I took some time to finally push myself get out and squirrel hunt. Work has been something else this past quarter. My day started early, but I went out late this morning around 9:30am, nice and cool weather 47-50F. I visited one of my regular spots, saw about 4 squirrels, but only had a decent shot opportunity on one of them. Shot twice and missed both times from about 25-30 yards. I was fine with that. I don’t think it knew it was being shot at, but it didn’t stick around to see what would happen after the second miss. This gray squirrel descended the tree and hightailed it out of sight on the forest floor. It was nice to get out and be around the animals again. I took the latter part of the morning to just sit in the woods and take it all in. It’s was a bit windy today so it was hard to hear much movement. I got busted by a squirrel that I never saw and a deer whose tail I caught in the air as it wheezed and ran. Both had to spot me from 40-60 yards away.
Later after returning home, I ran some errands and got back out in the woods around 5:30ish. It probably took me about 35-40 mins to slow walk and work my way into the woods around the vines, dead leaves, fallen branches, and underbrush. I heard a squirrel try to bust me, but there were too many branches or vines between us for it to be certain that it saw a threat - this is my best estimation of what it was thinking. I also had the sun to my back, so how much could it really see? I stopped, remained somewhat still, and waited it out. When it shut up, I slowly worked my way into the woods a little deeper. I saw some ground that had fewer fallen leaves and branches with decent plant cover to help me blend in so I worked my way into that area. Half of the time during my advance I’m hearing acorns and branches falling and I can’t tell which ones are from the wind, birds, or squirrels. About 30 mins in and after waiting out the barker, I begin hearing the squirrels stir in the trees. Now I’m getting anxious to get into position. There aren’t many openings in the canopy and foliage to take semi-clear shots much longer than about 40 yards. I don’t want to take any long shots because today I dusted off the Prod loaded with 14.3 grain CPHPs. When I finally get into position, I kneel down in the underbrush, spread the legs of my bipod, and lower it so that I can try to maximize my rest for gratuitous angular range. I’m still keyed in on the area that the barker seemed to have been in. Finally, I start seeing movement in a tall, but slim pine tree. I see it sitting on its haunches and put my 3-12x44 FFP Vector Veyron’s crosshairs towards its ear and press the trigger. *shhh-click.* That’s all you hear from the Prod with the Donny FL Tanto affixed. I hit a branch and the squirrel scrambles then runs, propels itself through the air, and into an adjacent oak. I track him and once he pauses I aim for his head and send another hollow tipped diabolo, *shhh-click*………….
thwack
. He falls forward and appears to get stuck between smaller branches below, then falls and swings about a half of a head lower, hanging off a branch by a hind foot. I debated taking a follow up shot, while I’m weighing my next move, it lets go and tumbles to the earth.
I still hear movement in a couple other areas, but I’m listening to see if I can hear the squirrel I just shot. I heard a brief rustle, then nothing. I start to go retrieve it then I stop and turn right, then I look left thinking I should go get it now, but there’s a squirrel going nuts in a tree to my right. So I made a mental note where the first one fell and stalked around a couple trees so I could see what the other one was doing. Turns out that it was weaving through some vines that had grown up into the tree. I couldn’t tell if it was eating , building a dray, or what. What I do know is that I’m gonna cook him if he sits still long enough. My opportunity comes as it jumps through the tangles of vines and down the tree trunk a bit. The rodent paused then hopped to a branch. It stopped and stretched out its torso and neck as if investigating something on the next branch before stepping onto said branch. Good for me, bad for him. When he paused a second too long, I sent one that dropped him like a ping pong ball falling through the peg board on one of those old county-fair games. When it hit the ground I stand up and look over towards the first squirrel I shot. Then I went to search for the second one. When I got toward the base of the tree I could see a mess of vines growing between the two closest trees, up into, and around them. I’m using my bipod as a brush guard and to move vines and long grass around to find my downed quarry. With the moderator affixed the Prod feels pretty long with an AR styled folding stock hanging off of a single point sling. As I stoop to manueaver through the vines my sleeves and pants legs are getting snagged by green briars. One wraps high around my ankle above my boot. I twist and try to untangle myself, but the briar vine is wrapped around my ankle and is tightening. I bend down to grab it and unwrap it and I feel my moderator in the leaves and dirt. I have no way to prevent this from happening. I manage to work myself free using my bipod and gun as brush guards. I circle the two trees, but these vines are a mess. I’m not seeing this squirrel. The sun is now lowering on the horizon and I’m losing light quickly. I decide to retrieve the first one and come back to this one since I have to pass the second squirrel to exit the woods.
I found the first squirrel shot in the head, still breathing. Smh. So I put one in the back of its head. Something told me to get that one first. It convulses violently for about 15 seconds, then gave two weak kicks with its rear right leg just before it took its final breath. I pulled a shopping bag from my pocket to tote it. He was bleeding badly from the head.
I walk over to the vines that are growing into a thicket at the base of these other trees to search for #2. I enter the tangled mess once again. This time the bag I’m holding is getting tangled up in the thorns. I untangle it, get the vines off my sleeve, and hang the bag on a broken branch. One corner of the bag is somewhat shredded and the bushy tail pokes out slightly. I take my cellphone out of my pocket, turn on the flashlight, and try to illuminate as much ground as I can. I squat down to direct the beam of light on the earth and into the underbrush, but nothing. After getting tangled up a couple more times, exiting the briars, walking CCW around the trees a little and entering the briars again. My sense of direction is all the way off. I can’t find this squirrel, don’t see any blood, and the sun is of little assistance at this point. I start lifting up tangled masses of briars with my bipod legs, still I see nothing squirrly. After about 10-15 minutes of this I had to call it quits, so I go back for my bagged squirrel that I hung up and now I can’t find
that tree. By this time I’m getting hung up in small vines that I can’t even see. I’m getting hit in the face, poked around the eye, and have thorns scratching my legs through my pants. Eventually I abandoned my search and made my way towards the faint purple horizon using my phone’s flashlight so I could find the path leading out of the woods.
This had to be one of my worst experiences squirrel hunting. The other happened in proximity to the area this incident occurred, but last season. This wooded area is a challenge because it forces you to be stealth just be able to eyeball the squirrels. The foliage is such a mess in places you will have to thread the needle on some shots, pass, or miss and hit vines and branches. I hadn’t thought about it until I typed this, but it’s one of my most challenging squirrel hunting spots. I came home empty handed leaving my meat in the woods. At least I know they didn’t run off, but this sucks. Evening hunts in low light on small critters now present new challenges to me that I can no longer deny. This is me venting. If you read this whole thing, good on you. I don’t expect many people to finish reading this.
Here’s the first squirrel after the coup de gras before bagging him.
