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For the past 3 days we’ve experienced some consistently gusty and windy days. These may be considered breezes in some parts of the country, but 17 mph winds are tough to hunt in the younger areas of the piney woods of East Texas. With trees still pretty full and green, our gusts catch the younger forest canopies like a sail on a Spanish caravel headed to the New World. This makes it extremely tough to locate squirrels in trees. I got out after 10:30am this morning, saw a few squirrels, and heard several more moving through the woods when there were breaks in the wind. However, no decent shots presented themselves.
I was debating if I was going to shoot my Rattler Long Strike or go hunting. Since someone held an event in the community that I could hear, I figured they’d hear the Rattler .45 and the sound of shots may be unsettling if city folk were in attendance. The compromise was to hit the woods to redeem myself for a piss poor performance this weekend.
This evening I entered the same area of woods that I attempted to hunt this morning and got into a messy area with plenty of vines, dead/broken branches, leaves, pine cones, etc that littered the forest floor. It’s a slow creep through that mess and with a somewhat open canopy and young timber, those trees were swaying like a hypnotized crowd with their arms up at an Eminem concert. I worked my way through it stopping periodically only to see a squirrel or two descend trees and hit the ground. It was really tough to see them on the ground in there when I couldn’t hear their scratching as they buried acorns. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time here so I decided that it was time to move on.
I exited the area with little action and hit a perimeter road scanning the tree line on the way out. I saw a lot of birds and a squirrel or two that I caught a glimpse of, but was not in position to track or shoot. I went back through the area that I free range my chickens and hit the east side of the same woods. Bad idea. I wanted the sun to my back, so I headed east to another part of the woods.
I crossed a property line and heard the owner out working on his place. I asked if he’d seen any squirrels and he said that he hadn’t. I told him that I was heading into his woods if he didn’t mind (I already have permission to hunt here, but I like for him to know when I’m on his place and I like to know where the livestock are). He said have at it. Before proceeding I asked if he needed help with his work. He said that he didn’t. I entered a section of his woods that is relatively dense. I posted and periodically inched slowly through this area. I saw a squirrel or two, but it was tough to line up a shot with all of the leaves and branches. I remained I this area waiting patiently for around 30-40 minutes.
After no luck there, I left the area to check out one of my favorite spots on his place. Before I arrived, squirrels were barking all over. Some in the distance, some close to me, and others from the spot I was headed towards. I tried to take a barker that revealed himself in an evergreen adjacent to a deer feeder, but it was tough to pinpoint. When I did see it, the animal ran off through the web of intertwined tree branches that comprised the lower canopy. I proceeded towards my destination. It was difficult to remain focused and not target more barking squirrels on the way in.
Just as I arrived at my destination, I realized I was too far north. I was close to the pasture’s edge, but I needed to head south. Immediately south of me was an area of forest floor covered in a layer of pine needles and broken branches blanketed in more pine needles and pine cones. Unfortunately there was no worn path going in my direction, so I did the next best thing. I began a steady, but slow amble south mooing like a cow. I’d occasionally stop and mix in other cow sounds. I was able to do this until I worked my way to the edge of the stand that I love to hunt on this property.
I heard a couple of squirrels in the pines surrounding the area. I stuck with one and tracked it a little ways. It ran atop the pine and into an oak tree. Then it started eating acorns. The problem was that it was rustling up some grub behind a lot of leaves and small branches. Me being me, I lined up the shoulder in my reticle and took a shot through the branches. I heard the ricochet, then the squirrel fled. I tracked it until it hit a crotch and I shot again. And another miss. The squirrel retreated and another beat feet.
I looked at my watch and I had about 45 minutes before I needed to be home. It was time to get back to my objective. As the opportunity presented itself to move through the downed branches and foliage I moved forward into the oak stand. Eventually I settled at the mossy base of an oak tree with exposed roots. I sat on a mossy root and waited, occasionally scanning trees with my binoculars. After remaining still for a time, the trees became active with squirrels coming in to dine. They were making noise in three different directions, but I spotted one in a tree about 15-20 yards in front of me. It jumped on the lower trunk. As I lowered my rifle and adjusting my parallax knob to better focus the image of the squirrel, it ran around to the other side of the tree trunk. I elected to wait it out, in an exercise of patience. After maybe 6-7 minutes it moved up the tree and I saw it close to another crotch between the trunk and a branch. I tracked it, then it went back down on the opposite side of the trunk. I kneeled waiting with my reticle on the last place I saw it and allowed my Primos Trigger Sticks bipod bear the bulk of the weight of the rifle. I scanned an adjacent tree to be sure that the booger didn’t give me the slip. After maybe another 5-7 minutes the squirrel emerged toward a “y” in the trunk towards the canopy. It made the mistake of climbing through the “y” and pausing. I shouldered my Huben K1 and lined up my reticle with its head, and finally pressed the trigger.
Crack!! The sound of the pellet impacted the skull like a ball clacks a bat during an MLB upper deck home run. The squirrel fell like a stone. I sat back down and waited to see what would come next.
