TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

What a beautiful morning.  The fellow below had just stepped out of his burrow and was looking for the choicest, greenest, leafiest alfalfa to eat when -- he suddenly died. 

I have been hunting chizzlers lots lately.  I went on three different mornings with my son last week and the first of this week.  I went with my pals this morning.  I have fired about 600 rounds of .22L.R. at chizzlers over the last 11 days in four trips. I calculate I have connected with my intended targets about 50 - 60% of the time.  Is this too much of a good thing? 

NO, I don't think so!

I have done my best, to do my duty, to help the farmers in Iron County, Utah.  I have "plooped", flopped, and bounced vermin all over the fields.  The little critters seem to just keep coming.  The crows and the raptors {nature's undertakers} are getting so fat they just waddle around the fields.  I doubt they can even fly with their heavy load of chizzler meat built up in their "pot-guts".  I have taken chizzlers at ranges of from 20 yards to 142 yards.  I have taken them with no wind and with wind gusts in the 20 MPH range.  I have taken them in a hurry to beat my pal Bounty Hunter 6, and I have taken them slowly when they are just giving me a head shot target.  I have taken no prisoners.

The majority of the varmints taken in the last two trips were about 85% males.  I think the females are down their burrows and are having the next wave of baby varmints.  I will have to sharpen my skills for the tiny varmints.  Even though, the tiny varmints are rather dumb they present a really small target to hit.  Smaller than a golf ball.

Am I having too much fun?  NO, I don't think so.

MACK vs. Chizzlers . . . MACK wins!

Wednesday morning 3-19-2014 Mack, his dad (my son), and I went to hunt some chizzlers in Iron County.  We left home base rather early but arrived just in time for the little rascals to start coming out of their dens looking for food and companionship.

 Mack takes a big one.

It was cold and windy.  Mack had not come prepared with a coat so I loaned him a down vest and hat that were behind the seat of the truck.  He and I set up a card table in the back of the truck at around 9:15 a.m.  We started seeing chizzlers right away.  We set up the smallest repeater .22 L.R. I had on a bipod and a sand bag for a rear rest.  Mack took careful aim and fired at many chizzlers.  He finally got the "hold your breath, squeeze the trigger, and follow through" fundamentals down and started to connect with the vermin.  Mack is only 6 years old and has hunted very little in his life.  He is a natural though.  He can hunt chizzlers with the best of them.

Mack's dad brought a bolt action heavy barreled .17 HMR rifle with a 4-12X scope and commenced to do major damage on the chizzler population out to 150+ yards from our shooting station.  The telltale "ploop" of a chizzler exploding was heard every half minute or so.  The slowest part of the carnage was the reloading of magazines.

Mack at one period was so cold he was shivering.  He couldn't hold the rifle still so I took over and he got into the cab of the truck to warm up.  I shot 10 - 12 chizzlers with Mack's small rifle and had a good time.  He then told me to come sit in the cab of the truck and let him shoot out the window opening.  Of course I obliged and we sat in the truck for another hour and harvested a couple dozen more varmints.  All the while we were shooting from inside the cab of the truck we listened to Mack's dad making the "ploop" rhythm from the squirrel-o-matic in the back of the truck again and again.

A farmer near where we were hunting came by to thank us for helping lower the number of profit eaters.  The farmer said this time of year each big chizzler you take out is 10 - 12 little ones that won't be born and eat even more alfalfa later.  We were helping agriculture and having fun at the same time!

Mack's dad had a meeting to go to so we cut it short and headed home at 11:30 a.m.  It was a short but good hunt.  Mack is a great hunting pal as is his father. 

We stacked up a few of Mack's varmints.

Mack had to bring back a dead chizzler to show his mom and grandma.  We let him bring one in the back of the truck.  He was so proud to carry it around the yard and tried to bring it in the house to show everyone.  Everyone has a different definition of what a "trophy" is, Mack had his on Wed. morning.  For a six year old kid with a borrowed rifle in the wind and the cold truly his chizzlers were all trophies.

VENGEANCE OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER .. or .. Spring Break boredom

 On target, hold breath, squeeze the trigger, . . . pop goes the chizzler

Spring break has been upon us in Southern Utah.  The Supreme Commander slept in multiple days.  She and I went to Las Vegas shopping.  She worked in her garden.  All is well except she was bored on Friday morning, 3-14-'14.  At noon I suggested we go hunt some chizzlers in Iron County.  She was so bored she agreed to go!  I was so surprised and happy at the same time.

We arrived at a nice location, set up the squirrel-o-matic and I gave her the basic instructions on how to load and fire a .22LR rifle.  She had some trouble finding the little vermin in the scope for the first 45 minutes or so; then all heck broke loose.  She was doing head shots and jumping them up in the air and even giggled once or twice I think.

I was shooting a .22LR also and we were doing our duty to help the farmers preserve their alfalfa profits.  All in all I think we did rather well.  We shot for about 4 hours and then took the drive home.  On the way home I heard the words that every husband longs for, "I really had fun, I think I could get into this".

Who knows maybe in two more years she will have spring break and we can go hunting again.  I love this girl.

Take no prisoners!

CHIZZLER SEASON IS OPEN ... maybe?

 A serious moment

Thursday 3-6-2014 Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to Iron County and surveyed the prospects of chizzler hunting.  It is early in the year.  Usually we don't get into the chizzler hunting until mid-April.

We saw some varmints and did our duty; in early March, mind you.

Just a little longer in the year

It was a cool day with significant wind.  We took out a dozen or so chizzlers who were looking for food and companionship.  Things kind of slowed down and Bounty Hunter 6 said, "Let's go, it's too early in the year still"  I replied, "Just wait awhile, the little varmints are hungry and horny and will be out yet this morning."  Sure enough within15 minutes or so we started to see the rascals come out of their burrows and start toward the alfalfa fields.  We started to shoot at a consistent and reasonably rapid rate.  Bounty Hunter 6 could just keep up with his magazine loading at his rate of firing.   He actually did really well.  I could hear the tell tale "ploop" of various vermin getting hit by a .17HMR round very regularly.  I also could hear the sly snickers of a man that really enjoys his work in preserving the profits of agriculturalists.  Overall I estimate he connected about 75% of the time he fired.

I was shooting a .22LR cartridge and with the wind as it was I had to use more than Kentucky windage.  I was using Louisiana--Texas windage.  At a lazer ranged 106 yards I was holding off about 4 chizzler body thicknesses.  I did connect with many varmints and feel like I did a good job.  I averaged at least 50-60% connection with my rounds fired.

We had great conversations on the travel to and from the hunting area.  We had a fun lunch at Karl's Jr. The fact was proven again:

ANY DAY HUNTING IS BETTER THAN A DAY WORKING!

Although, I did some get real work done when I got back to my office in the early afternoon and evening.  The farmers are happy, the IRS is happy, and I am happy.  The only one not enthralled was the chizzler population.

More to come ...............

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