A landowner friend of mine who used to be a coworker before he retired offered his property up for squirrel hunting last fall. I of course accepted! A fantastic guy, whose family has owned his property here in NW Florida for over 150 years. They had significantly more until 50-60 years ago when Aunts and Uncles sold their portions to the state. He has around 60 acres, with relatives and friends owning another 120 around/attached to his. The entire section is surrounded by a state forest and Wildlife Management Area (WMA here in FL). I went out for several hunts in late winter, January-March and hunted the property and got to know him better in the process. Being a country boy and spending over 30 years in the Marine Corps, I also pitched in and helped him drop some trees, mend fence, cut firewood etc. His style of squirrel hunting and mine differ greatly, lol...his style is taking his German Shorthair and a gun and walking the 4-wheeler/tractor roads on his property scoping likely spots and talking in low voices the entire time, looking at nests to try to chase squirrels out of, and potentially having the dog run one up a tree.
My method is extremely stealthily moving through the woods or sitting and waiting until movement is spotted and utilizing terrain, cover and concealment to approach and exercising extreme patience in getting a head shot. He's a very social guy and prefers his style, lol, but, I enjoy his company and it's not so much about the hunt at that point. I did have two hunts when he had errands to run or wasn't at the property and he was really surprised that both times I was able to take full legal limits within a few hours of arrival...lol!
He had mentioned that they hadn't been able to harvest any peaches, pears or pecans from the trees in their yard for over five years due to the squirrels eating them early, but he also seemed to only want to hunt during seasons, which I completely respect. I mentioned to him that in FL, as a landowner, he had the right to pest control on his property to protect his property assets. He stated he was aware of it and the subject wasn't mentioned again. About a month ago he called me and mentioned he'd seen five squirrels in the yard and that his wife had mentioned she'd really like some peaches etc from their yard for a change. I told him I'd be happy to assist with the endeavor and he stated he wasn't sure what I'd think of hunting out of season....I told him I was absolutely fine with it and all that was required was a simple letter to me authorizing me to provide pest control on his property.
The following weekend I went out and we sat under his open-walled, covered firewood shed and drank coffee and talked. I wound up taking two that day, there were two more that the fast little German Shorthaired Pointer named Allie of his put on the move first! lol! I was out of town the following weekend, but coming back from feeding his livestock, one ran up and sat on the top of his tool shed at 20 feet, so he shot it with his pistol. Over the next couple of weekends I killed 4 more, and he thought we'd finally gotten all of them from the immediate yard and treelines in the woods.
He called and said he'd seen one in his goat pen on Wednesday, so Last weekend I went out and he had errands to run, so as much as I like hanging out with Allie, and her with me, I asked if they'd put her inside. I proceeded to sit about 35 yards from the peach trees and drink my coffee. I'd gotten there shortly after daylight and he'd left 30 minutes later. When I got there I'd walked over to the peach trees and looked at the results of animals...there had to be more than one squirrel hitting these trees....there were at least a dozen half-eaten peaches within the last few days. I also noticed a fresh, partially eaten peach sitting on the broken end of an 8-inch fallen limb on top of a fence about 20 yards from the trees...that one hadn't even turned brown yet....so there'd probably been one there when I arrived...within 20 minutes of them pulling out of the yard, I saw movement....sure enough, one had come from the goat pen weed patch and into the yard...it wouldn't stop and give me a shot...for yard squirrels, these guys were skittish! Of course, if I had a dog as fast as a German Shorthair constantly after me on the ground, I'd be a little nervous too! Into the peach tree it went, ran around in it until it found the one it wanted...with me trying to get it shot before it got another peach....back down the tree with a new peach, and headed through the fence into the old, grown over goat pen.
I figured he was headed somewhere to eat the peach and the closest tree was a pine with an open limb about 15 feet up....sure enough...he turned sideways and started working on the peach. I had started moving around a small pump house to get an angle on her and she saw the muzzle of the gun come around the side of the pump house and stopped eating and just sat there with the peach in her mouth. It was 37 yards to the tree from my previous spot, so I figured she was probably 40 yards. with the gun sighted at 35, it's POI is 35/52 yards, so I held down on her throat and squeezed the trigger...WHOP the pellet hit and down out of the tree, peach and all. When I eased over to pick her up, she still had the peach in her mouth!
I walked back over and sat down with my cup of coffee and heard a squirrel barking in the distance over my right shoulder...I turned slowly around and looked, but it had to have been 60-80 yards away, so I figured I'd ease over that way in a minute....when I turned back around, there was a squirrel sitting up on the ground about 15 yards away between me and the tool shed and had seen me move my head! It didn't explode and run, but bounced pretty quickly around the front of the shed and disappeared...just, gone. I thought maybe it had gone under the little porch on the shed, so I picked the rifle up from where it was leaning on an oak in front of me and waited...nothing, I could see the whole porch...where he go?
