PDA

View Full Version : Squirrel trip report....



Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 10:22 AM
Night before last, a buddy in north MS called, and said he had told a friend of his about Sandy....the guy has a squirrel dog, too, and wanted to set up sort of a "contest"....no money involved, just bragging rights.

Sandy is really working good, so we made the 2 hour drive, and met up at 7 am at a neutral public hunting site....my buddy was there, as well....the guy had a beautiful Mountain Cur female.
The first question I asked the guy was, if his dog hunted well with other dogs....and he replied that his dog would hunt under ANY conditons....I explained that I just didn't want any dog-fighting because Sandy is a no-nonsense dog....he understood, but had just a bit of come-upance about himself.

Long story-short....Sandy treed 4 squirrels in the first 45 minutes of the hunt, and we killed all four....his dog never barked, once....finally, in the last hour of the hunt, his dog barked up and chased a squirrel that we saw run on the ground, right in front of her....kinda hard for a dog NOT to get one like that....he shot the squirrel out and was ecstatic.

Final tally, Sandy - 7----- other dog - 1

The guy was pretty nice about it, however, and actually called Sandy a "squirrel hunting machine", and as we were leaving, he asked about a puppy off her....I could see his disappointment, when I said, sorry, but she's spayed.

All in all, it was a very nice 3 hour hunt experience, and well worth the long drive....I gave Sandy my ham sammich, and watched her sleep on the front seat, all the way home.

Thumper
12-03-2015, 10:35 AM
Do you have any buttons left on your shirt? ;)

Nice work Sandy!

Chicken Dinner
12-03-2015, 10:39 AM
There is nothing better than hunting behind a good dog. I don't care what it is you're hunting.

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 10:41 AM
Haha, yep Thump, popped 'em ALL off....actually, I think she's gotten even better, since I had her spayed....her endurance is phenomenal....my GPS showed that us guys walked nearly 4 miles, so there's no telling how many she ran.

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 10:43 AM
There is nothing better than hunting behind a good dog. I don't care what it is you're hunting.

Well stated, Chick!!!

Captain
12-03-2015, 11:45 AM
That sounds like a great way to spend a day! Congrats to you and Sandy!

Buckrub
12-03-2015, 12:09 PM
Ed, can squirrels be deformed? Or.....is it normal?....at the farm last week, squirrels were everywhere. But one fox squirrel was weird. He stayed on the ground, moved way slower, and was huge.....deformed in size, even. Like he had air puffed under his skin. If that was all meat, he'd have had to weigh 15 lbs...

??

And congratulations

LJ3
12-03-2015, 12:17 PM
That's cool Eddie!

Is it ok if I feel like a get a little piece of that victory too?

GH dogs kicked some serious butt!

I've been told I'm overly competitive but bunk that noise, just a sore loser :)

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 12:50 PM
You got it, Len....help yourself to a butt-load of GH credit. ;)

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 01:02 PM
Ed, can squirrels be deformed? Or.....is it normal?....at the farm last week, squirrels were everywhere. But one fox squirrel was weird. He stayed on the ground, moved way slower, and was huge.....deformed in size, even. Like he had air puffed under his skin. If that was all meat, he'd have had to weigh 15 lbs...

??

And congratulations

Thanks, Bucky....it sounds like that squirrel may have an infection from either an injury or possibly a non-lethal gun shot....or, it could be a severe infestation of bot larvae....also, males squirrels are notorious for biting off the gonads and castrating other males....so, he mighta got an infection from that....if he's gotten that big, that's prolly the reason he just slowly walks around on the ground, and doesn't scurry up and down in the treetops....whatever it is, he prolly won't live much longer....a slow squirrel isn't gonna live long, with owls and hawks circling.

Captain
12-03-2015, 01:15 PM
Either that or a squirrel with a thyroid problem. :D

Chicken Dinner
12-03-2015, 01:19 PM
She ain't fat. Just big-boned.

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 01:59 PM
She ain't fat. Just big-boned.

Yep, Chick, sounds like some of my blind dates in college. ;)

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 02:02 PM
Bucky, that squirrel mighta just been building up one of those Thump-sized farts. ;)

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 02:09 PM
That sounds like a great way to spend a day! Congrats to you and Sandy!

Cap, one of these days, you WILL meet Sandy....hopefully, either you're here, or we're there!!! ;)

Captain
12-03-2015, 03:01 PM
If you bring Sandy here. Be sure to bring a sedative for her. I can walk her in any one of a bunch of corn feeders and 20 squirrels will bust like a covey of quail. She would go NUTS!

Bwana
12-03-2015, 04:10 PM
Congrats to you BM. It is pretty hard not to pop a button when them pups show off their skills.

Nandy
12-03-2015, 05:19 PM
congrats Sandy and Muddy! You said a sandwich, how about a steak!!! lol!



