I got home from work this morning at 7am, and while I normally sleep most of the day I decided to get up early and head to the duck farm for day #2 of small game season. Woke up at 1:30, grabbed the RWS 350 .22 cal, the predator pellets and headed for the woods. The duck farm has a freshwater stream that runs the length of the property, the stream meandering its way through woods composed of hardwoods and pine trees. I wore my water proof boots and decided to hunt by slowly stalking the stream.
One of the duck pens has 4 large grain feeders placed very close to the stream, and the squirrels have learned that these feeders offer a free feast, so I started out concentrating on the woods near these feeders. There were 2 small trees that provided the squirrels a natural bridge over the stream so I settled in and waited. Sure enough within 20 minutes a fat squirrel, on the other side of the stream, made his way to one of the "bridges" and began to cross, coming straight at me. By the time I got the gun up the little nutter was perched not more than 6 or 7 yards from me staring at me. The scope AO was set at 15 yards, so it was fuzzy, but I figured I couldn't miss. Well, I missed. I shot right underneath him, he leaped about 10 feet and was gone.
5 minutes later another squirrel began crossing the stream using the same "bridge". This time I was ready,,, I put the crosshairs on his noggin, squeezed, and heard the predator hit home followed by a loud "plop" as skippy hit the water and began floating towards me. I retrieved him from the stream and waited for the next bushytail. Well I did see 5 more squirrels, but they never gave me a clear shot. The smartest squirrel of the day was the one who decided to simply charge past me, right out in the open, as he headed straight for the feeder box. He hit the box running, darted inside using a convenient hole chewed in the wood, and he was safe at home. I sat there for 30 minutes and could hear him inside the feeder. Every once in a while he'd stick his little head out of the hole, but would pop it right back in as soon as I would get ready to pull the trigger. Smart litter bugger. I felt like I was playing that "whack a mole" game they have at carnivals.
Anyway, went home with my bounty, made dinner for the wife and daughter, and am now relaxing before I get ready to head back to work at 9 pm. I think I'll get up early again tomorrow and get in another session. Had my daughter take a couple of pics,,,,, they're below........................
Jeff
