Squirrel hunting has long been an American tradition and a tradition that many hunters grew up with. Squirrel hunting has just the right amount of action to keep a young hunter interested and more often than not that young hunter will choose to pursue other game eventually. Squirrels are getting a break from hunters as more and more people are hunting deer and turkey or unfortunately not at all. I remember when opening day of squirrel season was almost like Christmas. I couldn't wait to walk the hardwood ridges and fencerows to hunt a few squirrels and it was as exciting to me then as any deer hunt could be. I have to admit that I do a lot more deer hunting these days but once I tag out or the deer season ends I like to grab my grandfathers old Stevens .22 rifle and hit the woods for a day of relaxation and an old school squirrel hunt.
There is nothing more relaxing than hunting squirrels the old school way. Open sights always makes it challenging and I like to use calls that my grandad or an old timer taught me back when folks actually had conversations about squirrel hunting like in the old barber shop on the square. Those were the days. Old school squirrel hunting to me is just a great way to spend a day in the woods and hopefully bring home enough squirrels for dinner.
I pack a thermos of hot coffee, a chunk of summer sausage, some crackers and a small bottle of hot sauce and water. These items have been a tradition of mine for many years now and is a nice treat during the middle of the day when the squirrels usually take a break and I've been known to doze off leaning against a giant oak high on a ridge top.
I really enjoy keeping it simple on these trips like my grandfather 60 years ago. It is a great way to remember tho...
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...you. I like to circle to the uphill side of the tree and then wait a few minutes to let the squirrel relax then toss the stick. This seems to work every time as the squirrel reacts to the stick crashing in the leaves. If you don't wait for the squirrel to relax it is still on high alert and will come around the tree, see you, then go back around before you can get a shot.
These are just a few old school tactics for hunting squirrels this season. It adds a little more of a challenge but is a great way to reminisce of the old times and teach younger hunters about the old ways of hunting and keep the tradition alive. I hope this season and many more to come you will dust off that old rifle or shotgun, if only for a day, and do a little old school squirrel hunting and take someone along and show them the ways so those old school ways aren't lost in time. Happy Hunting.
“Squirrel Power!” by Jon Mooallem, gives an inside look at the many outages caused by squirrels running along the power lines. Mooallem uses credible sources to highlight the amount of times a squirrel has caused a power outage and why the incidents are common to begin with. Mooallem wants the reader to know that squirrels are acting on natural instincts in a world filled with wires providing electricity for people.
From the hunting experiences that I have had, I agree with this statement one hundred percent.
First, hunting can be a source of relaxation. Sitting in the woods with nobody else around, far from the routine life, can be very therapeutic. One’s life is hectic with all the demands of everyday living. Running away from them, and having a time for oneself can be very healthy.” Even If you don’t makea kill , you will benefit from the peace and quiet sounds of nature“(National Geographic News ,March,2007). Moreover, hunting is a good method to rid oneself of pent up anger. Emotions may build up, and anger might fill the mind; hun...
There are different regulations regarding hunting in different states, and in Minnesota, the times for hunting run from 12:00 noon until 4:00 p.m. on opening day and at sunrise for the remainder of the season. Although this doesn’t seem like a lot of time, the ten of us made some memories I will never forget. We arrived at our blind at 10:30 a.m. The sky was swarming with ducks before we even got things set up. Everywhere I looked I saw ducks swooping in and out of decoys. It wasn’t going to take long to bag our limit, and I knew we were going to get the season off to a great start. All we had to do was wait until noon!
...sed the cross hairs on its chest and took a shot. The deer jumped straight up in the air and then started running right at me. I racked another shell in the chamber. At less than ten yards I took another shot. This time the deer did two somersaults and landed about seven feet from me. Excited I got up to take a look, the deer was definitely dead. He laid there on the ground in front of me with the nerves in his massive body still twitching. He was a nice ten point, this really made me happy because he was bigger than my brothers. My first shot had hit him in that shoulder, because I was probably shaking when I shot and this threw my shot off. My second shot went threw the neck and into the chest. After sitting and enjoying the moment I gutted him and drug him up to the house. This last season turned out to be my best ever because I was persistent and never gave up.
