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Squirrel tales 19-20

we got kind of a late start today and this was Nancy's first trip to the squirrel woods. rats don't seem to be digging this mild weather. Dogs did a bunch of running and went to a few dens each, but it was a pretty slow day. Lefty got three, Slick got one and my shooter poked their eyes out. saw four and they all came home with us. helluva nice day to walk off some of the excessive amounts of vodka and cookies consumed over the last three days. try again tomorrow.

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Slick 39
Lefty 11
 
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actually, I was trying to give him a break by omitting some of the details of his efforts yesterday. truth is that while Lefty did happen to find three live ones yesterday, he did not cover much ground, and he did run off of every tree until I tied him. He was respectful of my dead squirrels, though. it was a slightly better than average day for him. showing off for his feeder, I guess. or maybe just trying to make a liar out of me.
 
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I can't figure out how I have angered the hunting gods so. dogs are just dogs and they have bad days, too. I get it. todays hunt was a third rate back alley abortion of a cluster fuck of a debacle. no reasonable explanation for it. to make matters worse, I discovered my Tritronics trashbreaker might be ready for the trash. this is a real inconvenient problem to have when your dogs are high on PCP and have gone completely deaf. they are both lucky I didn't take their collars off and leave them in the woods when I caught up with them after that shit show. I need a drink.

Slick did tree two squirrels and they treed one together after their first one mile sprint. I gave up on one because neither dog would stay on a tree, the second bailed out because my dogs wouldn't stay on a tree. on the last one, I snuck up on them because they were down over a bank and couldn't see me. I had a nice easy shot at the squirrel and took it before the dogs knew I was there, (which I have concluded must be their que to run off the tree in hopes that my head will explode) so they stayed treed until the perfectly head shot squirrel hit the ground at which time Lefty snapped it up and tenderized it until I got within striking distance of him. worst my dogs have ever behaved. ever. on the plus side, and to make the day even more weird, I found a very nice flush of fresh Oyster mushrooms. I cut as many as I could fit in my game bag. tonight we dine on pan seared venison heart, fresh Oyster mushrooms and left over (actual shellfish) Oyster casserole.

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Are these dogs old enough now that the reactions you have are very negative on them? Training stage is over, they might just be scared of you at this point. Some praising of the good habits might do some good. I’ve got a 7 acre gold mine for little greys.
 
they get a lot more praise than corrections if that's what you're asking. they know what they are and are not supposed to do, but sometimes these dogs get a little big for their britches and forget who's in charge. I still can't figure out what the hell was going on yesterday, but I think I'm going to only take them out one at a time for a while.
 
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it's hard to work on training one dog when the other is in the way or requires handling of some sort. those moments for correction or positive reinforcement come and go pretty fast in the field. no other way to improve a dog on a tree than with live squirrels in real time. can't practice this at home in the back yard like you can with obedience and retrieving.

it's just easier on me when I'm by myself to only have to observe and handle one dog. having two or more people with two or more dogs is much easier. it's a big fucking hassle to tie up one dog far enough away from the action while trying to tie one at the tree or kick him in the nuts or whatever needs to be done.

wussed out today because of high winds and Slick has a sore foot. was a good day to clean my revolver, sharpen all the kitchen knives and clean up the shop a bit, anyway. I tend to put semi-important things off in favor of squirrel hunting during the season. :D give a go tomorrow in spite of strong winds.
 
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since my last post I've taken both dogs out by themselves one time each. Lefty only found one squirrel and ran off the tree when I shouldered my rifle. I left the tree and moved on. conditions were terrible. 25 mph winds, gusting higher, spitting snow. on the second stop Lefty flat out would not hunt, so I loaded him up and came home. Slick and I did a little better, but did not have a great outing. weather much more pleasant yesterday than Tuesday, but we only saw four squirrels, one of which was a double. I shot two squirrels and one got away on a missed shot as I was trying to shoot from middle of an ungodly thick area of Japanese honeysuckle. three deflections and that one ran down the tree, somehow avoided Slick, and disappeared as I could not see ten yards at ground level in that stuff. So, we got two. I have not really had a good hunt since before Christmas.

turned it around today. Weather was pretty good, not as windy as I expected. Dogs both hunted very well. Slick got 6, Lefty got two, and they got two together. Two of Slicks trees were doubles, and Uncle Charlie and I managed to get both squirrels on both of those trees. we did have one get away on a missed shot. that one bailed out of the tree to the ground from about 40 feet up. Slick nearly caught it, but it did get up a tree, timbered out of two or three more trees before finding a hole. We took two pretty long walks, getting 7 on the first, 3 on the second. back after it next Wednesday.

