Sage rats and rock chucks

[dilleybilly]

quite a few turkeys lots of marmots and rats

 

[theduke]

What cal. is your rat gun? Any luck with the turkeys?

 

[dilleybilly]

seen lots of turkeys i used a 22 mag for marmots

 

[bt97006]

Leaving today to try my luck in the way of the rat. Looking forward to it!!

 

[Grizzly_A]

Anyone had luck yet this weekend from hunting the little rats? Are the little guys growing daring and leaving their holes?

Anyone putting together an OR NWFA sage rat shoot-out like prairie dog hunts in Wyoming?

 

[tomcat]

that are but thay dont go far from there holes thay look out and run back in.....and no id like to get sumthing like that going a rat shoot...there is one down in cali....

 

[bt97006]

Just got back and had a blast. The babies are out and about in full force. Saturday was cold and windy out there so we didn't see too many but today it warmed up and we made a mess out of the little buggers. I'm hooked!

 

[Grizzly_A]

Doesn't Baker City do a "Sage-Rat Shootout" or something along those lines? I remember seeing an article about a competition of sorts back not to many years ago.

 

[Frog]

The Rats are run'n !

Well, sort of.........

I was in the Prineville area this last week-end. Saturday's temp. never really got about 58 degrees. There were a lot of clouds and a strong chilli wind. We got a few, but it was 'slim pickin'.

On Sunday, under warm sun, with temp. around 60 degrees and no wind, they started coming out of their holes and we bagged a bunch of them!!

I think it is now safe to declare the '09 Rat Season officialy 'Open' !

Good shooting everyone.........

Frog.

 

[Warthog]

My Father-in-law and I are planning a trip over the second weekend in May, anyone know if thats still a good time? Or is that too late? I am hoping its not, because I am just itching to shoot some rats or rabbits. Anyone know of a good general area to set up in? I am not looking for specifics, not looking to take someones spot away. Any help would be great. Keep the reports coming, I get a little more exited with every update.

 

[beavernation1]

With all this talk of shootin rats and the such...I think I need to figure where and when so I can get in on the fun....my Ruger needs some exercise. What is the general length of shots needed to take these critters down? wondering if I need to take the red dot off and put on a real scope.

 

[USMC1911]

I would say a scope is best. Some fields are better then others. Some have lots of rats and you could use a handgun. The next field would be hunted and all your shots are gonna be 100+ yards. Most shots I take are 100 yards or well more with the 17. Fyi some fields dont want you shooting centerfire.

 

[PeakResources]

My Father-in-law and I are planning a trip over the second weekend in May, anyone know if thats still a good time? Or is that too late? I am hoping its not, because I am just itching to shoot some rats or rabbits. Anyone know of a good general area to set up in? I am not looking for specifics, not looking to take someones spot away. Any help would be great. Keep the reports coming, I get a little more exited with every update.

Warthog,

I went mid-May last year, and it was plentiful shooting in Eastern Oregon. There are places near LaGrande that have plenty of rats. I called around to the DFW offices out there and they told me to head out, find fields with rats, then talk to farmers. I did, and it was productive. See my earlier post on this thread for more info.

I'm headed out that way in a few weeks for some shooting. Long drive, but it's worth it.

 

[Warthog]

Warthog,

I went mid-May last year, and it was plentiful shooting in Eastern Oregon. There are places near LaGrande that have plenty of rats. I called around to the DFW offices out there and they told me to head out, find fields with rats, then talk to farmers. I did, and it was productive. See my earlier post on this thread for more info.

I'm headed out that way in a few weeks for some shooting. Long drive, but it's worth it.

Our plan is to head over to Christmas Valley (about an hour outside Bend), and see what we can find. My brother said he has done pretty good in that area before. I hoping to get out this weekend and get my Mini 14 and .22 both bore sited. I have never even seen a Sage rat, but I cant wait to shoot'm.

 

[Warthog]

Well I'm off to X-mas valley tomorrow AM to see what kinda critters are running around.

What was the Sage rat situation when you went? Where there any rabbits or coyotes? I am going over in a couple of weeks, just looking for a heads up.

 

[Pnutz]

What was the Sage rat situation when you went? Where there any rabbits or coyotes? I am going over in a couple of weeks, just looking for a heads up.

Kinda slow out their. Probably bagged 30 sage rats the first day and about 15 on the 2nd. Only seen 1 rabbit, 1 Badger, and 0 coyotes.

Have fun. I would defiantly recommend the 17hmr as most of the shots were beyond 50 yards and it was a stretch for the 22lr

 

[RallySoob]

depends how warm it is the day you go. we had good luck a couple weeks ago. atleast 50 rats down. we used .223

 

[Warthog]

Kinda slow out their. Probably bagged 30 sage rats the first day and about 15 on the 2nd. Only seen 1 rabbit, 1 Badger, and 0 coyotes.

Have fun. I would defiantly recommend the 17hmr as most of the shots were beyond 50 yards and it was a stretch for the 22lr

I was going to ask, were you not allowed to use .223, because thats my plan. I dont have a .17 and the onlt .22 I have dosent have a scope on it.

 

[RallySoob]

you can use .223 out in the desert. shouldn't be a problem in most places. never has been for me

 

[ORBrit]

that can get spendy.
I've heard reports from two different sources that on a good day you can get upwards of 500-700 rats.
The guy at Baker Shoes said his best day ever was 1500!!

You'd be better off buying a scope for your .22 than shooting a bunch of .223

Heck you could buy a couple new rifles and scopes if you end up shooting a couple thousand rounds of .22 instead of .223!