Join Tom as he takes a historic trek through the woods of the Valley of Virginia, hunting squirrels with a flintlock rifle and talking history the whole way.
Tom explores the historical accuracy of “barking a squirrel,” a frontier shooting technique famously attributed to Daniel Boone in the writings of John James Audubon. By utilizing a 50-caliber flintlock rifle in the Virginia wilderness, Tom tests the feasibility of this method through experimental archaeology.
Rifle: Kibler’s Longrifles Woodsrunner .50 cal
Check out Blood & Treasure and learn more about Daniel Boone:
“I heard about barking squirrels as a youngster in the sixties and learned by practice that it was not effective with a BB gun graduating to .22 longs it could be done but mostly by accident. By aiming under a squirrels head that was flat against a tree limb you got the insurance of a bounce up if you shot low. Graduating up to any more powerful cartridge the actual impact and destruction of the limb starts to work. Why do it. To save meat. I subbed enjoyed the story. Keep it up and keep shooting low.” ~
Tom’s Outdoor Channel: – from September 27th, 2026
