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Squirrel Doggin' 2018


This clip does not show the dogs much, or shooting, but it does show that Jamie is a goat. FWIW, I made a fantastic, 190 yard across the ravine, to the top of a giant tree shot, right through the brain pan. For whatever reason, Jamie implemented a new rule afterwards; you shoot, you retrieve. HA!
 
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brock ratcliff said:
Oh yes, video... let me go though them and see if I have anything worthwhile.
I should have snuck in a picture of you shooting a compound but didn’t want to be too underhanded. I know some of our “trad brethren “ would have lost their minds if they saw you with a wheeled bow. Lol.
Good times indeed. And I THOROUGHLY enjoyed shooting your bow. You’re an artist my friend.
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hells bells, Brock, trad guys get it. thinking ones, anyway. for all intents and purposes, I don't go both ways, but it's good to take a walk on the wild side once every 30 years or so. :LOL: things change as we get older, perception being one of them, and as we all know, everything is a matter of perception. I'm not quite ready to end my struggle. not yet, anyway.
 
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brock ratcliff said:

In his clip, Mason positioned himself for a clear shot with his Discovery, a .22 cal. airgun. He shot the squirrel through the noggin but was afraid he may not have. Shooting a squirrel anywhere but the head would be a sin while hunting with Jamie... lol[/QUOTE]

this is somewhat of a myth, and only half true. Yes, any self-respecting squirrel dog handler in the north and mid-west only hunts with a rifle and only shoots squirrels in the head. I hold myself to that standard as well as anyone else who takes any pride at all in their shooting. exceptions: beginners get a pass until they have adequate experience and will not be berated until such time that it is appropriate. squirrels that are wounded and fleeing need to be finished off by whatever lead-slinging is necessary to get it done. head shots preferred, but not required in this case.
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Jamie said:
hells bells, Brock, trad guys get it. thinking ones, anyway. for all intents and purposes, I don't go both ways, but it's good to take a walk on the wild side once every 30 years or so. :LOL: things change as we get older, perception being one of them, and as we all know, everything is a matter of perception. I'm not quite ready to end my struggle. not yet, anyway.
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Well old man, when you are ready, I’m here for you. Lol
 
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LOL, I get around pretty good for an older guy.:rolleyes:

Looks like squirrel season is gonna end tomorrow. won't be any rat chasing on Wed. or Thur. with wind chills -20 or more. I took the dogs to Ground Zero today. the first and only time I've squirrel hunted there this season. I just don't want to complicate my deer hunting any further until I get it all figured out. I really went on a scouting mission, turned the dogs loose for good measure. was not pleased with the amount of deer tracks since the last snow in the places I can hunt with confidence with southerly winds, which is what it's gonna be for last three days of the season. I'll probably have to use a climber and hunt where I know the deer are with an undesirable wind direction if I expect to have any chance at all. I fucking hate climbing this time of year, even more than the rest of the season. I really should have been set up in this area for a south wind already. I woulda been, too, back when I took deer hunting seriously.

Dogs appeared to be well rested, but I think Lefty isn't feeling good. He did absolutely nothing for two hours. Slick ran all over half of Licking county, most of which I don't have permission on :(, but I'm not going to complain about a dog that wants to find something for me no matter what it takes. I don't think squirrels were out very good today. There are a ton of them there, and plenty of fresh and old squirrel tracks around since last snow, but Slick only managed to find two and I shot them both after two long games of hide-and-seek and lots of maneuvering. Was a lackluster day of squirrel hunting, but I saw what I needed to see. Slick got a nice run in and found some meat. I guess is wasn't so bad, after all. ;)

Slick 82
Lefty 51
 
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imagine how much fun it would be if you actually came along with your rifle. you gotta do it, at least once before my dogs ( lol, and me) are too old to get it up. I've squirrel hunted, at least a little bit, for 40 years. how in the world it became so much fun is still beyond me, but I do have a ton of fun doing it. I especially love bringing people who appreciate dogs but have never seen a squirrel dog work. Hunting squirrels with dogs is the antithesis of hunting deer with a bow and arrow by every measure except the satisfaction that they both deliver in their respective ways. I wish more of you would make the time to come for a walk with us.

I'm glad some of you are ambitious enough to follow along, but I'm not as beneficent as it may appear. I do this for my own amusement as much as yours, and enjoy going back and reading through the entire season once it's done. reliving the moments from seasons past.

heavy snow showers, 14* and falling, wind chill factor already at 0. we're going to go on short hunt in a woods loaded with fox squirrels that has not been touched since last January. More symbolic, probably, than anything else. I don't have high hopes, but we'll give it one more go. when we've had enough, I have two fresh squirrels from Saturday that have been in sous vide bath since yesterday at 5. 24 hours, then they become Squirrel Dianne with rosemary rice.
 
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your invite never went bad. we all need a token Meheecan for the sake of political correctness. :ROFLMAO:

I must say that we did better than I expected. the wind was brutal, and the frozen mess on the ground was really hard on the dogs feet today. Lefty got the first one, but it was the Slick show after that. he managed to drum up five more for us, and we walked away from one that he just could not figure out, but the squirrel was there. The Goof did all the shooting today and did pretty good. we got him a limit, and I'm very happy that he's skinning them right now, and not me. :LOL: all things considered, this a fine end to what was a pretty darn good squirrel season.

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the dogs are both squinting because the wind was blowing about 20-25 mph across an open area on us. The Goof just looks confused like that most of the time for some reason. :LOL:

Slick 87
Lefty 52
 
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98 tails in the photo. The Goof has the six tails from the ones we got on our last hunt, so I guess we killed 104. a good season with both dogs making some progress. Lefty with his attitude, Slick with his skillset. Slick still needs some work staying on trees, but we're getting there.

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the end(s). ;)
 
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Based on the ratio of greys to reds I see in our woods, I'm surprised to see so many reds in the pile. Are you selective in your shot selection for reds or is there another reason you can identify that would cause this to happen? I bet I see 6 greys to every red in out woods, but the reds are twice the size of the biggest grey most times.

For the taxonomists in the room, I was raised calling them red squirrels and understand that technically incorrect...
 
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