Trip Report: Out For Squirrels 10/10/15 – 10/11/15

I know it’s been some time since I posted, but not to worry. I’ve been getting out and doing the usual trips, I just haven’t had time to write any posts because I’ve been busy with house stuff. Here is one from my last trip this weekend:

I figured I would go out and see if I can get a few squirrels. I’ll hopefully do some pheasant hunting next weekend, but I had nothing planned for this one, so I figured, why not. As I was leaving in the morning however, Rhea was looking at me all excited. She knows that when I put my backpacking clothes on, it’s woods time. So, at the last minute I decided to take her. At that point the hunting became only theoretical with her bouncing all over the forest.

It turned out that the dog wasn’t as big of a problem as I expected. She didn’t cause much commotion. Unfortunately though, I didn’t have the right strategy for getting at the squirrels, and I’m not really sure what to do about it.

The problem was that the canopy was so thick, that even though I spotted a fair number of squirrels, by the time I shouldered my rifle, I would have lost sight of them and was unable to reacquire. The few times where I could still see them, I didn’t have a clear shot. Those of you who know more about squirrel hunting, what do you do in such situations?

Anyway, I had a hard time with the squirrels, but the mushrooms were everywhere.

Hey! You’re not a mushroom. Get out of here!

After all those mushrooms, it was time to set up camp for the evening. I was thinking of starting a fire because I find that the squirrels really don’t care, but I know there were possibly people out deer hunting (it’s too early for rifle season, but bow and muzzleloader are open), so I decided against it. The last thing I want to do is mess up someone’s hunt. So, we just ate and went to sleep. 

The night was cold. It came down to close to freezing. I was chilly at times. I woke up early, and made my way out of the forest.

Clearly hunting is not my thing, but I’ll take any excuse to get out into the forest.