I got up and eased over to the shed, up on the little covered porch (it was starting to drizzle rain), and eased over to the other side where I could see around the other side...nothing....the shed sits in a corner of the yard, with the goat pen fence about 6 feet behind it, and the fence corners about 20 yards the other side from where I was sitting. The fallen limb that was sitting on the top of the fence with the partially eaten peach on it was about 15 yards away...the peach was gone! I know the first one didn't take it because she came back out for another one....aha! The big oak that the limb had fallen out of had a bunch of wild grape vines growing from ground level up into it with the fallen limb in the middle of them....I looked and looked for about 20 minutes, no movement of any kind up in there, couldn't hear anything...but I was pretty positive that's where he went....I eased back around the shed and returned to where my chair was set up between two smaller oaks and waited...I could see the oak tree from there, behind and past the shed...I saw a slight movement on the back side of the tree from where I'd been looking from the porch of the shed....I picked the rifle up and turned the power up to 10....sure enough, sitting in there among the vines on a stob of broken off limb was a squirrel, cutting a peach....I had a pretty open 3 inch hole through there...I figured right at 35 yards as it was in the same parallel line with the peach trees...I put the crosshairs under his ear and squeezed the trigger...WHOP! Out he fell!
I decided not to go over immediately and pick him up....just sit still and let things calm down...he looked like a young one...the first was an old sow that had obviously had a litter...while he was full-grown, he wasn't quite as big as her. Within 15 minutes, I heard nails on bark...sure enough, another younger squirrel was coming down a big oak at 15 yards, between me and the tool shed...I let him come down before I picked up the rifle....he went around the base of the tree....and disappeared....the only place he could have gone without me seeing him was straight behind the shed, down the fence row...I waited to see if he'd go around the shed and over to the peach trees just past and in front of the tool shed...nothing....15 minutes, 20 minutes....I finally got up and eased around the shed again....I saw movement in the vines, and watched as he went down the tree and disappeared in the weeds at the base of it...within 30 seconds he was headed back up the tree with a partially eaten peach! He'd gone right to where his dead brother was laying and picked up the peach he had in his mouth when I shot him and was taking it to eat too....I hate to tell them, but that peach was VERY bad for their health! He went right back up the tree and sat on the same limb(!) that I shot his brother off of. I eased back to my chair where I could get line of sight...sure enough, there he was, same shot, slightly facing me...lined the crosshairs up and sent a 16-grain predator on it's way...WHOP! Out he fell...8 inches from his brother!!!
I waited another 30 minutes with no movement. My buddy came home from running errands and grabbed a chair and coffee and came and sat down with me and we sat talking....out of the blue he extended me the offer of deer hunting on his property this year! Told me he hadn't hunted in almost 10 years, but thought he'd like to freshen up his blinds (he has three box blinds in disrepair), and said he'd be happy to use his equipment to help me put in a food plot....talk about a win/win situation. I certainly wouldn't have asked to hunt...I know he extended the offer to someone else I knew, but also knew he wasn't overly happy with the situation as the guy helped him a couple of times with farm work, but once he had gotten his stands set up, he came and hunted and left....I told him I'd treat his property like my own....he told me he knew I would just from being around me and hearing my ideas and suggestions on what we could do to improve it for his livestock.
I only took a couple of pics, but here they are....
v/r
Gunner
My method is extremely stealthily moving through the woods or sitting and waiting until movement is spotted and utilizing terrain, cover and concealment to approach and exercising extreme patience in getting a head shot. He's a very social guy and prefers his style, lol, but, I enjoy his company and it's not so much about the hunt at that point. I did have two hunts when he had errands to run or wasn't at the property and he was really surprised that both times I was able to take full legal limits within a few hours of arrival...lol!
He had mentioned that they hadn't been able to harvest any peaches, pears or pecans from the trees in their yard for over five years due to the squirrels eating them early, but he also seemed to only want to hunt during seasons, which I completely respect. I mentioned to him that in FL, as a landowner, he had the right to pest control on his property to protect his property assets. He stated he was aware of it and the subject wasn't mentioned again. About a month ago he called me and mentioned he'd seen five squirrels in the yard and that his wife had mentioned she'd really like some peaches etc from their yard for a change. I told him I'd be happy to assist with the endeavor and he stated he wasn't sure what I'd think of hunting out of season....I told him I was absolutely fine with it and all that was required was a simple letter to me authorizing me to provide pest control on his property.
The following weekend I went out and we sat under his open-walled, covered firewood shed and drank coffee and talked. I wound up taking two that day, there were two more that the fast little German Shorthaired Pointer named Allie of his put on the move first! lol! I was out of town the following weekend, but coming back from feeding his livestock, one ran up and sat on the top of his tool shed at 20 feet, so he shot it with his pistol. Over the next couple of weekends I killed 4 more, and he thought we'd finally gotten all of them from the immediate yard and treelines in the woods.
