You did better than me on all counts.
My hunting was on public land near the Brookville Lake in an area that should have been lousy with squirrels. Mature hardwood with a mixture of maple, beech, hickory, and walnut.
I was hunting with a 20 gauge flintlock. The only one I saw was after I’d moved to a different part of the woods late in the morning. He was stretched out on a limb near the top of a hickory but there was enough of his head and upper body exposed that I took a chance and fired. No idea how close any of the shot came, but it wasn’t close enough. He decided to try another part of the woods as well.
I don’t know if the dry conditions had anything to do with, but I didn’t even see much in the way of any other wildlife. A few songbirds and chipmunks was about it.
Except.
Early on, about ten minutes after I’d found a fallen tree to sit on, I caught a flash of white on the edge of my field of vision, close behind me and moving from left to right. I turned my head to the right enough to get a good look at the skunk that was about two feet behind me. He jumped a little when I moved, but luckily he was in a hurry (as much of a hurry as skunks get anyway) to get someplace else. On the way back to the car, just as the trail started to follow the shore of the lake, I got to watch a loon about thirty feet out in the lake. I think it is as close as I’ve ever been to a loon.
Judging by the hole that gray has twixt his shoulder blades, it looks like you have your accuracy problems ironed out.
