First hunts

[DPatton]

My son Jesse James has grown up a bit this past year. At 10 years old I have been introducing him to hunting and shooting for several years now. He has always jumped at the opportunity to go hunting with me, and has become more and more proficient at shooting. He has been through two state sponsored gun safety classes and enjoys shooting whenever I present the opportunity to do so. This year he is finally ready and confident enough to carry a gun and do a few simple hunts with me. I simply can't think of a better way to introduce a young hunter to the sport than squirrel hunting. I grew up on this stuff, and still enjoy it today. Here's a couple of pics of a very happy, and satisfied young man.









These photos bring back a lot of memories of my youth, my first gun, and many hunts I have not forgotten. I doubt you'll find a happier kid than this youngster with his first trophies. There are no photos to show it, but I know the only person that was happier and had a bigger smile on his face was behind the camera during those photos.

[barbender]

Those are great pictures! That first squirrel is larger than some deer I've shot!😁

[WV Sawmiller]

   Great thread. I love to see folks getting the kids involved in hunting and squirrels and rabbits are perfect as low pressure and generally a walk in the woods or relaxing on a stump waiting for them to come out. I had one of the worlds best squirrel dogs in my late teens and early 20's and used to take neighborhood kids along. Bertha would tree them, I would place the kid in a good spot then walk around the tree making the squirrel turn his back to them where he could ambush them. I remember outings in Albany Ga when my son was 6 and daughter was 4. The wife would say she needed some quiet time and if it was a nice sunny day we'd go walk around a woodlot adjacent to a friends pecan grove. We'd walk up to a big tree, Sharon and I would stop and send Sean around the tree shaking bushes and singing then I'd ambush any squirrel who showed himself. Years later my teenage son when we moved to WV went out with our Finnish exchange student and it was her job to make the squirrels turn the tree for him to shoot. They killed a few but not any and when my wife commented he said it was because Kati could not sing very good.

[thecfarm]

Another proud hunter!

[DPatton]

Not to mention pan fried squirrel with squirrel gravy is a delicious treat.

[Nebraska]

Looking good dad!

[Pine Ridge]

Enjoy every minute of being in the woods and teaching him how to hunt, i did the same things with my daughter who's now 24 years old, i wouldn't take a million dollars for the memories.

[Magicman]

Very Nice Doug.  8)  The squirrels are OK too.  ;D

[gspren]

  What kind of squirrels are they, look different then our grey squirrels? Also looks like a great time, my squirrel hunts at that age were with a grandpa.

[WV Sawmiller]

   They appear to be fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) which are 3-4 times as big as a gray (Cat) squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). I have both on my property now but fox squirrels were real rare where I grew up in N. Fla.

[Pine Ridge]

  Great thread. I love to see folks getting the kids involved in hunting and squirrels and rabbits are perfect as low pressure and generally a walk in the woods or relaxing on a stump waiting for them to come out. I had one of the worlds best squirrel dogs in my late teens and early 20's and used to take neighborhood kids along. Bertha would tree them, I would place the kid in a good spot then walk around the tree making the squirrel turn his back to them where he could ambush them. I remember outings in Albany Ga when my son was 6 and daughter was 4. The wife would say she needed some quiet time and if it was a nice sunny day we'd go walk around a woodlot adjacent to a friends pecan grove. We'd walk up to a big tree, Sharon and I would stop and send Sean around the tree shaking bushes and singing then I'd ambush any squirrel who showed himself. Years later my teenage son when we moved to WV went out with our Finnish exchange student and it was her job to make the squirrels turn the tree for him to shoot. They killed a few but not any and when my wife commented he said it was because Kati could not sing very good.

Wvsawmiller you brought back some memories. When i was 11 or 12 i got a shepherd male, called him wolf , all black except for a white spot on his chest. He was still mouth on track and would only bark when he had a squirrel treed, he was smart enough he would trail by scent and watch the squirrel if it jumped tree to tree. That is one of the pleasures of life, squirrel hunting with a good dog. No telling how many miles me and that dog walked chasing them squirrels. Thanks for stirring up some great memories !!!

[JJ]

which are 3-4 times as big as a gray (Cat) squirre

I don't know, I have greys around here that size.

           JJ

[tree-farmer]

Nothing better with grits than squirrel gravy, they make good dumplings too. Good childhood memories.

[WV Sawmiller]

jj,

   I don't know about your area but I assure you our fox squirrels here are at least 3 times as big as a gray squirrel. In some areas fox squirrels are mostly red (Like we have here in southern WV), in some they are nearly light gray but still have black around their mouth (Albany Ga area was like that) and some areas they are nearly completely black (No place I have lived though but I hear this is the case). One thing I noted is a fox squirrel's tail is typically longer than his body while a cat/grey squirrel tail will be about 3/4 to equal his body length which is important to know as fox squirrels are illegal or different limits than cat squirrels in many states and you don't accidentally kill an illegal one.

[JJ]

no fox squirrels around here, just greys, reds, monks, and flying squirrels
  air_plane
wiki says fox is 1/2 pound heavier, so the southern squirrels win! :P

Jesse James (another JJ) sure looks proud.   Another 4-5 years, and there will be a picture with a buck in this thread..

     JJ

[DPatton]

 Yes they are red fox squirrels, and are the most common variety in our area. However we also have areas with populations of grey squirrel as well as black color mutation varieties of both the grey, and fox squirrels. There can be a substantial difference in size and as mentioned tail length.

  Jesse and I gave it another try Sunday while it was 60° and beautiful out. We had another successful outing scoring a double on the pair of good boars below.





Monday nights meal was three pan fried squirrels with biscuits and squirrel gravy. It was delicious and we ate it all, so I guess were just going have to go out and hunt up some more of the little critters.