Status of Sage Rats in Christmas Valley

[Camtender]

Are they out yet?

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[loosearrow88]

last year a few of us went to the valley looking for rats and found it not to profitable. we then found ourselfs in burns HOLLY CRAP there was so many rats and never had to leave one field. and i heard there out already this year but have not gone myself planned for two more weeks. good luck.

 

[Camtender]

last year a few of us went to the valley looking for rats and found it not to profitable. we then found ourselfs in burns HOLLY CRAP there was so many rats and never had to leave one field. and i heard there out already this year but have not gone myself planned for two more weeks. good luck.

Was it hard to find someone to let you on their land in Burns?

 

[coyoteman5]

I getting ready to hopefully head over May 3,4,5,6 to Christmas valley to shoot some of those comi rats, I'll do a field report on how it looks.

 

[jquirit]

I got a new .17 HMR I'd love to take a spin. Never done sage rat hunting before. What is the typical process of doing so?

 

[coyoteman5]

First find a place where they are at like christmas valley, baker city, Klamath falls, burns.
Then get permission to shoot on that property oh make sure you have a hunting license in Oregon I do believe to Hunter or shoot any animal you have to have a hunting license even though you'll be on private property it may not apply there but just be safe have one. And one thing farmers really stress if you should on the property do not shoot their equipment like tractors arrogation pivots. Like on Dinsdale farm in CV you can only shoot rim fire ammo and shoot only sage rats nothing else. Oh and it more shooting than hunting you go to the alfalfa fields spot and shoot like moles

 

[loosearrow88]

Was it hard to find someone to let you on their land in Burns?

no it was my first time to burns last year with no background done before i went i had left stright from the vally and when i got into town i hit the gun shop on your left as you come in to town andf he pointed me at a farm out of town. met the ranch hand and shot 1200 rounds of 223, 4500 yes 4500 rnds if 22lr, 200rnds of 12ga in 3 and a half days what a hell of a time. been going to the valley for about 12years and never had as much fun as burns...

 

[Bam]

Only problem with Burns it is a 6 hour drive... I really would want a for sure thing worked out before driving out there.

 

[coyoteman5]

Yeah it like 5.5 hours to CV (from Forest grove) and according to map quest it's another 2.5 hours (103miles) to burns from CV i thought it was less more like one hour further. Yeah good to have your ducks in a row before going can't hurt.

 

[Mark W.]

Unless you nuts you sure wouldn't go to Christmas Valley on route to Burns. You would go from Bend straight out 138 miles to Burns. CV is way south of Bend off to the east of Hwy 97

 

[Orwapitihunter]

Just came back from shooting rats. The weather was mostly overcast but warm. Wind variable from 3 to 10 out of the south. The alfalfa is just barely getting started leaving the fields looking mostly grey and dead looking. The good news is the rats were out. It was my son's first trip so we took it easy, and we all left with smiles.

 

[Barone20]

I'll have to talk to someone at the gun shop next time I'm in burns. I'm usually there 2x a year. Never have been sage rat shooting there. Heard it was great though

 

[coyoteman5]

I'm not nuts (for the most part lol) I go through CV cause that's where I shoot sage rats so "I" would go through CV to check it out before going to burns which is father away ie more fuel more time and if shooting is good in CV I don't have to drive that extra mileage.

 

[chmorelock07]

Me and a buddy are heading over to christmas valley tomorrow so try our luck at sage rats from the coast. Could someone please let me know of some places or farms that we could hunt at? We are military and this is our first hunt in that area. Thanks guys.

CHRIS

 

[coyoteman5]

I was just over there last Thursday thur Sunday afternoon it was slow I shot about two dozen maybe three per day they would come up here and there. I heard other people shooting around me in the distance it sound like they were doing about as good as I was. I shot in Dinsdale farm fields you must go to their office and sign in and get a map that also have rules. There is also Zane church farm but not sure where he is exactly but south of CV ask in town I'm sure they can tell you. I talk to a guy who was just trying out CV but two weeks before he was over in baker city and he said it was way better. I also heard the same about burns. I have not heard anything about crane. It sounds like Dinsdale farm are getting upset with people not following their rules and could in the future close it down to public if it doesn't get better which would suck. I plan on going back in two weeks. Have fun

 

[Gunner3456]

...are heading over to christmas valley tomorrow so try our luck at sage rats from the coast.

