Back many years ago when I was a boy, the face of hunting was a lot different than today.  Sixty years later, we have a proliferation of whitetail deer seasons, a dove season and a wild turkey season.  The choice adds a lot to the selection of game by hunters today.

However back then, small game was king, and squirrel season was the topper.  On the Saturday of opening week of squirrel season in August, cars would be parked along county roads bordering woodlots, and the number of hunters was astonishing.  The sound of shotguns rang out, and the woods sounded like a combat zone.

All of the boys in town looked forward to the opening of squirrel season.  We had sharpened our stalking and shooting skills all summer long on the endless number of groundhogs, and we were ready to see who could be the first to get a limit of squirrels (or just get a squirrel.)

School was still a couple of weeks away, and it was almost mandatory a proper squirrel camp be put into use.  The camp site could be about any flat piece of ground in the woods capable of accommodating several sleeping bags with enough area for a huge bonfire.  By the time we drug all of our equipment into camp and lit a bonfire you could see for several miles, I’m sure all the squirrels in the woods knew they were being invaded.

Once in a while, we would have our camp set up next to some young field corn.  We’d snag six or eight ears for the cooking pot.  When boiled for an extended amount of time, the corn was usually still tough, chewy, strong flavored and a far cry from good old sweet corn.  However, with enough butter and salt, you might convince yourself it was fit forage.  We always had about 20 pounds of canned goods, a half a side of bacon and a couple dozen eggs to fall back on should the hunting be lean. The selection ranged from Spam to meat ball stew, hominy and Delmonte Fruit Cocktail.  I’m sure our parents were painfully aware we had raided the refrigerators and the pantries to accumulate our camp victuals.  (Sometimes when we returned home, we in-turn became painfully aware of the fact.)

Of course there was always a lot of bragging on our individual hunting and shooting skills.  Stories of fantastic shots and silent stalking of wary game were freely exchanged around the campfire. 

My good friend Jim Robbins brought an aluminum skillet to camp.  Admiring the light weight, I gave it a try. I loaded it with bacon and promptly burned the bacon beyond consumption.  I was used to the slow heat of a cast iron skillet, not the instantaneous heat transmission and incineration capabilities of an aluminum skillet.  

Jim had brought a new single shot J.C. Higgins 12 gauge to camp.  He asked if I would like to shoot it.  I said sure… I need a target… throw your worthless skillet up and I’ll fold it like a bed sheet.

My shotgun was an 1897 Winchester 12 gauge which had an extended recoil pad on the original stock.  In order to mount the gun to my shoulder, I had to extend my arms and throw the stock forward. Jim’s gun had a short standard stock with no recoil pad.  There was a big difference in stock length!

When I hollered “pull,” Jim pitched the aluminum skillet as high as he could throw it!  I swung the Higgins loaded with a high brass #6 to my shoulder to take the shot.  Throwing the gun forward like I was mounting my ’97 I didn’t take into consideration the difference in stock length. Unfortunately for me, when I pulled the trigger, the gun was about 3 inches off of my shoulder!

The hit was dead on and the aluminum skillet did fold almost in half.  It would never again burn bacon.  But, my situation was also much worse for wear.

With the stock not touching my shoulder, the light weight, hard-kicking Higgins swung up and hit me across the face, blacking my left eye and bloodying my nose.  

As the laughter subsided and I got my nose to stop bleeding, Jim asked if I would be able to hunt in the morning.  I said sure, it’s my left eye that’s blacked and swollen… my right eye is my shooting eye.  I’ll be fine.

It was a different world back then.  I can’t imagine what would be the reaction of people today on seeing a half dozen teenagers riding bicycles, carrying camping gear and their shotguns. I imagine someone would call the SWAT Team.

The Indiana squirrel season this year runs from August 15 until January 31, 2026 with a limit of five squirrels per day.  You can shoot as many aluminum skillets as you want.

High School Students Fundraise For McCormick’s Creek State Park

Owen Valley High School students recently presented the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation (INRF) with a check for nearly $45,000 to support trail restoration efforts in the park.

Members of the school’s Students for the Planet group, who grew up making memories hiking Trail 5 through Wolf Cave Nature Preserve, were determined to restore full use of the trail by raising funds to replace a damaged bridge after the March 2023 tornado.

With their fundraising efforts, along with contributions from the Indiana Parks Alliance, the Friends of McCormick’s Creek, and the Owen County Community Foundation, the park will be able to move forward with replacing damaged trail structures.

Purchase Your Hunting License 

Sign in and secure your licenses early. Fall licenses are officially on sale, and Indiana’s DNR has upgraded the licensing system, the Activity Hub, works a bit differently than the prior method. To make sure you’re ready to go, please sign in now, check your account, and grab your licenses early.

Getting set up ahead of time gives you plenty of room to troubleshoot, ask for help, or visit a retailer if needed. Don’t wait until the last minute. DNR wants you to get into the field without a hitch.

 Go to GoOutdoorsIN.com and click the Login button.

 Need help or have questions? Call: 317-232-4200 or 877-463-6367 or email INHuntFish@dnr.IN.gov.

‘till next time,  

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com 

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.