Was sitting here thinking about some of the funny things that have happened to me while hunting, particularly for small game, and though it would be fun to share one and see if any one else had anything they would like to share.
I went to westchester NY to hunt some of my old deer hunting grounds, and hope fully get something with stick and string after converting from training wheels. Met a couple of friends down there and we all hunted hard for three days out of our four day trip to no avail for deer. some new guys started hunting the adjacent property and were baiting, so the deer changed their patterns (IE. wait until dark and then go hit their bait). Anyway, the fourth day we decided to hunt for squirrels. We got into them right away and i put two on the ground within a couple of hours, and everyone else was having a lot of close calls. We were all having a blast, and had only sacrificed a few cedar shafts which was pretty unusual for us, since we usually break or lose everything we go out with when it is for tree rats.
anyway, my buddy finally connects on one, but the hit was marginal and it got up a tall oak before he could secure it. i heard the commotion so went moseying over to see what was up. I get to my buddy and he is looking straight up trying to find an opening to shoot this squirrel again. I asked him if he could use some help, and soon was breaking my neck trying to find an opening too. we both start slinging arrows up at this guy one at a time, and doing the occasional jump to the side to avoid feathered hail on the return flight. i lose one arrow that misses him by an inch and it strikes a limb at an angle an crack, cedar confetti. no worries got plenty more of them. then my buddy does the same thing. then one of mine strikes a rock on the way back down. then i stick one in a limb. then he loses one. then one of mine nicks him and he moves closer to the trunk, partially hiding his body with a limb but it is much more clear now. chunk! stuck an arrow in that limb. crack, buddy breaks another one on the side of the limb. i break my last arrow, but it is still almost full length. i half draw it and send it up. broken again.
hmmmmmmm....out of arrows....well he is hit already....lets wait him out. 30 minutes later.........45 minutes later......well i have a few more at the house, lets make our way back to my sisters place and come back for him. walking back to the house we top a rise and bust a flock of turkeys out about 15 yards, running away. some never flew....yup turkey was in season, but its a little hard to shoot them without arrows.......haha, i tell ya, some days. never did get that squirrel, but we sure had fun that day. i reckon that was the single most expensive squirrel i have ever met. being that it was a few years ago the sequence of the arrows breaking was off of memory, so it may not be totally correct, but all of those things did happen, and i had just about a full quiver when the saga began.
and no i have not learned my lesson i will still buy or make a lot of nice deer arrows, that eventually find their way about 2 inches to the left right over and under of squirrels, invariably breaking. but thats part of the fun right?
Share if ya got one.