He called and said he'd seen one in his goat pen on Wednesday, so Last weekend I went out and he had errands to run, so as much as I like hanging out with Allie, and her with me, I asked if they'd put her inside. I proceeded to sit about 35 yards from the peach trees and drink my coffee. I'd gotten there shortly after daylight and he'd left 30 minutes later. When I got there I'd walked over to the peach trees and looked at the results of animals...there had to be more than one squirrel hitting these trees....there were at least a dozen half-eaten peaches within the last few days. I also noticed a fresh, partially eaten peach sitting on the broken end of an 8-inch fallen limb on top of a fence about 20 yards from the trees...that one hadn't even turned brown yet....so there'd probably been one there when I arrived...within 20 minutes of them pulling out of the yard, I saw movement....sure enough, one had come from the goat pen weed patch and into the yard...it wouldn't stop and give me a shot...for yard squirrels, these guys were skittish! Of course, if I had a dog as fast as a German Shorthair constantly after me on the ground, I'd be a little nervous too! Into the peach tree it went, ran around in it until it found the one it wanted...with me trying to get it shot before it got another peach....back down the tree with a new peach, and headed through the fence into the old, grown over goat pen.
I figured he was headed somewhere to eat the peach and the closest tree was a pine with an open limb about 15 feet up....sure enough...he turned sideways and started working on the peach. I had started moving around a small pump house to get an angle on her and she saw the muzzle of the gun come around the side of the pump house and stopped eating and just sat there with the peach in her mouth. It was 37 yards to the tree from my previous spot, so I figured she was probably 40 yards. with the gun sighted at 35, it's POI is 35/52 yards, so I held down on her throat and squeezed the trigger...WHOP the pellet hit and down out of the tree, peach and all. When I eased over to pick her up, she still had the peach in her mouth!
I walked back over and sat down with my cup of coffee and heard a squirrel barking in the distance over my right shoulder...I turned slowly around and looked, but it had to have been 60-80 yards away, so I figured I'd ease over that way in a minute....when I turned back around, there was a squirrel sitting up on the ground about 15 yards away between me and the tool shed and had seen me move my head! It didn't explode and run, but bounced pretty quickly around the front of the shed and disappeared...just, gone. I thought maybe it had gone under the little porch on the shed, so I picked the rifle up from where it was leaning on an oak in front of me and waited...nothing, I could see the whole porch...where he go?
I got up and eased over to the shed, up on the little covered porch (it was starting to drizzle rain), and eased over to the other side where I could see around the other side...nothing....the shed sits in a corner of the yard, with the goat pen fence about 6 feet behind it, and the fence corners about 20 yards the other side from where I was sitting. The fallen limb that was sitting on the top of the fence with the partially eaten peach on it was about 15 yards away...the peach was gone! I know the first one didn't take it because she came back out for another one....aha! The big oak that the limb had fallen out of had a bunch of wild grape vines growing from ground level up into it with the fallen limb in the middle of them....I looked and looked for about 20 minutes, no movement of any kind up in there, couldn't hear anything...but I was pretty positive that's where he went....I eased back around the shed and returned to where my chair was set up between two smaller oaks and waited...I could see the oak tree from there, behind and past the shed...I saw a slight movement on the back side of the tree from where I'd been looking from the porch of the shed....I picked the rifle up and turned the power up to 10....sure enough, sitting in there among the vines on a stob of broken off limb was a squirrel, cutting a peach....I had a pretty open 3 inch hole through there...I figured right at 35 yards as it was in the same parallel line with the peach trees...I put the crosshairs under his ear and squeezed the trigger...WHOP! Out he fell!
I decided not to go over immediately and pick him up....just sit still and let things calm down...he looked like a young one...the first was an old sow that had obviously had a litter...while he was full-grown, he wasn't quite as big as her. Within 15 minutes, I heard nails on bark...sure enough, another younger squirrel was coming down a big oak at 15 yards, between me and the tool shed...I let him come down before I picked up the rifle....he went around the base of the tree....and disappeared....the only place he could have gone without me seeing him was straight behind the shed, down the fence row...I waited to see if he'd go around the shed and over to the peach trees just past and in front of the tool shed...nothing....15 minutes, 20 minutes....I finally got up and eased around the shed again....I saw movement in the vines, and watched as he went down the tree and disappeared in the weeds at the base of it...within 30 seconds he was headed back up the tree with a partially eaten peach! He'd gone right to where his dead brother was laying and picked up the peach he had in his mouth when I shot him and was taking it to eat too....I hate to tell them, but that peach was VERY bad for their health! He went right back up the tree and sat on the same limb(!) that I shot his brother off of. I eased back to my chair where I could get line of sight...sure enough, there he was, same shot, slightly facing me...lined the crosshairs up and sent a 16-grain predator on it's way...WHOP! Out he fell...8 inches from his brother!!!
I waited another 30 minutes with no movement. My buddy came home from running errands and grabbed a chair and coffee and came and sat down with me and we sat talking....out of the blue he extended me the offer of deer hunting on his property this year! Told me he hadn't hunted in almost 10 years, but thought he'd like to freshen up his blinds (he has three box blinds in disrepair), and said he'd be happy to use his equipment to help me put in a food plot....talk about a win/win situation. I certainly wouldn't have asked to hunt...I know he extended the offer to someone else I knew, but also knew he wasn't overly happy with the situation as the guy helped him a couple of times with farm work, but once he had gotten his stands set up, he came and hunted and left....I told him I'd treat his property like my own....he told me he knew I would just from being around me and hearing my ideas and suggestions on what we could do to improve it for his livestock.
I only took a couple of pics, but here they are....
v/r
Gunner
