Shooting on Private Property, A Reminder

Just a reminder on some guidelines on shooting on private property. Refer to my Blog of March 7th, 2009. Thanks

Three Things I shot At Crane

I arrived at Crane Tues morning to wind and cold. Jim and I shot from my Excursion at our old standby field. High temp was about 44 degrees. Thats where I scored my first kill of the MIRROR ON THE DRIVERS SIDE. If you are swinging on a rat while shooting out your window, make sure your rifle barrel, as well as your scope are clear of the mirror. I have proof that although you have a clear picture thru the scope, you may shoot the corner of the mirror.

Wednesday morning was clam and clear. I scored my second kill on a Badger at about 50yds with my .22. He was peeking over the top of a mound with the top part of his head showing from about the top of the nose up. Put one thru his left eye. Later in the PM we got out the pivoting shooter rest on wheels and treked out into a pivot about 300 yds where most shooters don't get to and cleaned up on the hardly shot at rats. That's where I got the third kill of note. My friend Jim is holding the first kill of the baby rats. Yes, THE BABY RATS ARE UP, and that means shooting will be hot and heavy from here on out. On Wednesday, the wind was calm and temp was 55. Perfect weather. Good Shooting.

Don't forget to check out Great Basin Sporting Goode in Hines. Tell Ron you saw it on Sage Rat Central.

Crane 3/27-3/31 A Cold,Windy Rat Shoot

Saturday was a travel day, and a nice one. Stopped at Chicky Res for lunch. Windy and cold. Water looked like a thick chocolate milkshake. Made a stop in Hines at Great Basin Sporting Goods ( more on that later) and then on down to Crane and set up my trailer. By then it was windy and late PM, so didn't try any shooting.

Sunday was windy and cold (43) so we shot out of the pickup. The wind was keeping a lot of rats down but we bagged quite a few.

Monday morning the wind had picked up and a lot of real estate

was changing hands. I drove into Burns and on the way back, a half of a manufactured home had been blown clean off the road and was just a pile of lumber and etc in the ditch. I knew the wind was bad, but later the radio said gusts were to 60 mph. We did find a field that was kind of protected and got in a little shooting. I had to reset the stab jacks on my trailer 5 times that day. The wind was rocking it and the jack pads kept digging holes.

Tuesday morning saw us looking out at 4 inches of fresh snow and it was still coming down. Still windy to 25 mph. Started to let up, so, being dedicated rat shooters like we are, we headed out to our spot. Beleive it or not, rats were up, although in limited numbers. We shot from the Excursion, like the day before with Bill shooting from the passenger side, out of the wind, and I assuming my position as tail gunner in the rear.

Wednesday morning. Another fresh 4 inches of snow and I decided to bag it. We were going to stay till Friday and Thursday was supposed to be better weather, but enough is enough. Headed home about 10 and hit hail, wind, snow,rain and every other kind of weather you can think of. I left my trailer and will go back at the first sign of decent weather.

Great Basin Sporting Goods is a fairly new store in Hines, owned by Ron and Kate Redding. It is located on the left as you enter Hines not to far past the truck stop. Ron has a cutout of a sage rat about 8 feet tall out front. The store is full of guns for sale and shooting supplies and they even have a wood stove to back up to, fresh coffee and usually cookies. Ron also repairs guns and conducts daily rats shoots. They are open 7 days a week and you can call 541-573-6197 for info. I highly recommend this as a "fer sure" stop if in the area.

Latest From Xmas Valley and Crane

Shooter friend drove to Crane on Monday and reported rats up, but a lot of 100 yd plus shots. Seemed that they were pretty skittish. Maybe shot a lot. Said he didn't see a lot of other shooters.

Another report from Max who drove to Xmas Valley. Dinsdale pivots are temporally closed for the next few weeks. No specific reason given or definate opening date. Said rats were kind of scarce but worth the 10 minute wait between shots. He knocked on doors and found another place to shoot. That's what you have to do. Looks like Sat will be a pretty nice day, but then wind and showers for the next few days, so says our local weather garu. ( Darts and blindfold)

Good luck, and let me know how you do.

Rat Repoet

I haven't been out shooting for about a month now. Having to take care of "non fun" things, responsibilities. The first of this last week, I had to make a trip to Redding and all the way down 97, I didn't see one rat. Go figure. After I got back, I contacted a rancher near Fort Rock. Said the rats were out, but, they were all booked up with shooters clear thru next week( spring vacation ). Another rancher by Silver Lake said he had seen a few rats in the field on Thursday but figured it would be a week yet before any good shooting.

Spring vacation is always a busy week for sage rat shooting. We are waiting another week and then hitting it hard.

Ammo, or the lack of it, doesn't seem to be an issue, at least here locally, with plenty of .22 and .17 HMR around. Check with the local Bi-Mart.

I sold my Kawasaki 650 Brute Force so I won't have it to haul my fat ass around the fields. Guess I will just use the ole "Ratrouster". See ya in the pivots.

Rats Up In All Areas

From the info that I have been able to gather, rats are up in all the usual places. I have had lots of inquiries about farmers poisoning rats. The info is sketchy, but it is happening according to my sources. Just how good it is doing remains to be seen, and not all ranchers are poisoning though. Again, it is one of those things that takes some research by knocking on doors and asking. As the popularity of shooting sage rats increases we are faced with the inclusion of the " idiots" that have no common sense when shooting. If you find a rancher willing to let you onto his property, treat his place with respect. Refer to one of my earliest entries last Spring about the unwritten rules to follow.

Attended the Central Oregon Sports Show yesterday. I ran out of gas after a couple of hours due to me having a bad cold so I can't give a fair assessment, but it is worh going to. Not much free stuff, but if you want a free Les Schwab camo hat, get to the booth early. I didn't make the cut.

I'll be tied up this next week, but plan to back on the shooting line by the 22nd. Look for my rig, and hey if anyone needs a "Ratroster" pivoting shooting rest, let me know.