Latest ( and probably last) Trip to Crane 2010

Looked like a break in the weather thie last week, so decided to give Crane one last chance for a rat shoot without wind. Stopped at " the ranch" on the way over to see how high the alfalfa was and wound up killing 129 while just passing thru. On leaving, I looked West to check traffic and saw a huge black plume of smoke. Wasn't very tall yet, so knowing something was amiss, I turned and headed back towards Bend. Sure enough, a tanker truck had rolled over and caught fire. ( See Pictures ) I talked to an eyewitness and he said the truck hit the other shoulder and over corrected and rolled. Second roll it caught on fire. I was surprised that the sage wasn't on fire. Unfortunatly, I think the driver was killed. Didn't hear for sure. On the way home I saw they were digging a huge pit for the cleanup.

That was Wednesday. I stayed thru noon on Friday and packed up the trailer and headed home. Weather was great but the alfalfa was growing fast and you had to find bare and dry spots to be able to see the rats. Still easy to get 100 kills a day but after 6 round trips to Crane and 24 days of shooting this spring, I was ready to call it good. There will be a couple of weeks of decent shooting after cutting. I am going to just make day trips to a closer location until it grows up high. In the meantime, I will unpack my boat and start fishing. A caller, about purchasing one of my " ratrouster" shooting rests was at Odell Lake and said the Koke bite was on there now.

Don't forget to go back thru my old posts for a look at the "ratrousters" and other Rat Info.

I'll keep posting on any shooting info I get and keep you up to date on my fishing success, or lack of it. By the way, to enlarge any of my photos, double click on them. Try enlarging the center pic to see how thick the rats were at "The Ranch".Bullseyes and tight lines.

First Week In May, A Cold Windy Shoot

Drove to Crane on Monday morning with friends Gary, pulling a 32' toy hauler, and Jim, hauling a 11' camper. Luckly I was only driving my Excursion as the wind was crossway and on our quarter tail all the way. The prediction was for gusts to 50 and I beleive it. Arrived Crane about 12:30 and set up. Went out in the afternoon to check out the rats and found a few up in our favorite field. By up, I mean at least laying on the ground chewing on alfalfa shoots. Not much of a target, especially in a 40-50 mph wind. We got out our "ratrouster" shooting chairs and set up on the leeward side of my rig ( see attached picture). Notice the dust in the background. It settled in all around us a few minutes later, so we picked up and headed for camp.

The next morning, it was a little windy and 35 degrees. Wind chill-Brrrrr. Shot in one field till noon and moved to another for the PM shoot. About 3:30, the wind calmed down and I was in my T-shirt. Bill and I shot til 7pm. He had confirmed kills of 241 and I had 178. The other 3 had about as many, but they didn't count. Said it was easier to lie if there was no proof.

Next morning ( Wed) it was blowing hard again. We tried a little shooting,but, it was bitterly cold. Three of us pulled out after lunch and headed home and Bill and Ty stayed, The weather here near Sisters is nice with light wind this morning. I hope it is the same for the boys in Crane.

Best shooting yet

I just returned from a 5 day rat shoot in Crane, Or. We had a little rain, a fair amount of sun and lots of wind. 2 of the days were perfect shooting days. First of the two days, we figured that the group or 8 shot around 1000 rats. Some of the bench shooters weren't direct counting, so we had to estimate on what those of us that always count had done. 5 of the 8 were shooting centerfire off bench tables. The second terrific day of shooting ( Sunday) saw 2 of us on the "Ratrousters" on wheels and 5 on benches. The 2 of us did just what the wheeled units are designed for. We went out to the pivot where no one had gotten to and got into virgin rat territory. In 6 hours of shooting with our .22s, Jim and I had 498 confirmed kills. ( Remember my rules on what is a "kill") The others got quite a few also but towards the end of the day, three of them saw what we were doing and came out with their .22s and shot offhand for about the last hour. That day had to produce around 1400 dead rats. One of the best days I can remember.

Sunday Rat Shoot

Brother-in-law Scott and I headed out to "The Ranch" late in the morning and started shooting about 11:30. The rats seem to be up all day, so why get up early on Sunday. We shot in one pivot till 4 PM, killing 156. ( Check out the attached picture of a rat gut shot with a .17 HMR. Anything less, is not a kill according to the way we score kills.) 156 dead rats equals 2262 lbs of alfalfa saved for harvest. Added to the 100 kills I got on Friday,that means 3717 lbs of alfalfa saved in the two days. In the paper this morning, I saw some alfalfa hay for $110 per ton. So, we saved the rancher about $200. About the same amount I spent on fuel and ammo for the two days. Well, not really. Actually, I spent about half of that. Any way, Sunday was a great day. around 70 degrees and a little windy causing me to shoot below my average for the amount of ammo fired. Got home at 6 and caught the end of a neighborhood potluck dinner. All in all, a great day. Will probably head for Crane in a couple of days for a repeat of last years group from 3 states shoot. Bullseyes and tight lines. Dobe

Finally, Some Nice Weather

Friday, was a great day for rat shooting. Sun, temp 65 and no wind. I drove out to some new shooting grounds for me and found lots of sage rats. No babies up in that area yet, so the best shooting is yet to come. Jumped up a herd of Antelope, about 50-60. I was by myself, so I just drove around and shot out the window using my .17HMR. I quit when I got to 100 kills. I know, that doesn't sound like many, but remember, I only count the ones that are laying there ready for the birds to feast on, and there were plenty of them doing just that when I left. If you can get the attached picture to full screen, the Antelope show up pretty good. Good Shooting

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