That's a long shot. Hope you have some good glass.

Thanks guys.

Thanks for your service and have a good time.

 

[gunfreak]

Just wanted to let you guys know that my crew "8 guys" are heading over thursday am. After that there will be nothing to shoot at over there for a while. We get 'em all. Rats in the day rabbits at night.

 

[bcummings]

Just wanted to let you guys know that my crew "8 guys" are heading over thursday am. After that there will be nothing to shoot at over there for a while. We get 'em all. Rats in the day rabbits at night.

just got back from Idaho...they were very thick...even with so so weather

 

[salmonriverjohn]

I was just over there last Thursday thur Sunday afternoon it was slow I shot about two dozen maybe three per day they would come up here and there. I heard other people shooting around me in the distance it sound like they were doing about as good as I was. I shot in Dinsdale farm fields you must go to their office and sign in and get a map that also have rules. There is also Zane church farm but not sure where he is exactly but south of CV ask in town I'm sure they can tell you. I talk to a guy who was just trying out CV but two weeks before he was over in baker city and he said it was way better. I also heard the same about burns. I have not heard anything about crane. It sounds like Dinsdale farm are getting upset with people not following their rules and could in the future close it down to public if it doesn't get better which would suck. I plan on going back in two weeks. Have fun

Zane's Grand kid and I are sitting here tonight drinking a few beers, and he just told me, all you need to do is ask.
No BS. They're more than willing to let good, safety minded shooters thin the crop of rats. These are good folks that will treat you as good as you treat them.

 

[Straight Shooter]

We did East of Klamath Falls two weeks ago and it was okay. It is a densly populated area and we did not feel comfortable shooting anything bigger than our 17HMR's. Only found one guy with suitable hunting refused us due to problems with guys being irresponsible and shooting holes into irrigation pipes. The alfalfa was about 2" to 3" tall so all we were able to see is mostly heads and shoulders. Very few standing tall. Might have been because they had been shot at alot. There was still enough to always have 5 at a time in my 20 power scope. This is actually a significant problem for the farmers. Some fields, that had too many houses around them to shoot were chewed down to the dirt. The farmer that let us hunt had nothing green within 100 yards of his house due to what they call "Squeeks". We mentioned sage rats several places like Big R and some gun shops and they paused and looked at us like we were here to hunt the dump for actual rats. Then someone would ask if we meant Squeeks. Call them Squeeks and you will get the red carpet.

This was our first time and must say though we shot piles of squeeks, that it is a very individual sport unlike or regular digger shooting. In a field of green, there are few landmarks to help get your spotter lined up so we finally just had to go lone wolf style and concentrate on spotting / hearing our own hits. It was easy to lose count so our totals were kept approximate by the rounds expended and our hit ratio. Not till you actually took a hike could you actually see the bodies. Then coming from the coast where hawks and buzzards are the benafactors of our shooting we were dissapointed to be swarmed by sea gulls who kept their distance till we mounted up to leave. They had a heck of a feast. They were stringing them up all over mainly pulling at the guts. Someday they should open varmint season on those things. It would be impossible to ever thin those things out.

The weekend we went it was between 85 and 90 degrees. We are just now getting over the sunburns. Next time I intend to bring some shade and field portable shooting benches. Bi Pods were almost useless and being tied to the rig sucked. We ended up using the irrigation lines for our "hides" to get some elevation to shoot off of. Get out from the access roads and it was a very target rich enviroment. High cap mags were the order of the day. My Weatherby XXII 17HMR only holds 4 verses my sons 77/17HMR's 9 shot capacity. I seemed to spend a lot of time loading compared to him.

We seemed to win our battle but we are certainly losing the war here. The farmers honestly need help so bring a friend and go often. We didn't meet any locals actually hunting. Everyone we ran into were tourists like us. The locals seemed to have either given up or lost intererst leaving the farmers about helpless against this almost biblical plague of Squeeks.