I live in central Ohio, northeast of Columbus. Yes, I have hunted squirrels in Indiana, WV, TN and SC. Took a shot at an Abert's (Tassel Eared) squirrel in NM with an arrow but was not out there to squirrel hunt. If I didn't have to drive so far to get to a border, I would probably travel a little more. I would surely do it more if I had access to good private property in KY,WV or PA, which I do not.
Squirrel Doggin' 25-26
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
Some people should hunt squirrels with an AK, maybe they'd do a little better. Love them tailgate pictures, and a shed to boot.
My ferocious, relentless tree dog enjoying his day off.
That is a great picture
My dog won’t leave the wood burner right now
My dog won’t leave the wood burner right now
cspot
Member
Yes you are in a tough spot to easily travel out of state to hunt. I am PA but only about 30 min to Ohio or to WV to hunt so a little easier for me. Thankfully it looks like next year PA will have Sunday hunting all season so my need to travel out of state won't be as great. I usually went to Ohio on Sunday.
He’s only about 8 feet away from a pretty hot fire there on his personal sofa, lol. He and Lefty take turns on the dog bed on the floor right next to the stove. Not moving too far away from it myself, either.
I could not take not getting in another hunt before it's over. Some men and some dogs just have to hunt. Nancy tried to talk me out of it, but that was an exercise in futility, lol. Although it was cold, and the snow was deep, there was little to no wind and some squirrels were out enjoying the sunshine until Slick showed up. Slick was beside himself with joy hunting in the snow and hunt like a dog possessed he did. We had ourselves an exciting little two-hour hunt today. Going to be colder and rather windy tomorrow with wind chill in the -20 range most of the day, so I'm very happy we went. Saw 6 killed 4. The first one he found timbered immediately when Slick started barking. Three trees later and directly over my head, squirrel made a jump and nearly fell to the ground but caught himself about 10 feet from the ground and kept on going straight to a hole. The next two were singles that required many bullets because of deflections, but squirrels held tight long enough for me to find a shot. The last two were a double. I missed the one I saw, hitting the small branch that was partially obscuring his head. After I fired the other, which was on a different trunk of the tree got antsy and ran around enough that I saw it. It stopped in the wide open and gave me the best look I had all day. The first one was still holding tight, but I could only see about half its head. I figured there was no point in being patient, so I took a breath, took the shot, and nailed it. Four in the bag in less than an hour. Slick found one more, but just when I finally spotted the squirrel, he saw me move getting the gun off my shoulder and moved around enough that I could only see his ear and a foot. I tried to wait this one out as the dog was hard on the tree, but eventually, Slick slid around to my side of the tree and the squirrel moved the wrong way and disappeared around the trunk. I waited more, then tried moving around the tree in hopes of a better look at the squirrel. I never saw that one again. Slick never gave up, but that squirrel somehow gave us the slip. Plodding through the snow was pretty difficult, so we only made the one stop. This was one of the better hunts we had all season. Back to feeding my very hungry wood stove and working in the shop for the foreseeable future.
EPILOGUE
For reasons I cannot explain, I aways feel the need to conclude my season with a final word. Understand that I'm doing this for myself, for future reference as this is as close as I'll likely ever get to actually keeping a journal. Every season since I first got Lefty has been a learning experience for me. I've learned a lot about my dogs, squirrels, the places I hunt, my friends, and especially myself. This year was no different. This was without a doubt the least amount of squirrel hunting I have done in any season since Lefty's first. We wound up taking 52 squirrels this season, the least that I have brought home since I got a squirrel dog, although this isn't really about the body count. Mostly this was because of the weather, which was atrocious from start to finish with only a few really good weather days, but also because I'm only running one dog now who is showing his age just the same as I am. Still, having a dog that needs to go hunting is a damn good reason to force yourself out the door even when conditions are poor and you'd rather not. I did that a few times this year, more than ever since I got into this. There were just too many hunts that we did not go on, to suit me, which is disappointing.
My time in the field is sacred to me whether I'm carrying my simple bow and some arrows or with dog and rifle. For the entirety of my adult life, I have worked very hard to ensure that I could go hunting as much as could stand for an entire season. I have been most fortunate to have been able to literally hunt as much as could stand and stay in that sweet spot for all these years. I'm still doing that, but "as much as I can stand" is whole lot less today than it was just a few years ago. A couple of years ago, physical ailments began to affect my time in the field, now for the first time my desire may be, too. This is very difficult circumstance to reconcile if you are me, perhaps it is for everyone. I keep telling myself that finding and training a new pup will invigorate me. I keep telling myself that the perfect clever new bow will be the blast of oxygen needed re-ignite my smoldering passion for archery and deer hunting. Lies helping me to ease my own conscience about not living up to my own standards and expectations, which admittedly have likely always seemed unreasonable to others. The truth is, I need to recalibrate those standards and expectations and find a new sweet spot.
Usually, I'm a little bit happy that the season is over, having hunted hard, often and gotten my fill. That did not happen this year in the squirrel woods, and much to my chagrin, I cannot blame it all on the weather. We killed plenty enough squirrels for the freezer, but there is a part of my metaphorical game bag that did not get filled this season.
For reasons I cannot explain, I aways feel the need to conclude my season with a final word. Understand that I'm doing this for myself, for future reference as this is as close as I'll likely ever get to actually keeping a journal. Every season since I first got Lefty has been a learning experience for me. I've learned a lot about my dogs, squirrels, the places I hunt, my friends, and especially myself. This year was no different. This was without a doubt the least amount of squirrel hunting I have done in any season since Lefty's first. We wound up taking 52 squirrels this season, the least that I have brought home since I got a squirrel dog, although this isn't really about the body count. Mostly this was because of the weather, which was atrocious from start to finish with only a few really good weather days, but also because I'm only running one dog now who is showing his age just the same as I am. Still, having a dog that needs to go hunting is a damn good reason to force yourself out the door even when conditions are poor and you'd rather not. I did that a few times this year, more than ever since I got into this. There were just too many hunts that we did not go on, to suit me, which is disappointing.
My time in the field is sacred to me whether I'm carrying my simple bow and some arrows or with dog and rifle. For the entirety of my adult life, I have worked very hard to ensure that I could go hunting as much as could stand for an entire season. I have been most fortunate to have been able to literally hunt as much as could stand and stay in that sweet spot for all these years. I'm still doing that, but "as much as I can stand" is whole lot less today than it was just a few years ago. A couple of years ago, physical ailments began to affect my time in the field, now for the first time my desire may be, too. This is very difficult circumstance to reconcile if you are me, perhaps it is for everyone. I keep telling myself that finding and training a new pup will invigorate me. I keep telling myself that the perfect clever new bow will be the blast of oxygen needed re-ignite my smoldering passion for archery and deer hunting. Lies helping me to ease my own conscience about not living up to my own standards and expectations, which admittedly have likely always seemed unreasonable to others. The truth is, I need to recalibrate those standards and expectations and find a new sweet spot.
Usually, I'm a little bit happy that the season is over, having hunted hard, often and gotten my fill. That did not happen this year in the squirrel woods, and much to my chagrin, I cannot blame it all on the weather. We killed plenty enough squirrels for the freezer, but there is a part of my metaphorical game bag that did not get filled this season.
