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The whistle pigs are out here in sw Idaho. Went out yesterday, about 38*, bright sunny day and there were quite a few running around. Also shot a badger but it got in a hole before I could get to it.

It looks like it is about time to go visit my son in Boise - can't wait for a few warm days in a row to get in a bit of early shooting.

drover

Does anyone know if that whistle pig in Roundup saw his shadow?

Don't know for shure, but guessin by the weather that day...I'm thinkin' not...

and here I listen to these guys..

Ingwe, these Montana guys were telling me that IF YOU saw your shadow, it would be 6 more MONTHs of winter in Montana...

makes me wonder, I think they are pulling our leg...

Well, I DID see my shadow. It was clear and krispy on Wednesday, I think.
Feels like more winter. Best storm yet was Monday, I say best because it actually dumped some snow before it started drifting it around. Man I Wish I Had A Pass.
But I admit, I am looking forward to spring. I love that first whiff of warm, wet dirt.

This has me getting itchy for squirrel season...

I have plenty of loaded ammo from previous years for the 223s, and here I am loading up another couple of hundred.... just to scratch the Spring Sage Rat Season itch..

BRoper: Do you consider "whistle pigs" to be Ground Squirrels?
In all the states (including SW Idaho!) I have Hunted "whistle pigs" they were Rock Chucks not Ground Squirrels.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yeah, I still have a hard time calling ground squirrels "whistle pigs", just do it because everyone else here does. You know, "when in Rome". Years ago we always called rock chucks "whistle pigs", then when I moved back to Idaho six years ago, everybody was using that for ground squirrels.

When I worked in the Boise area back in the early 60's everyone called them whistle pigs, picket pins or gophers, no one that I knew ever called them ground squirrels.

It's pretty easy to see how they came to be called whistle pigs when you hear their warning cries, and or course when standing upright they do bear a resemblance to a picket pin. To this day I still call them gophers or whistle pigs although I do hear more folks calling them ground squirrels now.

drover

Sage RATS seems to best fit for me...

their habits are more closely aligned with a rat.. especially the cannibal part

Yep! While I don't use the term Sage Rat I do like it - it removes the "cuteness" from the other names and aptly describes them and some of their habits.


drover

Yup, the sage rats are coming up around here as well. I need to find some ground to the north. Ah, red mist across the snow...what dreams are made of.

Tim
No Off Season
Predator and Varmint Gear and Hunts
"No crowds, no limits, no seasons...no bad days."

Sage rats, AKA "squeekers".

I grew up in Ohio and we called groundhogs whistle pigs. IIRC their warning call was more of a whistle than a chirp and they're fat little buggers. Haven't heard anyone here call ground squirrels by that name...

I'm in NW MT and was wonderin how early in the spring the ground squirrels start making themselves available for shooting. Got permission from a couple landowners and my first varmint rifle, now I wanna see some red mist.

FNG,
just get out there and start cruising around on nice sunny days. it'd surprise you how early they do come out. I've seen them running around on the snow.

BRoper, I always carried a 10' strand of bob wire behind the truck seat to stick in a badger hole and twist it. The barbs will get caught up in the badger's hair, then you just pull him out.

You can use this technique on live ones also. It's good to have a shot gun real handy when fishing out live ones.

Yeah, I've heard of the bob wire trick. Bet that would be "fun" to pull a live one out. I've had them growl and pop their teeth at me, sound like they could get kinda mean.

I saw a badger in No Minnesota one time, get into it with a black bear over something..

heard a ruckess from my deer stand, down toward the river and on 9 power watched this badger just throw himself at this black bear, that was a decent sized one..

the badger was quick and didn't back down from the bear at all..

No thank you...

check out the claws on this thing!

FNG, Can't say for sure, but the squirrels in your neighborhood NW MT, might well be the Columbian Ground squirrel. That's what we have in Northern Idaho anyway. The Columbian variety is much larger than the smaller sage rats, (Beldings ground squirrel)that several are already seeing out. The sage rats come out sooner and much more numerous than the Columbians. I don't get any real good shooting until May, but they do start coming out in late March and early April depending on snow and weather.