~ GAME ON ~

[Irishwhistler]

~ Game On ~ Whilst gazing up into a stand o' hardwoods this morning, I watched these two gray squirrels in a standoff, that eventually breaking into an all out game o' chase. As I watched the treetop acrobatics, I was instantaneously transported back to the day's o' me youth as if in some sort o' time machine. I loved hunting squirrels as a young lad, initially with a .177 caliber pellet gun and a bit later with a .22 caliber rifle. I vividly recall the excitement that would vibrate through every fiber o' me being when a big bushy tail was treed and I viewed it in me sights. When hunting with boyhood friends we would take turns on shots for the squirrels we treed. The shooter would be at the ready and the non-shooter would circle the tree to make the squirrel move and present a better shot for the shooter. T'was a team effort.

I found meself reflecting back on days o' walking up squirrels with boyhood friends, sadly, something I believe few kids today will ever experience. We had no cell phones, we no internet, no video games, and we scraped and saved to buy guns and ammunition, those items most often purchased at a local hardware store. The outdoors was our entertainment and that remains a passion for me to this very day. Thinking back on these much more simple days, I am most thankful for having grown up during those times, the days when carrying a jackknife in ye pocket was the norm and not grounds for expulsion. Our guns were tools, we had respect for them, gun safety was a priority, we ate what we killed.

As I grew older me squirrel hunting became more "sophisticated", sitting and calling became the method used. The old Remington Nylon 66 was replaced with a fancier firearm and that was topped with optics that granted me the ability to make shots I could never have connected with using open iron sights. Regardless o' the upgrades, they fell far short o' providing those thrills experienced on me boyhood squirrel hunts several years earlier. They say ye can't go back, and me thinks that to be largely true.

I shot these two squirrels with me camera today, perhaps in a gesture o' thanks for their having transported me back to the simple days o' me youth.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Jeff15]

Well spotted......