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George

Cannon
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I haven't been hunting since November deer season last year, so I did a little squirrel hunt today before the spring season closes in a couple of days. It was steamy hot and muggy, the ground was squishy soft from a lot of recent rains, and thunderstorms were predicted. It never rained on me, but there was so much water dropping from the trees I had to use my cow's knee.

Hoping to keep a little cool, I went primitive, moccasins, leggings, breechclout, linen smock and round flop hat. It didn't work, Kentucky heat and humidity won. I carried my Jackie Brown flintlock smoothbore, 20 gauge, wooden ramrod with no attachments, loaded with 65 grains 2F Goex, tow, 7/8 oz. #5 shot, tow, primed with 4F from my little gourd primer. I pooped out pretty quick from busting overgrown weeds everywhere on the farm and trying to keep from bellyflopping on that slick mud, so I sat down for a rest after 45 minutes or so. After about 15 minutes I moved, but hadn't gone 20 yards before I heard squirrel toenails on bark close behind me and spotted a gray squirrel about 20 yards out. The shot was instant even in the damp, and the squirrel hit the ground with that dead thump you love to hear.

I picked the squirrel up and had a moment's reflection....that's what it's all about, for me. Primitive clothes and gear, old skills, go after them right down where they live....fair chase, we used to call it...and when it works, it's all I need.



Spence
 
So happy to see this partner! :thumbsup:

That squirrel had to know as hot and muggy as it was, the last worry he'd have is an eighteenth century hunter after his hide. WRONG! :applause:

Really glad that you shared this with all of us, but happier yet that you got out. A half a year between hunts is just too long. :nono:

Your an inspiration to greenhorns like me that hope one day to do it all like the old boys did.

All the best, Skychief. :hatsoff:
 
:eek:ff :eek:ff :eek:ff ...At the risk of thread drift, I've been meaning to ask, have you run into any timber rattlers over your years of trekking that "dark and bloody ground"? :idunno:
 
I have never seen a rattler on any of my jaunts/treks/hunts/fishes (fishes? :wink: )

I saw one rattler on the road in the immediate area. I saw one copperhead on a trek in the immediate area. Those rascals are fast, I tried to catch him for supper, no such luck.

Spence
 
Wonderful story and photo! Thanks for sharing with us. Here in Minnesota the game warden would be chasin' ya through the woods fer huntin' squirrels before the middle of September. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
I've never understood why more states don't have a spring squirrel season. Kentucky has had one for more than 25 years, and our fish and game department did several studies of the effect on squirrel populations in the early days, found no problems. They say squirrel populations are the most stable of all the game species here, and the spring season doesn't change that.

It's not an easy season to hunt, for me. I don't know what squirrels eat in the spring very well, and it's before walnuts and hickory nuts are available to the squirrels. Besides, the foliage is unbelievable in the spring. Squirrels have to run over you before you can see them. :grin:

Spence
 
In Britain Spence our Grey's in spring eat shooting buds, buried nuts and seeds, bulbs and even birds eggs. There is of course when all else fails, pine cones.

Our greys mate in February and June and with no close season or put another way, open season all year every year there is an abundance to shoot!

B.
 
Congratulations Spence, glad you were able to get out :applause: . In the Spring, squirrels eat buds and new growth on trees and shrubs and any left over acorns they can find in the nooks and crannies. Keep yer powder, (and pan), dry.....robin
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Britsmoothy said:
In Britain Spence our Grey's in spring eat shooting buds, buried nuts and seeds, bulbs and even birds eggs. There is of course when all else fails, pine cones.

Our greys mate in February and June and with no close season or put another way, open season all year every year there is an abundance to shoot!

B.

You know Nate, it sounds like your squirrels mate like rabbits! :haha:

Perhaps they should learn to play cards...

Best regards, Skychief :wink:
 
Fall squirrel is August 18-February 28 this year, with 3 days closed at the start of modern deer season November 9-12.

Spence
 
Yeah, I know about the buds and such. I should have said I don't know of any particular localized food source which comes in during spring squirrel season. In the fall walnuts, hickory nuts, beechnuts, persimmons, etc., come in, and that concentrates the squirrels nicely. In the spring they are scattered all over the place, because the buds and such are. I have mulberry trees in my yard, and they work them really hard for a couple of weeks during spring season...but the only mulberries on my farm have been bulldozed to make way for more corn and soybeans. :cursing:

Around here, in fall season, you can park near any productive nut tree and expect action most of the day. 'Taint so in my hunting spot in the spring. Don't get me wrong, I still love looking for them even when I don't find them. :haha:

Spence
 
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