Sage Rat Insanity! with a few pics!

204 AR

204 AR

Well-known member
This last week a good friend and I made our second Rat pilgrimage to Burns OR. The first time was 3 years ago so we were due. To anyone who hasn't tried this, go for it and be prepared to shoot! It's hard to describe the experience to anyone who hasn't done it, but on a good field with good weather the shooting is non-stop, as fast as you can load mags and pull the trigger. It's like opening up an ant mound, then trying to kill them all one at a time with a toothpick.

Duanne of SSU set us up with a 2 day hunt. We book 2 days just to hedge our bets afa weather and other variables. Both trips resulted in one so-so day and one amazing day of shooting. Here are some pics I took with my not-so-great camera.

Well photobucket seems to be down so pics will have to wait. Anyway over 2 days we shot 17 hmr's almost exclusively and went thru over 7 bricks of ammo! I was shooting the new A17 from Savage which worked great but I wore out 5 mags. One at a time they just stopped feeding reliably. Joe was using his Alexander Arms 17 which worked great until the firing pin broke, then he finished up with an accurate Ruger bolt gun. By the end of the second day we were actually exhausted and ready to be done, which is saying something as we are both pretty trigger happy.
 
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I managed to get closeups of a couple live ones. I had sat in this spot for over an hour, and fired 150 rounds there. They would just pop up close by and start chirping. The second photo shows my shadow, he was about 6 feet away.





Here's an example of mass carnage, actually these weren't ones we shot but were from previous shooters. They shot a pile of them too and it didn't seem to matter, and if someone went a couple days after us they would have good shooting too!



And an example of the landscape. This field was surrounded by large bluffs, hills, whatever you want to call them, so shooting was possible in every direction. Our preferred method was to just get in the middle of them and stay put for a couple hours. I used a bipod, Joe used a camera tripod tall enough for standing up. He had a definite advantage afa seeing more rats. It seemed the longer you stayed in a spot the better the shooting was. At times they seemed to be all gone, then in an instant they are everywhere again. Especially along the edges of the field they seemed to run out of the sagebrush in waves like some sort of rodent frontal assault.



Here is the quaint little general store in Crane. Neat place with a café, and gas pump. It was a jumping off spot for rat shooters as several trucks with tables pulled in there to meet up and we saw several platforms and trailers go by on the hiway. Must be quite the industry there.



I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to do this again, but if you do I would recommend it. My advice is take two rifles at least in 17 hmr, and a good 22lr or two. I tried the AR for a couple of mags, it just isn't as much fun for me or as practical. The only cf that might make sense is a 17 hornet or something like that. But keeping track of spent brass would be distracting for me when you could be shooting more rats. IDK I will probably have one for the next trip if I go. Or figure out a way to download the 17/223 to low pressure/heat levels so I don't scorch the barrel in a half hour's time. All things considered the hmr is ideal IMO. Small enough ammo that you can carry at least a brick with you, but fast enough to reach them out to a couple hundred yards.
 
It sure sounds like you had yourself a right good time. And rightly so. Had it not been so daggone windy here the last few days I would likely be out getting a few myself. Only a few weeks of really prime shooting left here so want to make the most of it. While I do prefer popping prairie dogs (much larger targets dont you know) that is a much more work and a whole lot more driving (1700 mile round trip compared to 30) to make it worthwhile.

Well, come Monday I bet I will be back out there again. Sounds to me like you will back in Burns again someday too! Cannot blame you there.
 
Go getem Rusty! It's almost 2200 miles for me to get to Burns and 15 or 20 for pdogs lol so I guess its just something different. I would be afraid of being disappointed if the next trip doesn't pan out like this one did. Maybe I could interest the whole family in going next time. Bought a compact Ruger American 17hmr on the way home for the kids, already had it threaded for my suppressor which should be approved within a month or two. Need to get them out in the dog town.
 
Originally Posted By: 204 ARGo getem Rusty! It's almost 2200 miles for me to get to Burns and 15 or 20 for pdogs lol so I guess its just something different. I would be afraid of being disappointed if the next trip doesn't pan out like this one did. Maybe I could interest the whole family in going next time.

Yessir! You got the pasture poodles and I got the whistlepigs. Sure would be nice to have both but eh, having at least one is pretty dang nice, right? Due to the fact that hunting buddy Dave (1up5down here) cannot get off until July this year means that instead of a June prairie dog shoot I plan on taking a nice long motorcycle ride with a stop in Wyoming to shoot a few (with a .22 pistol) on the way home. I hope that pans out. Sounds like fun anyway, huh?
 
It's the same long drive for my son & me but we go every year, we go to Northern Nevada, I my get back up there after the first Hay cutting, I've got fingers crossed.
 
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I am in Emmett which is about 160 miles from Twin. But there are squirrels between Twin Falls and Boise and quite a few between Boise and Oregon too. Alas, the best shooting of the year is likely past already. Not that they are not out there, but by now the grass is really getting high and unless they are on mounds or dirt roads they are getting really hard to see. I had some fun last week shooting at some whistlepigs by a canal with my 10/22 Ruger and managed to tag one at at 181 yards and another at 235 yards with my scope at 5X. Little bit of luck? Well, yeah! But it counts!

Mother's Day tomorrow so taking wifey out to eat but Monday? Fingers crossed for Monday.
 
Great pics! It's been two years since I've been down to Burns/Crane for sage rats. I agree that rimfire is the way to go for the rats. When the CF rifles come out, half or more of the sage rats in the field stay down in their holes because of the sound.

We would go down at the end of March, when there was (usually) still some snow on the ground. Having the targets crawl across the snow makes for easy spotting and fun shooting.
 
Originally Posted By: shankboneGreat pics! It's been two years since I've been down to Burns/Crane for sage rats. I agree that rimfire is the way to go for the rats. When the CF rifles come out, half or more of the sage rats in the field stay down in their holes because of the sound.

Ah! That is why I always go with suppressed guns now. Not only do they stay out longer (like all day) but no fooling with muffs or plugs.
 
Rusty hope to make it to Oregon next year. Headed for Colorado again this year. I just got 2 center fire suppressors this year one for 223 and 204. Do you have trouble with the barrels and suppressors getting hotter than normal. I bought 2 bowers suppressor covers just in case.

thank Howie

shoot a few for me
 
204 AR summed the experience up pretty well. There is no way to describe it fully to someone who hasn't experienced it. This year was exceptional because our early warm weather resulted in early babies but even medium sagerat shooting is pretty amazing. Having 25 in the field of view of your scope doesn't really result in a lot more shooting than having five or ten in the FOV.
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Yeah, the .17HMR is probably the ideal cartridge for this game. It kills a lot more decisively than the .22LR and reaches out further. But, if you want to see some acrobatics, the CF's are still a blast. I like a combination of RF and CF in the early season but CF's aren't at all necessary once the babies are out.

Glad you had a good shoot, AR 204! It can be addicting.
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