David Blanton and Tyler Jordan looked a little frazzled. They were working the actions of their Gamo air rifles as fast as they could, aiming back to the top of a very tall oak tree and pulling the triggers. Unfortunately for them – and our team – they weren’t connecting with their target: a very fast, very agile gray squirrel showing off with treetop acrobatics.
The squirrel was good, he was fast and he wasn’t sticking around to get shot at anymore. This little tree-dwelling rodent was getting out of Dodge.
In full disclosure, I could have – and should have – been shooting, too, but I was trying to take pictures and video, so I was no help with the squirrel. Our dog handler for the day, Tim Cosby, stood watching the whole show with some dismay and offered words of encouragement such as, “Boys, will one of you please hit that squirrel!” The 4-H shooter in our group, Danielle Chapman, was on the other side of tree, no doubt thinking “Good grief, I could do better than these guys.”
(And she could. I saw her shoot.)
This little vignette was playing out in a beautiful piece of Alabama woods not far from Montgomery. Once again, I was happy to be back at what has become the premiere small game event in the country, the Squirrel Master Classic. This event is the brainchild of deer hunting TV personality and Buck Masters originator Jackie Bushman. Seven years ago, he was approached by Gamo, the air rifle company, regarding how they could stage a hunting event focused on small game as a way of drawing more hunters, young and old, into the fold.