Clean the .17, the Squirrel Hunting is Over!!

I was only able to get into the woods on Mon, Tues, & Weds of last week due to weather & other obligations. I didn’t see any foxes at all but several reds as well as quite a few deer. Tues afternoon, I sat in my deer woods from 12:30 until 4. There was a misty rain most of the time which kept all the squirrels “indoors” except for 1 red at about 3:30. At about 2:00, I decided to take a walk through the east end of the woods. It took about 30 minutes & I didn’t see any wildlife at all. A few minutes after I sat down, I caught motion to my right & saw a bit of gray & white, a deer moving to the SE. I saw a little more & could tell it was a big deer. It passed through a small opening in the trees, buck! It kept walking at a leisurely pass & would pass me at about 40 yards. It moved into a bigger opening & I could see the left side of its rack. Holy Guacamole, Batman!!!! It was HUUUUGE with at least 5!! I lost sight of it in the brush but it was headed towards the plowed corn field. It entered the field & moved until it was almost directly in front of my deer stand looking towards the stand. It moved a few feet, stopped, & looked. It did this several times standing broadside at maybe 20-30 yards from the blind. It finally turned its head so I could see the right side of its rack. I couldn’t tell if it was broken or was malformed but it sure didn’t match the left side. Hopefully it will be around in 2 weeks.

As I said, the weather kept me from going out the end of last week but this morning was beautiful with cloudless skies & no breeze. It was 33 1st thing so I put off going out until 10. I got sat down at 10:10 in the woods behind the house. Shortly thereafter, I spotted 1 moving up a tree off to my right. I kept watch but didn’t see it. I saw motion on a tree to my right & slightly behind me. A fox was coming down, saw me, & stopped. I was able to twist around, get the gun up, & drop her. It was 10:22. I don’t think I have ever killed a squirrel so soon after entering the woods. I was back at the house in less than 30 minutes. I thought the last 1 would be the hardest to get &, in 1 sense it was since I hunted 3 days without even seeing a fox but, on the other hand, it only took 12 minutes to finally get it.

This female was number 30 total & number 25 for the pot. I’m done for this fall. All that’s left to do is thaw, pressure cook, & pick the last 5.