SmallCaliberCentral

Rick's nickname is all too catchy for the ground squirrel, so I borrowed it... hope that's ok Rick

So, my 11 year old and 9 year old sons joined me for a fun weekend on a buddy's ranch. This spring is the first time I had ever shot ground squirrels and even then I kind of stumbled into the mecca of the sage rats on accident. I picked up this handy cart/bench earlier this week. Here it is all loaded up and ready to head up on a nearby hill.


Here is the office set up. It's not as furnished as Rick's, but give me time and I'll get that way.


In this office view, you can see the sage brush line I targeted most. That line of sage is right at 200 yards from the shooting station.


Here's a more up close view of the "target" range. The alfalfa is getting too high now, but the buggers like to hang out in the sage and then scurry out across some open ground to get to the alfalfa. I did my best to keep them from reaching the hay


Some more views from the office. Next spring, I'll be going before the hay gets so tall. That way, I can shoot as far as I can see the rats.


My longest confirmed kill was only 387 yards. But beyond that, they just couldn't be seen because the hay was too tall. I wonder if they'll still be around after my buddy cuts it?

Here's a view of camp from my office.

This is where the cart/bench worked great. I simply loaded it all up and headed to the office. As you can see in the other photos, I have multiple office locations to choose from. The fact is though, I shot and shot and didn't even put a dent in the rat population down there. I did hit an even 50 rats between last night and this morning. For a good stretch there, it was down right silly what was happening... hit after splattery hit. The carnage was unreal! On one shot imparticular, I hit one and it slammed it into his neighbor and knocked him over. He got up and scurried about 5 feet, stopped to see what happened and then.... well, let's just say he ended up like his neighbor

I couldn't have all the fun, so the boys and I hopped on our bikes to enjoy our other hobby!

sharptailhunter wrote:Rick's nickname is all too catchy for the ground squirrel, so I borrowed it... hope that's ok Rick

STH: You bet it's okay. It's all over the internet now anyway. If you happened to read the story I wrote in a past issue of The Varmint Hunter Magazine, you'd know how that moniker came into being back around 1998 or thereabouts.

Glad your new bench has worked out well so far. I remember when he first started making that model, and thought it was about time somebody put the word "portable" in their bench description that was not 'vehicle served' (like my BR Pivot). As yours is now dual-purpose, even better (hauling firewood). Goes to show there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Your 'other hobby' hits home too....I used to race a Husky 510 here on the open desert, and a myrid of 'em prior to that, and Harley choppers before that. Just be careful, enjoy the ride and watch over the little ones, as they tend to get the WFO idea when they're young.

Thanks for sharing the adventure, bet Skippy was glad when you all went home.

Looks like a great family outing indeed. I have never seen a cart like that, what is the brand name?

Sidewinderwa wrote: what is the brand name?

It's the Voyager model by Shooters Ridge.

That is a fantastic outing. Looks like that portable table is working out very well! It truly is portable. I may need to check into one. Would be easy to camouflage it with some ghilly type material as well. The pdogs out here can see a guy coming from a long ways off and they hit the holes. They end up coming back out if you sit still for a little while. A little camouflage and that would become a neat little hunting blind. Pair that up with a suppressor and I wouldn't need to move around as much!

Yeah Trent, I'm already scheming about making a blind/shade/rain shelter that installs above it. I'm thinking of just using some light weight camo netting and like some 1/2" PVC pipe. If I connect it right to the bench, then it would move as I move the bench around, if that makes sense?

The guy I bought my stock from said that a suppressed .204 is freaky quiet and essentially removes every bit of the small recoil it had to begin with.

One of my very good friends, has come up with something that really fools the rats. He bought a 2 man foldable blind. He strickly shoots a 10/22 and says it really fools them. He attested he has had his best shoots since using the blind. I think he paid less than $100 for his. He shoots long range with the 22 LR, up to 180 yards. He said when he quit shooting he had 17 rats laying at 170 yards.

Rick in Oregon wrote:Your 'other hobby' hits home too....I used to race a Husky 510 here on the open desert, and a myrid of 'em prior to that, and Harley choppers before that. Just be careful, enjoy the ride and watch over the little ones, as they tend to get the WFO idea when they're young.

Desert racing is something I'd love to try sometime. All three of us are beginners. I wanted a hobby that I could do with my kids as we all aged. So, we all got into dirt bikes about two years ago and we've had some memorable times learning to ride together. I'm pretty anal about making em wear all their protective gear. I do anesthesia for a living so I see firsthand those who choose not to wear it;) The boys all moved up a size this year so our youngest, a 5 y.o. daughter, gets the CRF50. She insists that we swap the fenders for pink and purple, of course she'll get it cuz she always gets her way!

My boys like to be my spotters for the ground squirrels. They like to look through the binoculars for me. I hope I can follow in the footsteps of my father. Everything I enjoy doing, he introduced to me to it. It appears to be that way with you Rick and many others on here.

Looks like great outing thanx for sharing, great photos too. Still some snow on mtns,where was that?

Very nice write-up STH!!

Man I love this stuff! Thanks for sharing. Gary

btlbrn wrote:Still some snow on mtns,where was that?

I live in southeast Idaho... Pretty much God's country!

Sharptail Hunter: Nice looking bike, what model is that? We have three KTM's. Six year old on a 50SX Pro Senior, seven year old on a 65SX (they both started on the 50 @ 5 yrs old) and myself on a 200EXC (XC-W now a days). Great bikes but, they do infringe on the shooting budget. Have fun, stay safe!

Rick: You are so good about posting pictures.....any chance you would share a picture from your "Chopper Days"? I have an uncle that disappeared for two years on a Harley chopper after returning from Vietnam. I'm sure that bike could tell stories that my uncle never will!!!

Jon

RAMOS wrote:Rick: You are so good about posting pictures.....any chance you would share a picture from your "Chopper Days"? I have an uncle that disappeared for two years on a Harley chopper after returning from Vietnam. I'm sure that bike could tell stories that my uncle never will!!! Jon

Jon:

Thanks, I've been taking pics for a long time, so have a bunch accumulated. Okay, normally I would not post such a pic, but as most here know me for who I am in my "senior years", I'll share a bit of my evil past with the crew here, but just this once, and just this pic.

This was one of my last bikes before I retreated back into the timber in logging camps in BC for a few years. This one took the Silver Medal at the 1971 Oakland Grand National Roadster Show. Harley XLCH, Sidedraft Weber carb, PB cams, Joe Hunt magneto, the frame, narrow springer front end, all other appendages and paint were by yours truly. Oh, and I got a haircut since then too!



That headlight "was" a Calif Hwy Patrol motorcycle pursuit light....don't ask how it ended up on my chopper. Like your uncle on his Harley, good thing mine can't talk either.

Sharptail: Sorry for the thread deveation, but he asked.

Man, that is priceless. Thanks so much!!!

And now we resume our regularly scheduled programming........