Went out to the Delaware Wildlife area, just north of Columbus Ohio. Tried a new set of woods. There was actually some construction going on, and some very large dump trucks drove by a few times...only 50 yards away. Normally, there isn't anyone for miles.
The place looked good, lots of nuts on the ground, both whole and cut by squirrels. Even though it rained a few hours earlier, and it's been cooler, I soon had to spray myself for mosquitoes. After only about 10 minutes in the woods, I started calling with my fake squirrel cutting device: A 20 gauge shotgun shell (spent of course) and a 4 inch long bolt. Flatten the end of the shotgun shell, and scrape is over the threads of the bold. It sounds just like a squirrel cutting on a nut. It can really pull them in.
Soon a red comes by. Those things are so fast, and they never sit still. This one was only 20 yards away. By the time I got the gun off my shoulder, it was gone. Zippy little creatures. After about another 10 minutes, another red went the other direction on the same tree! Probably the same one. Still didn't get off a shot. If I don't get a shot off on a red, it doesn't bother me.
Another 5-10 minutes, I hear a squirrel cutting on a nut, and it's rather close. It's GOT to be that red I saw a few minutes ago. With the rain we had earlier, I can move rather quietly...except for snapping twigs, and they're all over the place. I get close to the tree that's got the cutting squirrel, but I just can find it. (very thick woods) I wait, I wait, I wait. Nothing. Eventually, it stops cutting and I never hear/see anything more.
I move 75 yards further into the woods. I call and call. Nothing. Then a backhoe drives down the road. Great, these squirrels aren't suburban squirrels and that noisy backhoe probably scared the crap out of them. 10 minutes later, two dump trucks come down the road in the opposite direction. I'm figuring I should just go home. This is not some country road, rather it is part of the park system, so it's not like I'm shooting near a real road. It's more of a path.
While I'm considering giving up for the day because of the trucks, I see movement in the top of a tall tree. SQUIRREL! And it's a fox, not a red! I follow it as it moves, it jumps from one tree to another. Still rather hard to follow because of the dense woods. And soon...I loose it. I wait..nothing. Dang! I lost it! But after 5 minutes, I hear nut cutting, right up in the area I've been looking. That fox squirrels got to be the one cutting. I quietly move around for a better view, and I FIND it. It's sitting on a tall branch, and I can only see it's head and hind end. I'm not next to a tree..which I need to stabilize myself when I shoot. This thing can see me (I think). But I have no alternative, I must take a few steps to stand next to a tree. I slowly take the steps, the squirrel doesn't move, I raise up my 22, pull the trigger. Bullet went in through the mouth, exit out the back of the neck. Dead right there. I was pretty pleased with the shot considering how high up the tree it was. From this angle, the squirrel looks HUGE compared to the gun. It's just an illusion.
WD
