SAGE RAT SHOOTING ONLY 3 MONTHS AWAY

Talked to my friend Jim, in Crane the other day and we agreed that sage rat shooting, most times, starts around the middle of February. That's only three months away. Made me realize that I had better start building some "shooter rests". Also I have had 2 calls in the last two weeks from interested shooters asking about them. So, I have rearranged my shop and am in the process of cutting, welding and assembly. If anyone is interested, I should have some ready after Thanksgiving. If you are new to this site, refer back to my first couple of blogs to view pictures.

Ammo has started to show up in limited quanities in our area. Prices are somewhat inflated. What few bricks that were at the Redmond gun show last weekend were priced $22-$25. ( for .22 LR ). Jim said that in the Burns area, one store had American Eagle bricks for near $50. Good luck with that one.

Got a different rig this year. If you recall last year, I was driving a white Yukon with a roof rack. This year I will be driving a Ford Excursion, light tan in color. Don't know yet if the roof rack will fit. It's a 7.3 Powerstroke and will pull my travel trailer better than the Yukon. Look for it around the Crane Supply if you are in the area. I'll try and keep on the blog with any news I have.

Last of the sage rats for this season

Sorry about not keeping up on the rat shooting. Just have been to busy and haven't been out shooting for some time. Yesterday I spotted what must have been the last sage rat of the season about 1/2 mile SW of Sisters on the Lazy Z ranch. Just sitting there in the morning sunshine. Of course, there is no shooting on the Lazy Z. Next spring we will all getting cabin fever and the shooting will begin sometime in late Feb. Check out my rotating shooter rests in the first post. They work. Later. Ratrouster

Sorry, Not much News

There are still a few rats out, but hard to spot. Need to catch them out around the edges on clear ground. I myself have been trying ti fish at least once a week. Winter, all of a sudden, turned into summer with mid to high 90s for temps. Fished Prineville Res a couple of weeks ago with poor results and then Three Creeks Lake last Thursday, from my pontoon boat. 3 of us managed to catch 6 fish. Sometime this week, we will go again but not hit the water till about 3 pm and fish till dark. Ammo is starting to show up in the stores again. And, at least at Bi-Mart, they have not jacked up the price. Don't pay up for ammo right now. I think the shortage is about over.

Alafala First Cutting

Yesterday, June 24th, I was near Silver Lake and saw that they were making their first cutting. Also, today, a nice lady from Xmas Valley drove here to my place to buy her husband a "pivoting shooter rest" for a late fathers day gift. What a gal. Wonder if she has a sister? Anyway, she said they had started yesterday to cut the Alfala on her neighbor's property. Shooting should be good for a couple of weeks.

The reason I was around that area, was fishing at Duncan Reservoir and Thompson Reservoir. Thompson sucked, but, Duncan gave up a 19" rainbow, two 18's and 6 others, 12-15 inches. Bobber and worms did the trick.

A Little Break in The Weather

Finally got a break in the weather this week. ( Over now. Rain showers,thunder and highs of only 65 predicted over the weekend.) Brother-in-law Scott and I took off for an ATV ride on Monday afternoon from my house and put on about 40 miles. Explored some unfamiliar roads and proceeded to get lost on our way back. Seems I took a wrong turn and although we had our GPS and a map, we found ourselves on several dead end roads and behind lots of blown down trees blocking us. Finally got back at 7 PM. Fun time though.

Then on Wednesday, I took my fried Les to Prineville Res for some bass fishing. Weather was great. We got fishing about 9am ( this time of year, bass sleep in ) and in about 30 minutes, my battery for the electric trolling motor ran out of juice. Yes, I had charged it. Just didn't hold. So, I had to drift along or use the big motor. Not real handy. We did manage to boat 25 bass ( all dinks) Les caught the largest. Weather is supposed to break out in a couple of days ( the weather forecasters always dangle that carrot out there) and if it does, I will be back out, doing what I do best.

Thunder Storms & Hail

Promised a fishing report but never made it to the lake. Had a business problem I had to handle in the AM and then it stormed in the PM. I went into Bend about 4 and Pilot Butte was WHITE! Hail had covered parts of Bend with 3 inches of the stuff in about 5 minutes. Underpasses were flooded and closed. What a strange Spring we are having. Thunder and lighting are forecast thru this next weekend. Rat shooting and fishing are not going to happen for me. The Sisters Rodeo is this comming weekend too. Hope they get a break. Wonder if I can find my studded snow tires?

Alfalfa Update

Sorry to be so lax about keeping up on the rat info. It's just that there isn't much going on right now. Talked to my friend Jim at Crane and he said it would probably be around the end of the month before they would start cutting. The alfalfa here around Sisters is about a foot high. Today I was out towards Terrrebonne and saw a few rats crossing the road. They are out there, just hidden in the grass. We have had PM thunder storms for the last two weeks, so it wouldn't be good to be out shooting anyway. I have heard some reports of a good rock chuck populations around. Finding suitabe fields or areas to shoot in are kind of scarce around here. I'm going to start Bass fishing tomorrow at Prineville Reservoir. The water temp should be about right. I am down to a couple of Shooter Rests for sale and have some people that are wanting to see them. Don't think I will be making any more this Summer unless I have a special order. I have a appt with the Dr on Thursday for a "Nuke stress test". Hope to find out what caused the minor heart attack a couple of weeks ago. Anybody finding any .22 ammo? None around here right now. Look for a fishing report tomorrow.