Since the beginning of time man has been hunting animals for food. Even before fire, man needed to hunt, because hunting was the only way to eat. At first man used things such as spears and rocks to kill its prey. As man evolved, they started using bows and arrows. Next came an early model of what we use today, the firearm. It is powerful yet easy to carry around. It puts the animal through less suffering and is a lot more efficient than previous techniques. Hunting was once a necessity, but now it is a tradition, passed on from father to son as a way to spend time together, enjoy the outdoors, and experience what our ancestors went through in hunting their dinner. Since it is considered a sport some think we are killing off the deer population, when in actuality, “While most other big-game species have declined with the spread of urbanization, the whitetail has been able to adapt to its ever-changing environment. Through the efforts of state agencies and conservation groups like Whitetails Unlimited, wildlife officials estimate today’s whitetail population to exceed 30 million” (www.whitetailsunlimited.org).
Wildlife Services also uses the technique of gunning. The first technique is aerial gunning, in which predators are being shot down by use of a helicopter or fixed-wing aircrafts (NRDC, 2011). Shooting is a method that they use by calling an animal and then shooting it. This means, they use a call that sounds like prey and when that animal comes around looking for food, the Wildlife Services shoot it. Hunting dogs are used to track predators or they are used as “decoy dogs” to draw the predators in.
...l to step out of hiding. Hunting like this does have one draw back. There is no guarantee that you will slay an animal. There is a reason Native Americans ate well; it was because they followed the heard instead of waiting on the animals to appear. Hunters were not seeing as many animals waiting, so they came up with a new tactic called “spot and stalk.”
Hunting can be an extremely fun activity. It can also be very relaxing. Hunting is a good use of time. The change that settled agricultural existence with peoples need to catch food to survive along with most peoples love of hunting, will hopefully continue into further generations. Hunting offers excitement, tested strength, and also courage ("Longbows") Aboriginal people hunted and trapped animals for uses like shelter, food, clothing or tools. They also traded, trading of pelts dates back to the mid 1600’s in western Canada. In the late sixteenth century Aboriginal trappers accepted European iron traps. By the mid-1770s fur trade competition was building ("History of Hunting and Trapping"). In the fourteenth century firearms appeared in Europe, the inaccuracy of the early guns along with the noise and smoke they produced would have made them less useful than bows or crossbows as hunting weapons. Guns were restricted to use for only bird hunting until the end of the seventeenth century. Around the 1700’s flint lock guns were designed to shoot birds on the wing. ("Firearms”).
Many people have misconceptions about hunting. One such misconception is that hunting is easy and any person can go sit in the woods and wait for an animal to cross the hunter’s path. However, people who believe this are sorely mistaken. Hunting is not just sitting in the woods with a rifle; there are many other aspects that must be considered. An individual must have all preparations complete, purchase or gather the equipment needed, and know what to listen for while in the woods.
In conclusion hunting is not for everyone, but those who do take pride in it. It takes a lot more than just to walk in the woods and pick a spot. Deer use thousands of runs throughout the woods. Spending weeks searching for the right spot in order to make a kill. It takes hours of sitting in a stand not saying a word or moving a muscle. You could spend days, months, or even years without getting a kill if you do not put in the time. When the time comes if you’ve done what I’ve said in the above paragraphs, you will be
...the wood for movement, looking for the slightest movement that will indicate the presence of some animal, maybe a deer walking through the woods feeding, or maybe a squirrel on its never-ending hunt for food. At 8:45 I get up and walk to my brother; the cold weather has found its way into my body through my many layers of clothes. I walk ever so silently hoping to find a deer over the hill, or in some alders eating. I see nothing but when I get to my brother he tells me I pushed five deer right past him.
Hunting may have been a crucial part of survival a 100,000 years ago, but in 2015 we have no need to hunt. Today hunting is just a cruel leisure activity.
The southern flying squirrel travels by stretching out their Patagium (. A furry fold of skin that stretches from the wrist of each front leg to the ankle of each rear leg.) So they can glide from tree to tree. and southern flying squirrels can ...
Hunting is a prime pastime for millions of Americans. Being able to own a gun and to hunt animals on land that you own is an immeasurable blessing and privilege. With this privilege comes great responsibility which includes following the laws that have been put in place concerning hunting, such as not hunting without a permit, using the correct techniques when hunting specific animals, and knowing what weapons are legal to hunt the specific animal with. There are many different animals to hunt, and the techniques to hunt them are easily managed.