Here ya go Benny boy! Post 'em here fellas!!!

The end result... (not including the grinner )



Ben

Way to kick off the new year! Looking forward to contributing to this thread soon.

To bad Coyotes don't count or I'd a posted up this one I picked up on New Years day.

That's included in the 'etc' part of the title.....all of god's deceased critters are welcome here.....

Yeah, we don't discriminate...

Tommorow...I'll be hunting wabbits.....

I miss Montucky wabbits... they're much more "naive" out there than back here!

Yes, anything dead varmint is allowed here!

Hopefully I'll get my red dot up and running on my rifle this Monday and I can chase squirrels and other things with it. It's been two days this year and I haven't whacked a squirrel.

I'm lagging

Well in that case...




I haven't called in almost a year. Got a chance to get out today and wanted to try out my .25-06 deer load and just happened to call up a test candidate. 117 gr. Hornady BTSP over 50 grains of IMR 4350. He hung up at 175 yards but that proved close enough! Young male, he's about the smallest coyote I've shot.

New Years day...

Would a normal person use a 12 gauge slug meant to bring down a deer for a ground squirrel?



Good thing I am not normal, give me some time and I will find a squirrel stupid enough to hang around too long.

Got some more "limb bacon" yesterday with the Curs...



Also pinched another possum this morning, but we let the little booger go..



Winnie, I'm sure those slugs would leave a lasting impression on a ground squirrel..


Ben

My first contribution.....(this year) Hail Mary, mother of Grace...

I heard Indiana is going to be making rabbit and squirrel seasons much shorter; mainly because 2 kids that recently moved there from Montucky are greatly depleting the populations!

BTDT. Boredom will make you do all sorts of non-standard stuff.

Yeah, we only have until Jan 31 for squirrels, coons, and possums, and Feb 15 for rabbits.. Yeeesh...

Don, that is a gorgeous coyote!

Thanks, Ben. I musta missed it. When did you guys move? Was it tough changing schools?grin

We moved exactly one year ago.. We're not through with Montucky though....

Nash snuck off and kilt 4 squirrels yesterday without me.. Mom snapped a pic of him through the window...



Ben

Don, not to worry.
This Indiana distraction is a temporary thing. They will be back in the sagebrush before Nash is driving age at the latest.
Had a bit of unfinished family stuff to take care of here.
I gotta say that I am proud of them for not complaining, they just go on huntin and trapping what they can and make the best of it.
I will warn you, I got a feeling that when mtcurman has some driving experience they are gonna make a road trip your way.

Good to hear you guys are headed back this way...the east is no place for decent people...


Am glad to see the boys embracing it and killing the local fauna it has to offer

Geoff, have 'em bring the ol' man, too.

Don, that is an invite that I will hold you to! I'd have as much fun as them i'm sure.

I better line up more prairie dog ground......

ingwe, you also are on that must visit list. We been without gophers for too long now! I kinda miss all those non-edible rodents that the west has available.

Well, you guys better hurry because we have a plan for their total eradication ...

Pinched this guy in a Duke DP this morning... Nash caught one yesterday but he was too little so we turned him loose.






Ben

Ingwe, on a side note, have you made any pot pies yet this year?? We had one tonight and a couple earlier this week(with squirrel, naturally) and they were some good eating!

Odd you mention that, Ive got a dozen or so fox squirrels in the freezer and was just thinking of making pot opie...had fried squirrel and camp spuds with squirrel gravy the other night

That looks very very good...

Make that 3 coons in 3 days..



Had a little gully washer today also...



Ben

Ben, are you running the coons with dogs, or calling them?


Ive gotten interested in calling lately but its too cold here yet....

mtcurman, neat pics. Where you located here in Indiana? I'm up in the NW part of the state, north of Lafayette.

ingwe, them fried "limb chickens" and spuds look right tasty. I had some chowder last nite.


maddog

"Yeah, we don't discriminate... " we eradicate!

mtcurman,

There I added to it for you.

Jim

These ones are all trapped. We have been having some warm weather though so we are planning on hitting them pretty hard with our dogs.



Maddog, Switzerland County down in southern IN..

Hope you get some action in a different set. I'm gettin tired of seeing every coon picture with the same culvert in the background.

Don't lissen to that yayhoo, Ben. You NEVER abandon a producing set.grin.












Sick of that culvert or not, he's really loving it....

Don't worry Don, I won't be pulling this set any time soon!

Keep ignoring him. That's a fine looking culvert.......

I'm going to order some more of the dogproof traps from Minnesota Trapline and then I'll set one on every dadgum culvert I can find!! There's a couple really good looking culverts right here close to the house...

I removed the EVIL, Hi-Cap mag for the pic, so's it would balance on the post. And also not to offend alla you's assault rifle/hicap mag, gun ban types on here.....

That is a very scary picture...to rabbits..

Something's been stealing my trap bait the past two nights. I reset it to where the dog is just barely keeping it from snapping shut so whatever it is will trip the hair trigger and I'll have it in the morning...hopefully it's a big ol' boar coon!

Ben

If it is, you got this to beat......

There ya go, "Huntsman's pizzle swizzle stix"

You 'assaulted' that rabbit!


I'm calling the president...

What are you calling him?

So much for my Cat trapping?
Dang Coyoties anyway.

Got 3 coons the last two nights with dogs, but no good pics, sorry.. I've hit a dry streak with the culvert set, but I have high hopes for the morning as always. Plus I have some new Duke DP's arriving from Minnesota Trapline tomorrow or Monday, so look out coons!!!

Ben

Nice fur on that one Kevin.

Thanks Charlie!
She was a pretty coyote. Pretty pale for these parts.

Very nice coyote Duckdog!

Took the new to me 204 Montana out New Year's Day and killed these two

Then made it out last Saturday for these two

Then got this one sneaking in on a cat stand yesterday

Course she was kind of a bob tailed coyote

Looks like you're putting the new 204 to some good use! the top coyote in the first pic looks like a dandy.

I can't quite tell from the pic, but does the Leupold have the CDS on it?

Ya Lonny, if I ever decide on a load, I'll get a dedicated dial for it or maybe one in moa with a zero stop. Right now I'm shooting factory Hornady 40 gr v max's and they've been doing a pretty good job, the gun sure likes em.

Killed in late 2012, does it still count?
7RM 150gr BTSP. There should be another dead dog here but I missed him running.

Dogs have a coon treed in the back yard right now.

quick. go shoot him and put up the pic......

1 week ago from this past Sunday. Called it in just before dark. It slid into the caller on the ice at full speed and turned around and full speed out of there. I think my 2nd shot connected. Took 3 all together and about 50 yards out.

Hey, you can't hunt with an AR-15!!!! It's only for killing people!

I sweet talked these bandits into holding my rifle for a quick pic this morning...

Nice work Kevin!
Had a little luck myself this morning.
33# Stretched 40"

Field Grade, you must live in bobcat heaven..nice cat, but those dogs are really beautiful looking friends..we were just talking about getting a cur dog for our place..but that would make the house hold pretty crowded...nice work..

Nice lookin cat there Famous Potatoes!!!
(I guess I didn't realize that was Idaho's slogan)

I missed an opportunity on a cat last weekend.
Still bummed about it.

Tell me a story Charlie! Trapped? Treed? Called?
And...which dog is that hanging in the back looking totally unimpressed with the photo session?

That's old Pete (RePete get it LOL) making one of his rare apearances outside after bird season ends.
The dogs jump in the truck everytime the tailgates down reguardless of wheather we're going somewhere or not. Well, cept for Sophie. She can't make the leap.

I actually trapped this one, but you know me. I'll take em any way I can get em.

WCH,,, Curs are small. They don't take up much room.
And yes,,, It's a Cat rich environment here this year.
Suprising how well predators do after two mild winters.
Lots of bunnies and game birds makes for some pretty "fat cats" too.


BTW Kevin,,,, Even though ID's famous for their potatoes, I have a heck of a time finding some decent Yukon Golds here. I think the good ones are imported from Mexico.

Fat cat!!! Ya shoulda seen the coons I peeled yesterday! Sloppy fat!
Coulda give Rosie O'donnel a run for her money.

Ya ever try planting any Yukon golds?
I usually plant kennebecks. Love em!
My family's been planting them forever. They do a lot better in sandy soil, (which I don't have), but they're still good.
My Great Grandad's nickname was "Tater" he planted so many of them!

No,,, I'm not much of a gardener.
I've got two 8' raised beds. One for matters, one for peppers.
Course all my neighbors put in big gardens so I get lots of surplus. Especially Zucchini .

Heading out now to PD fields, copy and pictures to follow...

Made a couple of stands this morning...

I really want to shoot the schit out of small critters. Squirrels are alright around here but I want to shoot gophers or prairie dogs

Live with what ya got Winnie!

Nice pic!

I went out today here in South Dakota and took 86 shots at prairie dogs, figure I hit about 50. My best run was 3 dogs with 3 shots at 452 yards. I walk and set up to shoot but stopped to take this picture.

Was shooting my 220 Swift and 55 gr. Vmax.

Here is my normal setup:

Just got back about an hour ago, the weather was gorgeous and prairie dogs were plentiful. I had just gotten 2 new varmint rifles and had to get them bloodied.

A Sako Pre-Garcia heavy barrel in 243 and a Weatherby Mark V Varmintmaster in 22-250. They both killed a few. It isn't easy rotating between so many guns and finding how much you like each one...

Nice work Shrapnel, it sure was a beautiful day.
Good to see those pretty rifles out working. I need to get an ugly one out and do the same.

Great job Shrapnel! Beautiful rifles as well.

What, no Nylon 66 and Red Dot of Doom?

The Nylon is fun for light work. But bunnies is serious business.

I think I'm selling the Nylon anyway. Let me know if you want it.


Travis

Winnie, just drive to the northeast corner of Calif. You will be able to burn your barrel up. ED

I had lots of luck in Red Bluff. I am trying to think of an excuse to drive there again... still have a pig tag.

