Memorial Weekend Hunt * 5/28/2023

[Bicycleman]

Good morning all and Bless those killed in wars and Missing In Action.


This morning, the temperature was 50ºF before sunrise.  I decided that was cool enough to go to the woods and get squirrels but not Chiggers and Ticks.
The squirrels were very active starting about 8 a.m.  The first one that offered a shot was a Gray Squirrel that was about 6 inches long.  That one got a pass.  #2 was fairly high in a tree and I missed.   The pellet was close enough that it bailed out of that tree completely, and landed in another tree - it didn't stop as long as I could see it.  The third is the one pictured.  I think the first shot was the one that shattered the spine below the ribs.  The head shot finished it off.  I did knock another out of a tree.  I could see it on the ground where it fell.  It squirmed around, then stopped moving.  But when I went to retrieve it, that rascal scampered away, and eventually got into a rock cave.  It was probably hit in a front leg and will survive.


I continued walking to my truck.  The temperature was rising and I needed to get home for church.  I finished my hunt about 8:45 a.m. 
This was my first Spring Squirrel Season hunt; and it may be the last unless the temperature drops to 50º or below again.
Stay well everyone.

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

Nice shooting Mike!  Those Grey's are some tough rodents!  I'm always amazed when one will take what appears to be a lethal hit, flopps around like a madman, yet still manages to run off like nothing happened!

[Bicycleman]

Thanks Paul. 
They are indeed tough - much tougher than the Eastern Fox Squirrels around here.
Something else about the hunt I just remembered, a Red Fox trotted across in front of my hiding place about 30 yards away.  The landlady keeps that one safe and calls it her pet [it is really a wild one though!]

[ranchibi]

Mike, fantastic hunt and shooting! Hope you didn't pick up any unwanted passengers....😂👍

[DIAMOND]

Sounds like a great way to spend part of a Sunday morning. Funny, I see squirrels out all day until I grab an airgun. Somehow they know.

Nice shooting Mike!  Those Grey's are some tough rodents!  I'm always amazed when one will take what appears to be a lethal hit, flopps around like a madman, yet still manages to run off like nothing happened!

Agree. I watched a grey squirrel climb a tree moving to the other side of the trunk as they do with a full-on heart and lung shot. They finally give in, still stuck to the tree, then eventually falling to the ground. Touch little critters.

[Bicycleman]

Mike, fantastic hunt and shooting! Hope you didn't pick up any unwanted passengers....😂👍

Randall, those little critters love me because I am soooo sweet.
But to get them off of me [if any hitched a ride], I do a thorough wash down with rubbing alcohol before showering.  Yes, I do mean from the top of my head down.  Most of the time, that works.
Thanks for your reply.

[longislandhunter]

Nice shot on that nutter Mike, congrats and enjoy the nutter meal.  Sure wish we had a spring squirrel season here. 

It is amazing how tough and tenacious those greys are.  I lost my share of hard hit nutters over the years that somehow manage to get up enough strength to drag themselves off after taking what should be a lethal shot and getting  into those little crevices where you can't retrieve them.   food for some other critter. 

Anyway, thanks for sharing the hunt.  Keep whacken em 

Jeff

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Mike!

[ranchibi]

Mike, fantastic hunt and shooting! Hope you didn't pick up any unwanted passengers....😂👍

Randall, those little critters love me because I am soooo sweet.
But to get them off of me [if any hitched a ride], I do a thorough wash down with rubbing alcohol before showering.  Yes, I do mean from the top of my head down.  Most of the time, that works.
Thanks for your reply.

Mike! Thank you for sharing that tidbit about how to remove ticks with rubbing alcohol! 🙏

[Bicycleman]

Nice shot on that nutter Mike, congrats and enjoy the nutter meal.  Sure wish we had a spring squirrel season here. 

It is amazing how tough and tenacious those greys are.  I lost my share of hard hit nutters over the years that somehow manage to get up enough strength to drag themselves off after taking what should be a lethal shot and getting  into those little crevices where you can't retrieve them.   food for some other critter. 

Anyway, thanks for sharing the hunt.  Keep whacken em 

Jeff

Thanks for looking in, Jeff.  A few years before my Judy and I left Louisiana, LWF started the Spring Season.  It was such fun there even if the limit was only three animals.  Here the limit is 10 and the season is longer too.  But here there are the TICKS that were nonexistent in my Louisiana permission.  Oh, well, things could be worse!


I do plan to keep "whacken em"!

[Bicycleman]

Nice shooting Mike!

Thank you, my friend.  I had good teachers.

[Bicycleman]

You are welcome, Randall.  I don't know if it actually removes them or just intoxicates them?  Hee hee  I have tried all the repellents - not 100% prevention with any of them.  So I am back to 'Deep Woods Off' before and rubbing alcohol after the hunt.


Good luck with the alcohol treatment.

