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Squirrel Doggin' 2018

Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
It's the most wonderful time of the year again. I've had a very revealing archery season the first year on my own place. I vowed to ventilate something this season, but that turned out to be not what I expected. I'm happy to have whacked a coyote with my bow, but I was soooo very close to killing three really big bucks. anytime I find myself in position to get a 15 yard shot at a mature animal, I've won. killing them is just another trophy. Has been a learning year on my new place, and learn I did. Next year and later this season will be a different ball game. I think I still have a chance to score on one of the good bucks I've seen. on the back burner for now. the .41mag barked just enough to fill the freezer again this year, so now it's time for some fun. Dogs and rifle waiting impatiently for weeks. Rats in great peril come Monday.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,827
247
Yes!!!!! I’ll be bird hunting Monday morning. I hope you’ll make it back down this way for an outing or two.
 
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Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
so much for my first squirrel hunt. bedridden since Saturday afternoon with some nasty gastrointestinal crud. :sick: high fever and expelling waste from every orifice. feeling a little better since last night, but still exhausted and feeling like I had the worst beating of my life. no energy since I've not eaten in two days. no squirreling today again. ate some real food last night and kept it in. rest up, carbo up, and kill some rats tomorrow.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
Season is long...rest up so you can enjoy it. I’ve got some tied up to the porch if you need a gimmy. Could cut the walk in half by cabing the dogs.
 
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Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
could not force myself to sit in the house another minute despite not feeling anything close to good. I decided to go as long as I could manage and went to two small woods. dogs happy as they could be. they hunted pretty good for the first time out. Slick got two and Lefty got one on the first stop. I walked away from one that both dogs left the tree on. Squirrel was there and very stubborn. saved it's life today. Slick hit one in less than 60 seconds on the second stop. He treed another that I watched from over 100 yards away with binos dash into a leaf nest after Slick started hammering the tree really hard. we'll get him next time. :) I was pretty well out of gas after two hours, but at least I didn't need to pull my pants down in the woods today. rifle shooting awfully good for me. four nice headshots.

12-5-18.jpg
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
went early today to try and get a decent hunt in before snow fired up too much. Lefty hunting like old people fuck- slow and sloppy. Slick hunting like young people fuck- fast and furious. Slick nailed 4 today to Lefty's 1. I see a pattern forming here. Lefty behaving himself for the most part, but he's kinda turning into a "me too" dog. he doesn't do much until Slick gets on something, then Lefty runs in for the free tree. pains me. I kept up a little better today, but despite our best effort and making three four drops, we could not manage to find that last one today. got four on the first stop, one on the second, struck out on last two. well, we went to dens everyplace today, but rats seemed to be holed up pretty tight after 12. pretty good day, though.

Slick 7
Lefty 2

I'm going to make a real effort to keep count of who gets how many each time out. Slick covers 5 times as much ground as Lefty, so I expect the numbers of squirrels treed to reflect that.

12-6 1.jpg
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,661
274
North Carolina
Seems lefty does solo hunts much better if I remember right.
Hopefully he comes around and joins in the fun better...
 
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Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
very cold but clear with no wind this morning. squirrels out thick early today, but not eager to play with us. Slicks' rampage just getting started now, methinks. Lefty is kinda like the OSU defense. you never if the passionate, motivated team or the lazy, heartless team is gonna show up. Lefty did tree three squirrels today without riding Slicks tail to the tree. Slick treed three also. I killed one over each dog, all the rest ran in holes or timbered out to find one before I could get a clear shot at them. saw lots of squirrels today, but didn't do much shooting. Slick is doing great except for bouncing off of trees while I'm trying to find the squirrel or a makeable shot. I tied him at one today which timbered out. nearly hung himself trying to follow after the fleeing rat. Lefty did ok today, really, but he grabbed up both squirrels and thrashed them just as long as he could before I could catch him. that little mother fucker knows exactly what he's doing, too. on Wednesday I tried to beat him over the head with a dead squirrel. I genuinely offended him in doing so. he was horrified, but it damn sure got his attention. the next squirrel that hit the ground that day was Slicks and Lefty did not try to snatch it. I may be on to something. Slick grabs them up as soon as they hit the ground, too, but I yell "DROP" and he drops the squirrel and steps away and does not tear them up.

we went to a dozen or more dens and leaf nests today, too. no pics today. dogs whooped, especially Slick. I noticed something quite curious yesterday and today. yesterday and today I killed three very large mature fox squirrels. one boar, two sows. they all had fat on them like I've never seen on a small game animal of any sort. the sows looked "fat". very rotund and obese looking. all three had gobs of visceral fat and 1/4" thick back fat. so much fat on them that I had to trim it! I've skinned a lot of squirrels, but never seen anything like this before. hope it is indicative of a very bountiful food supply this year and not the coming of an Arctic winter.

I'm going to try to keep count of how many squirrels each dog trees that I can verify visually, not just how many I shoot out to each. sometimes I just cannot get a bullet in them. the ones that they fuck up on by leaving the tree won't be counted. so I have to adjust my original count to Slick 8, Lefty 2. after today,

Slick 11
Lefty 5
 

Fletch

Senior Member
Supporting Member
6,078
118
Looks like fun... Some nice looking dogs you have there.... Good Luck the rest of the season....
 
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