squirrel hunting

[Billy_B]

Thought I would tell a story about hunting in the early 1960s. My father died when I was very young but I had a great uncle that gave me my first gun and taught me how to hunt. It was a single shot winchester 22 with plunger cock and he bought it from Western Auto for $15. Money was tight and my grandmother would allow me to hunt squirrels by myself but would deal out the 22 shells like they were gold. She would give me 6, 22 shorts. She would then give me a lecture about not shooting bottles or walnuts out of the trees and send me on my way. I don't think she really expected me to bring back 6 squirrles but she was making me a better shot and better hunter. I quickly found out not to shoot at the fox squirrels because they were very hard to kill with a 22 short. The grays were easy if they were sitting still with their head exposed. When I had the opportunity to hunt with a friend that had a good squirrel dog that really made bagging those buggers easy and at least once I did bring home 6 squirrels. I gave the gun to my son in law for my grandsons use in hunting squirrels. I quit huntilng them when I got married because my wife wouldn't eat them. Those were good memories.

 

[Billy_B]

Doesn't any one have memories from their hood that they may want to add to this thread?

 

[Naybor]

When I was about 10 my dad let me use his Remington Model 611 and it was also good on squirrels and rabbits when you could find them sitting. He would buy a carton (500 rounds) of .22 shorts at the beginning of summer and if I needed more I would have to buy them myself out of my allowance. Back then, shorts were .50 cents per box of 50 and long rifle .90 cents per box. The Remington was magazine fed and ate shorts just fine.

I was always careful of my backstop, cause my uncle had a .22 shell in his arm from a .22 shot about a mile away. I remember he could turn it in his arm. It went into his elbow and stopped about halfway to his wrist just under the skin. I don't know why he never had it removed.

I remember throwing rocks or sticks past the tree to make a sound and the squirrel would run around to my side of the tree, BAM!!!!