bedford co skwirl hunt

[bigben]

A buddy of mine has a cabin in bedford county of pa.  Specifically on sgl 49  This area of pa is pretty much ground zero for cwd.  Two winters ago I went out in flindlock season to hunt and didnt even see a deer to shoot at.  Last year he invited me again but with life we couldnt line up a weekend.  SO this season before the year got too busy I planned on going out for a squirrel hunt.  We planned it for the first weekend of october unless the weather was terrible. 

Friday morn I went on a short hunt here around home.  More of a scouting mission for the coming seasons on local state forest.  Fog put a damper on the hunting and for a blind walk I didnt find anything I was looking for but atleast now I wont waste time there in deer season.  I came down out of the mountain went home and packed.  A quick trip to the grocery store and then on the highway.  I got to my buddys cabin around 3pm.

After unloading we got a game plan together to go out.  We could hear squirrels from the cabin barking and cutting on hickorys and walnuts.  I had done some work to a family heirloom in the form of a savage mod b fox side by side 12ga.  I had picked up a box of game load #6 remingtons weeks earlier.  This peticular gun had been hunted with my uncles and one had dropped it.  Bending a barrel it needed fixed.  My grandfather took everything to a fella by the name of Dale guise in gardners.  He at one time had done all the left hand conversions to remingtons mod 700's back in the day before they took it in house and made em from the factory.  In the future I married his grand daughter.  So this shotgun has a bit of history on both my side and my wifes side.  He fixed the bent barrel and plugged the holes for the sling both in the barrel and the stock.  Prob the reason it fell to begin with. 

So decades later I pulled the plugs and re installed a sling stud in the front and the stock.  As you can see it is easier to carry this way through the squirrel woods and the light weight doesnt effect the swing much.  I havent shot at any birds flying with it yet but wouldnt take much to take it off or tighten it tighter.

So shortly after getting under way I spotted a grey at the top of a big white oak.  I drew a bead and squeezed the back trigger firing the full barrel.  When the shot hit I seen leaves move all around but I must have got antzy and shot too far as that grey kicked it into overdrive and ran back to the safety of his nest.  A little chuckle at my desire to harvest a critter with the double and i moved on. 

It was a little warm.  high 70's and sweat was pouring even though I was walking slow.  The next squirrel showed on the ground about 30 yards ahead.  pulling up and drawing a bead the full choked barrel barked and he toppled off the log on the ground and the first one had been had.  Couple pictures and moving along another ran across the road ahead.  He was the faster and never offered a shot. 

I worked my way along the edge of an overgrown field and down a hollow back to camp.  Several nests dotted the trees but no critters around.  I worked my way back across above the cabin and came across a log to sit.  It was getting late and the sun had set over the mountain to the west of me.  I held out as they seemed to be eating on the black walnuts along the roads. 

While I sat one ran up a tree and stopped.  I pulled up drew a bead and the modified barrel barked and he fell stone cold out of the tree.  At the time another one took off running and I tried swinging on him and the full barrel missed.  I chuckled a bit and said oh well 4 shots and 2 critters was good enough for the fox's first hunt in probably 15 or more years.  so came the end of fridays hunt.

[bigben]

saturday I got up and decided to go hunt the area my buddy had hunted.  He had seen several and kinda held off because he wanted me to hunt it.  Once the trees started becoming lit up by the sun I could see action on the tops of the white oaks. 

I had chose to bring the chiappa dbl badger and shortly one presented a shot and after the .22 barked one toppled out of the tree.  I walked up grabbed the bugger up and another took off threw the tree.  The second time the .22 barked and that one fell as well.  Feeling pretty good I took three more shots at three other squirrels and missed all three.  I believe I was shooting too far as the group on this gun is about a inch at 50yards.  so 75 yard shots prob are not the best.  I also realize that the big sling i was using was a bad idea.  A replacment has been  ordered. 

It was getting close to 10 and i figured work back to the cabin.  I came up on a female burying a nut and the .410 ripped and tore the old girl up.  I actually felt bad but with 5 on the weekend I was pretty happy

Saturday evening I hunted the same area and was greeted with heat again sweat and bugs along with educated critters left me empty handed.  One shot with the .410 blocked by a tree and an offhand shot with the .22 brought my weekend to a close.  I need to work and find a better .22 round for the badger.  nasty do you have any suggestions? 

[bigben]

The canopy of oaks and hickorys as well as my dead sapling

[nastygunz]

Great story! As for ammo I just use those cheap Remington gold bullets I have thousands of them ha ha. On my other guns and pistol I really like the Velocitor ammo.

[bigben]

I have only shot a couple types thunderbolts, cci mags, and the winchester stuff and get the same group.  I settled on the winchester 555 box hollow points for now.  maybe I am trying to find what is unobtainable? 

[Hawks Feather]

Thanks for taking me along on your hunt. Looks like a really good time.

[FinsnFur]

Nice read with my morning coffee
I used to love setting out there waiting and watching for squirrels. They are so inquisitive they just keep presenting different shots. 

[bigben]

The only thing I lacked this hunt was a thermos of coffee.  My bud makes cowboy coffee.  While you can chew the last inch in your cup it is actually smoother then a regular perk.  honestly if I am deer hunting I swear I can see a limit all the time.  Soon as I go squirrel hunting them bastages get hard to find.  I guess because I am actively hunting them they disappear. 

[nastygunz]

I take my .22 pellet gun pistol for when im on stand deer or turkey hunting. We have those tiny little red pine squirrels that will sit right over you and scold you so everything within 10 miles knows you're there. Now when they do that to me they get the Crosman 1322 hammer   

[Okanagan]

Yes, enjoyable read with a leisurely morning coffee.

 I've never really hunted squirrels so enjoyed the stroll with you as my only way to hunt them.  When I was three or maybe four years old my dad would carry me on his shoulders while he hunted squirrels in the flint rock hills and river bottoms of Eastern Oklahoma hardwoods.  I have eaten squirrels when visiting there and they are delicious, especially the young fox squirrels.  The way my grandmother fixed them, way better than chicken!

[nastygunz]

My technique for calling is as follows. I tried all kinds of different squirrel calls and never had the slightest bit of success. Then I had the brilliant idea of downloading calls off the Internet onto my cell phone- BINGO!

[nastygunz]

I looked everywhere for an electronic squirrel caller and never found one. I sent an email to Fox Pro and told them my story and said there are thousands of squirrel hunters all over the country and I think if you came up with a small inexpensive caller with just a few good squirrel calls on it they would sell like hotcakes. They said it sounded like a good idea and they were going to look into it and that was the end of that never heard from them again still no electronic squirrel call. I could download some calls onto my Fox Pro but that's way too much work 😇

[nastygunz]

BigBen, what's up with the squirrel tails? They look like half tails.

[bigben]

all these squirrels had their tails.  just the way they are laying on the log. 

Uncle buck from the pa sights used to use a tally ho backwards and draw air in and it made a chattering sound.  Id see if he could record it for me but he is sore at me still for something I never did. 

The two quarters thing as always been good.  A bud had a bolt and washer that he uses the same way.  I never really tried calling them.  There was a skwirl call that had bellows that you used against your leg to make the barking.