Did my first Varmint hunt...

[Shooter98]

I finally got to go out with a good buddy of mine whom also was a varmint hunting newbie and do some shooting. We were out in Eastern oregon in an area where they only allow rimfire rifles. Now, I can tell you it's a whole new world shooting critter pictures off a target stand from a bench. Holy cow is it alot more tough than I would have thought. I will have to say, I am amazed at the accuracy of my Savage 93 with a BSA sweet 17 scope on it. I had 2 confirmed 300+ yard hits. I found the 20gr xtp bullet a little more accurate for my set up than the 17 gr. bt.

We had a great time and after seeing what a .17 does to a sage rat I couldn't imagine using my 25-06 on them or even my .223 for that matter. I can see why it is addicting. In the matter of two days I went through 300 rounds with a kill ratio of roughly 48%. Now, I also learned that after about 350 yards the drop of the .17 bullet is so dramatic you really can't compute for it.

My buddies 22mag did great as well but he was unable to be accurate after roughly 175 yards. He was shooting the CCI's with the hornady bullets.

Too much fun and we are headed back out in June when they turn up the fields. What a great time!

 

[Shooter98]

Oh, I was going to ask something....

When we got to our shooting spot I had paced off a spotter flag out 150 yards. This way we could see the wind direction plus have a distance marker. Anyone elso do this or is there a better way?

 

[tt35]

Hard to beat a good sage rat hunt for shear volume of shooting! The SR's in the area you were in (judging from the rimfire limitation) are Richardson's ground squirrels. They come up a little later and go down later. The SR's in our area are Belding's ground squirrels. They are up in force now. The litttle ones are up now too so we should be looking at hundreds (if not thousands) of rounds a day now. Going to be good 'til the hay gets too tall.

I like the flag tip. Great idea especially with rimfires

Glad you had a great hunt. You'll be hooked now!

.

 

[Shooter98]

Hard to beat a good sage rat hunt for shear volume of shooting! The SR's in the area you were in (judging from the rimfire limitation) are Richardson's ground squirrels. They come up a little later and go down later. The SR's in our area are Belding's ground squirrels. They are up in force now. The litttle ones are up now too so we should be looking at hundreds (if not thousands) of rounds a day now. Going to be good 'til the hay gets too tall.

I like the flag tip. Great idea especially with rimfires

Glad you had a great hunt. You'll be hooked now!

.

Oh we are hooked! We're headed back out in June.

 

[tt35]

Check on the hay crop. If they haven't cut the first cutting of hay yet, the 'rats will be hidden. This year the hay is going to be late because it's been cold.

 

[Shooter98]

Check on the hay crop. If they haven't cut the first cutting of hay yet, the 'rats will be hidden. This year the hay is going to be late because it's been cold.

Will do thank you.....

 

[MrMajestic]

That kinda shooting with a RF will make you quite the marksman. Well done.

 

[SBruce]

Hello from a fellow varmint shooter.

Back before we had rangefinders that would go beyond 400 yds, we would go out ahead of time and stake off distances in 100yd intervals.

This was for prarie dogs in eastern Wyoming. Some of the guys got into the VHA 1000 and 1500 clubs doing this.

My furthest rimfire kill was really close to 250 yds. 22 magnum, pretty close to 20 years ago.

Sure is fun, glad to hear you had a great time. Surely is addictive.