Squirrel Doggin' 2016
- Thread starter Jamie
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and it's full speed ahead, apparently. we stayed home yesterday out of the rain. I got caught up on chores, dogs got some much needed rest. I took Slick for a walk by himself today. It is painfully obvious to me now that Lefty may never hunt to his potential with another dog, even the one he lives with day and night. He is just too jealous, too protective and too fucked up. That is mostly my fault for not handling him better when he was a pup, but some of that is his genes. the same behavior has occurred with some of his immediate family. Only an inconvenience now, but I sure hope this improves over time. For as good at finding rats as Lefty is, if Slick continues to improve at his current pace, he will easily eclipse Lefty's skill level, and does not seem to have any of the baggage that Lefty has.
I'm really starting to buy in now. no dog gets lucky this many times and I'm not helping him out in any way at all now. I only encourage him when I know he is right, and move him on when I know he is wrong. He is covering ground, using his nose, his eyes and his ears. He is learning to trust his nose very quickly. I turned him loose the first time today about noon. He was on squirrel 200 yards out in less than two minutes, and I'm pretty sure he saw this one and chased it up a tree. He yipped a couple of times and though I could not see him, I could see he was moving fast on the gps receiver and was getting ready to zap him thinking he was chasing a deer, and just then he stopped and was barking treed, and he had one. after a couple of dens he found one more but would not stay on the tree, so I tied him. two in the bag. The drizzle continued all afternoon and in the second woods we hit he found three more and only one empty tree. The first one was in less than one minute after I let him loose.
I could see early on that Slick had great potential, but he has surpassed every expectation I've had of him. I've shot out a dozen and a half squirrels to him in less than three weeks, which is quite amazing from where I'm standing. He is only 8 months old and still wants to run off of his trees when I close in, or if it takes a while to spot the squirrel, but he will outgrow this. He sure can find them, now knows that is what he is supposed to do, and really wants to do it. He doesn't destroy my squirrels when they hit the ground, either. He grabs them up, but a stearn "DROP" and tone from his training collar is easily enough to make him let it go and stay off of it. He is doing a great job with all of his obedience. I have an 8 month old pup that hunts like he's on a mission and listens to me! I'm just riding the wave now, trying hard not to get too anxious for next season. we still have a lot of work to do, but, damn, I must be livin' right.
ickle:
first two
good dog, Slickie, good dog.
I'm really starting to buy in now. no dog gets lucky this many times and I'm not helping him out in any way at all now. I only encourage him when I know he is right, and move him on when I know he is wrong. He is covering ground, using his nose, his eyes and his ears. He is learning to trust his nose very quickly. I turned him loose the first time today about noon. He was on squirrel 200 yards out in less than two minutes, and I'm pretty sure he saw this one and chased it up a tree. He yipped a couple of times and though I could not see him, I could see he was moving fast on the gps receiver and was getting ready to zap him thinking he was chasing a deer, and just then he stopped and was barking treed, and he had one. after a couple of dens he found one more but would not stay on the tree, so I tied him. two in the bag. The drizzle continued all afternoon and in the second woods we hit he found three more and only one empty tree. The first one was in less than one minute after I let him loose.
I could see early on that Slick had great potential, but he has surpassed every expectation I've had of him. I've shot out a dozen and a half squirrels to him in less than three weeks, which is quite amazing from where I'm standing. He is only 8 months old and still wants to run off of his trees when I close in, or if it takes a while to spot the squirrel, but he will outgrow this. He sure can find them, now knows that is what he is supposed to do, and really wants to do it. He doesn't destroy my squirrels when they hit the ground, either. He grabs them up, but a stearn "DROP" and tone from his training collar is easily enough to make him let it go and stay off of it. He is doing a great job with all of his obedience. I have an 8 month old pup that hunts like he's on a mission and listens to me! I'm just riding the wave now, trying hard not to get too anxious for next season. we still have a lot of work to do, but, damn, I must be livin' right.
ickle:first two
good dog, Slickie, good dog.
I'm glad you are starting to see it! I was really impressed by watching him. I'm glad you are starting to trust him a little more, that's a hell of a pup!
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And he is posing for pictures! Ha.
Glad you had another great afternoon with him. That yipping business may not be a bad thing. I would imagine that would make a squirrel tree a little quicker than a non-yipper. But what the heck do I know... nothing, but I do enjoy watching your dogs!
My phone died, so in case you did not get the last text, we are all good to go on Sunday. I managed to get that old rifle squared away at last. I'll check the zero and it will be ready to go. I think you will appreciate that little gun as much as I do once you see and fire it. That is of course if my "fix" did not permanently ruin it.
Glad you had another great afternoon with him. That yipping business may not be a bad thing. I would imagine that would make a squirrel tree a little quicker than a non-yipper. But what the heck do I know... nothing, but I do enjoy watching your dogs!
My phone died, so in case you did not get the last text, we are all good to go on Sunday. I managed to get that old rifle squared away at last. I'll check the zero and it will be ready to go. I think you will appreciate that little gun as much as I do once you see and fire it. That is of course if my "fix" did not permanently ruin it.
