Squirrel season opened August 21 in Kentucky, and I was anxiously waiting for a hunt, but it was just too hot and humid for an old man to be out. We have a short season in June, and I hunted the first day of that, but the next 10 days were too hot to hunt, too. Finally got a cool morning yesterday, so I took the opportunity. I used to always be waiting for daylight sitting in the woods when I was young, but not any more. I arrived a 0800, well after full daylight. I was hunting with the first BP gun I ever bought, a .40 caliber flintlock rifle, 42" Douglas barrel. I hadn't hunted with it for several years, figured it was time. I shoot 35 gr. FFFg with a .395" PRB for small game, and the gun is very accurate at 25-35 yards with that. I hadn't moved 50 yards into the woods when I saw a limb move and a squirrel headed right at me. It passed about 20 yards away, paused for long enough and I took the shot. Down he tumbled. I love squirrel hunting with a flintlock rifle. Another 50 yards and I came to the small hickory tree I was headed for. It almost always has enough nuts to tempt a few squirrels. I sat on a log and watched it, and in a few minutes another squirrel came down a nearby maple and headed for the hickory. It paused, too... shouldn't do that. Two in the bag and I hadn't been hunting 20 minutes. I love hunting squirrels with a flintlock rifle. I let that one lie, hoping other squirrels might come to the tree, and that's what happened. From the same maple came another, traveling almost the same path. It wasn't in a pausing mood, though, traveled like it was on a mission. When I finally took the chance and squeezed off a shot I knew it was a miss before the hammer fell. The squirrel raced back up its maple and disappeared. I waited 20 minutes with no luck, so I picked up my second squirrel and moved on. The day stayed cool, but the wind began to pick up and the hunting got tough. I depend on hearing squirrels cutting on nuts, leaves shaking a bit when they are moving, and all that is not much help when every leaf and tree is already shaking and wind is constantly making noise. I kept hunting for another couple of hours, but the wind worked its way up to a steady 10 mph and I never saw another squirrel in shooting range. It was fun using the old flintlock for a change. It has served me well for more than 35 years, but doesn't see much action these days because I no longer hunt squirrels a lot, and if I do I have other guns I do it with. Both squirrels today were big fox squirrels. There are about an equal number of fox and grays in my area, and I frequently bring home a mixed bag, but not today. Did I say I love hunting squirrels with a flintlock rifle?
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