Squirrel Hunting

Fox Squirrel

The first game animal I took was a fox squirrel at age eight.  Dad took me on what I'm sure was a short quail hunt. Buster (the smartest dog who ever lived according to dad) treed a squirrel.  I was carrying dad's old hand-me-down 12 gauge Winchester 97 which was taller than me and seemed heavier.

I'd only shot that big gun a few times, but after dad loaded it I tucked the too long stock under my arm and nailed my first squirrel.  I hardly noticed how bad the thing kicked me.  I was too excited about getting some real game rather than the sparrows and lizards I hunted with my bb gun.

I kept that spent 12 gauge hull for years, well into my teens.  I kept the trophy squirrel's tail for a while.  It somehow disappeared and I suspect mom may have had something to do with that.

As I grew older I realized that Dad was a quail hunter who only occasionally took a squirrel if the opportunity presented itself.  Usually when old Buster treed one. Dad said most bird dogs couldn't be allowed to chase rabbits or squirrels, but Buster was smart enough to know we were after quail first.

We had plenty of squirrels in East Texas for me to hunt. I eventually learned that Dad also knew how to hunt them without a dog.  My twelfth summer I worked for my Uncle John in the hay fields and earned over $360.00 A lot of money in 1958.  I bought all my school clothes and more importantly a Browning .22 semi-auto.

My Daisy started gathering dust in the corner and that big old Winchester 97, well, I'd never liked it anyway.  Twenty-two's were made for tin cans, rabbits, and especially squirrels in my opinion.  I'd killed enough squirrels with a shotgun that it was not much of a challenge anymore.  I'd learned the basics of two ways to hunt squirrels by that time.

With a dog:

1. The dog trees a squirrel
2. You circle the tree looking for the squirrel.
3. If two hunters they get on opposite sides of the tree.
4. If you can't see the squirrel you shake a bush or make some noise and you may see him move.
5. If alone you throw a stick or rock to make some noise on the opposite side of the tree.
6. You shoot the squirrel or move on.

Still hunting:

1. You slowly move as silently as possible into a good plot of timber.
2. You stop often to listen and scan the ground and trees for any sound or movement.
3. When you see or hear something you plan the best stalk possible.
4. Sometimes you're spotted and you sit or stand until the squirrel relaxes and shows again.
5. Sometimes you get a shot and sometimes you move on.

I took to the still hunting quickly. Heck! My Daisy BB and I had been training on birds for years.  I eventually got a cheap 4x scope for the .22 and when the crosshairs settled on a squirrel's head it was usually "lights out".

Today I still shoot a squirrel from time to time, but it's often while deer hunting.  I most always have a slingshot with me today.  I sometimes try deer hunting using my old still hunting squirrel techniques, but deer are much more wary than squirrels.  I haven't gone on a real squirrel hunt in years.  I don't know why, I always loved it.