Oregon Sagerats 2023 Season

[jxb]

Yeah I wouldn't mind some bluff to bluff shooting, most everything in central Idaho is up/down so there was some of that but even when I was young I wasn't into climbing around steep country for varmints. Mostly we'd sit in the field and shoot the bluffs. There they would only range about 1/2-3/4 up the bluff so there was plenty of backstop above them. I didn't know there were still places with lots of chucks, but I suppose the same could be said for sagerats, there's likely some places around where a person could put out their bench and not move it all week.

 

[dirtclod]

Made a trip Thursday, the males were out on the snow!!!!

 

[ckaberna]

I hate to even ask, but WTH is a sagerat?
If we even have them in ga they go by a different name. Pardon my ignorance.
Edit: those pics look like a small groundhog to me?

 

[B23]

I hate to even ask, but WTH is a sagerat?
If we even have them in ga they go by a different name. Pardon my ignorance.
Edit: those pics look like a small groundhog to me?

Out here in the Western part of the US we call them "sage rats" but their formal name is Belding's Ground Squirrels and I suppose if you wanted to get even more technical their official name is Urocitellus beldingi.

We don't have Groundhogs out west but we have their smaller cousin the Rock Chuck or yellow bellied marmot if you prefer. Sage rats aka Belding's Ground Squirrels are considerably smaller and look nothing alike. Sage rats kind of look like small Prairie Dogs.

 

[jds holler]

They also go by the name squeaks, or singular squeak. jd

 

[ckaberna]

Out here in the Western part of the US we call them "sage rats" but their formal name is Belding's Ground Squirrels and I suppose if you wanted to get even more technical their official name is Urocitellus beldingi.

We don't have Groundhogs out west but we have their smaller cousin the Rock Chuck or yellow bellied marmot if you prefer. Sage rats aka Belding's Ground Squirrels are considerably smaller and look nothing alike. Sage rats kind of look like small Prairie Dogs.

I guess the closest thing we have over here is chipmunks.? Very small ground bound squirrels. Apparently no where near the volume of y’all’s sagerats. Thanks for the info.

 

[dirtclod]

A little bigger than chipmunks.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I hate to even ask, but WTH is a sagerat?
If we even have them in ga they go by a different name. Pardon my ignorance.
Edit: those pics look like a small groundhog to me?

Okay, here's a brief lesson on western varmints:

Young Beldings Ground Squirrels (AKA sage rats or "Skippy") at their burrow:



An Orygun rockchuck surveying his domain in the lava rock (it's all volcanic here):



And proof that with proper motivation, Skippy can indeed fly!



And to show we support aerial flight lessons, a pic of our informal society logo of like-minded raptor feeders:




And the little critters have a cottage industry here just for them:



Okay class, what's our favorite pastime? Not all at once, okay?

 

[ckaberna]

Okay, here's a brief lesson on western varmints:

Young Beldings Ground Squirrels (AKA sage rats or "Skippy") at their burrow:



An Orygun rockchuck surveying his domain in the lava rock (it's all volcanic here):



And proof that with proper motivation, Skippy can indeed fly!



And to show we support aerial flight lessons, a pic of our informal society logo of like-minded raptor feeders:




And the little critters have a cottage industry here just for them:



Okay class, what's our favorite pastime? Not all at once, okay?

In that top pic I would have bet that was a prairie dog?? I need to get out west and spend some time.

 

[jxb]

The adults are about 1/2 the width of your hand and maybe 6" tall. The babies... hold up your thumb, that's their width and not a lot taller.

Chucks fly just fine too, just use something with a bit more punch.

 

[jds holler]

I enjoyed another trip over to my fields this afternoon. Took the 20-222, and tore em up sumpthin turrible. I burned a hundred rounds, and had to control myself to keep the barrel heat down. Next trip, I'll take that rifle AND my 22BR and switch every so often. I didn't hardly do this last year, so Imma make up for it this year. I'm even set pretty good for primers, powder, and bullets.

On top of everything, I'm almost retired, and have time on my hands. jd

 

[jxb]

Congrats on the carnage and having enough critters to need more rifles on hand.

I'm looking forward to retirement, no idea when it will start in earnest but I'm getting ready

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Congrats on the carnage and having enough critters to need more rifles on hand.

I'm looking forward to retirement, no idea when it will start in earnest but I'm getting ready

Retirement: Highly recommended!
About the only downside is the lack of affordable primers, powder and bullets to keep reloading to keep any potential boredom away. It's getting dang right expensive giving our hobby pastime the proper attention it requires. I laid in a quantum supply of components long ago, but no one's stash lasts forever.