Different kind of ground squirrel up here(Modoc County), smaller and short tailed. Beldings Ground Squirrel aka sage rat, squeek, gopher. Ed

Man, the first day those sage rats pop up through the snow, I'm there! Too damn cold for them to even move right now. I have two new rifles/calibers with 0 kills...got cabin fever bad. At least I have time to catch up on my reloading. Got lots of 20 cal Zmax to prepare. Really cant wait to see what the 17H will do.

I awready posted them pics....grin

I got 2 new rifles to blood this year too. 221 fireball and a 17 fireball. The little buggers should start up in about a month. Love that red mist lol. ED

Great, I have the one in between you...20 VT. I wanna make some cherry snow cones this year. Did you see the Nosler 221 brass is in?

Been slowly whittling away at the varmints...



This varmint is all we could tree while we were coon hunting... He was only about 10 feet up the tree.. He's still alive unless he decided to cross a road!



We got 2 rabbits in about an hour hunting with our neighbor and his beagles.. No pics, but it was fun!

Squirrel and coon season closes tomorrow, so we're going to have to stock up on squirrel meat..

Ben, you boys gotta quit killin' stuff anyway...I got a lot of catching up to do!!

I get my new rifle next Monday. Hopefully I will kill a squirrel or something else with it...

Fine lookin Cur there Fieldgrade.
Nash and Ben got some good use out of Nash's male dog this morning with a daytime coon while they were squirrel hunting.
Best move I ever made was switching to Curs when they were little guys.

Had a good last day of coon trapping... In addition to the incidental that Dad posted, we got 2 coon and a 'possum..





I spy a coon...



"White trash"...



Ben

Forgot one...

This is wabbit meat, not coon...



Ben

Thanks Downstream
Nothing wrong with an incidental Coon. My Sally dog did that last year while checking traps. She had one in a tree and I had one in one of my Cat traps within fifty feet of each other. Pretty funny but ya really had to be there to appreciate it.
Especially when you consider that we don't hunt or trap Coon.
I never pass up an opportunity to remind her that mine was bigger though. LOL

One more this morning...

you got both fronts?

I asked my boss who knows all the big ranchers in the area if he knew anyone with squirrel problems, he said he will ask around for me... Might get to start burning the barrel on the Marlin when it gets here...

hate to be acting like a leftist liberal here.. but I get like that concerning Raccoons... how can you guys trap or shoot such cute little critters?

never been able to do it myself... I have had a few as pets in my younger life...

I like a raccoon as much as I like a dog...

now shooting Cats? No problem...

but some of those pics of poor Raccoons in traps? guess you can call me a bleeding heart, when it comes to that...

No,,, trick photography. LOL


I did catch a Coyote with both this year tough.
Dumb Coyotes anyways.

LOL
Typical bunny hugger (I only care about protecting the "cute" animals) mentality.
Good luck with it around here. Or any hunting/trapping forum for that matter.

Very nice looking cat...would make a beautiful mount.

Pay him no mind, Fieldgrade.
He's been delusional for a bit now, on ALOT of things.
Maybe he's going through an "I'm Daniel Boone" phase.

If that isn't an image of Tom 'n Huck, I don't know what is...

You boys are officially invited to the Prairie Dog invitational in Montana this spring...

Yep. A coon, is a dog, is a boy. Murderers!


This'un did a bit of gnawing. Your heart will bleed, and your poozy will pucker......





Why, he coulda just pulled back ONCE, and been FREE, FREE, FREE.....All be it, 3 legged.

I'm allot more sensative to Seafire's emotions than you are so I folded this ones foot under so he couldn't see it.
Kinda like buying hamburger at the store. The same kind of "If I didn't see it killed it didn't happen" mentality if ya know what I mean.


On that same subject,,,, Moscow Fur and Hide currently has an ad in our local paper reading, "Now excepting Coon without bullet holes in the head and good feet" LOL.

get out the conibears.....

Bet those Coon cuffs help prevent chewing too.
Course ya still have the dispatch thing which can be a PITA with a choke pole since coons don't have much of a neck to get hold of.

I'm sure you and Ben already know all of this.
I'm really just saying it for Seafires benefit.

PITA.....Thats the fun part. grin

Racoons cute? Yes.
Carry rabies? Yes.
Need to die? Yes.

Oh I am sorry... if we don't want to blow the crap out of any animal that walks, suddenly we have to turn in our macho man card? I just happen to like Raccoons.. ya wanna kill them, that is your business.. I don't want to, that is my business..

All I stated is I won't do to them what you guys enjoy doing to the little guys.... ya wanna feel macho over it, knock yourself out.

Reading some of your posts, definitely shows your qualifications on deciding who is dillusional, and who isn't...

Party on Garth....

we both share mutual appreciation for each other...

which isn't saying much for my opinion of your opinions..

if you want to quote me on something, how about at least have the courtesy to not modify it to meet your desired specs, to have it say what YOU want it to SAY....

If I strike you as a liberal.. pardon me while I laugh my asss off over that one...

Hey,,, read the title of the thread dumb ass.

And don't pass judgement on me as someone who simply kills every animal I come in contact with so's I can feel "Macho", when the fact is that I "LEGALLY" hunt and trap predators for the fur and NEVER kill em when the fur isn't prime.
Labeling me as someone who simply kills chit for "enjoyment" when I pride myself on my ethics makes me want to tell you to go [bleep] yourself.

Far as I can tell, you're nothing but a bunny hugging cry baby and a big ol hypocrit since you say it's ok to kill Cats but not Coon because they're cute (your words, not mine) anyway.

Oh yea,,, almost forgot.

GFY

So let me get this straight.......
I'm off ignore again or on?
You can't seem to decide.
I'm always on ignore but you search out my posts?

dillusional = Seabiscuit

we both share mutual appreciation for each other????.....
I'm on double secret ignore, but you appriciate me?????

TFF.

That's pretty darn cool right there!!
Kit? I've never been able to tell the difference (if there is one) between a kit and a swift. Doesn't much matter...we don't have em.

Now Charlie... tisk tisk tisk...
You oughta know better than to try to justify yourself to a bleeding heart about killing.
How about all those teeny tiny, cute as a little button, ground skwirls??
I'll bet you enjoy the [bleep] out of that!!!

I make no bones about it...I've enjoyed every shot at every critter I've ever killed. That's a fact.

My best come back line ever:
This guy at work was trying to make some kind of statement by announcing,
"I only kill what I'm going to eat or use"
Without missing a beat, I said..."Really, do you lick the bugs off your windshield too?"

prairie swift

Didn't say I eat every thing I kill.
Matter of fact, I specifically said I hunt/trap "Predators" for the fur, and pointed out that I do it legally and as humanly as possible, so like you, I don't feel a need to apologise to anyone.
I simply called the dumb ass on his hypocracy cause if saying it's ok to kill Cats but Coons are to cute for killing isn't hypocritical I don't know what is.
If I want to see or hear hypocracy, I'll turn on the news.

Crap... I didn't mean to imply that you were like the guy that said that, or that you said that... Just a funny story.
And...just cuz.

So they play Pinochle???

Yep!! I only shoot the cheaters.
(contest)

Guess I read that wrong.
I still ain't apologizing to the bunny hugger for killing a couple Coons though. LOL

Apologizing is a sign of weakness, son.....

Field Grade....

you need to mellow out some there....

No one criticized you.. I just said I wasn't into shooting Raccoons...

and suddenly from that, you assume and start calling me a dumbass, a hypocrite, 'typical bunny hugger', a crybaby etc...

and then I'm a hypocrite because I condone shooting cats..

I've shot ONE cat in my life.. and that was about 1989, up in Washington, and way out in the woods, where there was a cat that was so full of mange and sickly, I put him out of his misery...

I joke about shooting cats, just because I don't care for them.. I don't shoot raccoons because I like them.... that is my personal choice, just as what you do is your choice...

I didn't argue against it or condemn you for doing so, I just said I couldn't or wouldn't do.... no more than differences of opinions.. on ONE subject.

sage rats, and other vermin targets of opportunity, I don't have a problem with as I shoot many of those... guess that makes me a hypocrite in your eyes also.. so be it..

I have no desire to ever go to Africa.. guess that makes me a bunny hugger also...

you owe me no apology as I feel no offense at you posting your opinions... but I do see your response as a little over reactionary...no one's trying to rain on your parade...

and Wageslave's comments, he just likes to show up and add his 2 cents when someone criticizes something I have to say.... he does it to impress his hero up in Alaska and some of his other buddies on the "Biggest Circle Jerk on the Internet EVAH" thread...

so there ya go...like it or not..

Okay Slavey.. guess the job search is sort of stagnant, or you'd be spending less time on the campfire....

but as usual, your reading comprehension is as good as your lack of knowledge on how to use spell check....even tho I was guilty of blanking out on spelling delusional correctly...as did you... along with 'appreciate' not "appriciate"

So I'll address your questions, and type this real slow, so you can read it real slow and give a chance to sink in real slow...because evidently regular speed isn't working real well for you...

1. You've been off ignore for a long time.. I deduced your antics were much more entertaining, than ignoring them... and I'd like to give credit where credit is due, you haven't disappointed me one bit...

2. NO I don't search out your posts... in fact, you are the one who shows up on my posts, ever vigilant to toss your 2 cents in where ever the opportunity presents itself... so who is seeking out whom? Give you a hint, it isn't me, so by deduction maybe even you are smart enough to figure that one out...

3. dillusional is spelled delusional
3a). Seabiscuit? you own an old race horse or something?
Seabiscut was a horse.. seafire is named after a WW2 Aircraft used by the Royal Navy...

4. 'sharing mutual appreciation ( not appriciation)" was sarcasm.. you understand sarcasm don't ya? Sarcasm is like me saying how intelligent I think you and some of your other buddies are on the "Biggest Circle Jerk on the Internet" thread are...

I like some of the guys on there.. others, I view as I view you... you can figure out who... why you are doing so, give my regards to Rancho Wacko...

hope you have a good day tomorrow there, Gilligan..

best regards ( that isn't sarcasm )
your buddy
'seabiscuit'

"7403354 - Yesterday at 03:40 PM Re: What does 223AI mean? [Re: fatjack34]
wageslave Offline
Campfire Guide

Registered: 03/12/09
Posts: 4042
Loc: Idaho's only Seaport
He's like Seafire only older.
They both like to wrassle....


each other, mostly."

see what I mean Slavey....

you think of me, even when I am busy out making a living...and you are sitting at home collecting...

