First Oregon Sagerats 2022 Season

[S&G Custom]

Today we made our first trip east and killed over 200 ground squirrels today. Not a ton of sagerats out yet but still a fun day with my custom CZ 457 Lilja barrel and MPA chassis in 17 HMR. We feed a lot of eagles !

 

[tac284]

Very nice! Down south, Burns area?

 

[S&G Custom]

Very nice! Down south, Burns area?

East of Klamath Falls

 

[tac284]

Looks like you had some nice weather! Way to earlier up here in Northeast Oregon to be doing that kind of shooting.

 

[Tommie]

Judging from the photos I’m guessing the plague is not a concern in that area.

 

[S&G Custom]

Judging from the photos I’m guessing the plague is not a concern in that area.

No worse than Covid lol no plague in the area.

 

[jds holler]

The worst plague for us Klamathites is the Kali transplants building houses on all the spots where we used to shoot squirrels.

Forgive me Lord, I don't mean to offend anyone who might be sensitive about plagues, California, trans-anything, house building, spots of any kind, or squirrel killing. jd

 

[old_heli_logger]

It is time for a roadtrip!!!! Love it!

 

[drover]

I am envious, it will be at least a month to 6 weeks before they start popping up here in central Idaho.

drover

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Wow, this is about the earliest ever for the rats. It usually comes on about the end of February or early March. You guys are fortunate to be able to get out this early in the season.

 

[S&G Custom]

Wow, this is about the earliest ever for the rats. It usually comes on about the end of February or early March. You guys are fortunate to be able to get out this early in the season.

I was real slow and mostly big males up , it was 66 degrees yesterday and they haven’t had rain in a couple of weeks.The farmers are working the fields hard right now , id bet they are a month early on working the ground. I’m thinking about heading back over in the morning and shooting the weekend.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I’m thinking about heading back over in the morning and shooting the weekend.

Well, if you are able to get out this weekend, considering how the WX forecast is at present, you should have most excellent rat shooting. Be sure to post some pics.....we all seem to be 'visually oriented'.

My crew and I have a week-long trip planned for April, our usual time. If I wasn't recovering from hip replacement surgery right now, I'd sure consider getting out for a couple of days too right now. We want you to go so we can live vicariously through your post!

 

[B23]

Rick, did y'all get much snow in the central parts of Oregon this year or is it yet to come in the next 30 days?

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Rick, did y'all get much snow in the central parts of Oregon this year or is it yet to come in the next 30 days?

B23, it's been what we're calling the 'winter that wasn't'. Only one snowfall so far, about two inches in December. Been unseasonably warm ever since, low snowpack too in the Cascades. We very well could be smacked with two FEET anytime though. We may pay dearly for this warm 'winter' later.

The squirrels are up in some parts already as S&G Custom has found, the rock chucks may be soon behind them. With not much precip, they may be foraging more for food it they come up early.

 

[Varmint Shooter]

I started p-dog season this morning here in southwest Colorado.

 

[B23]

I started p-dog season this morning here in southwest Colorado.

I'm jealous of you guys that live in PD areas because unlike sage rats, which spend more time underground than above, PD's never really hibernate.

 

[S&G Custom]

I'm jealous of you guys that live in PD areas because unlike sage rats, which spend more time underground than above, PD's never really hibernate.

Yah in our part of Oregon our rats come in mid January depending on snow cover and go to bed around 4th of July unfortunatel.

 

[S&G Custom]

Today we shot around 500 sagerats and one big ass chuck. I made a 247 yard shot with my Vudoo 22lr dial 27.5 MOA and dropped it in on him , it was a blast using the laser and dialing. I shot the chuck with my custom CZ 455 17HM2 at 123 yards.

 

[Kittitas George]

Waiting for a call from the Herter's Lake area, hopefully heading that way soon. I'll be using my 17 Herter's Ram Magnum (HMR), a 17 Herter's Hornet and a 204 Herter's. It does seem early, in 2020 we were in Nevada the second week of March. The sage rats were out but the area was being poisoned, too far to travel for the amount of shooting.

 

[S&G Custom]

Waiting for a call from the Herter's Lake area, hopefully heading that way soon. I'll be using my 17 Herter's Ram Magnum (HMR), a 17 Herter's Hornet and a 204 Herter's. It does seem early, in 2020 we were in Nevada the second week of March. The sage rats were out but the area was being poisoned, too far to travel for the amount of shooting.

Heading back over for a two day shoot Thursday morning , the weathers going to be cooler so I’m sure its going to be slower shooting. I’ll post more pictures Friday night when I return and give a update.