dogs sometime.
hunches I have. proof is anecdotal at best. they have to move about to eat, but with the caches of food that they can usually put up, they don't have to move as much as they actually do. I conclude that they are busybodies by nature, and they are like the one nosey neighbor in every neighborhood that makes it their business to know everything that is happening on their block all the time. they see it all from the tops of naked trees. they run around testing each others boundaries, eating what is still laying around, and for breeding. squirrels always know you are in their woods this time of year if they are out of their holes. best to sit still and hope you see them before they see you. is a different story in September when there is still plenty of cover. still hunting can be very productive then.
you want to have some fun and kill some rats, you need to come and hunt with dogs sometime.
Although I was hoping you had some magical secret recipe to consistently killing squirrels, that answer is the one I had a feeling I'd get. I guess it does make me feel better for not recognizing any kind of pattern over the last 20 years in the woods. Everything hunting-related that involves dogs is always more fun. I'll have to pay you a visit one of these days.
Get up in your tree stand with .22 in hand and wait them out. You’ll shoot a few like that just about every time.... Especially with breeding going on....
all of that was just a very long winded way of saying that squirrels are the least predictable animal you can hunt around these parts.
This! And mark the area they land in your head. Don’t retrieve them until you’re done with that area. A good set of binos can help pass the time as well. Use them to scam the crotch of trees. A 70-80 yard shot at an ear or eye has a way of getting in your head. But that “thump” makes it all worth it.
freezing drizzle makes for some awful driving, but didn't seem to hinder the squirrel activity today. I was pretty surprised we did as well as we did. I think they winded most of these squirrels today as there were no fresh tracks in snow anyplace. Slick treed 6, Lefty 2. I walked away from two in one tree that were off the public ground just enough to keep me from shooting one of them, at least. I walked away from another that Slick (actually neither dog) would stay treed on, and on the last tree today Slick had one, but another there was in a tree next door. they timbered out simultaneously in different directions. both dogs stayed on the same squirrel and it laid up, eventually, and I was able to shoot it, eventually, after much jockeying, hide and seek, and herding two impatient dogs back on the tree several times. was exhausting. only needed one more for a limit, so we made one more stop, but nothing was out after 3:00. it's pretty strange to turn these two loose and not hear a bark for 20 minutes while they are both scouring the woods like they mean business. we got four fox and one grey, which was better than I expected to do with a thin layer of ice on everything. the four that got away were all greys, too. and how about that photographer?
Slick 68
Lefty 42
Slick 68
Lefty 42