I've been squirrel hunting on pretty much every wildlife area within 75 miles of my house and have gone further a couple of times without leaving the state. it's good for the dogs to hunt places they have never been before. keeps them honest. they know where the active dens are at every one of my honey holes, and they go there looking for an easy score every time. Today we went adventurin' at Big Island W.A. not exactly known for it's squirrel hunting as it's mostly marshland. there appeared to be some huntable habitat along the Scioto river while I was looking it over on google earth, which is the southern boundary of the state land. I went up there last year but there were giant sheets of ice laying around everywhere from the river being flooded out of its banks, freezing 2" thick then the water receded and left all the ice behind. we could not hunt it, and I've been wanting to get back there.
I was disappointed with the quality of the timber along the river, and the conditions were not exactly ideal today. melting snow made it a bit treacherous. The dogs both worked hard today and really did a superb job of sniffing them out in a mediocre place. I know they winded at least three of the squirrels I shot today. not much fresh tracks, not many old ones, either. I suspect the squirrel population there is not great given the lack of oaks, hickories, etc. there were a few, but it was mostly cottonwood, maple, boxelder and other low value species. Still, there are rats everywhere, and the dogs found them today. Each treed 3 today, Slick got the first one, and it came quietly, offering itself up in a nice wide open shot. We went a long ways down the river and to several obvious dens before turning around. Lefty got the second in a long fencerow running perpendicular to the river behind the W.A. maintenance building. That one came quietly, too. we hunted our way back along the river past where were started a good ways before Slick had another one, which again offered itself up for an easy headshot. three shots, three rats in the bag with lead migranes. I cleaned these and drank a little coffee, drove to the other spot I wanted to try. Both dogs were on a tree of their own in less than one minute after I sent them off. Slick had a big leaf nest, Lefty had the squirrel Motel 6 of den trees. We hunted nearly a mile down along the river before Slick winded one. I saw him do it, and I know he winded it because he did not get on a tree, just stood up on his hind legs and started barking "treed" and looking up. I only found this one because I happened to see it move while I was scanning around with the naked eye. Lefty fucked up the nice easy shot I had by running to me and barking when he saw me take the rifle off my shoulder, which scared the squirrel around the tree. (this is why leaving a tree is such a bad behavior) I was able to reposition and got the dogs to stay near the tree the squirrel was in. We walked a long way for that one, and ran out of timber soon after and had to turn back. We hunted our way back past where we started, again, and Lefty got gone and treed over 400 yards out (which is very unusual for Lefty). by the time I got there, Slick was there and Lefty had left the tree. I should not give Lefty credit for that one since he totally left the tree and was out of sight when I shot the squirrel, but I will, since it wasn't really Slicks tree, either. On the plus side, he was not able to chew that one up, lol. that was the fourth squirrel of the day, second one on our second drop. I send them off again and Slick found one in a couple of minutes, only about 200 yards out. I get to the tree and spotted the squirrel pretty quick with binos, moved into position for a shot and the squirrel stayed still, offering me a reasonable shot at his head. kerpow, squirrel falls 40 feet, kersplash, right into the might Scioto river! OH FUCK!!! the bank there is about 6 feet straight down, and nothing but thawed out mud. squirrel was within a couple feed of the bank and although literally bug-eyed, still squirming a little. I put my gun down and started to race down the bank to a place where I could probably get to the water without going in up to my neck. before I started down, I looked back for the squirrel and there was Slick, belly deep in the water, chomping the squirrel.
I ran back toward him, grabbed Lefty by the collar and started telling Slick to "bring it", which is the command I give them when we are playing fetch. he chomped a little more, and once he was convinced the rat was dead, he picked it up, raced up that steep bank and dropped the squirrel at my feet. my heart leapt! squirrel dogs don't retrieve, everyone knows that. I've only seen one other squirrel dog retrieve a dead squirrel in water like that, and that was Digger, my buddy (now deceased) Deans' dog, Lefty's grandpa. I cannot emphasize what a big deal this is. it's something special to have a tree dog that will swim for a dead squirrel and carry it back to you. I have not been so overjoyed in a long time. We hunted on just a little ways and Lefty started barking about 100 yards away. I could see him and the tree pretty well with binos, but did not see the squirrel. Slick joined him, so I hurried over and found the squirrel once I got around the tree enough. this one came quietly, too. I didn't have high hopes today, but it turned out to be a spectacular day of squirrel hunting with a special surprise. Saw 6, killed 6. I sure don't mind cleaning a limit of head shot squirrels that aren't chewed up. Lefty will always be special to me because he was my first dog, and he is an excellent squirrel dog. Slick is a special talent. he is the total package. you cannot get more from a squirrel dog than what Slick can do. his treeing needs some polishing, but that is small potatoes given his enormous progress. We'll get that worked out. He's not even three years old. very pleased with both dogs today. living is easy when you have dogs that do what you want and then some.
