Mixenden

The day was very warm for the time of year, the sun was shining and the shopping had been done.

My wife took the kids to her friend's, and I was left to my own devices, so I pumped up my rifle, filled my magazines, and set off to the local woods.

I headed back to the area where I'd seen all the squirrels last week.

I crept into position, and waited behind a tree trunk.

I watched intently, trying to spot any movement, or a squirrel sat on a branch, or in a fork.

I'd been there less than a minute, and I could hear chewed Pine Cones hitting the floor.

I glanced round in the direction of the noise, and spotted a squirrel sat in a fork about 25 yards away.

I took aim, and gently squeezed the trigger.

She fell from her perch, bounced off a couple of branches on the way down, and landed on the ground with a loud THUMP!

I collected her, and sat watching for movement again.

5 minutes went passed, and I spotted 3 heading towards me in the branches.

They kept their distance, and headed past me into the thick cover of the Pine trees.

I stayed put, and kept watching.

2 appeared on the ground, about 20 yards away, I watched for a moment, as they played in the leaf litter.

They acted as if I wasn't there, I took chose the larger of the 2, took aim, and waited for her to pause.

She sat up, and I squeezed the trigger

She jumped in the air, doing a somersault, then started to climb the nearest tree.

I thought I'd missed. But she made it about 30 foot up the tree then fell to the ground.

A couple of flicks from her tail, and then lay motionless. I checked through my scopes, and saw no more movement, so went to retrieve her.

I'd hit her in the side of the chest, and she was covered in blood around the wound. I put her in my pocket with the other one, and headed back through the woods.

As I approached a large area of clear ground, I spotted a 3 squirrels heading for a large bramble patch, so headed towards them.

They climbed the trees, and 1 sat on a large branch in full view.

I slowly aimed my rifle, and squeezed the trigger.

It stumbled across to the next tree, and paused at a large fork.

It slowly slid sideways, and I waited for it to fall, but it didn't.

It regained its foothold, and headed up the tree, and disappeared into a nest.

I waited 15 minutes, and then my phone rang, my wife was heading home, and wondered how long I'd be.

I waited another 20 minutes, and as there was no movement, fired 1/2 dozen pellets into the nest to see if it would flush it out.

Still no movement, so I reckoned it had died in the nest.

I hate it when that happens, because the nests are in trees that can't be climbed.

I'll be returning again soon.

I now have 3 squirrels in the freezer waiting for B-B-Q weather, but I need 6.