I haven't been able to get out hunting since opening day due to doctor visits and car repairs but today I did manage to sneak in a last minute late afternoon hunt. After my last doctor appointment I got home around 3:30 and by the time I got into my hunting clothes, grabbed a gun and some gear and pulled out of the driveway it was a little before 4pm. Not much daylight left but enough for a quick hunt at the duck farm. I chose the .20 cal Diana 48 for this hunt. She's been shooting predators like a laser so I figured I'd give her a chance to stretch her legs.
Drove as fast as I could to the farm, parked, loaded a predator and headed straight for this one duck pen that borders the woods and the stream. During the summer whenever I walked through the tall grass in this pen I'd almost always flush a couple of rabbits. Well, today was no different. I hadn't walked 20 yards when a nice fat cottontail flushed out from my feet. He hopped about 10 yards away and stopped in a tangle of branches near an old rotten tree stump. Big mistake on his part. Put the crosshairs on his head, raised up just a bit and fired. He did one flip into the air and landed on his back and never moved again :) Picked up my rabbit, put him in the game pouch of my vest and went off to find another target.
Daylight was slipping fast so I had to work my way around the farm a lot quicker than I usually do. I covered every area where there might be a rabbit or squirrel but couldn't find another rabbit or any squirrels. I didn't have much daylight remaining so I headed back to my truck and drove to the far end of the farm. There's a little woodlot there that holds a few squirrels and I figured I'd spend the rest of the daylight sitting in a concealed sniping location.
I got to the woodlot quickly and got myself secreted in the middle of a tangle of branches from an old tree that had fallen a year or so ago. I sat there until the shooting light was almost gone but hadn't seen any movement. As I started to stand up and climb out of my hide I suddenly saw the flicker of a tail at the base of a large tree 30 yards away. I immediately sat back down, put the scope up to my eye and scanned the area. Yup, there he was,,,, a nice fat grey squirrel feeding on the ground. I only had a few minutes before it would be to dark to shoot but I needed the squirrel to climb up into the trees in order for me to get a shot. After a minute or so the grey suddenly jumped up onto the trunk of the tree and started racing up the tree. I followed him in the scope, waiting for him to pause and offer a shot but he kept racing up the tree. All of a sudden he slowed down, jumped onto a smaller side branch and sat still offering me a perfect 30 yard profile shot. I quickly put the crosshairs on his head and pulled the trigger. The predator slammed home with a loud smack and the grey plummeted down and hit the forest floor with a loud thud. I reloaded quickly and approached, but he was stone dead. The predator had hit him at the base of the left ear and blasted out the other side exiting from his right eye. Picked up my grey and walked slowly back to the truck.
I'd like to go back tomorrow for another hunt but I have more doctor appointments for tomorrow afternoon so I don't think it's gonna happen. But that's ok,,,, if the weather holds out me and Joe Cuz are gonna team up again on Thursday and coordinate an attack on the local squirrel herd :) Matter of fact,,,, the .20 Cal Diana performed so well I think I'll be carrying her back in to the woods on Thursday :)
I took a couple of pics but it was pitch black when I took em so they didn't come out that great,,,, but you can make out my beloved .20 cal Diana sitting proudly over her kills. I love huntin with that gun :)
Jeff
