Sage Rat arsenal

[Guy M]

Am in the long-countdown, about a month out, from a Sage Rat Safari to Oregon! Hoping to get into the fields after a cutting... Son and I are going, he's a rock-chuck shooter, but we have no sage rats here - so this will be new to him - hundreds or perhaps thousands of targets over a few days... I've had that kind of shooting in the past a few times...

His armament:
.17 HMR CZ varminter 3-9x Leupold (He doesn't know he has this one yet!)
6mm Rem 700 3.5-10x Leupold - his deer, coyote & chuck rifle

Mine:
.22 Marlin 39A
.204 Ruger CZ

There will of course be a .22 pistol along, just in case they charge in close!

It's not the arsenal some of you tote to the raptor feeding fields, but I think it will do nicely for a couple of days of shooting. We'll also have binos, a spotting scope and a laser rangefinder...

Mostly bringing .22 & .17HMR ammo... What do you guys bring on a varmint shoot???

[Mike]

Mostly bringing .22 & .17HMR ammo... What do you guys bring on a varmint shoot???

I've never hunted sage rats, but if they're anything like prairie dogs I would stock up on the .204 ammo. I suspect that you'll use the .204 a lot more often than the .22's.

[Rick in Oregon]

Guy: For all the fun inside of 200 yards, figure 17HMR all the way. I went through 350 rounds in a morning this past weekend, so with plentiful targets about, figure on taking at least 1K rounds between you two, more would be better. Better to have it and not need it, than to wish you had more and not have it. Make sure he has plenty of HMR ammo, as that six mm will get old very quickly on rats, believe me.

For your 204, different story. I always take 400 rounds for each CF varmint rifle I plan to shoot on sage rats. In plastic boxes, that's the amount that fits nicely in a military .50 cal can, so easy to keep track of how much you're taking. It's no problem to go through 200 rounds a day on rats, figuring cleaning in the field to avoid foulding/copper build up. It takes at least a .5 MOA rifle to hit the buggers past 300 yards, so you want to keep the peak accuracy potential of your barrel by keeping it clean to keep your hit ratio high.

Field hint: For when your coming this way for this shoot, think about portable shade (and sunscreen) for each of you......

Have a great trip, and remember your camera!

[Lenard]

Guy, I would try and move that date up to around the 5th of June if it were me. Around that date they are swathing the first cutting. By the time,(one month),you are scheduled to go, the hay will have grown up and hide the squirrels. Of course I am talking about alfalfa fields.

I coordinate the swathing of the hay, and try and be there when they are just about done. Of course that means calling the rancher and finding out when they plan on cutting.

Lenard

[Jim White]

Guy,

If you have a good shooting 22 pistol bring it along. I take my S&W Model 41 along and it's blast hitting those little suckers out there beyond 100 yds with it. If possible, make sure you try various brands of rimfire ammo to see what shoots the best. To my (pleasent) surprise my Model 41 just eats the Remington Cylcone ammo which is a far cry cheaper than Eley or Wolf.

Jim