Squirrel Doggin' 2018
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
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Took my youngest on his first squirrel hunt on the farm today, took all of 10 minutes to get his first squirrel. He is shooting a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 with pop up sights, this gun is crazy accurate. He was stoked
I don't know what the weather people were thinking, but it drizzled all day long today. we started a little late, but it was a good day. dogs didn't fuck around today, found the meat without going to too many dens. we came home with six, getting 5 on the first drop. the first tree was a tie for the dogs and full of rats. at least four bailed to the ground, but for whatever reason, both dogs were totally fixated on the one that timbered out. they both stayed with it until it stopped, which usually means it's in a hole, but this one did not go in a hole. I found it and considering all the commotion, I didn't wait around for the shooter to get into position. I popped it quick before it timbered out again. the dogs treed together/simultaneously twice today, so that they both get credit for those, but slick got three on his own to Lefty's one. have never seen a Grey in this particular woods before today. second stop was in a small woods, but Slick managed to find a live one. my shooter was aces today. five head shots. darn good day for short hunt on a Saturday on public ground on a holiday weekend.
I'd be surprised if you saw many people on public land today. Bowl games are on. Deer season is "over" in the eyes of many.
two pheasant hunters with a beautiful black lab and some dude sitting next to the river in a chair wearing camo and an orange vest carrying a shotgun. no idea what that guy was doing, but he packed up his shit and left after the dogs treed a squirrel directly across the river from him, which Nancy shot.
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He probably had pics of that squirrel, had judge him to be mature , had figured out his feeding and nesting sites...and had all his hopes and dreams crushed when Nancy came along and shot his squirrel
Yep, damn shame to have YOUR squirrel patterned, when someone else comes along & pops it....lol
Damn, I wonder how many peoples target squirrel I’ve robbed them of?
Killin’ rats, smashing dreams. That’ how I roll.
#thuglifeDamn, I wonder how many peoples target squirrel I’ve robbed them of?
Killin’ rats, smashing dreams. That’ how I roll.
Lefty is a lazy fucking dog, period. He never had a big motor like Slick does, even when he was younger, although he did hunt with a little more gusto when he was younger. Lefty is slow and methodical. I'll give him his props, he gets is done his way. cannot make a dog hunt faster, so I live with it. plenty of squirrel dog people, especially those that attend competition hunts as much as the actually hunt squirrels, that would not own a dog like Lefty. Slick hunts the way I think a good squirrel dog should, and his nose and brain have finally caught up with his legs. Lefty will likely never be able to tree as many squirrels as Slick on a regular basis now. He simply does not cover as much ground. Slick goes nearly twice as far and twice as fast as Lefty. I will say this, Lefty has gotten over himself and does hunt now. A year ago I seriously thought he would never get over his butt hurting because of Slick. Lefty is a great "old man's" dog. Slick is a great young man's dog. wouldn't trade either one of them for anything.
sure was nice to go out with the dogs today. I don't want to get too far off track here, but suffice it to say that my mother and mother in law can completely drain any room of all of the oxygen and positive energy faster I can say "what the fuck am I doing here". I worked pretty hard on a very elaborate dinner for us and my reward was listening to two old broads and my wife debate and tell war stories about hormones, hormone replacement, hormone medications, and other miscellaneous feminine issues for over an hour during dinner and well beyond. Needless to say, I didn't have much to add or derive from this conversation and by the time my plate was empty I was considering suicide. then I remembered the dogs, made myself another drink, and sought refuge downstairs. fortunately, the mothers ate and left very soon after. the rest of this year can only get better now. da fuck.
was a pretty low key day of squirrel hunting. dogs hunted well, covered ground, and a few squirrels were out. Slick got four, Lefty got one. I bugeyed three of the ones Slick treed, and let one go that I could have easily shot, but it was up a tree 30 feet from a paved road on public ground with a farm house 100 yards away. the only one Lefty got on his own bailed to the ground just as I was arriving after a 300 yard march. dogs chased squirrel up another tree from which it timbered out to another and into a hole. good job by the dogs, and exciting for them. Lefty was not pleased with the result, however. I should point out that both dogs almost always wind up together on each others trees before the shooting starts. only exceptions being when they are split treed and staying put on their own tree. was a good day. dogs ran me to death for no more hunting than we did, but I did make three nice headshots and kept Lefty off of them for the most part. The first squirrel we got fell 50 or so feet from the top of a big Cotton wood into a large ditch filled with water over a foot deep. I damn near convinced Slick to retrieve it for me. He would have done it for sure if Lefty had not been getting in the way the whole time. Still, he did manage to bring right to the edge where I was able to scoop it out without filling a boot. I didn't feel like fooling with pictures today.
