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With no chance for success, you would not hunt. Without the prospect of failure hunting would have no merit. I don't hunt to kill, I kill because I hunt. Remember a moderate hit is lots more effective than a high powered miss. Best of luck.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Chizzlers round 2


Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to hunt varmints again and this time we were prepared for the vermin. BH6 took his customized and super accurate heavy barrel 10-22 in .22LR and his Ruger KM77-17R in .17 HMR. I took my good old Marlin 781 in .22LR {about 30 years old} and my heavy barrel Howa .22-250. We were in the center of an alfalfa field with about a 30º field of view north and east from the center pivot for shooting. There were two other hunters in the same field parked about 35 yards to the south from us shooting in another 90º arch south and west in orientation. We arrived in the alfalfa field around 10 a.m. and proceeded to render harmless chizzlers for about 3 1/2 hours. We shot until our fingers were sore from reloading. We shot as fast as we could go trying to make every shot count. We used the .22LR's for the closer shots at around 20 - 70 yards and the longer distance rifles for shots beyond 70 yards. BH6 went through about 250 rounds of .17HMR ammo. and 200 rounds of .22LR. I used 60 rounds of .22-250 and around 200 rounds of .22LR ammo. All in all we connected with about 75% of our shots. The wind finally came up and started blowing around the .22LR and .17HMR bullets around so we decided to quit. {A guy can only dish out so much carnage in one day anyway.} I really enjoy hearing the maniacal laugh of BH6 through my ear plugs and ear muffs when he connects at great distance with his little .17HMR. We didn't stop for a snack or lunch, we just kept after our duty.

I already want to go back and do it all over again. I am sure there were plenty of chizzlers left for "seed". I have attached a photo of one burrows mound from my Marlin .22LR. The .17HMR and the .22-250 leave little to photograph. The crows and ravens were glad we had come to hunt varmints. They were circling the field as we drove out - Nature's Undertakers.

Friday, March 11, 2011

CHIZZLERS 2011


THURSDAY 3-10-2011 I wandered up to Beryl to see if the chizzlers were out of the snow yet. It was a reasonable day weather wise, about 60º in the afternoon and no wind. Bounty Hunter 6 was driving and we saw one or two of the little vermin on the side of the road while driving past Enterprise.

Bounty Hunter 6 was really disenchanted because he had only brought a .22 rifle in the back of his truck and no squirrel-o-matic. I had brought my heavy barrel .223 with 100 rounds of ammo. and a .22 pistol for the "sappers" that might try to get under the truck as we surveyed the fields. After visiting our pals, the squirrel farmers, we set up on a road leading through a hay field that hadn't showed green or started to grow this early in the year. There were chizzlers everywhere. I even got some with my .22 pistol. I fired about 50 rounds of .223 ammo. at chizzlers at 125 - 250 yards and connected about 75% if the time. Bounty Hunter 6 fired about 200 rounds of .22 ammo. at chizzlers between 10 and 125 yards and connected about the same percentage. In two hours of shooting and loading and shooting as fast as we could we did our best to clear the field of varmints. I don't think we impacted the quantity of chizzlers much. The ravens, crows and a few eagles were glad for the buffet we served though. The wind finally came up and Bounty Hunter 6's thumbs were sore from loading his 10-22 magazines so we came home. On the way home we were already making plans to come back next week to hunt.

I haven't hunted anything except paper targets, 2 liter soda bottles with water in them, and clay pigeons all winter and am so glad to have the varmints out. One farmer we talked to had just been spraying weeds in his fields and he commented he wished there were a "chizzler spray", I am so glad there isn't and I can do my best to do my duty to preserve agriculture with a firearm. Ya-Hoo!! for varmint hunting.