So, most of us shoot less, saving the valuable resources for actual time in the field when it really counts. The upcoming sage rat season is a prime example. After a long cold winter, thoughts of sunny days, good friends, accurate rifles with plenty of ammo on the bench is truly anticipated, this upcoming season especially after a brutal spring that masqueraded as winter last spring......like blowing snow, sub-freezing temps that lasted for weeks here last April, driving the little buggers underground.

The rats are starting to emerge, plenty of handloads available, now if Mother Nature is in a good mood this year, we just might get to use our rifles again. Glad to see some of us are getting out early. But if fee shooting would go away, along with killer cabbage, things could/would return to what what was once "normal". I'm really missing "normal".

jxb: Once you are retired, you'll wonder how you ever found time to go to work!

 

[jxb]

@Rick yeah everyone I know that retired was/is far more busy than when working. No idea when I'll actually retire, but I'm nearly 60 and soon I'll at least have options.

 

[centerlineseal]

and the rattlers are plentiful too boot.

Reminds of quite a few years ago. Chuck shootin' with my teenage son in central Idaho and we went out a few hundred yards to view the carnage. After checkin' a few kills, I headed straight back to the rig (still had my muffs on the whole journey). Son took a decidedly circuitous route back. Asked me if I saw or heard those three rattlesnakes I woke up! I don't do that any more!

 

[drover]

I have shot gophers (ground squirrels) for many decades, IMO shooting gophers WAS one of the best kept secrets. I have also shot PD's for almost as long but if I had to choose only one to shoot it would be gophers, they provide a lot more shooting in a day and are smaller and more challenging unlike PD's who often hole up when the shooting starts gophers generally stay up while their buddies are going airborne just a few feet away.
The downside to gopher shooting is that they are not up for very long. In our area it is around the 1st part of April before they are in shootable numbers then by mid-July they are back below ground starting estivation which makes for a short shooting season, at that time I usually go visit relatives in Montana and do some PD shooting.

Another plus for is that gophers also provide a variety of shooting choices, 22 LR for up to 100 yds, 17 HMR for out to 150 yds, and then as far as you feel like shooting with the centerfire varmint calibers.

In my good locations I consider 350 - 400 rounds of shooting a good day, I have had days when I shot a lot more but I enjoyed it less because after around 400 rounds it starts becoming work.

I am fortunate in having access to some ranches that have good populations but there are so many people wanting to shoot them anymore that it is difficult for newcomers to find a place to shoot them.

drover

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Well said there, Drover, very well said in all regards.

 

[Ray123]

Many of our prime sage rat farms/ranches out there have been lost to a variety of reasons, fee shooting being the worst, but the planting of tritical that the rats don't eat, and using the cabbage poison that is so very effective. Sad that so many places are now gone.

BUT, we have a couple of great places to shoot rats out that way, the ranchers even let us bring our travel trailers, hook to power and water too, right on the ranch property. It doesn't get much better than that, but we all know the "good ole days" are now numbered. Glad I'm no younger, started serious rat shooting in 1968, so I've 'had my time'.

Started in 1968 rat shooting....I was living in Bend in the early 1972 & 74... Back then it was wide open, hunting and fishing opertunities everywhere.
It was a small town, not 160,000 plus metro city it is today...Land developers made millions & sold the land off to wealthy California woke people, who once actually had the nerve to trespassed on private land I had permission to shoot sage rats on to and question me if I had permission to hunt there, with all the 2.5 & 5 acre mini ranches being sold by the thousands it finally became unsafe to find a place to shoot, close by. The good old days, will never come back, and I have no desire to live there now...too many people. It's just an enjoyable memory from the past, a snapshot in time, most people will never know. Thanks for refreshing the memories, when Oregon was a great place to live.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Thanks for refreshing the memories, when Oregon was a great place to live.

You're spot-on there, Ray. I arrived here from a logging camp in BC in 1975, and then it was literally perfect here. But as you surmised, it's not the same any more, having been 'Kalifornicated' years ago. Still some great rat shooting to be had, IF you're willing to drive over 100 miles to get at it.

If I wasn't so far into 'geezerhood', I'd be outa here faster than you could say "cat 'n the hat". Now too old with too much crap to think about moving. So I'll continue to enjoy what we've got left with all my rat rifles until I'm pushin' up daisies, when it's all going to be complete 'woke' by then anyway. Libtards: won't join 'em, can't shoot 'em either.

If we only could........



Do I sound like an old-timer longing for the Old Days? I should, 'cause I am.

 

[centerlineseal]

It's just an enjoyable memory from the past, a snapshot in time, most people will never know

Smokejumped outa' Redmond in the early '80s and lived in an old farmhouse on the O'Neill (sp?) Highway along the Crook River. Best chuck huntin' I ever had and once saw two bobcats workin' the rim while we waited for the chucks to come back up. Way more I could flap about, but Yep, ... that's a time long gone!