I should feel so honored... but somehow I don't..

you need a life Gilligan....you're wasting the one ya got now...

Take your "poor me" BS down the road cry baby.
You know what you said.

Seabiscuit,
Thank you.
You truly are the "gift" that keeps on giving.
You don't have a [bleep] clue........but you are a "gift".
I am now going to move on as I do feel bad about trashing up a
good thread and you are trash.
Come on over and we'll rehash it where it should be.
Loves,
Slave

Dear Field Grade;

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

Please Kiss my ass at your earliest opportunity.

Have a great day and please enjoy yourself mutilating the local raccoons and other varmints of your choice over there in Idaho.. I know it will make you feel all the more manly-macho. I stand in awe of your prowess.

You really are THE MAN!


Warmest Wishes & Best Regards! for a wonderful day!!

Always the gentleman, you are Slavey!

When I get a '[bleep] clue' about you AND your buddies, I'll let you know!

Your Trailer Park Wisdom ALWAYS inspires me.... and I don't doubt your expertise on the subject of TRASH...

Next time I am over in Louie Town, I'll have to give you a call, and accept your invite...just remind me which Truck Stop it is that you hang out at!

Have a great day over there in the land of Moral Bliss!!

your friend and ardent admirer,
Seabiscuit..

LOL
Let it go Nancy.

you're the dummy that got his shorts in a knot Buttercup... not me... I have nothing to let go, as I had nothing I embraced...

So now hunting and trapping is "mutilation" (your words)...
You truly are an anti's wet dream....

Let it go Nancy.

ah, I can see you're the "I'm going to have the last word" kind of guy.... so Party on Garth..

and to the Ozzie..."Bugger Off Mate" is a term you'd probably understand best...don't make assumptions, evidently you are not very good at making them...

Can all you jag-offs take your arguments somewhere people will give a F***? This thread is for killin' varmints, not arguing over them.

Sure can jag-off.
Better yet, why don't you change the subject by contributing something to it other than stories about varmints you're "gonna" kill.

zinger.......this is, a pic/kill thread, after all.......

Keep posting the trapped coon pics Charlie. Glad to see you are having a good year.

Have you ever had any luck calling coons or tried it?

Yea,,, I'm tearing up the Cats this year Lonny. 1 Called, 1 treed, and 2 trapped and still nine days left in the season.
Life's definatly been good in Charlieland this year.

Never have tried calling Coon Lonny. I've often thought about it though.
I really should try it as I know of a couple drainages across the river that should be good spots. I've heard it can get pretty "lively". Maybe next year. Hope my old ticker's up for the task. LOL

Dead stuff

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

Nice work Kevin.
Our season end next weekend so unless I get lucky and pick up another Cat this week, you and Huntsman'll have to carry the water until I can mutilate some gogers come spring.

ETA,, Hope no body around here had a pet Gofer when they were a kid.

I hear ya...
I've got 2 weekends left, and then I'm about done too.
I doubt I'll get to make many prairie dog shoots with my daughter's health issues either. But, maybe things will change for the better!

Both around 75 yards... Sky rat did not blow up really from what I expected from the V Max... squirrel on the other hand did.

While I was shed hunting Friday and yesterday, there were gophers running around all over!!!

GTFO!!!!!


And you didnt call me?????

I didn't have a rifle and had antlers on the brain! The guy that owns this property will only let me shed hunt. I'm sure they are deep in their holes now with this weather we are getting. I drive by the ranch my pawpaw owns 3 days a week on my way to work. I've been keepin an eye out every time I drive by and will continue to do so until you grace the place with your presence. That is, if you provide me with a phone number to give you a heads up!

Ingwe, just a few snow gophs out at the ranch this afternoon. Won't be long!

PM sent.....

Glad to see this thread is revived...

Dad got this yote in a snare two days ago.



It was a really nice coyote for back here..




Here's an end of the 'line picture Nash and I took yesterday of our coon hides.



Ben

Awesome Ben!

Here is a link to my new sage rat killin' video. Footage from last July.
Njoy... Sage rat vid

bodei, that is so, uhh, last year.......






can't wait to see this years production.

Them is some tough rats. You had to keep killing them. It sure was good you had Zombie bullets.

'Bang' and he just feel over...

That is why I have trouble warming up to the 17 HMR....

no red mist... just bang flop...

what fun is that???

I can get em to flip a foot or two with the HMR. It's really good for when the babies come out.

What rounds are you running through it?

I am using 17 grain V Maxes and I want 'bang' and squirrel here and there...

Bouncing a bullet right in front of them will do that, but a 223 will bounce them 7 to 8 ft in the air, doing that same thing...

if I don't use a 223 ( and I load them to 22 Hornet or 218 Bee specs), then I go with the 22 LR.. headshots out to 125 yds with a good accurate 22....then watch them flop around like a fish out of water for a 20 to 30 yd radius...

17 HMR is too much power for that...

bank flop, is just not a fraction of the fun....

Guess I'm WAY over doing it with my 220 Swift and full power loads - can you say 'bits and pieces'? Once, in a dream, I was attacked by a prairie dog and ever since that horrible sleepless night I've always felt it critical to use enough gun.

Have I told you I also use a 6mm?

I concur.......

So thats what happened to the last of the Pleistocene PDs.....

This one had his mind blown by the effect of the 17 grain V Max...




Have I said I love my HMR?

that bob wire is gonna scratch yer bluing.....

Using the 17 grain Hornady Vmax, but that is on Belding's, not California G.S. A tad smaller animal. I even flipped one or two with a .22LR using the segmented hollow-point ammo. For "chunkage" I go with the .204 Ruger. This year I'll be trying the 20 VT and 17 Hornet, so stand by for new video...

It wasn't on the wire, the top of the barrel was resting on a knot of hay twine that was tied around the wire. Never touched the fence...

Didn't take any pics this year but I'm feeling left out so here's a couple oldies:

January 1, 2012:


Opening day, 2010:

BASTID! Cause of you I bought a Foxpro and had some raccoon fight sounds loaded into it...havent gotten it out yet....

Looking forward to contributing to this thread soon.

I wanna play, too!

Savage model 24V series D .357 mag over 20 gauge.






P

That's a big ole nutria!

Yeah, he was a big 'un.

For reference, my son is 6' 8" and 325:





P

another 'etc'.....

Just something wrong with that there!

More trapped etc...



It was VERY muddy today... The yote was all slippery to hold up!

have I shown ya'll this'n yet?



not too bad fer standard velocity Wolf MT ...

One more

I want to kill an Etc...

Well, quit looking up in the trees......

Nice yote Don! Is that the new Fireball??

Here's another coyote I snared on the last day of February... It had some neat coloration on it's face.

Ben....once you are done killing all the varmints on the eastern seaboard, come on back to the Big Sky...


At the rate you are going, we should see you in a couple weeks

You should look for us late spring...














...seriously.

EXCELLENT NEWS!

Look what my wife and I did today!!!!


Only shot 6 or 8 but we didnt go out just to shoot gophers. They were just targets of opportunity! Shouldnt be long and they will be out all over!

Excellent DT!

Any snow gophs yet Ingwe or Don?

Nope! Starting to get reports from all over of sightings though.....time to make a few phone calls to the Hi-Line

First of the year sage rats for me 2013 in Nor-Cal.

you ever gonna get the hornet lined out?

New bunny gun, I got it more for backup on bears, but testing it on bunnies gives you confidence...

Do the training bear bunnies bluff?

Thankfully this one didn't. I have had grizzlies bluff and I messed my pants. We had them at our cabin when I was a kid in the 60's and had a big male bluff. I ran to the house, jumped through the screen in the bedroom window, knowing I didn't have enough time to open the door.

If you haven't seen a Grizzly charge, you haven't really been scared...

I haven't and
I believe you.

I bet the bear thanks the bear god every night for your mercy.


Travis

whore-gnat-icated another one..

After spending his winters in caves, eating grubs and carion, he was wishing I would shoot him. You could hear him chuckle all the way back into the woods after he saw my watch and whatever else I left on the ground when I went through the screen...

Shrapnel, I can't believe I missed this! Thank you very much for the invite! We are officially moving back out to MT this year.. We should be out by June at the latest. There's nothing Nash and I would like more than to go prairie doggin' with you!

Ben

That is a serious offer. Stay in touch, me and Rancho Loco can show you a good spot to warm up a barrel or 2...

Nash is ready for those charging bunnies and prairie dogs..



Ben

I don't post all that often on this forum but after seeing some of the images of prairie dogs I've come to the conclusion that you're either catching and strangling them or just not using enough gun. I was out yesterday and figured I would share images of a couple vermin.

I turned this one inside out, do you see his little face?


This is one of my best hollowing shots, only bones left are his little paws and a stub near the tail.


Even when I double the carnage is extensive.

Suhweeeeeeeet Aviators!

Every time I see a picture of those two boys I have to grin. They're living as boys and brothers should. Every day is an adventure. I don't know Ben or Nash personally, but I guarantee they're both fine young men!

Yep. They remind me sooooooooo much of me at that age...except they dont look as 'trouble prone'....

Me too. I don't have a brother, but I shared similar exploits with my dad, a cousin and a mutually good friend. We're all still close today too.

Thanks for the kind words fellers...

Coons beware next season! Homemade dogproof is ready..



Wait, nothin' dead in this post, my bad...

My daughter the chuck buster.

100 yard neck shots...no problem.




She is lethal


Good times.

Andrew,

are those her hiking Flip Flops?

Glad to see you around...

are the little buggers out over your direction yet???

have been tied up with work stuff in this direction and haven't been able to get over that way.... even on business..

how's the recovery from your surgeries treating ya?

The squirrels are coming out more every day...give it a few weeks yet.

Yes, not a good choice in foot wear and I did not notice until we were already there...darned kids.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...reached_my_original_goal_wei#Post7566903

I'll let you know when it is a target rich environment again.

Nice groundhawgs!

Nash has been shooting starlings with his shotgun in the yard every morning just about, but he usually flings them out of the yard before I can "document the occasion"...

