J.B. being the pro that he is, used a 17 something-or-other shell casing to blow into and get the gophers to stick their heads up. It wasn't really working that well, we didn't see that many gophers all day.

When one did show up, he was out the door before I could stop the truck to get the first shot. Now I know why he told me the 4 wheel drive was out in his truck, so I could drive and he could shoot...

You made him ride in the back?
No wonder he was peeved.

Being in the back wasn't any problem, since I was sitting behind all the BS going back and forth between Shrapnel and Eileen!

It does look like it worked out for you.....

John,

Does he hit you over the head with that horsewhip whenever you can't see the gopher he's looking at? He told me it was a "Bozeman tradition" but I'm not so sure.


Travis

What '17 something-or-other'?

Travis,

Shrapnel and I are pretty much even on gophers seen first, though I might be a little ahead in lifetime spottings, since I was a year ahead of him at Bozeman Senior High School (BSHS, known widely back then as "old bullschidt horseschidt). He has taught me many lessons on the effectiveness of plastic-tipped bullets, especially bullets with red tips.

Eileen did say something about having a cold arm. By the time we got to dinner, we realized John had shot 3 holes in her sleeve...

You won't like his reply. He has become a "Fireball guy."

Sickening...


Travis

Huntsman,

That was a .17 Varmint Hunters Association (.17 VHA), the 4.6x30mm submachine gun round necked down. The ammo used had the 20-grain V-Mac at 3200 or so, a little more than the new Winchester rimfire round.

I also field-tested my new CZ .17 Hornet for the first time. Mucho impressed, as I knew I would be, after your posts and those of others.

Shrap loves him some V-Maxes. Big time...


Travis

Big Time!

I'll be down in June. Go easy on the horsewhip this time.



Travis

Shrapnel: I have owned a couple of different models of "Gopher Calls".
My close friend Don owns the coolest one though!
His was made years ago by a western Montana Hutterite Colony craftsman.
It is made of oak and brass tubing.
I think the secret to Gopher Calls is convincing your shooting/Hunting partners to put down their armaments and take up the "Gopher Call" and work it.
Meanwhile, YOU shoot the Gophers that are "up" and may or may not have appeared due to the calling!
I have read game biologists reports where they estimate that only 20% of a Ground Squirrel colony is above ground at any one time - so about 80% of the Gophers are down in their burrows but thinking about coming up to get something fresh to eat.
In other words there is a lot of coming up and going down in a colony at all times - so a "Gopher Call" may or may not be working at all.
I don't know.
I still use them on occassion.
But I would not bet a box of 22 L.R.'s that they do or do not actually work.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Travis,

I pointed out the red plastic tips on all the .17 ammo I was shooting, and Shrapnel congratulated me heartily on my learning ability.

At dinner in Livingston that evening (the Campfire members including Shrapnel, 30338, handwerk, leenie3freezers, and our generous host George De Vries) I confessed that all my articles are based on stuff Shrapnel taught me over the past few years, His big problem is he can't write worth a lick. Otherwise he'd be as rich as me, or other gun writers like Mike Venturino.

I feel left out.

Long live shrap!


Travis

John can't quite get his mind wrapped around the "Plastic Tipped" bullets. I had to show him throughout the day, what a red tipped V-Max looks like, before and after it is launched. I think he may be converted now, I wouldn't be surprised to see an article or two on the virtues...

Laughin'... I ditched the Bergers and replaced them with V-Maxes for the June trip. Hopefully you'll go easy on the horsewhip now.

The boy's .223 AI will be ready by then as well. Wait until you see those "red tips" with the RPM's of a 1-8" twist...

"OUCH!"


Travis

And I thank you very much. Also want to thank you for taking the books over to the Bozone for Ron, and for introducing me to the 6mm 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip!

I can't wait, but be honest, do you think it has a chance against the trio of 222 mag spatulas???

Oh yeah. Most of my archaic SX's are shot up.

Schit gonna be ugly...


Travis

Look at what I found in my basement...

Costco?


Travis

What books?

