The High Cost of Fox Squirrel Hunting

I have been real busy with a new promotion and trying to fill the freezer with Deer meat. The freezer is full  with 2 deer taken this year so now  I can get to what I really like and that is small game huntin.
Todd, Colby, my son and myself  headed to the Squirrel woods in search of some big ole fox squirrels. Last time we did this all four of us managed to limit out which imo is pretty hard to do with Fox squirrels. This time was nearly not as good but it is not always about killing. It is about  spending time in the woods with people u love. We met up at a gun shop around 11am and Then I proceeded to spend over 200 bucks on ammo. OUCH! Then we went To Smithfield Chicken and BBQ and I spent 19 bucks. Then  to a nice tackle shop and I laid out over 100bucks for some lures. throw in gas and Wendy's that night and my lay out was nearly 400 buckaroos. Ouch again.




But, Time spent with son.......PRICELESS



Ok,  back to squirrel hunting. We made it to our squirrel woods by 1 pm. Colby and My son saw 2 Black ones as soon as they entered their Hotspot. My son(Mack also) got 1 gray squirrel and Colby managed a head shot on a nice Saddleback color phase one after a long wait under the trees they were hiding in. Todd and myself struck out but we saw 3 other fox squirrels but with it being windy and the woods crunchy there was no sneaking up on these squirrels. I could of managed a few grays but was holding out for a fox. We saw lots of Fox Sq sign, Deer sign and some Hog sign. Hopefully I can make it there in a few days. A nice afternoon in the woods. Oh, Todd brought along a Winchester Leveraction 9410 shotgun. If you have never seen one of these it looks just like a Win 30-30 but it is a 410. That is one nice shootin gun. I may have to find one of those. Anyway here are a few pics. first is just a pic of a little hotspot I have .

Thanks for looking, Mack

Winter River Bassin

I rarely fish in the winter as I am usually too busy Chasin Fox Skirls:) ,Deer, and other little fury critters. Early spring through fall i can usually be found on a river but not in the winter unless I am chasin ducks. My good friend Jeff called me and asked was I up for a float on one of our favorite rivers. I reluctantly;) said yes as I was tired from taking a new Job(promotion) last week and chasin deer. Glad I said yes. Now, this river in the spring and summer will produce on a good day 40 plus bass 2-6 lbs but I was unsure about this time of year. She didn't produce those numbers but It was a great day on the water with plenty of nice chunks caught.

Date Sunday December 9, 2012
Time-1-5
Water Temp- 53
Lure used- Mainly a Boohya Spinnerbait  and the same for Jeff
Boat used - Old Town 158
Reel used by me- Abu 4600 C-3 loaded with 12 lb Ande on an All Star 7 ' rod
Wildlife seen- 1 eagle, several Herons and Kingfishers.
Probably 30 bass caught between the 2 of us.

Here is a pig that Jeff caught

Here are a few that I caught.

Almost all Bass caught right up on the bank with wood.
Here is another fish Jeff caught. Note the Little one- she has guts hanging out of her side and still smashed his spinnerbait. Tough fish! Evidently this fish had a run in with an Otter or a Heron,

A good day on the river. Thanks Jeff!

The " Well house Buck "

I haven't had much to post about this winter as the Hunting has been only ok at best. I have passed up a lot of does and a few decent bucks but I have been waiting on the big one. I also just received a promotion so my hunting time between now and the end of deer season may be limited so I have planned to shoot the next deer that was either a big doe, a cull buck, or a monster buck. No small young bucks would be shot.

Last Thursday(Nov 29, 2012) I headed to a special spot to deer  hunt. This is a spot where my friend Eddie and myself actually would get off the school bus when we were 13 or 14,  go grab our single shot shotguns and rush to this hardwood ridge to shoot squirrels. His was a Topper 58 12 Gauge and mine was a Winchester 37A 20 Gauge.  Man did we kill a bunch of   tree rats on this place!

              This is the Ridge with a pine thicket to the left.

This creek is at the bottom of the Ridge.

Behind this Ridge is an old Pecan Orchard that is grown up.  It has A well house that was Eddies Grand Dad's sitting at the top of the orchard. I shot this buck right at sunset making his way through the orchard.  He is probably one of the smallest racked bucks I have shot but he was a good cull to take out of the herd and it was special day to shoot a buck on this old stomping ground. He was  Shot at Aprox 60 yds with an Ithaca 37 Deluxe with a 24 inch Deerslayer barrel. I was shooting Remington Sluggers. This Ithaca with a 28 inch modified barrel has also killed a lot of squirrels and a few rabbits in this area as well. He was a very big bodied deer.   Thanks for reading , Mack

#deerhunting

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