Got a "bobcoon" last night. This ol girl has been tearing up the floor on the front porch and diggin up under the foundation of my shop looking to make her nest. She made the mistake of raiding the cat's food last night while I was still up. Got her running for the trees about 50 yards from the back door. Wonder how she lost her tail...only about 3" of it left.

Great video Shrapnel!

Deflave and Shrapnel found gophers even in 19 degree weather. It was chilly, but the sun was out and so were the gophers. We were talking about how good the shooting will be by the time you get back to Montana...

Glad to hear that! There's a p-dog town 6 miles from our place in the Breaks... If you ever need a change of scenery, let me know.

Red Mist!

Haven't seen a muskrat posted on the thread yet, so here ya go...

Skunks walking around the house during the daylight bother me. This one wont be walking any longer. I wouldn't get any closer for the picture, but the black you see is/was the only black on it. Pretty stout!

Nice guard hairs on that P-Pine.
Last I heard they were fetching 15.00 an ounce. Have fun:)

Marmots

How many to make an ounce?......


And, is it really worth it?......

Good to see you're still killin the "pine-q-pores" Don...

Most buyers only want the 6" + hairs. There's usually an ounce or so on an average sized Porky.


It was when I was young. Now days I just kill em to avenge the suffering they've put some of my dogs through over the years.

yeah, but I remember it taking 3-4 to do the oz. And it was easiest to let them rot down enuff to make them easier to pull.

Might be a regional difference but I never had any trouble getting an ounce off of an adult Porky.
And yea,,, stinky road kills are defanitly easier to pluck.

I FINALLY am going to go out tomorrow to try to blast some rodents for the first time this year. Planning to drive over the mountains to Enterprise Oregon early in the AM. Taking the not yet bloodied Brno mini mauser ZKW 465 K-Hornet, the Biesen Stocked Riihimaki 222, the bench rest L-461 in 223, and probably the heavy bbled AR-15 along with a Marlin 22 MAgnum. Sounds like lots of guns, but my freind (who is also my pastor) daughters will be going and if all of them ride along that makes FOUR of them. His oldest girl just adores my Sako Riihimaki and I am thinking the Brno K-Hornnet for his 12 year old girl. Light weight gun with zero recoil, but completely ground squirrel capable out to 200 yards or a bit more. Spooky accurate, too.

Report and hopefully photos to follow. Should be a gorgeous glorious day.... for us that is <G>

Looking forward to the varmint report in the near future Mark..

I am looking for good weather to get out down this way.. rain means muddy fields, and the farmers don't like their roads getting torn up....

Roads and fields were good, gophers out but not in the huge numbers they will be in another week or so. I am planning to hit 'em hard next week if at all possible.

I went and left my camera at HOME! I took some good pics with my I-Phone lV, but I do not know how to transfer them to my computer yet.

I got first blood on my 22 K-Hornet, and that little gun with plain winchester HP's is a freakin land mine for ground squirrels. Some of the nastiest most gruesome blow ups ever, and I have shot ground squirrels with some mega fast guns in the past. We were impressed and then some. This little 60 year old Brno Mini Mauser is scary accruate and mega fun to shoot and play with.

I will try to get some tutoaring on getting my pictures transffered and then post them here. Was a good day for sure, for us that is..... Not so good of a day to be a ground squirrel on a certain rance just North of Enterprise Oregon.....

Seafire, please bring ourt mutual frind Spankopiatis out here for some fun with rodents. I will host you two and show you my hot spots. Maybe Fireball2 at the same time?

I reckon that's one way to show Spanky what a 'ranch' is.....

Mark,

Back when they were cheap... Several times I bought 2000 Winchester 46 grain HPs for $122 delivered on the door step, I think from Mid South...I am down to my last 2000 or so of those..

I use them a lot in my Blue Dot loads in the 223., which are running at 22 K Hornet Speeds...

yeah, they really can make a sage rat come apart...

I do a little trick instead of hitting the sage rat with the bullet, I bounce one in the ground right in front of it.. especially if they are standing...

so as the bullet hits the sage rat, it has already opened up..

that is when you really get some flyers... to the tune of 5 to 8 feet in the air... and the left half going 20 yrd to the left and the right half going 20 yrds to the right....

Here is Seafire Jr hold the remains of one that I taught him how to bounce one in front of the sage rat when it was standing... this is all that was left... the rest of it was pretty much all over the place in a 40 yd radius... this one was shot with a 55 grain Hornady Bulk bullet over a charge of 13.5 grains of Blue Dot..ADL in 223..





Here is one when he was about 13 and out with his 10/22 with the lefty thumbhole stock... these three were him learning to do some windage and trajectory estimating... all three were taken at about 125 yds...



and his Marlin in 17 HMR....he took about 200 to 250 sage rats that day with it.. and that was a slow day...



don't ya love trying to get kids to smile sometimes?



Those were taken out in Lakeview..

Good pictures and memories!

Hope we get to vaprize some critters together someday.

Finally have the snow melted off enough to see a few groundhogs. Got 2 on my way to the range at a local farm about 2 weeks ago. Scouted new burrows and caught them out. First was 110yds with the 17rem. model 7 Remington.

Second was on my way back to the truck. It was only 40yds. Both shot with the 25gr. Berger Target HP's out of the 17rem running 3494fps avg. No exit on either and both bang flopped and shoulder shot.

Last Saturday after an unsuccessful morning of coyote calling, I changed from the 17rem over to the heavy 243 and scouted some more holes. Caught this one just over the rise playing peek-a-boo with me. Finally whistled it up high enough to see the head. Took a 50yd shot off the shooting sticks to the ear. Knocked it out of the hole 2' with the 87gr. V-max . This was one I was after last year but couldn't get a safe angle on.

Hopefully more pasture grizzlies to come in a few weeks .

Multi-gun day of destruction...

You're goin full-cowboy on those Pdogs! Good show.

Schrapnel, What caliber was that old Marlin?..Nice old rifle..

It is an original Marlin 1894 in 38-40...

What year did they stop using wood as a stock material?


Travis

Schrapnel, You surely come up with some dandy rifles..What a prairie dog caliber..!!!!!

.204 pic...

I like the "goph nugget" right by the scope Ingwe...

Shrapnel, that Marlin is very nice! I have always wanted either a 1894 or an 1893(or both)..

We were both shooting .204s yesterday Ben, logged in some 'frequent flier miles' for shure...

OUCH!!!

Spatula...


Travis

ARCorey,

What's up with the speeds on that .17 Remmy man? Stand on that thing!



Travis

No exits, no muzzle flip, no flash at night, fur friendly for predators, good brass and barrel life, and shoots tiny little groups from an 18.5" pencil barrel. Can't see a reason to Travis. This is my calling rifle and walking varminter, chucks are just my test subjects for fall when fur is good. Plus it makes them puff up and die with perfect corpses . When I want to splatter, the 243 with 87v-maxes gets to play .

I zoomed in with my iPad and it looks like a baby gopher...lol

Cole...I think everything we saw/shot were males...if Im wrong about that ( and I could be..) what we saw was them beginning to gather nesting materials, so no baby gophs yet. Everything seems late this year, so we are going back in may when the pups are up...

18.5"??? That's different. What powder are you using?

Good results on called dogs eh? Have you tried the V-Maxes on dogs at that speed? Or just the Bergers? Bad ass rig regardless.


Travis

Kirk,

Those photos involved plastic tips?

Those were actually shot with a Remington 50 grain PLHP in a .223...

Thanks Travis. It is the factory barrel. Only made 1993-94. Only fur so far was a called coyote and a coon. Coyote was shot back in liver with clean passthrough, my fault. Made follow up to back of head. First shot penciled through at 40yds and second had no exit at 110yds. The coon was caliber sized in, no exit at 40yds. Shot some feral felines and groundhogs with same results. Haven't tried anything but the Berger targets on meat and the Hornady HP's on paper. The Hornady's are going chuckin this summer for fur testing. Both bullets are in front of H-322 and CCI 450 primers. Bergers at 20.7gr Hornady at 20.5gr. Here are some 100yds targets with the Nikon Prostaff 3x-9x-50.
Hornady

Berger

Coyote

Coon damage.

Groundhog

Trying to hot rod this gun is like trying to drag race a Yugo. Lots of noise and no good results. Factory Remingtons shot about 1-1.25" and was a flame thrower at night. She works best around 3500fps. with the 25's. Looking forward to putting a Berger in some foxes this year.

Still waiting in some good weather for ya to come over. Temps are supposed to be warmer this weekend but lots of wind. Dusti and I shot a few a couple weeks ago when we went to the ranch to get my boat out of the barn. With all this snow we yesterday and today, the grass will green up nice and they should be out in force and easier to see. When we were up there, you couldn't see them unless they took off running. My grandpa gave so e other people permission to go shoot some and I think they have gone up there quite a few times but I'm not sure. I'll keep ya posted. Tomorrow would be an AWESOME snow goph day! We got 5-6 inches of heavy wet around these parts.

Big time...


Travis

Cool schit Corey. So is your rifle a model 7? I've never seen one.

I've ran the .17 Rem out of the 14" Contender before. Worked well believe it or not. But too damn loud.


Travis

Yea, its a model 7, they aren't very common. It is a sweet little carry rifle. I looked at the T/C barrels, but wanted to go with a bolt gun this time. I can't imagine the ear splitting noise out of a 10-14" barrel . This rifle is about as load as my 223's with my handloads.

I went out this Saturday after the honey-do list was done and did about 2hrs of chuck hunting. Man the number of holes in the open are way down this year. Not sure what is going on at the farm. I didn't even hunt this area last year and it still didn't bump the population. I managed to see two. Missed the first twice trying a headshot at 222yds with the AR. Shot about an inch high both times according to the holes above his head in the bank. He didn't give me another chance to correct. My dope was off for some reason and I was shooting much flatter than before. The second was a hit at 205yds after learning from my earlier mistake, but he was sitting on the hole and managed to slip back underground. It was a pretty colored blonde hog and I hated to lose that one. Should have took the 243, but wanted to get the AR a turn. Pretty crappy day for chuckin' .

Ingwe, snow gophs out everywhere this afternoon! If I could get away with it, I'd bring my 17 along in my work vehicle and stop by the ranch on my way home from the Res...but we all know that is impossible.

