Good Day of Chuck Shooting

[JDHasty]

Left Tacoma @ 05:00 and got home @ 9:30

Windy as hell this morning and far less targets than we saw a couple weeks ago on a scouting expedition, but it was cold this morning too.

A few observations:

- Shot the 17 Hornet at chucks from 175-195 yards for the first time... with devastating effectiveness.
- The wind was not a fatal flaw with this round.  In fact it had a negligible effect.
- The 17 Hornet is a sure fire killer at these ranges on big tough old chucks and has almost zero recoil.
- Take the bigger binocular you had in your hand first this morning, dummy.  A six power bin is not going to work well at all.  Take a 10 or a 15.
- No possibility to call misses, the binocular we had was too small and the bullet splash non-existent anyway. 

We got north of 50 this morning with the 17 at range and 22LR at close ranges. 

Then we reconnoitered some intelligence and saw a mother load of chucks in a pasture and contacted the land owner by name after checking the GPS w/the GPS Hunting Maps card in it (I hope I got the name right on the card).  Having a name does help.

Got access with the exclamation:  You want to shoot the chucks for free!!

- OK, the 17 Hornet is good to 225 and beyond and results in clean kills while not having to hold off hair... much anyway.
- This place is crawling w/chucks and some real trophy size ones
- Then comes trouble.  Hey who gave you access?  I have cattle in the next pasture!   We like the chucks shot, but with a shotgun and bird shot.
- OK, if you are not comfortable with us shooting here we will pack up.
- Landowner:  The guy is an ass.  Shoot all you want.  His cattle are way to the west of where you were shooting. 
- Nope, we will come back later, but if our shooting makes anyone uncomfortable it is better we leave for now and then when we come back we will shoot the north side of your property and stay well away from his property.
- Property owner: OK, but he does not get to tell us who, what, when and why we grant access.  How many did you get?  About 20.  Great!

So on to another property and it has warmed up and the wind is nil and we get another 20 or so w/the 22 Hornet this time.  Then another ten w/22LR on the hike out.  And it's starting to rain HARD.

Pretty darn good day!

   
       

[huntandjeep]

Sounds like a blast. Don't want your honey hole but what's the closet town to your hunting area. Never seen a Chuck but always wanted to shoot some , just don't know where to go.

[JDHasty]

Sounds like a blast. Don't want your honey hole but what's the closet town to your hunting area. Never seen a Chuck but always wanted to shoot some , just don't know where to go.

I keep my RV in eBurg and shoot chucks as far north as the Canadian border, as far south as the Oregon border and as far east as Walla Walla.   If I see an alfalfa grower in Fred Meyer I will talk to them.  You just have to get out and look for them.  We were around the Tri-cities on Saturday.

[rieses]

nice work!!
what exactly are rock chucks?
are they the same as the brown ground squirrels?
got pics?
im always on the lookout for some furry pests to get the boys onto so they an develop quick target acquisition.

[JDHasty]

This is a big fat one

[rieses]

ok now ive got it.
so you find those in farm fields? or pasture?

[JDHasty]

Left Tacoma at 05:30 and got to the happy hunting grounds referenced in my last post on this subject ~09:30.  Since my last visit I have been in contact w/the Sheriff and he has provided us with an email telling us the quarrelsome neighboring property owner does not have any legal issues w/our hosts, who have every right to have us on her property shooting and we have a right to shoot responsibly there.  Even so, we stayed well to the north of the property he lives south of. 

Late start, but we bagged ~ 30 w/17 Hornet and 22LR.  Then we went to another property and got another ten or so.  If we had been there @ sunup our bag would have doubled. 

So we headed toward home, but stopped to buy cherries and the orchard owner chatted us up and found out we come all the way from Tacoma to kill varmints. 

