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Old October 3, 2009, 10:20 PM   #1
govmule84
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 15, 2005
Location: Up on a hill
Posts: 398
Squirrel scouting...

I've been wanting to go hunting for the first time. I cannot, for the life of me, find somebody to go with, so I figured I'd read some books, and start on my own, beginning with small game this year. (I don't have a suitable deer rifle, and want to get my feet wet before I spend time and money on something I have never done.) I've been shooting for a long time, and I have fished a lot, but never hunted. It looks like proper preparation is step one...so I took the missus and the chitlin to PA State Gamelands #43 today.

We went hiking to see if we could find us some squirrels. I did find a good patch of hickories and oaks to hunt out of, but didn't see much in the way of squirrels. It had a little ground water here and there, which I suppose would be good, but we still didn't see any squirrels. However, it was a little warm today, and we got there in the middle of the afternoon. To get to this patch of trees, I had to hike in about a mile and a half. I'm a little worried I may get lost in the pre-dawn hours, but I took good notes, have a compass, and put my map in a plastic sleeve.

I think for the early part of the year, I am going to use a 12-gauge shotgun. I've acquired a really old Stevens single shot that I am going to use with light load #4 shot. When the leaves come off the trees a bit, I think I am going to switch over to a scoped .22 I have. The area I found looked to have great mast - one of my footfalls would cover six or eight nuts in places. My hope is to get to the parking area for this spot during the way-dark, hike in pre-dawn, and start out as the sun comes up.

PA does not allow Sunday hunting, and I work every day of the week, with every OTHER Saturday off - and I work in a different state than I live. Ergo, I have to make my hunts count. I like just being in the woods, but some edible payoff sure wouldn't hurt my feelings.

I'm excited. Anyone have any thoughts or tips? Sorry this post wasn't super informative - I'm just seeing if anyone else is doing anything similar that might help me out idea-wise.

Safety first!
-Liam
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