SmallCaliberCentral

finally got out to do some shooting at some sage rats on friday. we started calling them go downs about 25 yrs ago. when you get them in your sights, they GO DOWN!
I decided to get out and do some shooting, even if it was by myself. my shooting buddies were all too busy. boy am i doing some "rubbing it in". I checked in at the ranch shop at about 7:30 AM. the mechanic, who knows me very well , said the alfalfa is about 6 inches high and more in some fields. he told me that they had planted grain in another field that i had never been to, so i decided to check things out, you know, another shooting place! i drove thru the gate and to my surprise, the grain was only about 2 to 3 inches high and very sparse. i scanned the area with my binocs and skippy was waving a welcome to me. so i set up up and the fun began. the weather was hot, so the rifles heated up kinda fast. as i was letting them cool down a bit, i remembered reading here that a wet towel helps keep them cool. the only thing i had was an old shirt i was using for a rag. after wetting it down and putting it on my 204, i was able to keep shooting for quit a bit longer.
here are a few pics for your enjoyment.


a pic of my wet shirt cooling the barrel on the 204 and yours truly taking aim at another rat!



This guy just lost his head



Looking back at my shooting position from where skippy was playing



arsenal cooling off in the shade at lunch time



laid to rest in the field



this guy was trying to escape. he was running straight away from me at about 278 yards when i squeezed the trigger



this little guys hind end was nowhere to be found



more carnage with the 204



Just destroyed



Like my friend RIO, i think we live in the best country on this earth. The absolute best to be able to go shooting when we feel the need. I just hope things do not change down the road and we loose what is so dear to all of us

Future - excellent story and pictures.

futuretrades--Sometimes a fellow just has to get away and be by himself. I think it sounds like you had a great time without those buddies who are too busy to go out and have fun!!!

Thanks for the nice report and the great photos. Have you even thought about attaching some kind of umbrella to your shooting bench to keep the sun off you and your rifle?

Way to "whack n stack" em. It's always hard to get all the "stars" lined up with the shooting buddies, which is why I've headed out by myself on more than one occasion.

Kevin,
I like the "Go Downs" label. We say that the little buggers have "reticle radar" as they seem to know when they have been targeted. Nice pics and story. Hope to see ya soon.
Gary

thanks for the comments fellas.

Gube wrote:It's always hard to get all the "stars" lined up with the shooting buddies, which is why I've headed out by myself on more than one occasion.

Gube i know what your saying , i do a lot of things all by my lonesome. but its always nice to share with friends.

Silverfox wrote:Have you even thought about attaching some kind of umbrella to your shooting bench to keep the sun off you and your rifle?

Silverfox Thanks for the nice words. actually i have some shade, just like rick and the gang use. but its kinda hard to put it up by myself, short arms and stature, and like i have mentioned in the past, my CRS is always present

Gary "Reticle Radar", now thats a new one on me! i am already getting ready for the rodeo. lots of ammo loaded, just waiting to be burned up. i am also looking forward to seeing you and Dan again, and meeting RIO in person. time is getting closer. will make maybe one more trip locally and then its time to get serious about the "rat rodeo"

just had a new tranny put in the truck. but the windshield is still the same as when i left you guys last year

Heres what we do for shade . In back of our seat post we slide a peice that looks like an L into the seat post then you slide and embrella into the L bracket tighten and when you rotate the umbrella rotates with you it works great .


You can see the yellow braket we slide umbrella into

Kevin, in a way I'm glad you have'nt fixed the windshield yet, I was having a hard time explaining that one to Rick! Now we can show him! Remember I'm laughing with you not at you See ya soon. Gary

Futuretrades, I envy you being able to get out in the field as you want... For me, it's a 6-700 mile drive, so depending on my buddies schedules and fuel prices, more people is a necessity for me, just to cut costs.....but a lot more fun for 3-5 days...

As far as the sun shade, which I heartily recommend, I picked up a cheap beach umbrella at one of the local WalMarts and attach it to the side of my shooting bench with electrical ties.... The breeze caught it just as I was getting ready to take the picture so it looks a little lopsided... ,,, but it's lightweight and doesn't take much space when its collapsed...

Kevin: Great pics and story....reminds me of last weekend with the EORFS crew here. The Rat Rodeo is all set, looking forward to finally meeting you face to face and share some long range lies at the Saturday evening BBQ. Fun will be had by all, except Skippy and his pals of course. I'm hoping I'll also need the "wet towel" treatment with hot barrels.

Shade: Very important, but remember that any shade device attached anywhere to your bench will transfer any wind movement directly to your bench and make any precision shooting impossible. This is why we all use the four leg Quik Shades, as there is no direct attachment to the bench, and the wind is not a factor in the sight picture. Anyone who has ever shot prairie dogs probably knows this, but the wind still blows here, just not as fierce as in MT or WY.

A typical setup of ours recently:



See you soon Kevin.....bring lots of ammo!

hey Rick, already have a new piece of shade. Gary probably told you that my shade last year didn't even last the first day, with the wind. so i ordered some better stuff from cabelas. i just keep forgetting to bring it with me. and is hard for me to set it up by myself. i just use lots of sunscreen. already have my reloads ready for the shoot, about 1500 total for the 204 and 600 or so for the 223. and i am bringing a couple 22's with 2 or 3000 rounds. my K22 Smith and at least one of my 10/22's. i am really looking forward to meeting you in person, and shooting the breeze, and seeing Rat Force One and Captq again. i just need to reload the empties from last friday and i am set as far as ammo goes. just made my reservation at the motel for at least 2 nites. was looking at the calendar and sunday will be fathers day. i will decide later if i will be staying for the monday shoot. don't know how many more fathers days my dad has left, so i may go home sunday about noon or noon thirty.

Kevin: Sounds like you're dialed alright. See you at the 'rat-tivities' soon.

I know well what you mean re: dad. Mine went to the Happy Hunting Grounds three years ago; elk camp will never be the same. Our time here is limited, that much is certain.

I'll be interested in seeing that windshield and the story that goes with it........

Rick: How do those Shade covers work in the wind i would think much wind would blow those away and away. The times we have used the bench attached shade there hasent been wind . If there is much the wind will blow your accuracy around but to my surprise it takes quit a bit . We have a lock down bolt on our benches so they dont rotate and that helps.

Majcl5, the sunshades will stay put up to 15-20mph. When it gets higher than that we have spikes that hold the legs down but winds like that spoil the shooting as the rats don't like the wind and the number of targets goes way down. Gary

maj: When the wind gets to 20mph, it's time to take down ANY shade device, or you'll meet up with it again in the next zip code in a couple of days. Besides, like Captqc said, Skippy and his pals hate wind and go down anyway, so it's sort of a moot point to use the shade leg spikes when the wind gets up to twenty. More like time to break down and get something cool to drink and munch out.