Those Ohio whistle-pigs can get good size to them and tough as nails
Those Ohio whistle-pigs can get good size to them and tough as nails
"I am the master of my unspoken words, and a slave to those that should have remained unspoken. ...
"Official 2010 Mini-G & 2011 Summer Postal Shoot Biggest Looser"
These gophers are about 1 1/2"-2" wide and 6"-7" tall. I shoot them from about 50 yards to about 150 yards. The tough part is finding them at the longer ranges due to their size. Wind was tough that evening making the longer shots quite tough. Not impossible, but tough...Sometimes having to hold into the wind by up to two gopher widths.
Prairie dogs are considerably bigger at about 3"-4" wide and 10"-14" tall. We shoot them about 100 yards to 500 yards. They are easier to find but the only trip out a few days after the gopher shoot yielded dismal results. Either the area we were at had the plague go through or lots of oil field workers found our honey hole and shot them out. Good day of prairie dog shooting is 300-400 rounds. These are not the really big towns you read about. Much more of a spot and stalk operation, but the stalk always takes place from inside the truck!
FIST FIRE SUPPORT TEAM.....Eyes bringing STEEL RAIN down on the enemy
Anybody want to shoot prairie dogs?!
I'll never forget shooting one particular gopher, years ago.
I was driving this old logging road in my GMC, looking for gophers. Great spot to find them, as usual. Seems like everyone stalked the same place, year after year, but the gophers were everywhere.
Anyway, I'm idling along in granny-low. About 25 yards up the road, I hear the trademark whistle. Seeing nothing through the ol' Tasco 10x50's, I continue on. I finally reach the same spot the little bastard had been teasing me from. On the side of the hill was the freshly-dug hole, probably 6" in diameter.
I grab the ol' .220 Swift off the seat, and make ready. Mind you, the hole in the hill is only maybe, maybe 10 feet away. It was a dumb thing to do, I guess you could say. 45gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, near max load, which shot very well in my rifle. Yadda yadda...
The fargin' little SOB decides to poke his head out of the hole, and stare at me. "All right, you little F-stick, I got ya now", I think to myself.
I line up on him.
BOOM!
Gopher shit, guts, blood, and fuzz all over the door of the truck, up my face, on my shirt, on the back of the side mirror. Yay Nosler!
"Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."
Ballistic Tips, VMAXs, and BlitzKings are oh so fun!
FIST FIRE SUPPORT TEAM.....Eyes bringing STEEL RAIN down on the enemy
Anybody want to shoot prairie dogs?!
I "had" notice the past tense, an excellent place for shooting prairie dogs. Alas the fellow who allowed me to hunt them sold the place. There's a "No Hunting, No Trespassing" sign on the gate now and the new owner never hesitated when he said NO!
I don't blame him, hell if I'd spent the cash to buy a place the people allowed in would be limited.
Yet it was a LOT of fun. I shot those 'lil rascals with a SKS, 270 Win, 30-06, a 22-250 , 22 LR, but my favorite was my 17 HMR. It has a Sweet 17 BSA scope on it and on a calm day it was easy to smoke dogs out to 300 yds with that 'lil rifle!
Now I drive by the place and the population has increased greatly and I swear just last week when I went by, one of the 'lil beggers was flipping me the bird!
Oh well someday (maybe) I'll find another "town" and be able to get permission to hunt them.
Last edited by tljames; 07-02-2012 at 12:58 AM.
Have you ever heard anyone complain about having ammo left over after a gunfight?"
Hopefully His land gets totally overrun and they strip all the vegetation and His livestock all breaks their legs in the holes.Originally Posted by tljames
I "had" notice the past tense, an excellent place for shooting prairie dogs. Alas the fellow who allowed me to hunt them sold the place. There's a "No Hunting, No Trespassing" sign on the gate now and the new owner never hesitated when he said NO!
I don't blame him, hell if I'd spent the cash to buy a place the people allowed in would be limited.
Yet it was a LOT of fun. I shot those 'lil rascals with a SKS, 270 Win, 30-06, a 22-250 , 22 LR, but my favorite was my 17 HMR. It has a Sweet 17 BSA scope on it and on a calm day it was easy to smoke dogs out to 300 yds with that 'lil rifle!
Now I drive by the place and the population has increased greatly and I swear just last week when I went by, one of the 'lil beggers was flipping me the bird!
Oh well someday (maybe) I'll find another "town" and be able to get permission to hunt them.
"The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of." -- James Madison (1788)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