How are the hides out there this time of year Don?

fur is done for. Generally don't bother preds after fur season unless they're causing prollems. This one was digging in the horse pasture.

What scope you have on that, Don?

cheapo weaver kaspa 2-7....

The .22 is fun, but the whore-gnat is funner....

Nuther striper, nuther starling. And a herd of hungry chickinhawks.....

a few etc's.....

tres mas stripers...

the whole fam-damily.....

Looks like a couple of them lost their heads over the whole danged episode... must have been the rats in DemocRATS...

I have really got to get out more.

My cat's killing more farm rodentia than I am, lately.

Here are the remains of a Northern California, almost Oregon Beldings ground squirrel who thought he was safe. About 200 yards with a 22-250, executed by a friend.



The boy's at work, one shoots while the other spots and hopefully doesn't move the table


My soon to be 20 VT Cooper when it was a 17 remington, about 250 yards on a Jack that decided to venture into the row in our vineyard that my bullet trap was in.


My shooting table setup for killin Beldings




I can swing about a 30 degree angle without having to move the chair by sliding the front rest side to side with my left hand, and if I need to reacquire a different direction I can grab the bench while using my body to support the rifle to move it small amounts. I place the butt of the gun past the end of the bench with a more upright sitting stance, right elbow is supported on the bench.


Allen

Oooh Rah!

I have dreams of finding democRATS like that in a cross walk in conservative towns...

naww...... just kidding... sorta...

Huntsman,

Do you use a Foxpro much?


Travis

no sir. I only have mouth calls. I've been out with a pard that has one, a couple times, and they're great for coyotes.

Well hell...


Travis

Lol


Come on down here, you have to drive at least 30 minutes to find a democrap town, but I know where they are.

When my friend ( Sheriff) made the shot I was searching the field well right of this fenceline, I heard the Kwhoomp, then the Sighter and another onlooker had a very obvious Ewwweee reply so I had to get on the spotter and see what happened. Not nearly as impressive as the picture, but it pretty much ended the shoot and got the camera's ( or cell phones) out.


I'll be in Bend in June for 1 1/2 days....doing our annual Sturgeon run.

Allen

Allen,

where do you reside down south? I am located in Grants Pass... but shoot over in Klamath County, and occasionally over in Lake County...

Huntsman:

Don't recall seeing your SA-22 before. Is that new?

yessir, new to me. I got it from RWE 'bout a month or so back. Been having some fun with it....

Today was my first Squirrel outing for 2013.
Lots of Squirrels but the wind was keeping em down a bit.
Still managed a couple dozen with the centerfires.


Even got a few chip shots with my little Marlin.

A walk in the woods with a couple of my favorite rifles on a nice spring day.
Life's good in Charlieland.

Love mine. Got a red dot on it.

had one years ago and sold it when I went on a 10-22 kick. Missed it ever since and have been replacing guns I miss, since the divorce....

Brained Mom, and doubled-up her twins....

Have been jealous of all of these pictures but I finally got out today in SE Idaho to see some ground griz. Between the rain, hail, and intermittent sun we found some. Here are two of the victims. 1st with my Henry 22, 2nd with my ruger 22/45.

Nice Marlin FieldGrade!

Thanks Ben.
Mfg in 1946 and still the most accurate 22 I've ever owned.
A perfect companion for my 1946 K22.
A revolver that I know you're pretty fond of too.

Pitter Coddentell came hopping down da bunny trell......

Are you using a agricultural control permit? We can shoot the Snowshoe Hare year-round but Cottontails only Sept. - Feb.

Had three friends from Boise stop in for three days of Prairie dog shooting. The babies aren't out yet but we still had some great shooting. We were shooting three 22-250s, a Swift, and a 300 Ultra Mag. As you all can imagine the Ultra provided the best 'entertainment'.

We didn't have one of those fancy benches but did drag an old refrigerator out of the rancher's dump and did LOTS of shooting from there - it was only a 10 foot drag.

yup

First time I pulled the trigger on anything but paper with my 222 since I put her togeather last fall. I think she's a keeper:)

And a couple with my little FB so's ya don't think I'm lying:)


Mostly younguns out today but I still got a couple dozen and a wicked sunburn.
Life's good in Charlieland

Oh,,, and here's one for deflave and the rest of the GFY crowd.

This makes me jealous. Just got out today for a forest gopher road hunt west of Kalispell. I need new glasses. Things were pretty sparse, but making things worse, out of all THREE gophers I shot, and all FOUR chances -- I didn't spot a single one by myself. Wow, I knew my glasses were not good, but BLIND? Yep. New ones should be here next week and I sure hope they're good.
Yay for the rest of you, though.

Popped a yearling chuck Saturday with my Great Grandpa's Remington Targetmaster 510 in 22lr. It wasn't a short range snap shot I took and planted him on the spot. Shot his brother too, but he made it down the hole. It was neat to be able to take him with that old rifle.

Way to keep the tradition alive Cory!

Well done.

Thanks Charlie. It was one of my more memorable kills, and I got to include mom on Mothers day weekend . I need to see if I can talk her out of that old rifle and trade her something better for pest control .

Happy Mother's Day Gopher.



All sitting around after church having brunch, in our Sunday Go-To-Meeting duds, and the SIL looks out the window and says, "Is that your cat in the garden?"

"No, that's the chubby bastard I've been looking for."

I sprung up from the table, jumped over the wife, and daughter.

Grabbed the Savage and hauled out the door.

By this time, the chubby bastard was getting it across the pasture - straight away from the house. Pausing after every 30-40 yards to see if he was being followed, he'd move again just as I was getting the crosshairs on him.

Finally, he paused a little too long, and I stuck 33 grains in the control room. He went down - no twitching, no death roll, just dropped over dead.

Cheers erupted from the house. (we're easily amused here on the farm)

Paced the distance at a hair over 150 yards, I could still hear the thud when the shot hit money.

Love the plex reticle.

Good story RWE!

Ben, are you home yet?

Nope, about a month or so yet.. Still gotta tie up a couple loose ends. I'm hoping we'll be able to stay just long enough for the NMLRA Muzzleloading Championship shoot. It's just under a month away. I'd say goph and prairie dawg shooting will at it's peak when we get back out!

Ben

Excellent! Good to hear. You and yours belong here.

This one doesn't know if he's coming or going.

First gopher with the new 17Hornet


Hopefully I'll find some time tomorrow to run up to the ranch and kill a bunch with it. Probably take a shotgun too and take some "family portraits" since all the babies are out

glad you finally had a chance to use it, DT. It looks great.....

Thanks! It's going to be a hoot!

Getting yours out and killing stuff, has reminded me that I've been slacking. I renamed the whore-gnat just for today. He was called Abner Doubleday this morning. Had a few mounds of pups up, and decided to only take shots that would result in doubles(or better). He hit a triple-double...







been on this ranch for 3 years, and this is the first burrowing owl I've seen here. I had the camera zoomed alla the way out....

Awesome! I should get out and shoot mine. Wind is nil right now. Wifey is having a bunch of friends over this evening for a BBQ for my brothers birthday so I'm being a "good" husband and helping clean up the house..aka vacuuming dog hair from a horribly shedding yellow lab. I might have to sneak out here pretty soon. I think I can hear the pipsqueak scratching at the back door to go out and shoot!

I love this thread... Great pics, Charlie, Cole, and Don!

Won't be but about a month longer and I'll be able to contribute to this thread..

Ben

Killed a bunch of gophers with the hornet today! I love this little rifle. No recoil and you can watch the gopher "splash." Blow up isn't the word. It's a splash of hair, parts, pieces, guts, and blood! Also works dang good on jacks too

This ol' bullsnake wants to contribute to the critter killin' thread.

He done his thing. I did mine.....

Had another bullsnake in the henhouse when I went to gather eggs. He was kinda protective of his newfound food source.....

Cool Picture. We currently have a bull snake living in the basement eating mice. He hangs out when I reload...though the first time I ran into him was a bit shocking.

I just got back from the neighbor's and helped rid him of some gophers with my bow, not bad for a short afternoon sorty...

you need to get in on the crossbow group buy.......

Epic pics, Don and Shrap..

Yesterday, we went back for prairie dogs. You never go anywhere without at least 8 guns. Rabbits are great targets with the 41 Magnum, nothing but head shots if you want to eat them...

You eat cottontails now???? I was always told it had to be cold weather..

I don't know where you've been living, but it has been cold right up to yesterday. I don't think a bunny goes bad in 24hours. Besides they say any month with an "R" in it is safe and June has several Thursdays in it and there is an "R" in every Thursday...

Never thought they would go bad, but always was told it took cold weather to get the flees and ticks off the little guys, but it has been colder in Montana than here....

How is the gopher populations in your hunting area??? Ours are way down.. I have one favorite ranch I often hunt, usually shooting a hundred gophers takes maybe 2 hours, some times even a bit less..This year gophers and p. dogs seem scarce everywhere in the valley.. There were lots last year, maybe a poor hatch..how are you folks doing??????

On another note, the last good ranch I had for shooting p. dogs the manager is heading to someplace in Idaho called Lewiston... Bummer, hope he loves it!!! He is a good kid, one of my former students, but I hate to loose this contact..but that is life..

WCH,,, we have Columbia Ground Squirrels here. The colonies are smaller than yall's PD's or the Diggers further south but it's an average year none the less.
BTW,,, I'm about 25mi out of Lewiston. Your young friend will like it there if he can get past the stench of the paper mill.

The number of Beldings ground squirrels in Northern California are down this year from last, my only 2 years to gauge their population. A lot of folks who hunted last year told me the numbers were down a bunch from the year before, so I assume at least a 2 year downslide is happening.


Ground squirrels in Central California haven't changed in the fields I work.


I hope by next spring the numbers are up, so my new part-time, Full-time job is more fun....

Allen

FieldGrade, shot a couple Columbian's this year in Montana..They were different from the Richardson's we have here..Nice colors, but ours are just a greybrown...Nice photos of the 39A and squirrels..That was my favorite .22 for most of my life..A sweet handling little rifle...

