SmallCaliberCentral

Last week I got a kind invitation to shoot squirrels from fellow member here Trapper Dan in southern Oregon. The day we chose to shoot was as perfect as a guy could ask for....63*F, sunny with zero wind. This year the rats are up early, and as the landowner asked us to eliminate as many as possible, it was a target-rich environment with squirrels and their mounds everywhere.

Dan came well equipped with .17 Mach IV, 20VT and 204R, all in nice Boyd's laminated thumbhole stocks, and LH to boot. I only took my new-to-me Cooper Phoenix in 221FB shooting 40gr Nosler VG's over A2200 for a paltry 3,100 fps, but as the thing shoots in the .2's consistently, any squirrel inside 300 yards was a gimmie.

Here's Dan having his way with Skippy:



The view from my bench.....squirrel mounds everywhere.



Dan's nice rifles in ideal rat calibers during his cleaning session....CZ and Sako in 17M4 and 20VT:



Another bench-view.....the horizontal irrigation pipe in the back of the field was exactly 225 yards from my bench. There were so many squirrels at the end of the pipe, it was like a shooting gallery, as about every shot resulted in a flying rat. It was hard to shoot well for laughing, there were so many flying about.



I want to thank Trapper Dan for the invite, and for a day of spectacular shooting. We had a grand day and the landowner was happy too. Skippy and his pals on the other hand, may feel quite differently.

I am jealous of the fun you fellas out west get to have. Looks like it was a great day.

Very nice outing indeed. Are the little ones up yet or is it too early? I was out today trying out a new load for my 20 VarTarg to give skippy flying lessons with. You guys sure know how to start the year out.

Looks like a good time was had by all...well, except skippy.

Nice shootin' gents...

Thanks for the story and the pics Rick. You seem to have gotten out a bit earlier than usual. Hoping to do some of that with the Alberta Raptor Feeding Society members in mid May / June.

And so it begins once again!!!!!!!!

Good report Rick.

Never heard of going to shoot Skippy with only one gun, lol. I suspect you had a pistol for the charging Skippy's.

Allen

I share Allen's sentiments. One gun? That's confidence. It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!

hemiallen wrote:Never heard of going to shoot Skippy with only one gun, lol. I suspect you had a pistol for the charging Skippy's.

Well Allen and CS,......I've never gone after rats with only one rifle either. In all honesty, my Cooper M38 in 20VT was in its hard case in the truck, along with 400 rounds of her pet load. And I've always got my Kimber 22LR 1911 Conversion Unit on one of my .45 frames for the 'charging rats'. It accounted for five careless rats on this trip using WW Power Point HP's. Never did uncase the VT.....I'll save those rounds for the Rat Rodeo coming up soon, as that can be a 1,000 round trip easily.

The little ones were not up yet, part of the reason the rancher called for shootin' help, as the females are all carrying now. Plenty were left for 'seed', believe me. You could shoot there all week and still not clear them out.

Confidence? Maybe, as the little Fireball is shooting consistently in the .2's, but 'just in case', the VT was there to save the day if needed.

"Nasty Nancy" as she may be known, cooling off in anticipation of engaging Skippy again....



Man, I love this stuff!

Sounds like fun Rick,

"Nasty Nancy" as she may be known, cooling off in anticipation of engaging Skippy again....

I shot 490 two weeks ago, and 400+ last Saturday. Same field and 4 weeks straight, over 2,000 rds this year in the same 100 acres.
The populations are good and the young/dumb ones are not here yet. It takes 4 or 5 rifles for me to do this without heating them up.
Shooting only one rifle in a "target rich environment" is like being duck taped to your bed Christmas morning.

I figured you had backup(s). Now I see the big bumper on your truck, I must have been focused on the left thumbhole stocks at first glance, now I see your PU in the background.

I may sneak up north to the places we discussed a few weeks before my main shooting. I'll have my new 17hh, 17fb, 20VT sako and probably a 204 I haven't used for Skippy launching. It looks like it is still sub freezing temps where I go, so I hope it warms up some for more shooting hours per day. Ah, almost forgot the Anschutz, lol. Back to 5 guns.... I need to get the Mega cab soon.


Hoping the Javalena shoots well enough for trip #2, and I get the Cooper VT sorted before trip #2, the Lapua brass seems to feed from her, but I need more range time to get it dialed in, to replace the Sako VT.


It looks like I might get 3 trips in this year, woo-hoo.


Thanks again for the "motivational post", now if the wind dies down before Friday's rain, I might be ready soon.

Allen

ClaimJumper wrote:Shooting only one rifle in a "target rich environment" is like being duck taped to your bed Christmas morning.

Now Don......THAT is funny!

I may have to come down there and save you from the charging hordes of squirrels.....don't want them to get you down in the field and have their way with you!

hemiallen wrote:Ah, almost forgot the Anschutz, lol. Back to 5 guns.... I need to get the Mega cab soon.

Yeah, when getting ready for a prolonged rat trip, one of the most difficult things to do is sort out which rifles to take! If you take too many, you're dealing with all the bulk in the truck. If you don't take enough, you'll fry one of your pet barrels.....what to do? What to do? These logistics are pure h3ll!

One thing for sure.....our favorite time of year is quickly approaching! Piles of hot empty brass........I'm lovin' it!

If you don't take enough, you'll fry one of your pet barrels.....what to do? What to do? These logistics are pure h3ll!

Rick,
that is one problem that translates into a good day! water a rag and lay it on the barrel, get another out of the truck! It's therapy for us old guys.

I have many fields and not enough shooters. I have shot only 2 farms and have many commitments for the next few months, but I always have room for 2-4 more. Or can lead you to a few No. California spots with literally 1,000's of squirrels near the State line.

This is a "bumper crop year" for squirrels!

Thanks for the post and pic's,Rick. I too am salivating to get out in the field again. Will happen soon!

hemiallen wrote:Back to 5 guns.... I need to get the Mega cab soon.

I am in the same boat Allen, in fact I just bit the bullet and did just that! Now my problem is spreading out the money to make it to the "Rat Rodeo" this year. Some how, I think it will happen!

Any time you can shoot an average of one shot every one an half minutes through out the day has to be a grand day. Even though Rick shot circles around me, I came out the winner in the end because I got to pick his brain all day. The only problem was the day went by too fast. Hope we can do it again soon. Dan