Hunt Report -- Sage rat guns 'n bullets

[earlmck]

Today was the big sage rat shoot I mentioned in a post of a few days ago. I had got a bit carried away and constructed a two-man shooting bench in the back of the pickup so we could shoot and visit and shoot and drink beer and eat peanuts and shoot and... You get the picture.
Most of the Hornet loads and all the K Hornet loads were the 56 grain Lee cast of Linotype, lubed with alox and then lightly coated with diluted liquid alox. 10.5 grains of WW680, CCI small rifle primer. I had about 50 rounds left over loaded with .225462 round nosed bullet and 11 grains of the WW680. These were noticeably not as destructive of the rats as were the flat-nosed Lees.

A view of the field from behind the Hornet

ViewSageRatHeaven.jpg

Butch takes a pause in the action -- he was shooting a Savage 17 HMR

ButchRelaxes20690.jpg

If you don't deliver instant death they'll make it into their hole

RatAtHole20688.jpg

The sign of a successful rat hunt -- out of ammo

KhornetOutOfAmmo20689.jpg

[gamekeeper]

Great report and pictures...

[M. M. Wright]

Thanks for the report Earl. I'm glad you got to get out and shoot something. I haven't been to the panhandle in several years where we used to shoot prairie dogs. I miss that.

[marlinman93]

Sounds like a perfect day Earl!

[Bill in Oregon]

Nice, Earl. Say hi to Butch for me.

[hayabusa]

Earl, I really look forward to your posts.
If they make it back to their holes and die, what happens to the others in the hole? Do they move next door or do meat eaters get their scent and show up for supper, or?
I have not had the pleasure of the dog shooting and I would like to know.
Thanks

hayabusa

[Chuck 100 yd]

The shooting can be fast and furious. I have had to stop shooting to let the barrel cool down many times for fear of damaging it. It's best to have at least two guns so one can cool down. My .22-250
With 40 gr. bullets loaded to 4K + fps really vaporizes those little varmints.

Graydiggers are canablistic and when you get a bunch of dead ones they attract more.

[Nath]

Good for you Earl.
Like your style.

N.

[ollogger]

Interesting style you have Earl, developed over years of experience I recon!
had a lot of them around me, I sometimes used my propane tank for a rest to shoot from
then bout 7 years ago there was the plague that came & killed every last one of them they haven't
come back yet & I kind of miss them!



Brad

[earlmck]

If they make it back to their holes and die, what happens to the others in the hole? Do they move next door or do meat eaters get their scent and show up for supper, or?
hayabusa

Like Chuck 100 yd says, these little buggers are cannibalistic, so I'd guess if one makes it down the hole his family members eat the carcass. Lots of shots come when you shoot one and a couple others pop up and start munching on the deceased.

And even with hot and heavy shooting, the nice thing about twelve pounds of single-shot hornet is it doesn't get ever get hot enough to need a cool-down period. Especially yesterday with a 40 knot zephyr keeping the 'skeeters down. 65 degrees and us boys felt good in our jackets the whole day. Made the shooting quite a lot more challenging, too.

[hayabusa]

Thanks Earl and Chuck 100 yd.

busa