Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Being Veteran's Day, I am off from work today. It feels almost like playing hookey, not having to work. And lunch was great....
The first time I saw this lunch was this morn, and it still had hair and bushy tails.
WW and the kids had work and school so I had some open time. After dropping Son off at school, I took 870 #6 for a walk through a nice stand of nut trees. There were a couple White Oaks, some slim Hickorys, and a few Beeches on a little parcel of state land not too far away. Naturally, the place had some Eastern Grey Tree squirrels in residence.
Pop taught me squirrelin' at a young age. Like many grown men, he had little time for small game, but took the time to teach me what 6 generations of PA hill folks knew. He had fed his family during the Depression on squirrels, and knew that while bigger game came and went, there'd be squirrels to hunt as long as there's trees.
And I needed some woods time, too little of my life is spent off pavement these days. Time to renew myself a bit.
So, I slid a few shells into the pump, walked into the woods on a very sunny Fall morning, and let the boy I am inside out to play.
I hadn't been in this woods in close to 20 years. Naturally, since it wasn't deer season, I was seeing deer in the first 10 minutes and oft thereafter. Deer like nuts also, and those big White Oaks probably gave up a TON of sweet acorns the size of Kalamata olives this wet year.
I sat on a down log and scanned the area, knowing that it would take maybe 20 minutes for the squirrels to forget they'd been scared and venture forth again.
25 minutes later #6 interrupted the silence and a defunct rodent took up temporary residence in my vest. I moved 75 yards down the creek bottom and found another log placed just right to supervise activity in a big Beech and yet another White Oak. Within the half hour I had a brace. Meanwhile I had a staredown with a little 6 point with his first rack, listened to a Paean of Joy as a wedge of Canadas buzzed the treetops on their way to a wheatfield nearby and felt some kinks I had been unaware of come loose in my back.
I checked my watch and saw that it was nearing 9. So, I exited, stage left, and walked back to the Toyota with a step more jaunty than usual. Arriving home, I changed clothes and shotguns, going to PGC to shoot with the Geezer League, who were glad to see me after all these months. Shot well there also.
Then lunch,and as I said,it was good in ways that folks nurtured on supermarket food might not understand...
Notes on Squirrelin' tackle....
This isn't a high volume shooting sport. A pocketful of low brass 6s, in any gauge or 410, is plenty of ammo. And yes, here the miniscule 410 is acceptable.
Shotgun choice is simple,use what you want to.
I've taken bushytails with all chokes, from Too Much to None At All, and prefer the tighter ones.#6 has 40 POC in its long barrel, one reason why I took it.
Another,I hadn't made meat with it yet.
And another. It's a lot like my oldest 870 was,long Full choke barrel and all, back when squirrelin' was very important to me and the world and I were young.
As we say here in Howard County, have a good'un.......
The first time I saw this lunch was this morn, and it still had hair and bushy tails.
WW and the kids had work and school so I had some open time. After dropping Son off at school, I took 870 #6 for a walk through a nice stand of nut trees. There were a couple White Oaks, some slim Hickorys, and a few Beeches on a little parcel of state land not too far away. Naturally, the place had some Eastern Grey Tree squirrels in residence.
Pop taught me squirrelin' at a young age. Like many grown men, he had little time for small game, but took the time to teach me what 6 generations of PA hill folks knew. He had fed his family during the Depression on squirrels, and knew that while bigger game came and went, there'd be squirrels to hunt as long as there's trees.
And I needed some woods time, too little of my life is spent off pavement these days. Time to renew myself a bit.
So, I slid a few shells into the pump, walked into the woods on a very sunny Fall morning, and let the boy I am inside out to play.
I hadn't been in this woods in close to 20 years. Naturally, since it wasn't deer season, I was seeing deer in the first 10 minutes and oft thereafter. Deer like nuts also, and those big White Oaks probably gave up a TON of sweet acorns the size of Kalamata olives this wet year.
I sat on a down log and scanned the area, knowing that it would take maybe 20 minutes for the squirrels to forget they'd been scared and venture forth again.
25 minutes later #6 interrupted the silence and a defunct rodent took up temporary residence in my vest. I moved 75 yards down the creek bottom and found another log placed just right to supervise activity in a big Beech and yet another White Oak. Within the half hour I had a brace. Meanwhile I had a staredown with a little 6 point with his first rack, listened to a Paean of Joy as a wedge of Canadas buzzed the treetops on their way to a wheatfield nearby and felt some kinks I had been unaware of come loose in my back.
I checked my watch and saw that it was nearing 9. So, I exited, stage left, and walked back to the Toyota with a step more jaunty than usual. Arriving home, I changed clothes and shotguns, going to PGC to shoot with the Geezer League, who were glad to see me after all these months. Shot well there also.
Then lunch,and as I said,it was good in ways that folks nurtured on supermarket food might not understand...
Notes on Squirrelin' tackle....
This isn't a high volume shooting sport. A pocketful of low brass 6s, in any gauge or 410, is plenty of ammo. And yes, here the miniscule 410 is acceptable.
Shotgun choice is simple,use what you want to.
I've taken bushytails with all chokes, from Too Much to None At All, and prefer the tighter ones.#6 has 40 POC in its long barrel, one reason why I took it.
Another,I hadn't made meat with it yet.
And another. It's a lot like my oldest 870 was,long Full choke barrel and all, back when squirrelin' was very important to me and the world and I were young.
As we say here in Howard County, have a good'un.......