Slick 51
Lefty 36
was a pretty low key day of squirrel hunting. dogs hunted well, covered ground, and a few squirrels were out. Slick got four, Lefty got one. I bugeyed three of the ones Slick treed, and let one go that I could have easily shot, but it was up a tree 30 feet from a paved road on public ground with a farm house 100 yards away. the only one Lefty got on his own bailed to the ground just as I was arriving after a 300 yard march. dogs chased squirrel up another tree from which it timbered out to another and into a hole. good job by the dogs, and exciting for them. Lefty was not pleased with the result, however. I should point out that both dogs almost always wind up together on each others trees before the shooting starts. only exceptions being when they are split treed and staying put on their own tree. was a good day. dogs ran me to death for no more hunting than we did, but I did make three nice headshots and kept Lefty off of them for the most part. The first squirrel we got fell 50 or so feet from the top of a big Cotton wood into a large ditch filled with water over a foot deep. I damn near convinced Slick to retrieve it for me. He would have done it for sure if Lefty had not been getting in the way the whole time. Still, he did manage to bring right to the edge where I was able to scoop it out without filling a boot. I didn't feel like fooling with pictures today.
Slick 51
Lefty 36
got a bit of a late start this morning. again... women, I'll never understand...
during our walk to the first woods, just after we sent the dogs off the sling stud in the fore end of Nancy's gun stock came out, rifle butt end up, barrel in the mud. perfect. turned out the damn stud came unscrewed, so I was able to fix that. digging mud out of barrel was a bit more challenging, but I got that straightened up, too. she made a nice shot on the first squirrel, but could not hit shit the rest of the day. she's convinced scope is off, but I'm not so sure. either way, I did most of the shooting today, shooting four more. we got three on the first stop, nothing but dens on the second, two more on last stop. Slick got 5 today Lefty 2. each dog had a squirrel timber out to a hole before we could shoot. we shot 4 out to Slick, and one to Lefty. Slick really getting it done. Lefty not so much, but he's in the game, and at least he's not interfering with Slick any more. Slick simply finds them first because he is so much faster and ambitious than Lefty. Slick is becoming a real beast in the squirrel woods. damn fine day of squirrel hunting, equipment issues notwithstanding.
Slick 56
Lefty 38
during our walk to the first woods, just after we sent the dogs off the sling stud in the fore end of Nancy's gun stock came out, rifle butt end up, barrel in the mud. perfect. turned out the damn stud came unscrewed, so I was able to fix that. digging mud out of barrel was a bit more challenging, but I got that straightened up, too. she made a nice shot on the first squirrel, but could not hit shit the rest of the day. she's convinced scope is off, but I'm not so sure. either way, I did most of the shooting today, shooting four more. we got three on the first stop, nothing but dens on the second, two more on last stop. Slick got 5 today Lefty 2. each dog had a squirrel timber out to a hole before we could shoot. we shot 4 out to Slick, and one to Lefty. Slick really getting it done. Lefty not so much, but he's in the game, and at least he's not interfering with Slick any more. Slick simply finds them first because he is so much faster and ambitious than Lefty. Slick is becoming a real beast in the squirrel woods. damn fine day of squirrel hunting, equipment issues notwithstanding.
Slick 56
Lefty 38
Great update, Jamie....
Had the same issue last year with my squirrel gun, didn’t end well. Scope snapped off the gun and broke the rings. Scope was trash. It landed on a gravel drive not the dirt.
Hopefully make it out next Wednesday for one last hunt of the season for me.... Looking forward too it.