I must have given too many hints if Giles got it that quickly.
Yup! You dun said two muchie.
Squirrel Doggin' 2017: The Chronicles of Lefty and Slick, Chapter II
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
Yup! You dun said two muchie.
ArcherTL and he’s a good guy even for a crew chief lol...
Glad you and Tom made it out, Jamie.... Any day afield is a good day buddy....
Glad you and Tom made it out, Jamie.... Any day afield is a good day buddy....
Good to see Archer out enjoying some Ohio air. Enjoy your stay Tom! Thanks for the update Jamie.
Archertl
Senior Member
I had a great time following Slick and Lefty around the Delaware State Park. The amount of flooded timber around the DSP was unbelieveable. I was pretty disapointed in myself for not confirming zero on my .22 i left at my parents house. The squirrel I missed baled out of the tree and provided an exciting ground chase for the dogs. That squirrel retreed in a dead ash tree with a hole. I shot at a knot in a fallen ash to see were my rifle was zeroed. I redeemed myself with a little kentucky windage and produced a head shot on the second squirrel. By the time we got back to the truck the younger dog Slick was falling asleep standing up. Jamie has a nice pair of dogs. Like all curs they have their own quirks and odd behaviors. I cant wait to go again Jamie.
Gordo
Senior Member
seems like an awful long stretch since I loosed a dog, but we are finally back to business after a pitiful early archery season, a poor gun season, and a paying job. Slick got the nod today. We had a pretty good day. off to a slow start, and it never picked up much. I didn't keep count, but I'd say Slick made about 25 trees today, 5 of which had a willing participant in them. all the rest besides a couple were obvious dens or leaf nests. the rifle found its mark five times. gun is shooting better than ever since I fixed the broken mounting screw on the picattiny rail at the end of last season.
Slick really hunting with purpose, intensity, and focus. I had to move him on a few times today from milling around on cold tracks or trash, but he stayed pretty busy. We made some serious progress today with his running off of trees to me. He did it on every tree early on, and when I finally had enough of playing nice I lit him up coupled with a stern "NO!" and herding back to the tree. he learns fast. the next couple of trees he was afraid to leave, even after I called him off to move on. he got over that pretty fast and never left another tree all day. He stayed treed as good as I could ever expect for the remainder of the day. fingers crossed he remembers that next time. He treats my dead rats with proper respect, too. I began trying to get him to retrieve them for me, but he did not take to that very well. we hunted long and far and killed every squirrel I saw, but could not manage to find one more to make it Slicks first limit. If I can sleep through the night without rolling out of bed with both of my hammies locked up with agonizing Charlie horses, it will be a bona fide miracle. I had a talk with Lefty after I loaded up Slick and left him behind. He understood. I think he was relieved, really. He does not want to hunt with Slick. Tomorrow Lefty and I wreak some havoc on the rats of Knox county. hopefully, Slick is still too exhausted to notice he's not leaving.
smug little fucker. I sure am happy with him today.:smile:
Slick really hunting with purpose, intensity, and focus. I had to move him on a few times today from milling around on cold tracks or trash, but he stayed pretty busy. We made some serious progress today with his running off of trees to me. He did it on every tree early on, and when I finally had enough of playing nice I lit him up coupled with a stern "NO!" and herding back to the tree. he learns fast. the next couple of trees he was afraid to leave, even after I called him off to move on. he got over that pretty fast and never left another tree all day. He stayed treed as good as I could ever expect for the remainder of the day. fingers crossed he remembers that next time. He treats my dead rats with proper respect, too. I began trying to get him to retrieve them for me, but he did not take to that very well. we hunted long and far and killed every squirrel I saw, but could not manage to find one more to make it Slicks first limit. If I can sleep through the night without rolling out of bed with both of my hammies locked up with agonizing Charlie horses, it will be a bona fide miracle. I had a talk with Lefty after I loaded up Slick and left him behind. He understood. I think he was relieved, really. He does not want to hunt with Slick. Tomorrow Lefty and I wreak some havoc on the rats of Knox county. hopefully, Slick is still too exhausted to notice he's not leaving.
smug little fucker. I sure am happy with him today.:smile:
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Archertl
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lol, this is not an "on demand" thread. they ain't paying me enough for that.
