Early-Season Woods and “Internet Experts”
The same simple truth applies when we transition from the water to the timber.
I’ve taken some heat from “internet experts” lately for using a shotgun during the early squirrel season. They claim it’s not “sportsmanlike” and that a real hunter only uses a .22 rifle. But those folks are forgetting basic woodsmanship.
In the late summer and early fall, the leaf canopy is incredibly thick. A squirrel is moving fast, mostly hidden by a wall of green. If you fire a tiny forty-grain rimfire bullet through that brush, a single leaf can deflect it. That means you risk wounding the animal, or worse, sending a stray bullet traveling a mile downrange. A shotgun with a light field load is the ethical, safe, and practical choice for early-season cover.
Simple Woodsmanship > Expensive Gear
Besides, chasing bushytails used to be a team sport. I can still hear the crunch of the leaves as I walked around the backside of giant hickory trees to shake wild grapevines. The goal was to make the squirrel slip around to my grandpa’s side of the tree for a clean shot. I didn’t have high-dollar camo; I had a faded flannel shirt. But I felt like the king of the woods just for shaking a vine.
The Legacy of the Cast-Iron Skillet
When you bring a mess of fresh bream and a couple of squirrels back to the house, there’s only one proper way to handle it: flour, cornmeal, and a hot, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.
There is a deep, comforting nostalgia in the sizzle of wild game in cast iron. Sitting at the table, I still hear my grandpa’s voice. He’d crack open the squirrel heads with his pocket knife to eat the brains, look at me, and swear that eating them would make me “think like a squirrel” so I’d harvest more of them next time. I always passed on the offer, but I never forgot the lesson.
That simple spark—born from cane poles, single-shots, and dirt worms—is what grew into everything else. It’s the gateway that made me want to:
- Chase thundering spring turkeys in the timber.
- Wait on whitetail bucks in the winter frost.
- Make trips down to the Gulf of Mexico to feel the raw power of a big redfish.
It all started right at the beginning. If you’ve lost that spark lately, or if the high-tech pressure has made the outdoors feel more like a job than a sanctuary, do yourself a favor: Go back to the beginning. Leave the gadgetry at home and rediscover the simple things.
A Final Thought on Letting Go
Worrying about having the newest gear, the perfect setup, and controlling every variable isn’t just a problem in the outdoors—we do it in our daily lives, too. We twist ourselves into knots, carrying heavy weights we were never meant to hold.
That’s where we have to stop playing cowboy and look to Christ. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus tells us plainly not to worry about tomorrow, because our Heavenly Father already knows exactly what we need. When we let go of the noise, step into His creation, and hand that control over to Him, we find a peace that no store-bought gear could ever give us.
If you’re carrying a heavy load of worry today, leave it at the gate. Let the Lord handle it. He’s got you.
If you want to dive deeper into these traditional woodsman skills and seasonal tactics, check out my digital guides over on Gumroad:
- The Bream Fishing Guide – My personal mapping, rigging, and hot-weather swamp secrets.
- The Squirrel Hunting Guide – A straightforward guide to early-season woodsmanship, hunting strategies, and mentoring the next generation.