asdew1880
Member
Just wanted to share how Max and I have been progressing. On Saturday Max and I went to the squirrel woods in Central kentucky on some public land. We got to the spot around 9:30 and there were five other trucks in the parking lot thankfully they were deer hunting. It was a cool 50° the high for the day was only supposed to be in the mid-60s and bright and sunny. Before hitting the trail in, another squirrel hunter pulled up. After a quick chat and introduction we decide to split up go our separate ways and Max and I headed up the ridge into the woods.Given all the hunting pressure the plan was to walk about 3/4 of a mile on the main trail and then bump off the trail onto another ridge and hunt another 2 mi into the forest and come back.
The first squirrel of the day came right off the main trail about a half mile in. as a quick side note I had to pee ever since I left my house that morning and I planned on peeing at the trailhead however with the other hunter at the trailhead I decided to press on for a ways and Max was working pretty good so I just kept going. Sure enough Max busted down the ridge and I'd followed in after him. By the time I got to him he was treeing hard and after about a minute of staring in the trees and seeing 3 nice size den holes in the area I decided it was time to pee. I had my shotgun in my right hand I took care of business with the left, and of course the squirrel starts timbering right in front of me and the dog! You can fill in what happened over the next 15 seconds but it ended with a squirrel in a den, slightly wetter pants than desired, a rushed shot and a "thank God nobody saw that!"; 0/1.
Thankfully the rest of the day was full of squirrels, barking and shotgun blasts. Every single squirrel that Max got into was timbering hard; at least a 4-5 trees worth and a couple times over 300 yds. Max did great though, kept track of the timbering squirrels pretty well. Did I mention they were timbering like crazy? Must have been a combination of season and weather, but the longest one went all the way around the base of a knob,almost like running a rabbit with beagles. I stayed up on top of the ridge as the squirrel circled counterclockwise from 3:00 to 9:00 just outside shotgun range. When he timbered to 9:00 he turned right towards me and I settled the bead of my shotgun 6in in front of his head. Max barked and yes, full choke no6 field loads at 40yds do quite well with little meat damage.
Overall we got 3, saw at least 15 ( probly 6-7 groups), walked 5.5mi, climbed two 900ft "hills" and had a great time! Really proud of Max and how he's turning out so far. Can't wait for the leaves to fall more and see how he adjusts and keeps learning.
The first squirrel of the day came right off the main trail about a half mile in. as a quick side note I had to pee ever since I left my house that morning and I planned on peeing at the trailhead however with the other hunter at the trailhead I decided to press on for a ways and Max was working pretty good so I just kept going. Sure enough Max busted down the ridge and I'd followed in after him. By the time I got to him he was treeing hard and after about a minute of staring in the trees and seeing 3 nice size den holes in the area I decided it was time to pee. I had my shotgun in my right hand I took care of business with the left, and of course the squirrel starts timbering right in front of me and the dog! You can fill in what happened over the next 15 seconds but it ended with a squirrel in a den, slightly wetter pants than desired, a rushed shot and a "thank God nobody saw that!"; 0/1.
Thankfully the rest of the day was full of squirrels, barking and shotgun blasts. Every single squirrel that Max got into was timbering hard; at least a 4-5 trees worth and a couple times over 300 yds. Max did great though, kept track of the timbering squirrels pretty well. Did I mention they were timbering like crazy? Must have been a combination of season and weather, but the longest one went all the way around the base of a knob,almost like running a rabbit with beagles. I stayed up on top of the ridge as the squirrel circled counterclockwise from 3:00 to 9:00 just outside shotgun range. When he timbered to 9:00 he turned right towards me and I settled the bead of my shotgun 6in in front of his head. Max barked and yes, full choke no6 field loads at 40yds do quite well with little meat damage.
Overall we got 3, saw at least 15 ( probly 6-7 groups), walked 5.5mi, climbed two 900ft "hills" and had a great time! Really proud of Max and how he's turning out so far. Can't wait for the leaves to fall more and see how he adjusts and keeps learning.