Some of the other squirrels in the vicinity scrambled and vacated the premises. The next squirrel was fixated upon engorging himself with acorns. As he busily rustled acorns from their clusters, I got a bead on him. He must have sensed it because he began to look for an exit to another tree. Fortunately for me, the next tree was a thin pine without many long branches. I saw it had one or two exit routes. I trained my scope on the overlapping branches in front of him and waited. When he hopped trees and set foot on a steady branch I sent one aiming for his front shoulder. The impact sounded like an MLB back catcher’s mitt catching a fast ball. Strangely enough it stayed in the tree and took a few steps forward, but was behind some limbs. I was looking for a clear shot when the squirrel tipped over and came tumbling to the earth.
The next squirrel was causing ruckus behind me causing me to turn around. When I looked around I saw several squirrels stirring and some traveling through the pine trees along the perimeter of this area. I tried to track one that was about 50 yards out, but there were too many branches in the way to attempt that shot. I did find another that was in an oak tree about 25-30 yards away. When this gal made the fatal mistake of trying to lay flat against the trunk of a tree after seeing me instead of running, I put a pellet on her mind. She hit the ground and flipped briefly in the leaves before succumbing to the shot. That shot sounded like a big league 3-2 foul ball coming off of a wooden bat. The acoustics in this area are great!!
It was getting late and I needed to head home, so I collected my squirrels and headed out. On the way home, I heard 2 squirrels playing while trying to eat in an oak. I put my quarry down on the side of the path and got beneath the tree to line up a shot. One squirrel heard me and darted. I shot at the other and missed the first shot hitting a branch. As the squirrel moved I stayed with it. This one got to the trunk of a tree about 15 yards in front of me and began to descend the tree. I had to take my shot before it reached the undergrowth. It settled on a knot hugging tight to the trunk. I lined up what I thought was a neck/base of the skull shot and pressed the trigger. I heard the impact and watched the squirrel fall to the base of the tree. Its partner that darted began barking, but it was hard to locate. I was determined to bag the barker so I could limit out. I focused on this squirrel sweeping back and forth with my rifle scope and couldn’t see the squirrel. I decided to try my binoculars. After a few more minutes I found it on the trunk of a young pine tree facing the ground barking up a storm. I transitioned to my rifle scope in attempt to pick up the sentry squirrel. I was having difficulty. In the process I caught my previously shot squirrel in my peripheral. When I turned my head I saw that it jumped up and ran off. I tried to look for it before going home, but I only had so much daylight left. I decided to turn around and go home before getting too far off of the trail. I was upset that the thing jumped up and ran off on me.
All in all I I got to challenge myself and I had fun on this hunt.
Pardon the typos. I finally got around to editing this post.
I was debating if I was going to shoot my Rattler Long Strike or go hunting. Since someone held an event in the community that I could hear, I figured they’d hear the Rattler .45 and the sound of shots may be unsettling if city folk were in attendance. The compromise was to hit the woods to redeem myself for a piss poor performance this weekend.
This evening I entered the same area of woods that I attempted to hunt this morning and got into a messy area with plenty of vines, dead/broken branches, leaves, pine cones, etc that littered the forest floor. It’s a slow creep through that mess and with a somewhat open canopy and young timber, those trees were swaying like a hypnotized crowd with their arms up at an Eminem concert. I worked my way through it stopping periodically only to see a squirrel or two descend trees and hit the ground. It was really tough to see them on the ground in there when I couldn’t hear their scratching as they buried acorns. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time here so I decided that it was time to move on.
I exited the area with little action and hit a perimeter road scanning the tree line on the way out. I saw a lot of birds and a squirrel or two that I caught a glimpse of, but was not in position to track or shoot. I went back through the area that I free range my chickens and hit the east side of the same woods. Bad idea. I wanted the sun to my back, so I headed east to another part of the woods.
I crossed a property line and heard the owner out working on his place. I asked if he’d seen any squirrels and he said that he hadn’t. I told him that I was heading into his woods if he didn’t mind (I already have permission to hunt here, but I like for him to know when I’m on his place and I like to know where the livestock are). He said have at it. Before proceeding I asked if he needed help with his work. He said that he didn’t. I entered a section of his woods that is relatively dense. I posted and periodically inched slowly through this area. I saw a squirrel or two, but it was tough to line up a shot with all of the leaves and branches. I remained I this area waiting patiently for around 30-40 minutes.
After no luck there, I left the area to check out one of my favorite spots on his place. Before I arrived, squirrels were barking all over. Some in the distance, some close to me, and others from the spot I was headed towards. I tried to take a barker that revealed himself in an evergreen adjacent to a deer feeder, but it was tough to pinpoint. When I did see it, the animal ran off through the web of intertwined tree branches that comprised the lower canopy. I proceeded towards my destination. It was difficult to remain focused and not target more barking squirrels on the way in.
