The other day I decided to go to a local wildlife management area for a small game hunt. On these hunts you can basically shoot anything but a deer or a turkey so there really is quite a variety of opportunity. I set out early in the evening and I decided I was just going to walk with bow in hand and I'd kill the first legal thing I chanced upon. It was kind of a drizzly day and it rained on me early on. Luckily palm trees are in no short supply so I waited it out beneath the umbrella like fronds. Once the rain let up I kept walking. I was the 10th hunter that day on the 8,000 acres of land I didn't come across a soul. I had stopped at the first place I could get out of my truck and go. I walked several hours, seeing all kind of tracks and animal sign. Pigs had rooted up lots of the paths I had been on that day and I had hoped to get a shot at one. The sun began to approach the tree line so I decided I should head back before it got too dark. I didn't want to keep the check station attendant waiting too long. I had my truest arrow with the sharpest obsidian point nocked on my bow. As I wandered my way back I heard the tell tale signs of a squirrel scrambling along the ground. I froze. The squirrel was sitting at the base of a palm tree. I wasn't about to shoot my best arrow at it. I slid my first arrow off and slowly nocked my worst arrow that an obsidian point that had the tip chipped off on a miss from over a year ago. The movement of course caused the squirrel to scramble up to the bushy part of the palm tree. It sat there where I couldn't see it so I slowly shifted around the palm tree until I saw its profile sitting there. I slowly raised my bow, drew, and loosed the arrow. The arrow flew true and hit the squirrel right in the side, knocking it out of the tree and leaving a large gash in its side. It quickly scrambled to a nearby leaning oak and rested at the base. Slowly, it laid its head down, then started slipping down to the ground where it expired. I went and found my arrow, retrieved my arrow and proudly walked back to my truck and excitedly told the check station attendant all about my hunt and we shared the excitement of my first primitive kill!
I ate the squirrel that night and its skin is in the freezer and the tail was cut off as a trophy.
