Early last week Marley and headed into the mountains for a few days to camp and try for some tree squirrels. I don't often have the chance to hunt them so I was more than excited to try for something different other than rabbits. The pre scouted location sat around 6500ft elevation, a bit higher than I normally venture into but would offer some cooler temperatures.
We arrived to our camping spot a bit later than usual as the old Jeep trail was pretty beat up from the recent storm that came through. We posted up under some very large Ponderosa Pines that nestled into a deep canyon surrounded by mountains. For this trip I packed pretty light with really only the necessities Marley and I would need over a few days. I did bring a tent but was feeling more like staying in the Jeep as the nighttime temperatures were starting to get colder and I had suspected we might get some rain. I setup my 10x15' tarp that I setup in the event it rained we could have some shelter and a comfortable place to cook and hang out.
One of many products I brought to begin field testing with is the GXPump L3 portable compressor that runs off 18v Lithium Ion batteries.
This unit is one I've been looking at for awhile as it's self contained and doesn't require hooking up to a vehicles battery. I have been enjoying the unit and am learning what I do and don't like that I hopefully will be able to eventually pass on with a review. For this trip I actually brought only one rifle, the AAA EVOL Mini in .22 caliber putting out 30 fpe using the 18gr JSB's. This is a really neat gun for hiking around and works well for a full day of tree squirrel hunting.
Marley was getting excited so I did a little practice on some cans before we headed out away from camp to hunt. It was fairly cloudy and a bit cooler that I suspected would slow down the hunting activity, still it was fun just to be outside and get to explore such a beautiful area. This particular location was fairly active during the early 1930's with several mining camps scattered throughout these remote mountains. It's not uncommon to come across old foundations and remnants from past inhabitants that once called this place home. This type of history fascinates me as I cant help to wonder what it was like to live such a primitive lifestyle in such an unforgiving environment...the stories these men could tell would be no doubt interesting. Marley and I headed away from camp and moved towards the tallest trees, some upwards of 150+ feet. As we moved into the forest I was keeping my eyes out for activity on the ground as well as high up in the canopy's, sometimes you can get lucky and spot the squirrels moving about.
It didn't take long for us to spot a tree squirrel running across the ground at 100 yard disappearing in the debris of fell trees. We waited patiently hoping to spot it climbing one of the many tall trees but the forest seemed to be dead silent. As we moved along it was apparent these squirrels had been quite busy littering the forest floor with chewed up pine cones....nothing more than the core, left to be taken over by mother nature.
After more than an hour of slowly moving through the underbelly of this vast forest I was starting to feel a bit discouraged as we were not seeing nor hearing anything.....and then the faint sound of "barking" in the distance. My hearing has unfortunately deteriorated over the years but thankfully Marley can hear a fly fart from over a mile away. I told her to go find the squirrel and sent her off on her own, figured she would figure it out and call me if she needs. She took off like a rocket and I tried to keep up the best I could....soon I could hear her barking, mind you she has the loudest bark of any dog I've ever met. haha Not hard to find her at all!! Soon I came up over a hill and could see her at the base of one of the larger trees, I looked up and could see that squirrel climbing way up. Not wanting to have a super steep angle to take a shot from I moved up a hillside where I was able to get a more straight on shot.
This squirrel was just about to the very top and from me was 45 yards, I took my shot and heard the distinct THWAAACK!!!! Down he went, bouncing off the branches with Marley eagerly waiting to catch him like a tennis ball...and she did.
I was so happy we had success and it would have never happened without Marley, she is a true professional and one of the hardest working hunting dogs. We did continue on but saw no more activity other than a Deer that was passing through, ultimately we headed back to camp.
Back at camp I quickly cleaned and processed the tree squirrel as it would be a heavy portion of the nights dinner. These tree squirrels have a very tough hide and do require a very sharp blade to make easy work of the process.
After getting everything cleaned and cut up for cooking I just kept things simple with some salt and pepper along with some Coconut oil in the pan.
Although a campfire would be nice this forest is extremely dry and it simply wasn't worth the risk so we kept things low impact with Sterno canned heat. This stuff is cheap, comes in small cans and will burn for hours. I dug a small hole, dropped the can in and made a border with some rocks to rest the pan on.
I fixed Marley a heaping plate and then made my own along with some chile and cheese, perfect meal for a long day of hiking around and chasing squirrels. These large grey squirrels really do taste like chicken and cook pretty much the same way, pretty simple and one is enough to fill you up. After dinner Marley got in the Jeep and hit the sack while I stayed up, had some coffee and did a little editing before going to bed.
The following morning after a great nights sleep we woke up, made some coffee and breakfast and we were off again for some Ground Squirrels. It didn't end up raining and the day was sunny and clear, perfect for the Ground Squirrel activity. We moved away from camp and we spotting them left and right with shots from 30 yards all the way out to 65.