Thanks
You have good taste in 22's.
This one's still my favorite. Matter of fact, it's the only 22lr long gun I own.

BTW, it's a 39 (pre 39A). MFG in 1946 and still runs like a Swiss watch.

Beautiful rifle..I have an older one made maybe in the early 70's, but have a little Leupold 2-7 on it..When I was a kid, it was my favorite tree squirrel rifle..Still have a photo of the first limit of tree squirrels I killed with it ..

It's not so pretty up close. Not that I've abused it but lets just say it has some 'patina".
Can't imagine a better Squirrel getter. You should scan that pic and post it.

I need to learn this photo thing..my wife loves taking pictures..She takes thousands each year, but I never caught on to putting them on the net..put a few in photo bucket, but never tried moving them to the Fire..Will have to work on that..keep shooting...

Get to it:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/696239/1/How_to_post_your_photos


Travis

Fieldgrade,

If the gophers bounce back around here I'll trade you a gopher shoot for a rock chuck hunt.




Travis

Deal,,,, we found a Rock Chuck bonanza over in central ID a couple weeks ago.
Got to be about half nutz to get there but that shouldn't be a problem for you.
I know it ain't for us.

A primitive camp with lots of Chucks, quite a few Ground Squirrels, and some Fly fishing.
Yea buddy!
We'll probably make it an annual camp.

I was laughing when I read about your half-mile backtrack. Been there done that my friend. High pucker factor for sure...

Would love to drive down and blast some rock chucks. I'll buy the beer.


Travis

this little guy doesn't know what to think



but i'm guessing he doesn't like a 223AI

No pucker factor here buddy.
Like I said, "Allen was driving" so being twice his age I wittingly convinced him that the best thing would be if I walked down and "spotted" for him.

Oh,,, and don't worry about the beer (Allen drinks most of it anyway) but I'll sip some Crown with ya should a bottle find it's way into your camp box.

Here is my attempt at uploading a few pictures from my Montana varmint safari of a week and a half ago. The first one is a gopher that met a Nosler 40 gr Tipped Varmageddon .223 bullet from my Remington SPS Varmint . The next 2 are a badger that met a 40 gr V-Max out of the same .223 Remington. The last pic is an antelope fawn that got caught between me and the highway. A great trip, although the gopher numbers seemed down a bit.

The everlasting rains and high grass are killing my varminting here. Tried Saturday with only one showing up on a pile of debris. Made a 110yd shot off the shooting sticks with the 243. Launched her pretty good. Scraped the parts around behind her for a picture, other side weren't pretty .

Nice. What stock is that?


Travis

It's a Bell & Carlson A2 Medalist for a Remington 700BDL. I keep saying I'm gonna throw a badassed Duracoat camo job on it, but basic black is too nice when I'm beating it around and taping dope charts to it. Most of the victims never see it anyways .

On this morning's hunt, I took my old custom 700 in .222 Rem. with a 6.5-20 Leupold on it. Most of the shots were less than 200 yards, but the scope made gophers look like little p. dogs.
I forgot how much fun it is to bust gophers with a centerfire rifle. Quite a few were airborne, but quite a number just took the 50 grain Serria Blitz without any flying though the air. Used IMR 4198 in these loads. They are the last of my Blitz bullets. Tomorrow, I think we will go to another area for p. dogs. Summer is rolling along pretty fast. It will be fall before we know it.

Travis

That is quite a 10/22.. Did you put that together?????

2ndtimer,where you shooting at?im across the river from ya.weve found a heck of alot of chucks along the river over by hatrock.

The pics I posted were taken near Inverness, Montana (south of Highway 2 between Havre and Chester). I have never found anywhere to shoot around Hat Rock on the Washington side. I would love to find a decent spot to go after rock chucks locally. Let me know if you ever need a spotter! (or back up for those aggressive rock chucks )

No. It came that way. It's a Magnum Research. I only added the decal.


Travis

Why will nobody visit poor 'flave?


Travis

Took my brother-in-law out today, first time out this year. I've been working a lot, and I'm not a big prairie-dogger anyway.. It was super windy but we hit a few. All I could see was this one's head. All gone

single and double by the boss and his hummer.





I doubled up a pair of pups with the 204



hummer from the new hummer....

Probably because when we drive that far to get away from it all, we try to avoid the "Big Cities" like Havre.

Love the rig! All you need now is an umbrella for some shade, and a rear mounted cooler. Can't imagine it any better....

Way cool Don! Nash got 2 cowbirds with one shot out in the fresh cut hay field a couple days ago.. No pics though.

Got this 'hog yesterday. A fuzz over 200 yards,with my .243.

one less onion-muncher in the garden.....

I work per diem in a neighboring town, today I brought my table and rifle and sat the field for awhile. It clouded up and got windy but I managed to hit a couple. I thought I hit 4 but could only find two. I'm happy with the performance of the 40gr vmax out of my 223 so far though. Both were ~ 180 yards.

This was the first one I hit, first time he just crumpled. I figured he was dead but a few minutes later thought I could see him moving his head. The second shot made him airborne and is what I believe did the damage. Pretty much inside out:


Just a head and an ass left of this one. I didn't find the other 80% of him:



I'm very new to the prairie dog thing, but this sh*t is fun.

yer hooked now.......

Am feeling a bit like a cowboy poet this a.m. So I penned a title to the poim of the day. I'm stuck coming up with more than the title, before coffee......
I title it, 'Plinked a Pair of Pepper Pickers'




Its 60-70 yards to the garden from the porch. One was inside, one was outside the fence. I gave no quarter to either. 'Insider' was saved for last as he had no escape, save for the gate. He only showed his head. Big mistake.... Bugged ol' Bugs one good eye right out.

Montana 2013
One of my goals for this trip was to get the right conditions for a 1000 yd shot. The first day out (Wed. June 12) we set up on a long range town that was flat for several hundred yards then uphill to several mounds with short grass around them. My first hit was at 378yds then hit 3 with 2 shots at 501. We kept shooting farther and farther later in the afternoon but the hits were few with the wind 15-20 and switching directions. The good thing was we were shooting into the wind, so the windage holds were not large just different each shot. My shooting partner was shooting a .243 then his new 6.5-.284 and I was shooting my Ruger No.3 .219DW PDK with the 8tw Shilen and 75gr A-Max at 3200. We were alternating shots on a co-operateing dog when Mike said "you hit him in the but". I was up 23.0" on my 6.5-20x40 Leupold from a 200yd zero which the chart showed to be 950yds. After a few more shots at a farther mound where I was up 27" on the scope, Mike offered to walk out and find the hit since I was haveing a hard time walking with my bad knees. I directed him to the mound with a walkie-talky radio and he says " blood but no body". The distance was 915 yds. No blood or body at the farther mound which was over 1000 yds. I got a hit at 915 and several chances at over 1000 and a whole afternoon of long range shooting, so I was a happy camper.
The next day I shot a town where my longest shot was a little over 300. I hit about 50 dogs with 57 shots including a triple. Tried some 32gr Z-Max and 32gr Varmageddon Nosler's as well as my usual 39gr BK's in my No.1 .204 Wasp. It was like shootin fish in a barrel, and a whole different kind of fun with all the blow-ups and pieces flying.
Thur. night more heavy rain, so Fri. was spent on main gravel roads scouting, talking to ranchers. Saw 3 bull Elk about 4-500 yds from road. Watched them through the bino's for a while. Huge racks covered in velvet. Enjoyable day even though we didn't get to shoot.
The town I shot Sat. was pretty well populated but not very large. Shot my No.3 .204 Wasp most of the day. Shot off my bench then moved around shooting off my aluminum ironing board then shot sitting off a monopod. Fairly high percentage on 122 shots out to about 450yds. Beautiful day, sunny, mid 70's, not much wind.
Sun. was spent on a couple of towns where the shooting was slow. Tried some 5-600 yd shots in a 20-25mph cross wind without much success, so ended my last day at the small town that I had shot on Thu.
Another goal this year was to take more pictures, didn't happen. I guess I don't have a photographer's mental apptitude, I just don't think to take pictures. I did get a pic of this circle of rocks that we found on the prairie. There was two other circles where the rocks were more scattered than this one. We speculated that teepees were here at sometime, but don't have any idea how long ago. We were almost 20 miles off gravel on two-track.


Took this pic in Zortman while walking from restaurant back to cabin. There were two young mule deer feeding beside road the next evening.


Mike and I traveled together on the way out to Montana. We stopped at the Scheels in Iowa City and Cabelos in Owatano,Mn, Mitchel,S.D.,Rapid City,S.D., and Billings,Mt. He had a gift certificate and some points on his card to spend and was looking for a used 30-06 size 700 for a donor rifle. He found a few that would work, but didn't buy. Found some reloading supplies at all locations and CF ammo, but no rimfire.
Headed home Mon., Mike stayed another week. Stopped in Billings at the first self-serve car wash and removed several layers of dried gumbo from truck. Drove through a couple of downpours around Gillette,Wy. that helped clean out wheelwells and under truck. By Tues. evening was crossing Mississippi river at Quad cities, decided to drive on home instead of another night in motel. Drove 1110 miles from Rapid City to Kokomo,In in a little over 17 hr.
Maybe next year I'll get that 1000 yd dog with body and pictures.
Dave

this youngster chewed on his last onion.....

219DW, sounds like we almost crossed paths, as i was in the same area but south of you guys, also shooting p-dogs for 3 days, we had wonderful weather and great shooting the first 2 days, but 3rd day the wind just about blew us away, we did make some good shots but only one at just over 1100 yrds and i felt it was a lucky shot it was just that dogs day to die.all of our other long shots missed by a mile or were close enough to make p-dogs move or duck into their holes.you cant beat the beauty of that country and the cool mornings, like you i had a long drive home, from there to s.tex. but it was a great trip. and i got to meet some great people along the way. rio7

huntsman22, no fair sniping from the front deck. rio7

all's fair in love, and war.....

they just don't learn....

In keeping with Don's garden pest theme of late I finally caught this little bastid that's been cropping the tops of my matter plants the last few nights.


Dispatched him with my trusty Crossman.