Offer to go shoot grey diggers and chucks in his orchards came in and he dispatched his kid to drive us around and show us the lay of the land.  Although it was late in the day we got into the diggers and knocked off ~ a dozen.  This so thoroughly impressed the orchardist that we exchanged phone numbers and left with five lbs gratis of Bing cherries and a standing invite to  return whenever we please.

And this orchard is coyote/bobcat central and he wants them liquidated too.

Got home ~ 9:00 PM and even more impressed w/the 17 Hornet as a 250 yard point blank hold it on the fur chuck death machine.   We are going to order three new CZ 527's in 17 Hornet for next year.  Two Americans and a Varmint model. 

By the time the season rolls around next year the Contender will be in my daughter's possession, which is what I put it together for anyway.

Our second stop this morning is a liquidation effort, the owner wants them "shot out" and the property owner calls the shots.  It has provided us with a lot of enjoyment the last couple of years, but it is going to be a while before it recovers.  That is not my M.O. but it is what the land owner wanted.  Normally I would never shoot a colony out to the degree we have this one.

Between our two earlier shoots this morning we did reconnoiter some intelligence and are working on access to a fresh colony that will keep us busy next spring. 

I have still not visited another locale I shoot every year, but will in two or three weeks.  That colony hasn't been shot since this time last year and it is overrun according to the alfalfa grower that farms it.  That is going to be a couple days of good shooting because my efforts in securing another property earlier this year that is right on the way there.           

[JDHasty]

ok now ive got it.
so you find those in farm fields? or pasture?

Yes.  And orchards are good too, but access can be difficult unless you have references.  Put the miles on and keep your eyes on the road while the passenger does the looking.  Have the best game spotter doing the looking.   

[idaho guy]

 :tup:so much fun we have been hammering the ground squirrels I still call them gophers I think you're from Montana and would do the same! No chucks up here at least that I know about

[b23]

Just ordered a CZ 527 Varmint in 17 Hornet.  Hope to have it in my hands this week.  They sound like a fun little gun and should be pretty quiet running them suppressed.  I think I'm going to have the barrel cut back to 22in. when I have it threaded though. 

These little 17 Hornets should be a hoot to use on small critters, kinda like a 17 HMR on steroids.  Unlike my 17 HMR and 17 WSM, I'll have to get used to saving brass with the 17 Hornet.  The thought of getting nearly 700 rounds from 1lb of powder in these things will sure make a lb. of powder last a long time.

[dscubame]

What did those chucks ever do to you?  I don't imagine you eat them.

[JDHasty]

What did those chucks ever do to you?  I don't imagine you eat them.

They do a terrific amount of crop damage and if not shot the farmers will poison every last one out.  If I find out about them and keep them shot down to a tolerable level it isn't worth the expense in money and time to poison them out.  I don't eat them, bit some people do.   

[jay.sharkbait]

What did those chucks ever do to you?  I don't imagine you eat them.

Killing them is fun

[b23]

I don't eat sage rats and I've never had one attack me but I've shot thousands of them and look forward to shooting many thousand more.

To put numbers on the damage some of these critters do, the average sage rat will eat nearly 15 lbs of Alfalfa before the first cutting and an average hay bale weighs around 85lbs.  When you consider an average circle can easily have hundreds and hundreds of sage rats in it, doesn't take long before they start having a significant affect and that's not even taking into account the damage they do from all their mounds.

[JDHasty]

I don't eat sage rats and I've never had one attack me but I've shot thousands of them and look forward to shooting many thousand more.

To put numbers on the damage some of these critters do, the average sage rat will eat nearly 15 lbs of Alfalfa before the first cutting and an average hay bale weighs around 85lbs.  When you consider an average circle can easily have hundreds and hundreds of sage rats in it, doesn't take long before they start having a significant affect and that's not even taking into account the damage they do from all their mounds.

The damage is not necessarily from the amount they consume, it is that they nip the alfalfa off when it just comes up and although they consume quite a bit, it is what clipping it off as soon as it emerges so that it cannot grow that really causes the loss.