Just as I arrived at my destination, I realized I was too far north. I was close to the pasture’s edge, but I needed to head south. Immediately south of me was an area of forest floor covered in a layer of pine needles and broken branches blanketed in more pine needles and pine cones. Unfortunately there was no worn path going in my direction, so I did the next best thing. I began a steady, but slow amble south mooing like a cow. I’d occasionally stop and mix in other cow sounds. I was able to do this until I worked my way to the edge of the stand that I love to hunt on this property.
I heard a couple of squirrels in the pines surrounding the area. I stuck with one and tracked it a little ways. It ran atop the pine and into an oak tree. Then it started eating acorns. The problem was that it was rustling up some grub behind a lot of leaves and small branches. Me being me, I lined up the shoulder in my reticle and took a shot through the branches. I heard the ricochet, then the squirrel fled. I tracked it until it hit a crotch and I shot again. And another miss. The squirrel retreated and another beat feet.
I looked at my watch and I had about 45 minutes before I needed to be home. It was time to get back to my objective. As the opportunity presented itself to move through the downed branches and foliage I moved forward into the oak stand. Eventually I settled at the mossy base of an oak tree with exposed roots. I sat on a mossy root and waited, occasionally scanning trees with my binoculars. After remaining still for a time, the trees became active with squirrels coming in to dine. They were making noise in three different directions, but I spotted one in a tree about 15-20 yards in front of me. It jumped on the lower trunk. As I lowered my rifle and adjusting my parallax knob to better focus the image of the squirrel, it ran around to the other side of the tree trunk. I elected to wait it out, in an exercise of patience. After maybe 6-7 minutes it moved up the tree and I saw it close to another crotch between the trunk and a branch. I tracked it, then it went back down on the opposite side of the trunk. I kneeled waiting with my reticle on the last place I saw it and allowed my Primos Trigger Sticks bipod bear the bulk of the weight of the rifle. I scanned an adjacent tree to be sure that the booger didn’t give me the slip. After maybe another 5-7 minutes the squirrel emerged toward a “y” in the trunk towards the canopy. It made the mistake of climbing through the “y” and pausing. I shouldered my Huben K1 and lined up my reticle with its head, and finally pressed the trigger.
Crack!! The sound of the pellet impacted the skull like a ball clacks a bat during an MLB upper deck home run. The squirrel fell like a stone. I sat back down and waited to see what would come next.Some of the other squirrels in the vicinity scrambled and vacated the premises. The next squirrel was fixated upon engorging himself with acorns. As he busily rustled acorns from their clusters, I got a bead on him. He must have sensed it because he began to look for an exit to another tree. Fortunately for me, the next tree was a thin pine without many long branches. I saw it had one or two exit routes. I trained my scope on the overlapping branches in front of him and waited. When he hopped trees and set foot on a steady branch I sent one aiming for his front shoulder. The impact sounded like an MLB back catcher’s mitt catching a fast ball. Strangely enough it stayed in the tree and took a few steps forward, but was behind some limbs. I was looking for a clear shot when the squirrel tipped over and came tumbling to the earth.
The next squirrel was causing ruckus behind me causing me to turn around. When I looked around I saw several squirrels stirring and some traveling through the pine trees along the perimeter of this area. I tried to track one that was about 50 yards out, but there were too many branches in the way to attempt that shot. I did find another that was in an oak tree about 25-30 yards away. When this gal made the fatal mistake of trying to lay flat against the trunk of a tree after seeing me instead of running, I put a pellet on her mind. She hit the ground and flipped briefly in the leaves before succumbing to the shot. That shot sounded like a big league 3-2 foul ball coming off of a wooden bat. The acoustics in this area are great!!
It was getting late and I needed to head home, so I collected my squirrels and headed out. On the way home, I heard 2 squirrels playing while trying to eat in an oak. I put my quarry down on the side of the path and got beneath the tree to line up a shot. One squirrel heard me and darted. I shot at the other and missed the first shot hitting a branch. As the squirrel moved I stayed with it. This one got to the trunk of a tree about 15 yards in front of me and began to descend the tree. I had to take my shot before it reached the undergrowth. It settled on a knot hugging tight to the trunk. I lined up what I thought was a neck/base of the skull shot and pressed the trigger. I heard the impact and watched the squirrel fall to the base of the tree. Its partner that darted began barking, but it was hard to locate. I was determined to bag the barker so I could limit out. I focused on this squirrel sweeping back and forth with my rifle scope and couldn’t see the squirrel. I decided to try my binoculars. After a few more minutes I found it on the trunk of a young pine tree facing the ground barking up a storm. I transitioned to my rifle scope in attempt to pick up the sentry squirrel. I was having difficulty. In the process I caught my previously shot squirrel in my peripheral. When I turned my head I saw that it jumped up and ran off. I tried to look for it before going home, but I only had so much daylight left. I decided to turn around and go home before getting too far off of the trail. I was upset that the thing jumped up and ran off on me.
All in all I I got to challenge myself and I had fun on this hunt.
Pardon the typos. I finally got around to editing this post.
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