My dad had a lifelong relationship with squirrels

My dad had a lifelong relationship with squirrels. Some folks call them tree rats. My earliest memories of dad’s infatuation was that he hunted squirrel. In the ’50s he had an off brand 20 gauge bolt action shotgun as his squirrel gun.

He occasionally shot ducks with it, but squirrels were his specialty. (He never used a .22 for squirrel hunting - thus, we had to be careful not to break a tooth on shot in the stew.)

Mom was, therefore, a squirrel cook: fry, stew, fricassee.

Squirrels and Weapons

This is not the gun, but this is what it looked like. When I was about 8 or 9 dad decided to introduce me to squirrel hunting. He acquired a .410 gauge single shot shotgun for me. I think he borrowed it from one of his brothers.