It has been a long week since Tuesday. I've seen exactly one squirrel since, and I've hunted every day but today, visited 5 counties in the process. resting my broke down arse and the dogs today. Tomorrow we head south for one last romp, and I hope Mason didn't spend all of his good mojo on that nice buck. :biggrin:
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I certainly hope we see some tomorrow! Mason has a better scope mounted now, he will need a better excuse. His deer is still hanging in the barn and it seems important to him that you get to see it... kids.
My Grandmother used to tell me that we plan plans, not results. A truism of the highest order. Our Sunday squirrel hunt ended abruptly due to a family thing that cropped up for me. Not many things will cause me to abandon hunting plans, but my daughter in labor is one of them. I'm a Grandfather now, and all is well for all concerned parties on that front aside from my inability to grasp the fact. surreal is the only word that comes close. I'm excited for the possibilities. What else really matters in life anyway? Thanks to Brock and Mason for being so understanding and happy for me, us. Next year we'll slay some more rats together, so pencil it in, gentlemen.
The hour glass is nearly drained on another squirrel season. I was pretty tired today for all the excitement and traveling yesterday, but hunters and dogs need to hunt, so I decided to try something different today. I took both dogs and put them in the most unlikely places to find a squirrel that I could think of at a local public hunting area with the intention of just going for a walk in the woods with my dogs and my rifle. I hit it hard at this particular area and kill lots of squirrels in the "good" places, and we have killed enough in those places already. Each dog found three squirrels for me in stupid ass places. A testament to just how many squirrels there really are, and proof that they are always just where you find them; pretty much anywhere. One that Slick nailed bailed from a leaf nest to the ground and the chase was on. He nearly caught it, but, alas, rat made it up a tree and into a hole. the rest of the squirrels we found came home with us. none of them cooperated much, but the rifle ultimately found 5 rat skulls. A rather bizarre day of squirrel hunting, but some squirrels were moving, and the dogs performed. shooter did ok, too. Lefty does not need any more practice, so tomorrow Slick and I will say farewell to squirrel season together.
The hour glass is nearly drained on another squirrel season. I was pretty tired today for all the excitement and traveling yesterday, but hunters and dogs need to hunt, so I decided to try something different today. I took both dogs and put them in the most unlikely places to find a squirrel that I could think of at a local public hunting area with the intention of just going for a walk in the woods with my dogs and my rifle. I hit it hard at this particular area and kill lots of squirrels in the "good" places, and we have killed enough in those places already. Each dog found three squirrels for me in stupid ass places. A testament to just how many squirrels there really are, and proof that they are always just where you find them; pretty much anywhere. One that Slick nailed bailed from a leaf nest to the ground and the chase was on. He nearly caught it, but, alas, rat made it up a tree and into a hole. the rest of the squirrels we found came home with us. none of them cooperated much, but the rifle ultimately found 5 rat skulls. A rather bizarre day of squirrel hunting, but some squirrels were moving, and the dogs performed. shooter did ok, too. Lefty does not need any more practice, so tomorrow Slick and I will say farewell to squirrel season together.
Congratulations, grandpa! That's a hell of reason to abandon ship. And with the crew you run with...you wouldn't run with them if they wouldn't be happy for you and completely understand!
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Not a bad way to spend the next to last day. I'm sure Sluck will wrap things up on a high note tomorrow. And of course we will look forward to chasing rats again next season! You've introduced us to a whole new game, and for that we thank you!
Congrats on the new addition to the family Jamie... I can see a future squirrel hunting buddy coming your way...
Congratulations on becoming a grandpa! Always love reading this thread. The dogs are awesome!!!
Not unlike the rock he is perched on for his last hero shot of the season, Slick delivered another solid performance today. The conditions were less than desirable with 20-25mph winds and rain off and on for the duration. Besides that, for all intents and purposes, Slick is still a puppy only 8 months old. We hit it hard today and hunted far and wide, and I can tell you for certain that Slick had more left in the tank when we quit today than I did. We visited two of my hotspots, which produced a total of three squirrels and about 15 dens. Two came home with us, and one bailed out to the ground and Slick chased it out of my sight, about 100 yards, and up a tree, but it gave us the slip. High winds make for difficult shots at moving targets swaying in the tops of trees. The third one I shot I only had about 1/3 of its head and shoulder to shoot at after a long game of hide-and-seek, so I took it, swaying and all. I hit its front leg and it crawled down the tree to the ground and made a run for it, but Slick caught it easily and finished it off handily despite being bit. We also visited a couple of oddball places which produced another three, two of which got dead. The last tree he made was a giant cottonwood that had two squirrels. this may well have been the best job Slick has done staying on a tree for me. It took me a long time to finally get a makeable shot, which I made, but the second squirrel timbered out, Slick with it the whole way, then it bailed to the ground and after a short chase it ran up another giant cottonwood and vanished. That would be the last squirrel we would see, but he did go to a couple more dens. Slick hunted his ass off today and found 6 for me, but took a beating in the process. he's gimping on a front foot and has a big gash behind his ear that I did not even notice until we got home.
I have no idea how that happened. it's ugly, but does not seem to be bothering him much, not as much as his foot, anyway. he's probably still in less pain than my sorry ass. at least one small part of me is glad it's over.
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