[longislandhunter]

Mike,  here on Long Island we are the tick capital of the entire world.  Ticks are so bad it's not uncommon to get 40 or 50 on you if you walk in the woods without chemical protection.  The worst are the Lone Star tick larvae, which are active all spring and summer and don't go dormant until the first frost of the winter and even then if you get a warm day they'll come back up from under the leaf litter and become active again. They are about the size of a pin head and cling to leaf branches in clusters that number in the hundreds.  You brush up against them and you suddenly have over a hundred larvae on you.  3 years ago I was bitten by lone star tick larvae and contracted the "Alpha Gal" red meat allergy.  Could not eat any red meat, domestic or wild game, for the year and a 1/2  it took for my allergy to go away.  I was lucky in that my allergy went away.  I have friends here who have had the allergy for over 5 years now and it's showing no sign of getting weaker.  Some people have the allergy for life. 

Needless to say I am paranoid about getting bitten again by a lone star tick as another bite could cause me to get the allergy again... this according to the specialist I was seeing for the time I had the allergy.   

Anyway, I still go hunting in the woods here but I always make sure my entire set of clothing is treated with "Sawyers" tick repellent.  The stuff is awesome.  You treat your clothes with it, let it dry and the protection will last for up to 42 days and up to 6 washings.  Since I began using the Sawyers treatment I have never had a single tick get past my protected clothing and get on my skin.  I will find them dead on the clothes sometimes, but they never make it past my clothing.  Practically all my hunting friends here use it and it works just as well for them.   We won't even think about going into the woods without our clothes being treated with the  stuff.   It really is amazing.  After I return home from the woods I still check myself to make sure and I always put the clothing I wore in the dryer on "high" heat for 15 minutes to kill any hitch hikers, but the Sawyers has kept me tick free for years now since my allergy went away.   

Here's a link...........................

Give this stuff a try.... you won't be sorry.

Jeff

[Bicycleman]

Thanks for the information Jeff.  I will give the clothes treatment a try.

[2A Georgia]

Good morning all and Bless those killed in wars and Missing In Action.


This morning, the temperature was 50ºF before sunrise.  I decided that was cool enough to go to the woods and get squirrels but not Chiggers and Ticks.
The squirrels were very active starting about 8 a.m.  The first one that offered a shot was a Gray Squirrel that was about 6 inches long.  That one got a pass.  #2 was fairly high in a tree and I missed.   The pellet was close enough that it bailed out of that tree completely, and landed in another tree - it didn't stop as long as I could see it.  The third is the one pictured.  I think the first shot was the one that shattered the spine below the ribs.  The head shot finished it off.  I did knock another out of a tree.  I could see it on the ground where it fell.  It squirmed around, then stopped moving.  But when I went to retrieve it, that rascal scampered away, and eventually got into a rock cave.  It was probably hit in a front leg and will survive.


I continued walking to my truck.  The temperature was rising and I needed to get home for church.  I finished my hunt about 8:45 a.m. 
This was my first Spring Squirrel Season hunt; and it may be the last unless the temperature drops to 50º or below again.
Stay well everyone.

Congrads on a fruitful woods walk....spring season I might have to explore an out of state license as I used to drive up to Blue Ridge/Fanin County Georgia

[Bicycleman]

Charles, thanks for your reply.  My middle sister and her husband live in Georgia and I had looked into Spring Squirrel Hunting.  I could not find anything about a Spring season.  So, you could hunt in Tennessee if you wanted to get an Out-of-State license.  We have the Eastern Gray and Fox Squirrels here, with the Gray Squirrels being much more abundant.  Air rifles are legal up to .25 caliber too.  That is what I use because there are houses and animals nearby.
Good Luck, my friend.

[2A Georgia]

Charles, thanks for your reply.  My middle sister and her husband live in Georgia and I had looked into Spring Squirrel Hunting.  I could not find anything about a Spring season.  So, you could hunt in Tennessee if you wanted to get an Out-of-State license.  We have the Eastern Gray and Fox Squirrels here, with the Gray Squirrels being much more abundant.  Air rifles are legal up to .25 caliber too.  That is what I use because there are houses and animals nearby.
Good Luck, my friend.

My cousin lives in Chattanooga and I told memsahib I was looking into Copperhill,TN  for retirement relocate (still only two hours from her mother).
Looks like $110 for a small game annual out of state and a $20 kicker for WMA.  That $130 is what I would pay for 1 nite hotel I was planning to go to Big Hammock WMA opening week (Aug 15).  Be a good excuse to look at homes over the border and do some camping, hunting and fishing.  Since the AEA30 would be out that'd be a great maiden voyage for the Notos with the Gamo Jumper as a no pump backup.  If I retire in 6.5 years I'll be 65 so the $329 lifetime sportsmans permit looks like a plus for Copperhill area.

[Bicycleman]

Charles, it is good that you have a plan.  If/when you make the move, I hope to welcome you to the Volunteer State.


Mike


PS - That $130 for the annual out-of-state permit is really a very good deal. 

[2A Georgia]

Charles, it is good that you have a plan.  If/when you make the move, I hope to welcome you to the Volunteer State.


Mike


PS - That $130 for the annual out-of-state permit is really a very good deal.

Many thanks sir.
Memsahib partially agreed to camping in South Tennessee if I take her to Blue Ridge.  I believe Labor day weekend would be Squirrel Season in TN so I'm going to look at camp grounds between now and then.  Worst case we base at Lake Blue Ridge and border hop to hunt.....

[Bicycleman]

Charles, you are correct about Squirrel Season being open Labor Day.
https://www.tn.gov/twra/hunting/tennessee-hunting-seasons-summary.html