I shot my Sako Vixen 17 Mach IV, Ruger No.1V in .223 Rem, and my Sako M75 V in 204R. We got blown out with 40mph+ winds around noon one day, and yesterday, Sunday, we had to break down for home in the middle of a blizzard, but in between those two events, the shooting was very good, considering the crop is not up yet, and it was purty cold at 4,500' elevation.
Gary, Dan, and Matt shot 204's and .223's, along with some 17HMR thrown in. When we had to leave the field, we popped rats with our pistols out the windows on the way back to the Rat Hilton and watched DVD movies to pass the non-shooting time in style....and eat of course.
I set my personal all-time record for carnage launch distance. I splattered a rat with my .223 using 40gr V-Max from my Ruger No.1V, and hit him in the body. His head flew a measured 47'! Here's some shots of the adventure.....warning: Some are pretty graphic....
The firing line during the action:
32gr Sierra BK's, WS2 coated ready for Skippy:
My Sako M75V 32gr SBK launch engine (longest kill was 426 yds. that day):
My Ruger No.1V Skippy medicine (this No.1 really rocks!)
A victim of my Kimber Pro-Carry .45ACP with the Rimfire Conversion mounted:
Ever wonder what a .17 caliber Berger 25gr hollow point does to a squirrel at 185 yards when it's going 3,860 fps?
Another Kimber 22LR victim:
17 Mach IV Berger Launch Vehicle (Sako Vixen/Shilen bbl, McMillan stock/Lupy 6.5-20X):
Carnage record distance of 47'.....Matt is standing by Skippy's head:
Skippy's head, in an 'out of world experience'......47' away.....:
This rat now has a 'split personality'....peeking over his mound just over 100 yards away, nailed him right between the eyes with my 17 Mach IV....split his head in two, the top half here, split right down the middle of his little face. You can see his nose in the middle, and his two front teeth now separated a bit more than normal. His body was about 12 feet away (I told you it was graphic!):
No wonder we need trucks to haul all our gear.....an armored personnel carrier would be better. Lot's of support equipment just to shoot squirrels....properly that is (Sako 17M4 on the bench).
Overlooking the field in the early season. The brown rats are pretty hard to see against the brown landscape. If not for the mirage, we could have shot past 500 yards, but with bare ground, we had mirage even though the temperatures never got much above 50 degrees (Sako 204 on the bench).
I know some of my fellow shooters in the midwest and east are still snowbound, so thought you all might like to see our "first get out" here in the west. I've got more if you want to see some....let me know.
Another week, and we'll be back at it again.
Who could that person be??? 
Besides, as I remember it, that little bugger was 80' away and rabbid, yea that's it rabbid and I threw myself it it's path as it attacked you, yea that's the way it really happened 
Gary