Do barmints of the boyd woyld fall in the 'etc' category? Some acrobats of the air, were turned into denizens of the dirt this mornin' alla the leetle browning. I hate starlings and collareds....

huntsman22 I love checking this thread to see what that little browning, your whore gnat and others have killed! That SA22 is my favourite though, gotta get me one . Thanks for sharing everyone, makes this varmint hunters day when theres new stuff up on here. Heres the only pics I have from what little varminting I've done this year.



Finally this crow died almost instantly but clung to the bring for 6 days before falling

the other little browning...



more whore-gnat






shot this varmint with the garden hose whilst watering flowers....

huntsman22, looks like your critter control program is in full swing, ive been raising hell with coons this week got 7 so far, they are all over the place this year, also popped 2 pigs yesterday, caught them going to water midday, keep up the good work. rio7 P,S, i have to figure out how to post pic's.

bumper crop on coons this morning got 4 more, and one dumb coyote pup, rio7

How do you like that leetle Browning Don? I handled one at a gun store a while back, it seemed pretty nice.

like the heck outta it. The finish is wearing thin from riding in my boot......

no coons this morning, guess ive caught all the dumb ones. did get a 80# boar just at daylight, then shot a coyote pup in the hay field that was mouseing, on the way back from the north ranch i got a mature male coyote in the same pasture about 9:00 am,our quail crop sure looks good, quail every where i go. hope they are still here this fall and winter. rio7

Texas sounds better all the time... but too hot and tooooo many snakes and illegals for me..at least full time..have a good one..

it is hot, but you get used to the rattlesnakes, illegals not so much. rio7

What are the specs on that barrel and where can you get one? Thanks.

green mtn 20 inch fluted sporter in 17 hmII

Decided to take a little sashay around the prairie before it heated up. They's getting smart and only offering headshots....



Then the 'Peanut Gallery' rolled in, and phugged everything up.....

They look like they lost their minds..

About a week and a half(if everything goes as planned), I should be whacking p-dogs myself!

Ben

Good deal, Ben. I'll bet you guys can't wait to get back to where you belong.

Yep Ben. Let us know when you get settled.

huntsman22, looks like your critter control is working , all ive got is 2 pigs, one last night and one the night before, coons have wised up wont come to the call anymore. rio7

dangitall, Blue. Learn the pic thing, feller.

Thanks guys! I will let you know when we get in-state for sure. I'll certainly miss some things back here, but MT is waaaaay better suited to my lifestyle..(in other words, more stuff to shoot at! )

every one needs to be were they can shoot, missed a big red boar last night, he got in the brush before i could get on him, got 2 coons this morning, my granddaughter is here from colo. trying to teach me to post pictures, but she has not figured out how to do it on this computer yet, we have 10 days to figure it out.if i can get her away from the puppys and off a horse for a few min. rio7

it's easy-peasy-japaneezy, rio7. Open a 'bucket acct, set up albums and unload the pics from yer 'puter. If I can do it, anyone can.....

Nice cool morning here....









this one was right next to my 500 yd gong......



lucky headshot....

Haven't had 'slaves 17 Fireball out for a while, so I popped a couple with it this afternoon. That Mule Deer feller was right when he said that the furball really could get it done to 300.....
Who could have imagined?......

Little 'hog killin this morning...

Grand daughter and me went hog hunting last night, didnt see a hog, but i shot a bobcat, that we caught walking down the road. about a 4ft long female, 100 yrds .223,cat never knew we were there. real windy, texas heart shot.got in a hell of a rain storm coming home in my jeep, no top we were both sitting in a puddle, covered with mud. we had a great time. wish i had some p-dogs and chucks to shoot at down here.if i did i would get a 17-something. rio7

guess i havent run out of coons yet, got 5 more this morning, the rain last night really got them out and moveing around. got up this morning and had 2 hen turkeys rousting on my hot tub, between the 2 they must of had 10-12 chicks with them, went to get my camera out of the truck and they left town,rio7

Finally caught a little break in the rains to shoot a few chucks. All shot in the barnyard with the Marlin 17HMR between the sawmill and the barn/silo. Biggest one was 76yds off bipod, far right one was 49yds off sandbag, small one was 40yds off hand standing. First blood for the new truck .

rio7, we need pics of the soggy grandgirl.....

i took pictures of her with a pig i shot and the bobcat we shot,didnt get a rain picture, we were soaked.still trying to figure out how to post pics. rio7

A 20 grain v-max will over-penetrate skwirkles. I only found the top half, 'bout 30 feet away...

I'm tingling all over......nice.

you see I tossed it in a walnut sporter and chitcanned the ul?

Hunts', how you like your Zeiss Victory? 8X?

they're conquests.....I spent all my dough on swaro's and wanted another cheaper pair for beaters. I may sell them and pick up a set of the leupold mckinleys for my beaters.

Shows you what I know.

got a big red sow last night just before dark, picked off a good sized boar coon this morning, trying to keep my trigger finger working.rio7

did you use it for firewood?

I still have it.

Prairie dogs are pretty thin in this area, but decided to take a ride this am.. Mostly to get out and run the goldens.. Decided to do something a bit different for rifles so I took my rebarreled Marling 336 in .25-35.. A pal and I had a couple made up in this caliber maybe 10 years ago.. I haven't shot mine much in the last few, so decided to give it a run.. Ranges weren't long, 75 to maybe 125 yards.. A couple were just peeking out of their burrows.. I have a 2.5 Weaver on this rifle with a dot. The barrel is a Shaw 24" long.. Years ago I had loaded some 75 grain Horn. Vmax over H335. It proved very accurate this morning bagged 12 dogs.. Missed several shots also.. Later, I resighted it in with 117 grain for this falls deer and antelope season..

I should mention, the 75 grain Vmax must be loaded single shot fashion...!!!!!!!!!!!!

any pictures of the rifle or varmints to share?

sounds like a neat little rifle.

cowpoke, I am still trying to thread my way though posting of photos.. May try tomorrow.. It is a fun gun.. expensive, but fun.. But what in life isn't expensive...???

went out tonight with the sun at my back......

montana 260, 95v-max

I got the photo of the .25-35 I mentioned using on prairie dogs several days ago.. I am not sure how I got this photo here exactly, and the label was lost in sending but we tried..

here ya go:

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s465/WyoCoyoteHunter/IMG_5773_zps77c5f8b9.jpg

hit the third window up top after the smiley face...

will open a box ( insert a non floating image)( click that) and paste the above in that box.. and then hit okay...

Seafire, thanks I will try this..

Did the whore-gnat get a new scope?

sometime back. the old one is on the 17 fireball

one of them looks like a texas heart shot. about all im doing is raiseing hell with coyotes and coons, my critter grave yard is covered up with vultures.one of my ranch hands told me this morning, the vultures looked like obummer voters waiting for meals on wheels to show up, made me laugh.rio7

both were.... hit just a tad lower than I wanted to. Been a while since the deuce was out and I mis-guessed the drop... One crawled a purt fair ways before croaking.....

Good to see the deuce getting some use...


FWIW, there's a UHaul in my driveway right now....

Ben

Which driveway? the 'unloading' one?......

No, the loading one...

well, if you take the southern route home (I-70), stop and visit.....

Sweeeeeeeeeet! It'll be good to see you home again.....

Picked up a like new Sako 222 mag from my brother, he had two and had kept this one for his sons but neither one wanted it so lucky me. The rifle had less than 100 rounds through it before I picked it up. My brother lives in PA so we shot some woodchucks while there, all the rain made for late cutting but I still got several.


Went out this morning and shot some prairie dogs. Score my first double. Shot the entire morning from either sitting or standing in order to get some practice for this coming hunting season. The sticks sure worked great.

Nice little Sako.. Shooting chucks is almost as much fun as dogs.. My last hunts they were getting hard to locate, many of the old farms were growing up in weeds or brush.. Few chucks there..

My brother has lived in PA all his life and is a hard core hunter. We hunted our first PA farm and the owner directed us to second farm which he knew to have lots of big old hicks. My brother had hunted the farm in the past and the owner recognized him and allowed us on. it is always nice when the locals direct you to game.

Yes it is.. For several years during the summer, I had to spend in Pa. Shot hundreds of chucks.. But the last time I visited and hunted the old country, as I said, the fields were growing up, the old farmers were hanging it up.. Chucks like good grub, not weeds.. They were the beginning of our varmint hunting pastime.. Glad you had a good hunt..

july 1st to july 31st, critter count. 9 coyotes, 1 badger,1 bobcat,29 coons, 14 pigs.rio7

Agent 0022,

That by far is one of your coolest pics yet!

Sweet!

huntsman22, is that the coyote that was hanging out up on the hill above the water hole? good job!rio7

no, this was a pup hunting the treeline where the chuckars hang out. He lined outta rifle range, and died tired.....

was checking wind mills this morning and bumped into a dumb pup standing in the road,drt.went about 2 more miles and had another pup run acrossed the road i barked him to stop drt. rio7

Awesome pic, Huntsman! That coyote still looks mad. What ammo you got in that Ruger?

Cheapo win whitebox ball

Atmospherical conditions today were quite conducive to major splat-factorability. The 5 day forecast has the same-o little rain cloud and temperature in the computer pic, every day this week. I'll be ongoingly conducting scientifical experimentalisms henceforth. 17 grainer V-Maxificatedly opened up a jack this morning much more than usual. And was a continuational phenomenom thru afternoon hours on the garden raiders. Most gratifying to see the laws of physics expounded upon in real life.....

Nice gut 'splode and flow.
You can't teach that.
It's a gift.
Not for the critters a course, they hate you.
Lead on.

Very Cool Picture!

not quite as violent of gut-ification as yesterday. Bare-o-metric pressure musta dropped.......

Don, is that a triggershoe on the Ruger?

yessir

and on this ruger...



and that other one....



and another other one...



and this smith...



and that smith...



and the colts wear 'em, too...



[img]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/huntsman22/guns/IMG_1617_zps35ddb1a7.jpg[/img]

also, a pair of T/C rimfires, a marlin lever, a pair of ruger UL's and a 77/17hmr have 'em. Most wear Pacific's and a couple are Ace's. None of those junky tylers...

So you're saying you kind of like trigger shoes.

beats lettin' 'em wear work boots....

