Went into the woods for 75-90 minutes this evening. I returned to an area I heard activity when I was out in high winds and came across two squirrels I was unable to track because I couldn’t hear them moving in the wind. Today I went into the tree stand beneath an oak, squatted down, and waited amongst some oak saplings. Then my feet and knees began to hurt as I tried to maintain my position without moving atop the freshly fallen leaves. After about 15 minutes I couldn’t take it. I got up and walked over to some young pines and stood with my back against one. There I waited about a half hour. I heard mostly insects and few different bird species that I’m becoming more familiar with. I was surprised to see a hawk swoop beneath the canopy, maneuver beneath the branches like a fighter jet in a dogfight, and fly back out in a matter of seconds. I mean it came and went swiftly and startled me in the process. I guess (s)he knows where to come and eat.
Thirty minutes passes before I heard the sound, volume, and type of rustling I was waiting for about 13 yards away. I gently pushed off the pine tree, clicked off the safety, and shoulder my Lelya. I looked through my scope and began tracking the gray jumping into another tree. As he ran across a young skinny oak growing in an arch, he stopped briefly around the apex and looked at me. As he lowered his head I aimed for it and squeezed the trigger. He jumped to another branch, stumbled, fell, and tried to hold on with his front legs before falling into a few vines on his way to the ground. When he landed in the leaves he kicked a few times and fell silent. Other than the impact and sounds of him trying hold on, fall, and kick we both remained silent. I started to retrieve him, then looked to see if I needed to take a follow up shot. I wasn’t sure exactly where I’d hit him. Once on the ground he laid still and I stayed put.
I waited about half hour more in attempt to catch another squirrel, but nothing came along. So just before the sun finished setting I used the flashlight on my phone to retrieve the carcass and wrestled briar vines on my way out of the woods. That was a pain to do in low light. When I returned home I skinned and cleaned him. The shot went through the inner left shoulder, through the rib cage, nicked the heart, and probably a lung. The organs are pretty small and it was tough to see what happened to the lungs when trying to examine them after they’d been removed.
Edit: Added a close-up pic of the point of impact.
Thirty minutes passes before I heard the sound, volume, and type of rustling I was waiting for about 13 yards away. I gently pushed off the pine tree, clicked off the safety, and shoulder my Lelya. I looked through my scope and began tracking the gray jumping into another tree. As he ran across a young skinny oak growing in an arch, he stopped briefly around the apex and looked at me. As he lowered his head I aimed for it and squeezed the trigger. He jumped to another branch, stumbled, fell, and tried to hold on with his front legs before falling into a few vines on his way to the ground. When he landed in the leaves he kicked a few times and fell silent. Other than the impact and sounds of him trying hold on, fall, and kick we both remained silent. I started to retrieve him, then looked to see if I needed to take a follow up shot. I wasn’t sure exactly where I’d hit him. Once on the ground he laid still and I stayed put.
I waited about half hour more in attempt to catch another squirrel, but nothing came along. So just before the sun finished setting I used the flashlight on my phone to retrieve the carcass and wrestled briar vines on my way out of the woods. That was a pain to do in low light. When I returned home I skinned and cleaned him. The shot went through the inner left shoulder, through the rib cage, nicked the heart, and probably a lung. The organs are pretty small and it was tough to see what happened to the lungs when trying to examine them after they’d been removed.
Edit: Added a close-up pic of the point of impact.