Back to the Beginning (Squirrel Hunting)

For most of us hunters, we concentrate our efforts and time, in the pursuit of big game animals. How many of us actually started to get into the sport of hunting by targeting Big Game? I would have to guess that for most of us, it was a small gauge shotgun or a small caliber rifle, that was in our hands in the pursuit of small game.

My Dad used squirrel hunting as way to introduce my brother and I, to hunting. Siting together at the base of a tree, we would observe what was going on around us. It seemed so cool at the time, being in the woods hunting with Dad, instead of at home waiting for a report of what he saw in the woods deer hunting. I can still remember sitting there, taking in all of our surroundings. The smell of crisp oak leafs, dodging falling acorns, the warm sunshine coming through the leafs, and constantly scanning squirrel moving in the tree tops above. I was totally content in the woods, it was were I wanted to be.

I think going back to the pursuit of small game, such as squirrel, is what we adult hunters need to do from time to time. A fat squirrel can get a deer hunter real excited when they hear the sound of walking on the forest floor. You hear it and start thinking that its a deer, only to turn around to see a big fox squirrel hunting for acorns. Taking a walk into the squirrel woods is a great way to get back to beginning and remember what got us into the sport of hunting in the first place. We as hunters, can get too wrapped up into the pressures of shooting a nice buck every year. This can cause us to forget or disvalue, other game species that Michigan has to offer. With the number of hunters dwindling, this can be the chance to introduce someone to the sport of hunting to the youth. So when your having hunting withdrawals mid winter, reach back into your gun save and knock the dust off the ol .22LR.