I did not spell it out yesterday, but Slick is just a completely different dog without Lefty. Slick is really gonna be a good squirrel dog in another year or two.
This was not a very good day of squirrel hunting. Lefty hunted, but not with any gusto. It was cold and windy, more than I was prepared for. not much moving. Lefty only made about 7 or 8 trees, two of which had squirrels out, both of which got lead in their brain.
I did not spell it out yesterday, but Slick is just a completely different dog without Lefty. Slick is really gonna be a good squirrel dog in another year or two.
This was not a very good day of squirrel hunting. Lefty hunted, but not with any gusto. It was cold and windy, more than I was prepared for. not much moving. Lefty only made about 7 or 8 trees, two of which had squirrels out, both of which got lead in their brain.
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This is one of those thread I have to be ready to open. I can’t be interrupted while reading this thread! Lol
I could not move well enough to hunt Friday, so I ran errands and gave my legs a break. Saturday I went to Muskingum county to look at 40 acres I was interested in buying near Blue Rock State Forrest, so I took the dogs to do some exploring on the state land. While I'm walking the 40 acres I got a text from the real estate agent to tell me the property is now in contract. damn it, I was really liking it and would have made an offer. I took both dogs since I didn't know how long of a day it would be and Nancy was in NYC sightseeing with her mother. Suffice it to say that the local squirrel population there is terrible. I saw one rat all day and the dogs did not even tree it. I did see piles of walnuts, beechnuts and hickory nuts untouched. not a single leaf nest. hard to imagine there are not more squirrels there as there was actually some quality habitat in a few places. As feared, Lefty was a problem and spent half the day in the penalty box again. Slick didn't do anything beside go a to a couple of den trees. was a disappointing day all around.
Slick and I went a wanderin' today for a few hours. It is astounding to me how well he operates with no Lefty. His progress is good, and it's easy for me to forget he is only 18 months old. He's finding rats and staying treed most of the time. I tie him when he leaves the tree, but he only did it twice all day today. he hunted good for me again today. Saw 5, killed four. the second squirrel he treed found a cavity and I saw his tail sticking out. I unloaded a magazine around the hole to try an get him to run for it, but rat held tight and will live to see another day. was a good day, but tough shooting as it got pretty windy. hard to hit them when they are swaying a foot or more. I missed a couple on the first shot, but killed everyone I saw except the one in the hole. Slick making steady progress now. just have to keep him in the woods as much as I can. I'll take Lefty whenever I need to rest Slick, but they will not hunt together again this season. too much at stake for Slicks development.
Slick and I went a wanderin' today for a few hours. It is astounding to me how well he operates with no Lefty. His progress is good, and it's easy for me to forget he is only 18 months old. He's finding rats and staying treed most of the time. I tie him when he leaves the tree, but he only did it twice all day today. he hunted good for me again today. Saw 5, killed four. the second squirrel he treed found a cavity and I saw his tail sticking out. I unloaded a magazine around the hole to try an get him to run for it, but rat held tight and will live to see another day. was a good day, but tough shooting as it got pretty windy. hard to hit them when they are swaying a foot or more. I missed a couple on the first shot, but killed everyone I saw except the one in the hole. Slick making steady progress now. just have to keep him in the woods as much as I can. I'll take Lefty whenever I need to rest Slick, but they will not hunt together again this season. too much at stake for Slicks development.
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We had a talk today about what seems to be a general lack of squirrels. Wondering what your thoughts were on their "decline" in certain areas. Seems like there's plenty of bobcats, owls and red tails to keep them in check.
that varies greatly by area. generally, predation does play a part, but it is probably less than you think. I'd say that more damage is done to nests full of helpless young by coons, snakes, and other squirrels than by large birds of prey or hunters killing grown squirrels. even more likely is that low numbers of rats means the food is someplace else, and that is where they go. squirrels migrate, and I have seen them vanish from a farm I hunt in southern Ohio. tons of squirrels there for 30 years, 5 poor nut crops in a row there and squirrels are few in number compared to what they used to be. corn feeders and better timber a half mile away. add in some hunting with dogs and itchy trigger fingers and squirrel populations go down. one thing I've always wondered about is the dispersal of the young. squirrels have two breeding cycles a year. perhaps the young leave the area as a natural mechanism to prevent inbreeding rather than bolstering the population where they are born.