Slick 71
Lefty 45
I was disappointed with the quality of the timber along the river, and the conditions were not exactly ideal today. melting snow made it a bit treacherous. The dogs both worked hard today and really did a superb job of sniffing them out in a mediocre place. I know they winded at least three of the squirrels I shot today. not much fresh tracks, not many old ones, either. I suspect the squirrel population there is not great given the lack of oaks, hickories, etc. there were a few, but it was mostly cottonwood, maple, boxelder and other low value species. Still, there are rats everywhere, and the dogs found them today. Each treed 3 today, Slick got the first one, and it came quietly, offering itself up in a nice wide open shot. We went a long ways down the river and to several obvious dens before turning around. Lefty got the second in a long fencerow running perpendicular to the river behind the W.A. maintenance building. That one came quietly, too. we hunted our way back along the river past where were started a good ways before Slick had another one, which again offered itself up for an easy headshot. three shots, three rats in the bag with lead migranes. I cleaned these and drank a little coffee, drove to the other spot I wanted to try. Both dogs were on a tree of their own in less than one minute after I sent them off. Slick had a big leaf nest, Lefty had the squirrel Motel 6 of den trees. We hunted nearly a mile down along the river before Slick winded one. I saw him do it, and I know he winded it because he did not get on a tree, just stood up on his hind legs and started barking "treed" and looking up. I only found this one because I happened to see it move while I was scanning around with the naked eye. Lefty fucked up the nice easy shot I had by running to me and barking when he saw me take the rifle off my shoulder, which scared the squirrel around the tree. (this is why leaving a tree is such a bad behavior) I was able to reposition and got the dogs to stay near the tree the squirrel was in. We walked a long way for that one, and ran out of timber soon after and had to turn back. We hunted our way back past where we started, again, and Lefty got gone and treed over 400 yards out (which is very unusual for Lefty). by the time I got there, Slick was there and Lefty had left the tree. I should not give Lefty credit for that one since he totally left the tree and was out of sight when I shot the squirrel, but I will, since it wasn't really Slicks tree, either. On the plus side, he was not able to chew that one up, lol. that was the fourth squirrel of the day, second one on our second drop. I send them off again and Slick found one in a couple of minutes, only about 200 yards out. I get to the tree and spotted the squirrel pretty quick with binos, moved into position for a shot and the squirrel stayed still, offering me a reasonable shot at his head. kerpow, squirrel falls 40 feet, kersplash, right into the might Scioto river! OH FUCK!!! the bank there is about 6 feet straight down, and nothing but thawed out mud. squirrel was within a couple feed of the bank and although literally bug-eyed, still squirming a little. I put my gun down and started to race down the bank to a place where I could probably get to the water without going in up to my neck. before I started down, I looked back for the squirrel and there was Slick, belly deep in the water, chomping the squirrel.
I ran back toward him, grabbed Lefty by the collar and started telling Slick to "bring it", which is the command I give them when we are playing fetch. he chomped a little more, and once he was convinced the rat was dead, he picked it up, raced up that steep bank and dropped the squirrel at my feet. my heart leapt! squirrel dogs don't retrieve, everyone knows that. I've only seen one other squirrel dog retrieve a dead squirrel in water like that, and that was Digger, my buddy (now deceased) Deans' dog, Lefty's grandpa. I cannot emphasize what a big deal this is. it's something special to have a tree dog that will swim for a dead squirrel and carry it back to you. I have not been so overjoyed in a long time. We hunted on just a little ways and Lefty started barking about 100 yards away. I could see him and the tree pretty well with binos, but did not see the squirrel. Slick joined him, so I hurried over and found the squirrel once I got around the tree enough. this one came quietly, too. I didn't have high hopes today, but it turned out to be a spectacular day of squirrel hunting with a special surprise. Saw 6, killed 6. I sure don't mind cleaning a limit of head shot squirrels that aren't chewed up. Lefty will always be special to me because he was my first dog, and he is an excellent squirrel dog. Slick is a special talent. he is the total package. you cannot get more from a squirrel dog than what Slick can do. his treeing needs some polishing, but that is small potatoes given his enormous progress. We'll get that worked out. He's not even three years old. very pleased with both dogs today. living is easy when you have dogs that do what you want and then some. Slick 71
Lefty 45
. Looks like a fun day was had! Well done fellas.