Squirrel Hunting With My Dad!


My father used to take us squirrel hunting on the Brazos River bottom. One morning my father let me shoot his old Winchester .22 pump. My father’s old Winchester would take .22 longs, long rifles and .22 shorts. On this particular morning my father wanted me to shoot .22 shorts. As I was very young at the time, I was just glad to get to hunt with my father.

Before daylight we walked to a huge oak tree and sat about 20 yards away to search the tree for any signs of squirrel activity. As the sun began to rise a cavity in the trunk of the old oak tree about 15 feet above the ground became visible. I told my father I thought a squirrel was looking at us from the cavity in the tree. My father said if I was sure it was a squirrel to go ahead and take a shot. I raised the old .22 to my shoulder and carefully aimed. I squeezed off a .22 short and to my surprise it appeared the squirrel had dodged the bullet. I carefully looked at the hole in the trunk of the tree and sure enough a squirrel was looking right at me. I informed my dad and he said if I was sure it was a squirrel to take another shot. Even more careful this time I squeezed off another .22 short and again to my disbelief it appeared the squirrel dodged the bullet and was looking right at me. I told my father I did not like .22 shorts because they were too slow. My father told me to aim carefully this time and see how I do. I aimed that old Winchester at the squirrel and carefully squeezed off another .22 short. Again to my utter disbelief the squirrel appeared to dodge the bullet and was again looking straight at me. I was very upset that I could not kill the squirrel. I told my father the squirrel must be seeing the smoke or hearing the round and thusly had the time to dodge the bullet. My father said that was ridiculous and for me to take another shot. I did not think the .22 short would be fast enough for that quick squirrel. With great doubt I raised the old Winchester to my shoulder and carefully aimed and squeezed off another round. Finally, I did not see the squirrel looking back at me. My father and I walked over to the old oak tree and there was a cavity at the base of the tree. Sticking out of the base of the tree was what appeared to be a squirrel tail. My father leaned down and pulled the squirrel out of the cavity. The squirrel was shot perfectly between the eyes. Upon further inspection my father pulled out a total of four squirrels all dispatched cleanly right between the eyes.

I have told this story many times and many times folks think I have made this up. To this day it is one of my fondest memories hunting with my dad.

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