Sorry for the dirt and scratches but even with those this rifle is still a beauty in my eyes, it really is an amazing little gun that can take a licking for sure. We had a great morning of hunting before I had to head back to camp and finish up some other video work. Hope some may enjoy these post as well as the enclosed video that's a more detailed documentation of this fantastic trip. Cheers, Dana
We arrived to our camping spot a bit later than usual as the old Jeep trail was pretty beat up from the recent storm that came through. We posted up under some very large Ponderosa Pines that nestled into a deep canyon surrounded by mountains. For this trip I packed pretty light with really only the necessities Marley and I would need over a few days. I did bring a tent but was feeling more like staying in the Jeep as the nighttime temperatures were starting to get colder and I had suspected we might get some rain. I setup my 10x15' tarp that I setup in the event it rained we could have some shelter and a comfortable place to cook and hang out.
One of many products I brought to begin field testing with is the GXPump L3 portable compressor that runs off 18v Lithium Ion batteries.
This unit is one I've been looking at for awhile as it's self contained and doesn't require hooking up to a vehicles battery. I have been enjoying the unit and am learning what I do and don't like that I hopefully will be able to eventually pass on with a review. For this trip I actually brought only one rifle, the AAA EVOL Mini in .22 caliber putting out 30 fpe using the 18gr JSB's. This is a really neat gun for hiking around and works well for a full day of tree squirrel hunting.
Marley was getting excited so I did a little practice on some cans before we headed out away from camp to hunt. It was fairly cloudy and a bit cooler that I suspected would slow down the hunting activity, still it was fun just to be outside and get to explore such a beautiful area. This particular location was fairly active during the early 1930's with several mining camps scattered throughout these remote mountains. It's not uncommon to come across old foundations and remnants from past inhabitants that once called this place home. This type of history fascinates me as I cant help to wonder what it was like to live such a primitive lifestyle in such an unforgiving environment...the stories these men could tell would be no doubt interesting. Marley and I headed away from camp and moved towards the tallest trees, some upwards of 150+ feet. As we moved into the forest I was keeping my eyes out for activity on the ground as well as high up in the canopy's, sometimes you can get lucky and spot the squirrels moving about.
It didn't take long for us to spot a tree squirrel running across the ground at 100 yard disappearing in the debris of fell trees. We waited patiently hoping to spot it climbing one of the many tall trees but the forest seemed to be dead silent. As we moved along it was apparent these squirrels had been quite busy littering the forest floor with chewed up pine cones....nothing more than the core, left to be taken over by mother nature.
After more than an hour of slowly moving through the underbelly of this vast forest I was starting to feel a bit discouraged as we were not seeing nor hearing anything.....and then the faint sound of "barking" in the distance. My hearing has unfortunately deteriorated over the years but thankfully Marley can hear a fly fart from over a mile away. I told her to go find the squirrel and sent her off on her own, figured she would figure it out and call me if she needs. She took off like a rocket and I tried to keep up the best I could....soon I could hear her barking, mind you she has the loudest bark of any dog I've ever met. haha Not hard to find her at all!! Soon I came up over a hill and could see her at the base of one of the larger trees, I looked up and could see that squirrel climbing way up. Not wanting to have a super steep angle to take a shot from I moved up a hillside where I was able to get a more straight on shot.
This squirrel was just about to the very top and from me was 45 yards, I took my shot and heard the distinct THWAAACK!!!! Down he went, bouncing off the branches with Marley eagerly waiting to catch him like a tennis ball...and she did.
I was so happy we had success and it would have never happened without Marley, she is a true professional and one of the hardest working hunting dogs. We did continue on but saw no more activity other than a Deer that was passing through, ultimately we headed back to camp.
Back at camp I quickly cleaned and processed the tree squirrel as it would be a heavy portion of the nights dinner. These tree squirrels have a very tough hide and do require a very sharp blade to make easy work of the process.
After getting everything cleaned and cut up for cooking I just kept things simple with some salt and pepper along with some Coconut oil in the pan.
Although a campfire would be nice this forest is extremely dry and it simply wasn't worth the risk so we kept things low impact with Sterno canned heat. This stuff is cheap, comes in small cans and will burn for hours. I dug a small hole, dropped the can in and made a border with some rocks to rest the pan on.
I fixed Marley a heaping plate and then made my own along with some chile and cheese, perfect meal for a long day of hiking around and chasing squirrels. These large grey squirrels really do taste like chicken and cook pretty much the same way, pretty simple and one is enough to fill you up. After dinner Marley got in the Jeep and hit the sack while I stayed up, had some coffee and did a little editing before going to bed.
The following morning after a great nights sleep we woke up, made some coffee and breakfast and we were off again for some Ground Squirrels. It didn't end up raining and the day was sunny and clear, perfect for the Ground Squirrel activity. We moved away from camp and we spotting them left and right with shots from 30 yards all the way out to 65.
Sorry for the dirt and scratches but even with those this rifle is still a beauty in my eyes, it really is an amazing little gun that can take a licking for sure. We had a great morning of hunting before I had to head back to camp and finish up some other video work. Hope some may enjoy these post as well as the enclosed video that's a more detailed documentation of this fantastic trip. Cheers, Dana