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Slick 47
Lefty 15
 
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short hunt today since I needed to be home between 1 and 5 today for Centurylink technician to fix our land line/DSL, which has not been working for two days. fucker showed up here at 9:30 this morning, but, luckily, was able to fix problem because it was outside and he didn't need to come in the house. typical ass-backwards, idiotic Centurylink customer service.

wind was pretty brutal this morning. squirrels not doing much, Lefty did nothing. Slick found four for me, and I made four perfect head shots. best shooting I've done in a few weeks. and I have internet access again. good day.
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took a trip out east yesterday. I planned to hunt all day, which we did, but it was a mighty slow day. We covered some serious ground. went to several dens and only two trees that produced. The first tree had 5 greys in it, two of which came home with us. the rest timbered out to holes as soon as the shooting started. Slick found one more which also came home with us. I sure thought we would do better yesterday, but rats did not come out to play. Lefty did absolutely nothing yesterday. The only time he got more than 20 yards from me was going to join Slick on all of the trees he made. Lefty has gotten as bad as the worst "me too" dogs I've ever seen. Slick has great desire, the motor to service it, and is tearing it up. I have one dog that won't stop and one that won't go.

Slick 57
Lefty 15
 
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I wasn't really sure what to expect today, and I had to dodge some high water, but Slick and I had ourselves a time. this dog friggin' hunts. He is turning into the dog I envisioned on the day he treed his first squirrel. I knew he was special. he found 8 for me today. I'm very pleased with how well he is staying on trees. He stays pretty well glued to them when Lefty isn't there. I whiffed on a pretty easy shot on one, got impatient and took a body shot on another. heard the bullet hit, but the squirrel ran down the tree a ways and bailed to the ground. Slick was within inches of catching it, but squirrel made it up a tree and straight in a hole. probably killed that one, but I'll never know for sure. Slick didn't give a damn about my poor shooting. He's always happy to go and find another as fast as he can. Slick is officially the "A" team now. Lefty didn't even care that I left him behind. he doesn't care to hunt any more. fucking sorrowful beyond description. at least I have one that does, and he is a thrill to watch in the woods.

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Slick 65
Lefty 15
 
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I had every intention of leaving Lefty behind today, but he made it clear to me that he wanted to come along. It's awfully hard for me to leave him behind even though I really should. He didn't really do much today, as expected, but he did find one on our second stop, and it was a grey, which is unusual for this place. I happened to see the squirrel while scanning nearby trees, so I knew where it was. I'm fairly certain that he winded it as neither dog had any idea where it was initially. Slick eventually did get on the tree the squirrel was in, but both times I raised my gun, both dogs ran at me. I walked away from that one. Slick found three on our first stop and we jumped two deer out of briar thicken in the middle of that large woods, one of which was a pretty good buck. Slick found one more shortly after I walked away from the grey squirrel. four nice head shots.

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Slick 69
Lefty 16
 
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I wasn't really planning to squirrel hunt today, but since it was so nice out and I just don't feel like deer hunting more, I took the dogs out for a few hours this afternoon. went to a couple of oddball places on public ground that don't even remotely resemble what most of us would consider squirrel habitat just to see what the dogs could scrounge up. squirrels are just glorified rats, and will live anyplace there is something to eat. we've killed a pile of them in the most unlikely of places. didn't expect to do much today besides take my rifle for a walk and keep the dogs moving on a very rare very pleasant afternoon in mid January, but, as usual, we found a bunch of squirrels. Slick treed 4, Lefty 2. I walked away from one squirrel each dog treed because I got tired of playing hide and seek. I don't really need to kill any more squirrels for me. I'm pretty well shooting them for the dogs now. I'll have plenty to share with friends and family now, too. can't see any good reason to post another pic of dogs and dead rats on my tailgate.

Slick 73
Lefty 18
 
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