Have any of you guys heard of not being able to use FMJ sage rat hunting?

[fbdt99]

I just came upon this being an issue, have you guys ever heard of being made to shoot soft points or Balistic tip ammunition?

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[rick benjamin]

A landowner requirement?

 

[fbdt99]

Yeah I had a friend who told me that all the farmers he contacted told him no FMJ just soft point or ballistic tip, Ive never heard of landowners having that requirement or caring about what kind of ammo you use. Is it a common thing?

 

[Joe13]

At a sage rat?!?!

Any type of tip will take care of em...

 

[BlindedByScience]

Years ago I was working with some guys in Filbert orchards up the McKenzie river out of Eugene. Ground squirrels are the plague of an orchard. Due to the proximity of houses, we couldn't even use frangible rounds. What we did use were .44 Magnum shotshells.....and a 500 gallon water tank on the tractor to flush the little vermin out of their holes....;-) It was pretty amazing shooting; you'd put the water to a big den, and 15-30 squirrels would come flying out of the ground.......at 15-20' the shotshells we loaded did a number on 'em.

 

[elsie]

FMJ tends to skitter off the ground, even after impact. Not enough squirrel to cause the projectile to break up with FMJ. Plus it tends to make it easier to make holes in the irrigation equipment. I just use V-Max ballistic tips. It makes the squirrel parts fly better.

 

[fbdt99]

Thanks for the input guys, could anyone give me an idea of some places to shoot at? Ive seen a lot of recommendations to just knock on peoples doors but any places in particular where you know the farmers or locals are OK with shooting? I would like to call and ask first just to make sure its kosher to shoot before I drive down

 

[Mark W.]

Good luck the two major places to hunt in Christmas valley are now .22LR ONLY no other ammo allowed. Dinsdels has a Full page of rules to shoot on their land.

The farmers and ranchers are tired of having to repair holes in everything from irrigation pipe to themselves.

According to a person in the know we talked to in Christmas Valley this spring its maybe only a couple years before shooting sage rats is done as far as the public is concerned. She told me about one guy who is a welder that says about 25% of his work each year during the season is fixing holes made by bullets. She also told me about two people recently hit by stray or long range bullets.

 

[roguebw]

I grew up on a farm in the Klamath basin and farmed for a living until 2012. My family still farms in that area and I know many people still in the business. Sage rats cause more money loss than the cost to repair pipe with bullet holes. I have never heard of any farmer requiring certain bullets, but some areas it is not safe to shoot centerfire cartridges.
I don't blame some of the farmers and ranchers for not letting everyone who stops by go shooting on their property. Throughout the years I have seen too many idiots show up and it seams like they have no clue how to safely shoot in the fields.
Most farmers do not hire a welder to come in to fix pipe as most farms no matter the size have someone capable to do the welding themselves.
We always thought it was ridiculous when the city folk came in and set up with their whole shooting table and their high dollar rifles. To us it was a waste of money, when a 22 is the best way to wipe out large quantity of rats. Nowadays since I am not a broke farmer I am one of the guys we used to make fun of.
The farmers want help to get rid of sage rats, but you must respect their property and equipment. Remember it is not only their job, but it is their whole life and most of the time all of their money and some borrowed money is in that farm.
Show some respect and usually you will be welcomed back to shoot some rats. It probably wouldn't hurt to bring them some cold beer or a bottle of wiskey.