Squirrel Hunting

[Nutcracker]

I just spent 4 days hunting in rough country National Forest. I hunted mornings until lunchtime. I wanted to try out my .25 Vulcan, as I got it after last season went out. The Vulcan performed well, most of my shots were @ 40 yards. I bagged 13 and all but one was one shot kills. While hiking these steep ridges , I found this sinkhole. Hundreds of feet deep. 

I was staying in a cabin and cleaned my squirrels & vacuum-packed them each day. Hope to go back soon. I love the woods & have hunted squirrel for 50 years and still love it. Here is some pics. 

 

[crittahitta]

Nice writeup. I like how you vacuum packed the meat. That sinkhole is kinda scary if your were walking in low light.

 

[AirNGasman]

If that hole is indeed hundreds of feet deep, the last few feet will have a lot of skeletons; maybe some human! You should come back with a long rope and flashlight...

 

[Brian.in.MI]

Thank you for sharing this! Squirrel hunting never gets old, even if we do. I’ve only been hunting squirrels for 38 years and love it as much (or more) than when I was 10. AirNGasman has been hunting squirrels since the 1940’s, so he’s got us both beat, hahaha. 

And, yea that sinkhole is scary and fascinating as hell!!

Brian

 

[JimNM]

No joke about the hole - here is a tidbit from my neighborhood. A giant sloth was found at the bottom of a gas vent (Fumarole) at Aden Crater, Dona Ana County, New Mexico.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aden_Crater

Aden Crater is a small shield volcano, part of the Potrillo volcanic field of New Mexico.[3] It is in Doña Ana County between Santa Teresa, New Mexico and Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is in a remote location that can be hiked and explored. The area has deep caverns that can be very dangerous to inexperienced hikers and cavers.[5] A fossilized ground sloth,[6] now at the Peabody Museum, was found in a fumarole roughly 100' deep located on the SE portion of the crater rim. Several ground sloth coprolites were also recovered and were stored in the Geology department at UTEP. 

 

[Nutcracker]

I have always liked caves, strange or unique rock formations. But was kind of taken aback , when stumbling along focusing mostly on the trees & all of a sudden I notice this hole in the ground. I knew I was in a cavernous area as I passed a few sinkholes along the road heading into the forest. It rained for 24 hours one day and we received a total of 4 inches. The next morning the sun was out. This day I probably seen over 30 squirrels by noon. I limited out in less than two hours. I went back to that same area a couple days later and didn't see many squirrels. I was all prepared to limit out, joke on me. 

IMO, the PCP BP, is the ultimate tree squirrel rifle. I have a .22 Wildcat & a .22 Hummingbird. I like the power of the .25 Vulcan better, but can actually shoot my Hummingbird better, especially offhand & it is more a natural feel for me. Being flat it carries so well you forget you have it. From the bench I can't really say that one is more accurate than the other. All three are great guns however, the Hummingbird is not w/o issues. 

I agree Brian, "we may grow old , but squirrel hunting never will". I like that. Happy Hunting.