Either that or a squirrel with a thyroid problem. :D

Probably too much MacDonald's....

quercus alba
12-03-2015, 05:26 PM
6199

Buckrub
12-03-2015, 05:27 PM
Embarrassing comment....I've done a lot of squirrel hunting, years ago. But I admit I've never done it with a dog. I can only imagine....

Ed, is she good because you trained her? Or just genetics? Both?

And I'm headed back to farm next week....I'll try and take a zoom camera and see if I can get a shot of fatty.

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 05:32 PM
congrats Sandy and Muddy! You said a sandwich, how about a steak!!! lol!

Nandy, the night before a hunt, I put her on 1/2 rations....I want her to be a little hungry, when she hits the woods....but believe me, she got well-fed, after we got home!!! ;)

HideHunter
12-03-2015, 05:34 PM
Atta Boy Girl! ;)

Big Muddy
12-03-2015, 07:15 PM
Bucky, she had great genetics out of a Kentucky bloodline, and some very basic training, when I got her at 18 months old from a friend of mine....I guess I did the rest of the training because I've had her in the woods, even if for only very short hunts, prolly 300 days a year, since I've had her.
She's prolly taught me, as much as I've taught her....I'll prolly never be fortunate enough to own another dog of her intelligence, in this lifetime.

Buckrub
12-03-2015, 08:01 PM
Someday I'd love to see such a thing in action.

Your devotion shines through the internet.

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 07:52 AM
Bucky, she has one bad habit, which I could break her of doing, with one or two mild bumps of a shock collar....normally, if we are not hunting with another dog, she will bring the dead squirrel to me....however, if another dog is present, when a squirrel is shot down, and I have not had the chance to leash her down, she is going to grab the squirrel, and bite down on it's head until she crushes it's skull....then, she prances around with it to show off, then just drop it, without bringing it to me.

Its not a real bad habit, but it does bug the heck out of me....however, I have never, even once, used a shock collar on her....so, I'll just continue to tolerate that one fault.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 10:04 AM
Thinking on my fat squirrel last night. Allow me another dumb question.

Is it possible to have too many squirrels? I mean....many species have a population explosion and get sicknesses and diseases, etc. Snow geese are about to do that. Population exceeds available habitat. Farm has so many concentrated in a small area. Just a wild thought.

HideHunter
12-04-2015, 10:11 AM
Absolutely possible 'Rub - but - squirrels are known to migrate under such circumstances.

Fascinating stuff: http://deltafarmpress.com/massive-squirrel-migrations-recorded-north-america

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 10:44 AM
I agree, Hide, and I was a witness to a small migration in 1968, down in Port Gibson, MS. ....sure am glad there was an old timer with me because the guys at the deer camp woulda never believed me, otherwise. ;)

HideHunter
12-04-2015, 10:50 AM
Never been that fortunate but have a friend who did. I saw a video - absolutely incredible.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 11:33 AM
Have seen it.....oddly, thousands swimming across the cold White River.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 11:34 AM
Hope to hunt a few of these at the farm after deer season. ...before they can pack their suitcases.

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 11:40 AM
At first, what we saw, looked like thick flocks of birds, moving thru the treetops and on the ground....then, we realized they were in fact squirrels....mostly grays/little cats, very few fox squirrels, down there....however, it did not compare to some of the migrations I've seen on videos.

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 11:44 AM
Hope to hunt a few of these at the farm after deer season. ...before they can pack their suitcases.

Chicot is not that far from your farm....give me a shout, after deer season....Have Dog---Will Travel!!! ;)

But, try to kill that huge weird-azz squirrel before we get there....that thing might murder Sandy. ;)

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 11:56 AM
It would be an honor for me.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 11:56 AM
The accommodations are quite modest though.

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 03:15 PM
All we need is ham sammichs. ;)

Arty
12-04-2015, 03:41 PM
The accommodations are quite modest though.
Pretty sure you got a workin stovetop and a new dishwasher. :)

You're living the life of Riley and don't even know it.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 04:03 PM
Pretty sure you got a workin stovetop and a new dishwasher. :)

You're living the life of Riley and don't even know it.

Shhhhhhh

Big Muddy
12-04-2015, 06:10 PM
In that case, Arty, I guess I could order up some collard greens and boilt peanuts from ole Bucky. ;)

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 09:40 PM
You could.

If'n you're deep into disappointment.

Captain
12-04-2015, 09:48 PM
I stopped today on my way in from SC and bought 2 large bags of boiled peanuts. My wife and I worked on them pretty good tonight. It just don't get no better.

Buckrub
12-04-2015, 10:08 PM
Ed can bring some. Ed can eat them. I'm a tolerant person, and not chauvinistic.