Finally Made It Out for My First Squirrel Hunt of The Season

[DeltaEchoVictor]

Meandered around in the woods for about 5hrs or so with my old Steven's .22 & managed to see a few things.

Shot this fellow from about 20 yards.  He was traveling with another, sounding like little monsters on the ground.  Glad they were making all that noise too, because it was really windy today.  It was hard to hear much when the wind was kicking up.  The wind also made for excellent cover though as well. 


See if you can see what came to visit me in the next few photos.  With the wind blowing like it was, their noses & ears weren't working well for them.  At least not like normal.   I was within 10 to 30 yards of several of them today & I wasn't wearing camo.  I was still-hunting (short slow walks followed by periods of standing or squatting & looking/listening).

#1


#2


#3 This one is tough to see.  If you don't see it, let me know & I'll highlight it for you.  It's a small one.


All three pictures are of different animals (same species).  In total I was close to 8 of them today.  That's a good day for me, & it wouldn't have happened if the wind hadn't been so crazy.

Turkey feather & souvenir.


Turtle shell & souvenir for a friend.


Tally for the day:
5(ish) hours spent meandering 200 yards or so up & down a friends hills.
3 gray squirrels seen.
3 red squirrels seen.
2 squirrels shot at = 1 squirrel taken (I do occasionally miss) 
8 deer seen.
1 turkey feather procured.
1 turtle shell procured for a friend.

All in all, a pretty good day.

[BRCincy]

Sounds like a great day.  I had my first day out too recently, saw 8 grays, shot at 2, took 2.  The others were within 30 yards of a house so I didn't shoot, but moved on to find some more.  Got to use a shotgun where I am, its the law, and too much around.

[KYdoomer]

Great pics, sounds like a great day and beautiful scenery.

Is that a groundhog?  Hard to tell for sure.

J

[DeltaEchoVictor]

Is that a groundhog?  Hard to tell for sure.

J

There's a small fawn, just out of her spots in the red circle (I enlarged the portion of the picture she's in).  Pretty hard to see thru the camera lense.  The camera makes everything look farther away than it really is.  The way the light is, & the way shadowing falls makes it tough to see in the pic.  I saw her pretty easily when she ran up to within about 10 feet of me & bleated at me, lol.  Turns out I wasn't the mama she was looking for. 

Here are the other two close visitors.

[SteveandTracyinKY]

What a great day. I couldn't find the little fawn either. So how did you cook the little fellow up?

[DeltaEchoVictor]

What a great day. I couldn't find the little fawn either. So how did you cook the little fellow up?

LOL...no. 

I like 'em a little larger & smarter.  It's no fun when they run up so close you can crack 'em on the head. 

That takes all the challenge out of it.  I did hang my deer stand not too far from this spot where I saw all the does & fawns though.  I'm counting on some courtin' going on when the rut starts. 

[joeinwv]

Was out Sat morning - staked out below 3 walnut trees looking for bushy tails. A 6 point buck walked right down the path to me. He stopped about 5 yards away from where I was standing. He is out of season and I was carrying my 10/22 - but I could easily have taken him with a 22LR.

Also goes to show that being quiet and downwind are top priorities - I had no camo, no scent control, no attractant. I was standing in the middle of a path and he never knew I was there.

[DeltaEchoVictor]

Was out Sat morning - staked out below 3 walnut trees looking for bushy tails. A 6 point buck walked right down the path to me. He stopped about 5 yards away from where I was standing. He is out of season and I was carrying my 10/22 - but I could easily have taken him with a 22LR.

Also goes to show that being quiet and downwind are top priorities - I had no camo, no scent control, no attractant. I was standing in the middle of a path and he never knew I was there.

Awesomeness. 

Makes me nuts to see people buy into the whole "latest & greatest camouflage fad".  I was sans camo/scent control as well & was within easy longbow range of most of the deer I saw.  Of course it helped that the wind was crazy that day.   

[TexDaddy]

...Also goes to show that being quiet and downwind are top priorities - I had no camo, no scent control, no attractant. I was standing in the middle of a path and he never knew I was there.

Absolutely true. Everytime I have ever hunted deer, I was dressed head to toe in bright orange. I would find a nice spot where I could comfortably sit still and wait. Worked every time.

[SteveandTracyinKY]

Aren't deer color blind? Never had a problem with deer. Turkeys suck.

[Docwatmo]

Turkeys drive me nuts.  I can be walking through the woods, tearing up noisy leaves out of season and see 10 turkeys within easy plinking distance.  The last two times I went out for turkeys, (12 years ago, damn its been a while,  I can't wait to get the boys out now) didn't see a damn turkey till we got back to the truck, there were 3 on the road, 50 feet from the truck.  We watched them for a few minutes then got in the truck and drove off and they finally scattered.

I swear turkeys are psychic and have an evil sense of humor.