Sage Rat Hunting in Eastern Oregon

[atdp]

I would like to take my son hunting at the end of March but have never done it and would like some information or someone I could contact. I don't want to spend a $100 a gun a day either. Just want to spend some father son time and enjoy. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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[Kruel J]

+1 for me. Looking forward to some info in this thread.

 

[chickenfarmer]

Same here

 

[Modeler]

First off, you don't have to go to Eastern Oregon to hunt sage rats; Central Oregon will work fine. It may seem petty, but nothing will "out" you as someone who doesn't know what the bubblegum they're talking about quicker than referring to Central Oregon as Eastern Oregon

My friends and I go to Christmas Valley every May(ish) to hunt the local alfalfa fields (generally referred to as "pivots", since there is one center irrigation pivot in each field). Sometimes you can know people, sometimes you can pay a guide who has access to certain private land, and if all else fails you can go to a certain farm and hunt their many and varied pivots.

I forget the name of the farm, but the GPS coordinates as-per Google Maps are +43° 14' 57.36", -120° 53' 52.56"

Go to the scalehouse, there's a signin sheet, a list of rules (only use .22LR, don't shoot our stuff up, don't shoot when there's people in the fields, other common sense stuff) and maps of where you're allowed to hunt on their land.

Enjoy!

 

[drew]

First off, you don't have to go to Eastern Oregon to hunt sage rats; Central Oregon will work fine. It may seem petty, but nothing will "out" you as someone who doesn't know what the bubblegum they're talking about quicker than referring to Central Oregon as Eastern Oregon

Very true.

I've been trying to get back over the mountain around a cutting. Hasn't happened for a couple years.

 

[Outdoorxj]

What do you do with them once you sport them.

 

[RW-Ore]

uh...everything has to eat you know . Leave them lay they won't be there long.

 

[Outdoorxj]

uh...everything has to eat you know . Leave them lay they won't be there long.

really you wont get in trouble?? I want to try it but i go by the old saying you only kill what your going to eat...

 

[Oregonhunter5]

really you wont get in trouble?? I want to try it but i go by the old saying you only kill what your going to eat...

Eat ground squriels?
Your eyes will go crooked and your balls will grow teeth...

 

[Greenbug]

The name of the farm where you sign in at the scale house is "Dinsdale". Sign in, get a map of their open pivots and shoot till you run out of ammo! It's that easy.

 

[Backfire]

Item to consider: On an alfalfa ranch infested with sage rats and jackrabbits, the coyote is part of the solution, NOT part of the problem, so coyotes get a reprieve here. I'll be the first to tell you that I consider coyotes the "prince of varmints", but I ease off the trigger for coyotes in this environment.

 

[Outdoorxj]

Eat ground squriels?
Your eyes will go crooked and your balls will grow teeth...

Thats what im saying. I want to try hunting them. I just wouldn't know what to do with them. Duck, deer you can hunt and eat them. So that's why you hunt them. But these pest you just hunt n leave them there??

 

[Nwcid]

Shoot them and leave them. If you use the right bullets there is not enough left to eat even if you wanted to. http://velocity-films.com

What do you do with any other pest you kill? Do you eat the mice out of your traps?

 

[Nickb]

It's not really "hunting" just varmint control.

 

[sheepdip]

pile up the dead ones and wait for the vultures and shoot them too!

 

[RW-Ore]

Eat ground squriels?
Your eyes will go crooked and your balls will grow teeth...

22-250 or 223 unless it's a perfect head shot it is a red mist the hide is as they say is , shot too.

 

[skydiver]

I guarantee they would taste better raw than my cooking!

 

[simon99]

Thats what im saying. I want to try hunting them. I just wouldn't know what to do with them. Duck, deer you can hunt and eat them. So that's why you hunt them. But these pest you just hunt n leave them there??

Hi guys,

I live in Central Oregon and can maybe shed a little light for some of you.
Sage Rats over here are really a problem. Every rancher and farmer I know is more than happy to get rid of them as they burrow hundreds of huge holes in their fields which can create a hazard for valuable livestock such as horses and cattle. No one wants a valuable horse to have to be put down due to a broken leg...but it happens.
So, to answer the question, yes, you shoot them and leave them on the ground. Most of the guys I know over here use anything from AR's to 22-250, 17HMR or even 22LR and as some have stated, there isn't a whole lot left after bullet impact. Between coyotes, cougars and birds of prey you're pretty much doing nature a service and helping out the AG community as well.

Happy shooting.

 

[Modeler]

The name of the farm where you sign in at the scale house is "Dinsdale". Sign in, get a map of their open pivots and shoot till you run out of ammo! It's that easy.

Thanks, I couldn't for the life of me remember the farm's name...

 

[2506]

I usually use 22LR when I go, a thousand shots in a weekend is not out of the ordinary. We also happened to discover one of the best tricks I've ever seen. We'd go to the pivots, shoot all the rats, then take a break in the shooting so the rats would reappear. One of the guys we were with let his dog off leash during one of our breaks. We never took another break all weekend, we just let the dog run out into the field. The rats even seemed to stand up extra tall to try to spot the dog who was chasing his own rats on the other side of the field. Good times.