I usually buy those same bullets in bulk, tho. I load a bunch at a time. The plural term for these tiny, little pills in a bulk box is v-MAX, 'cause there's more'n one. I like to fox hunt with the Hornet too. But I perfer to kill multiple fox, instead of a single ol' fock.

Presactly! Calls need to exhibit sufficient glitz and promise to gain the eye of them what's naturally attracted to shiny, trilly stuff. Then it's up to the shooter um, companions to convince them to use the call, while they kill whatever shows up.

Even better to repeatedly compliment the caller on their "gifts", lest they catch on, lose interest and demand an equal chance at shooting.

Years ago we convinced one of our woodchuck hunting buds that he had mastered the little nickel-plated "silent dog whistle" we'd given him. Worked for awhile, then he insisted on a shot now and then.

We probably failed to provide enough encouragement?

don't we all wish it could be that easy!!!

40 something boxes of V Max... a real varmint shooter would consider that as the stock getting low...

I could easily live in that life style...

Get a copy of the movie "Caddyshack". There are lots of good ideas in there about rousting up gophers.

Was this at some sort of "Most Interesting Men in the World" Convention or what?

Youse guys. The TRUCK is the problem! To call gophers, you need to don camo (now there's a nom de plume for a gunriter: Don Camo!) and then sit motionless - the lotus position is suggested but optional - in a large field while making the sound of a soybean.

On second thought, nobody calls gophers any more. They just text.

My friend and fellow gun writer John Haviland grew up shooting gophers (Columbian ground squirrels) in western Montana, but never went prairie dog shooting until he started gun writing in his 30's, when he was invited on an "industry" hunt by some company.

After the nearby prairie dogs had been shot at enough to duck down their holes, he whistled on an empty cartridge case to call them back up again, as he did with gophers.

With prairie dogs, unfortunately, the sound of a whistle is an alarm call, and John's trick sent even distant dogs scurrying underground. His hunting companions looked at him like he was the dumbest varmint shooter on planet earth, and told him to CUT THAT OUT!

Is there a prairie dog "all clear" call?

Figure Shrapnel would know it, if there is.

Are you having your trophy gopher taxidermied? LOL!

Any taxidermist can mount a sheep, deer etc, but there isn't a single one that can do a good prairie dog...

Actually, there's one in SD. A buddy's wife shot one over 500 yards out, and it wasn't torn up too badly, so they had it mounted for her. It came out pretty good.

I doubt he will be able to get a mount to look like this...

Nice pic! I have noticed a lot less violence against groundhogs using the green tipped bullets in the .222, but they're a lot more accurate. The red tips in the Swift and .250-3000 can generate some fine airtime on the pigs.

Veteran move in my book........

JGR...how can you post at a time like this?

SHUT UP AND GO TO AFRICA!


YOU SUCK!!!!!

Shovel up what ya can...

throw it in a jar and top off with formaldehyde and there ya go...

"Montana exploded gopher/prairie dog mount"....

What's in those red tips, plutonium? Next time aim the camera lens a little higher so we can see the mushroom cloud.

Here gopher gopher gopher?

The old farmer where I grew up called his cows with "COMEBOSS, COBOSS, COBOSS."

I like that. Over the rocks and through the grass...nothing but chunks!

I've never gotten a woodchuck more than 2' off'n the ground, but here we call that "hang time". ;O)

I would call COLLECT !

Shrap, I didn't get a good enough look at those Sako 222 mags other than to see the accouterments were very nice and that no one should really have more than one. How hard to find is that brass ?

And I would, of course, would offer you fair market value, considering the brass is, as you said, nearly impossible to find.

Poor Eileen; reminds me of the song, "Stuck in the Middle with You."

He's working too. We used to just whistle.

I don't know any of you well enough to call BS but when was the last time you were out on a beautiful day hunting gophers and needed 4-wheel drive?

Hah, that was funny.
22 LR shell works pretty well on Columbians. Gets them to stand. Haven't tried it on Eastside gophers yet.

Scarceity of .222 brass was mentioned above. I have a box of 100 Winchester .222 Rem brass. If anyone needs it, PM me.