On the hunt for squirrels
The alarm went off at 430 am Saturday for me to get moving to head out on a much anticipated hunt. This was going to be a rather unique hunt for a number of reasons the biggest being I was going to get to go on squirrel hunt with dogs. My GPS told me I had a 77 mile drive ahead of me to meet up with my fellow squirrel hunters. The hunters I was meeting on this trip are all members of NC Hunt & Fish a message forum we all participate on. Technology has allowed all of us to connect with each other and throughout the year we have hunts, fishing trips, and get togethers across the state.
The group of hunters from NC Hunt & Fish
We all met up at BiscuitVille to get some breakfast before we headed out to Uwharrie National Forest.
The squirrel dogs (Curs) were anxious to get hunting so after a brief hike into the forest they were turned lose to find some squirrels. Watching the dogs work was really fascinating as they ran around looking for the scent of a squirrel once they found it they would tree it. Our job as hunters was to get to the dogs quickly so we could find the squirrels before they climbed into a den or a hole or jumped from tree to tree to give the dogs the slip.
Treed
The first squirrel was treed and it took us a few minutes to find it pressed against the trunk of a tree near the top. My second shot from my 22 found the mark and the squirrel dropped from the treetop. I don’t know who was more excited me or the Curs.
Squirrel Season in NC runs through Feb
Saturday was unseasonable warm with the temperatures climbing into the 70′s which seemed to me to be less than ideal conditions to be hunting in for a number of reasons. One the squirrel movement seemed to be a bit subdued and the conditions seemed less than ideal for the dogs to scent the squirrels out. Also the warm weather increased the traffic in the forest with lots of hikers but who could blame them on a day better suited for the end of April rather than January.
Taking a break
We hunted the morning and while we didn’t bag a lot of squirrels the hunt was a blast as we got to meet and reunite with friends we talk to more often than not in cyberspace.
We hunted with Curs that had GPS collars on them so the handler could keep track of them. While hunters are required to wear orange dogs are not however to prevent any confusion the dogs had orange vests. In many states its illegal to tamper with hunting dogs and their collars
I can’t tell ya how fun a hunt this was and I hope to be back out chasing squirrels with dogs soon. If you’ve never tried it find someone with squirrel dogs and give it a try.
