SmallCaliberCentral

What is the real name of the burrowing varmint that you love to shoot as opposed to the local name used??

And also when are they active??

In my home area of south eastern Saskatchewan we had vast amounts of what we called gophers. Thier real name is Richardson Ground Squirrel, we also had some Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels, and the odd Franklin's Ground Squirrel in our area.

Here in southern Alberta in the foothills I have added the Columbian Ground Squirrel to my list.

These animals hibernate or remain below ground for around 8 months of the year. They are only active from Feb-June (Males) March-July (Females) and the juvenile males sometimes stay until sept before going away. This curtails my shooting to spring and early summer but I have heard that some types of prairie dog remain active for much longer, any one have varmints that remain active longer or is this typical?



Richardson Ground Squirrel
http://people.uleth.ca/~michener/main.htm
http://talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=561

Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels
http://www.icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/1 ... uirrel.asp

Franklin's Ground Squirrel
http://talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=563

Columbian Ground Squirrel
http://talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=560

surfclod: We've got mainly the Belding Ground Squirrel here, and on the fringe of the area, some Columbian and Richardson's. Our little guys have the same schedule as your critters there.

Shooting Skippy has been a passion of mine since 1968, and when I go to the Happy Hunting Ground, I know there will be a huge rodent festival held in my honor. The most fun you can have with a rifle.



One of my sons in the background helping thin the hordes of Skippy and his pals.

In Virginia, I just call them ground hogs (whistle pigs). Depending on the weather, I can see them out at anytime during the year. I plugged one with my bow late last October while deer hunting.

We call them black tailed prairie dogs for the most part. The tree huggers call them the 'lynch pin of the prairie'.
Quite by accident I basically fell into a fantastic place to shoot them. I was invited out to the farm for a deer hunt back in 1997. Got there a day early, went to my brother in laws pasture to double check sight in on my deer rifle. Low and behold the pasture is loaded with pds, pds that had never really seen a rifle. Been going every since and have found dozens of other places nearby so as to not run out of good shooting. Set up a few rifles just for shooting dogs and the rest is history.

The best shooting is end of April thru June and then again end of Aug to the end of Sept. But black tailed prairie dogs don't really hibernate and it is common to get good shooting anytime the sun is shining. I try to go 8-10 times a year for 3-4 days some times more. We can usually get in a day or so during antelope and deer hunting also. Since this is mixed into farmland we consider them year round targets.

My favorite colony rodent is the prairie dog. According to the reading I have done, they are not true hibernators so you might see them out of their dens any month of the year. I have seen them out and about all 12 months of the year, but you don't see them out during the winter unless it is an unusually warm, sunshiny day.

We do have striped gophers, gophers without stripes, and some parts of North Dakota have groundhogs. I haven't shot many gophers lately because I have been concetrating on prairie dogs. The PDs are a much larger target when they are adults, but are every bit as great a challenge to his as gophers when the PDs are still young pups. The pups usually start coming out of the den toward the very end of May and beginning of June.

The popular long-range target rodents in northern Utah come in three sizes:
Small
Uintah ground squirrel - http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search ... m=sperarma
Wyoming ground squirrel - http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search ... m=sperarma
(both are sometimes called "pot-guts" locally. and there are some Belding ground squirrels in extreme NW Utah)
Medium
White-tailed prairie dog - http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search ... m=cynoleuc
(not to be mistaken for the Gunnison prairie dog or the Utah prairie dog that live in other parts of the state, both of which are federally protected), and
Large
Yellow-bellied marmot - http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search ... m=marmflav
(commonly called "rock chucks").

Each have their own appeal. The ground squirrels have a wider range, the prairie dog populations go in cycles, and the rock chucks are rarely found together in large numbers. Anything from rimfires on up will usually suffice, although while shooting ground squirrels I once got into a bunch of springtime 'chucks at close range (under 100 yds) with only a 17M2 rifle. It took a lot of lead to finish the adults.

Although they are technically called prairie dogs before we shoot. As the bullet makes contact their field names change to such old family favorites as -

flipper
spinner
buddha
scatter
hook shot
chip
drive
top spin
back spin
prairie funa
bird food...etc.

Richardsons are about all you will find out in central Alberta. Here is another interesting link about them.
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ibernation

Here in IDAHO, they are called TARGETS, and we shoot them any time we see them