Was out last week and found lots of doggies. I've taken to walking and shooting them from off hand, kneeling, or sitting. When using my heavy varmint I always set up and shoot from prone.

Am I the only one that waits for doubles?

Nice Sako Boise!

Don, those pics are really putting me in the mood for some p-dog plunking... Thankfully I have a dog town six miles away....

Ben

That's good, because it appears Shrapnel went into hiding knowing you'd be back soon. If he ever re-appears, you guys hold his feet to the fire and make him take you to his killing fields.

also rescued a beetle-bug outta the windmill tank. I am HERO.....

A coon killed my last remaining pheasant and 2 chukars last night. War has officially been declared. Live-trap is now set and baited with a chukar carcass. If that don't work, I'll switch to plan 'B'...

Hope he enjoyed his last meal......

Implementing plan 'B' tonight. The bastid returned and avoided the live-trap. He munched 2 more chukars. At this rate, I only have a few days supply left. Best be putting an end to it.....

Dang shame footholds ain't legal in CO... You could nab him easily in a 1.5 or a DP I'd say..

You ain't using the right bait...peanut butter. JIFF - extra crunchy.

Rifles, pistols, shotguns, footholds, conibears, compound 1080, getters, aerial gunning, hounds, calls, trucks and pitchforks. One way or the tuther, this bugger is goin' down...

I really couldn't blame him if he passed up a PB&J sammich, for fresh, fluttering chikkin salad.....

Ben, Im expecting you to post a pic of some dead Montana critter pretty soon.....

I made a bit of a tactical error, instead of buying ammo, dies, etc, yesterday in Lewistown, I got lured in by the on-sale Leupold VX-1 3-9... I'm think about getting either a standard Leupold target turret, or an M1. I would just get elevation, not windage. Thoughts?


Edit: there was also a matter with a drain snake that kept me from more important matters, such as blowing up the local fauna..

Let me know if you don't catch him by Monday.
If need be I can slip Sally in a USPS flat rate box and have her there in a couple days. She'll make short work of that bandit and happily ride in that little box for a couple of days for the opportunity.

He didn't come back last night. Hold off on dropping the dog in the mail.......

You might just have to get a Mtn. Cur Don... They're good for just such emergencies.. FieldGrade, does Sally have a little Plott in her?

Well, Ben. Raise me a brindle about the size and temperment of Sally and we'll make a deal.....

Just a tich;) There's a pinch of Redbone a few gens back too but she's 90% Cur Dog.
She's a sweet heart.


Between her and my little Sophie dog (GSP) there ain't much that wears fur or feathers we can't hunt.


They'll even catch the occasional Cat if I can put em on a fresh track but I'm an old foot hunter so we don't catch to many. Sure is fun when we do though.

Beautiful dogs!!! What a great pair they are..

FieldGrade, that is as fine a pair of hunting dogs as a feller could see.. I can't wait to try our curs on kitties, I'd say they'll do great. I know from experience they'll tree feral cats! A silent mouth (on track) is probably the biggest thing I like about a cur. That way you can just sneak up on the cat(or coon) and run them up a tree before they know what happened. From what I've seen you post here, and over at PM, you like silent mouth dogs as well!

Sorry Don, but I don't raise dogs, I just with hunt 'em!

Yea Ben,,, my cur dog doesn't open until she actually see's game and that's about the time the cat see's her. My experience (although limited) is that cat's go up pretty quickly at the sight of a dog so it makes for a pretty short race.
Which is a good thing because the cat and dogs would surely die of old age waiting for me to get to the tree on a long race.

Off topic but one odd thing about my cur.
She won't swim???? She'll go wading but if her feet won't touch the bottom she want's no part of it and no amount of coaxing will change her mind. Only dog I've ever owned that didn't like to swim.
She isn't afraid of water and even loves to ride in a boat but no swimming. LOL
Could be worse though. I have a buddy that recently spent a pile of money on a Drat with Ducks and upland game in mind but mostly Ducks and she won't swim either.

Send her here. I don't have water.....

That's pert near God's country for hunting in Indiana! I used to hunt just north of Vevay myself...

I love Vevay/Switz. County...but it ain't Montana. But if I was to live in the midwest, that would be where I'd land for sure. Great people, good hunting and fishing, not too crowded(by IN standards), and is close to Friendship, IN and the NMLRA.

Ben

And don't forget the casino riverboat in Rising Sun that pays for all the paved roads....

Actually, we lived on one the very few remaining gravel roads in the county. It was better that way because it kept traffic at bay.. And it kept me from feeling too civilized!

Some fine looking gals you have Charlie.

Some recent victims while checking the zero on the 17rem model 7.



Then a few around the barns with the 17HMR Marlin 917V.

Lovin' that little peestol Don..

It do grow on ya....

Had a good time with one of our buddies out on the dog town today... Farthest shot was just shy of 600 yards..









This'n was literally inside-out, courtesy of a Howa .22-250..



FWIW, even though Nash is carrying a .22, the blown up ones were .22-250 victims..



Levitating... S&W M&P .45



[img]http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg495/mtncurman/IMG_2026_zps01983d02.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg495/mtncurman/IMG_2038_zpsb4268256.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg495/mtncurman/IMG_2041_zps053ec988.jpg[/img]

It's dang good to be back!


Ben

This guy just about made Dad just about jump out of his skin!



P-Dog jaw bone...



You can see the truck where we were shooting from right to the left of his ear..



Ben

If it was shot on a rock, does that make it a rock chuck? Or is still just a ground hog?

Had a young man out to the ranch to practice up for annylope season. He'll get 'er done......

Ben...I have not seen one of those little dudes for years! Cool!

They aren't too common up here.. I do see 'em from time to time though. They're neat little critters for sure.

Last one I saw was actually north of the breaks....didnt know they got that far up...

Which rifle is that Don?

Ingwe, yeah, I usually think of them as being mainly a southwest critter.. I guess not!

ruger vt 204 in walnut. Ben, you guys need to pick up some slack......

I know, I know, but we got a new 'dog shooting rig, so now we can get back to killin' schtuff... 50 mpg AND 4wd, I'm loving it! Besides, bird season is in now, so we will start stacking up the sharptails.



On a side note, I bloodied Nash's new Pietta 10 shot .22 yesterday on a leetle rattler. First one I've killed all year.

Ben

Ben I really like the looks of that outfit for that country! Looks like it would A) Carry a lot of PD Ammo or B) Carry a couple big mule deer bucks back home!

just too bad Nash has to ride in back......maybe a 3 seater, next time?

back to the whore-gnat this afternoon...

I forgot I had this picture. Jackrabbit I got at about 200 yards with, as Don calls it, the whore-gnat

Good job fellers... Been sorta busy the last couple of days, but Nash and I are going after birds tomorrow.. Hopefully pot-pie will follow!

Don, Is that the new Ruger American? If so, how do you like it.

Here are a couple a buddy and I got this past Saturday.

Him with one at 148yds and his Remington Model 7 CDL in 17 Fireball shooting 25gr. V-max.

His second at about 30yds as we topped a knoll.

I missed one twice at 550yds with the 243 due to windage. Was off about an inch. Managed to take this one with his Fireball at 40yds offhand from a rock pile.

Was a healthy one .

Not sure on the specs on his Fireball load other than it has a 25gr V-max, but it left no visible entry or exit on the first and third chucks. The second one had a glancing gut shot that opened it up and needed a finishing shot.

yup. good, so far...

Been fiddling with my late Dad's legacy battery for awhile. One of them is a Marlin 99 first run semi-auto .22 rifle. Best I can tell they were only made 1959 (like me) through maybe '61ish. Pre-GCA S/N requirement but action has 1,1XX electric penciled in.

Dad got it new off the shelf at the Otis AFB BX in 1964 when he transferred there to fly early AWACS: Constellations.

He loved this rifle beyond reason. It would stack Winchester Wildcats in bugholes @ 35 yards with irons. Many squirrels and crows toppled to it when we retired to Tennessee in 1970 and on.

I put a little Japanese Tasco 4x on it for him when he hit 81 and he said it made it "tol'able accurate" again. He passed last October 18, day after his 84th birthday.

Been upgrading his irons as part of my grieving, with the aim being to blood them all again. The Marlin has recently gotten a DIP target trigger and Pic rail on its dovetail. Dropped a
Wally World Bushnell BDC 3-9x40 with IR on it and zeroed it for 35 yards with CCI Velocitors.

Today the Marlin dropped it's biggest prey ever.

Son Connor and I went out to hang a ladder stand near a likely trail and were making a lot of noise.

After about 15 minutes Connor spotted a uniquely colored doe we've been watching since her birth go dashing down a streambed upwind of us and said "there's a red fox chasing her!"

We watched them disappear in the thick vegetation and began to loudly spar over the possibility his "fox" was a summer phase coyote.

He went silent and whispered "S@#T you're right, it's a coyote and it's coming back."

I snatched the Marlin 99 up and shouldered it and watched a shape moving west down the dry creek bed about 40 yards away though the jungle.

Connor whistled and it stopped, completely blocked from my perspective. He said "shoot" and I said "no target". It started to move and it's face hove into view through the briars and downed trees.

The Bushnell was set on 6X and I snapped in between its eyes and started squeezing the crisp new trigger. It looked left suddenly as the sear broke. The rifle nudged me and I saw no more dog.

Connor yelped "Sheeit!" and I looked up to see the coyote's azz hit the ground.

Pretty sure Dad is grinning like a loon over yonder.

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The 30-lb. bitch had to be hosed off back at the hacienda in order to be presentable for photos. Note the new trigger, scope and mount on the 50+ year old rimfire.

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I reckon this purty tail led to Connor's initial mistaken identity call.

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After a shampoo and hose rinse to get rid of the blood, turned out reading all the Jeff Cooper snapshot mumbo-jumbo in my ute, resulted in a near-perfect puncture wound between the eye and earhole. The smoking hot Velocitor did not exit the left side and the plan is to turn this skull into a Euro mount and recover what's left of the pill tomorrow.

My old man's happy in Heaven and Connor knows his old man can still flinch half-assed decent on command. Good day on the Highland Rim.

Oh and this canine will kill no more fawns or special ed does.