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CHIZLERAMOS MAXIMUS HUMORI = target |
Fellow chizzler hunters, you guys all know -- Some times you go to reap chizzlers in Iron County, Utah and the weather or the chizzlers
or both don't participate. You go with good intentions to do a favor for the agriculturalists in the area and rid them of some hundreds of vermin via a rim fire rifle. You really try but to no avail. You hunt and glass and move around to various possible reaping locations and the chizzlers just are NOT there.
I went on such a hunt on Monday 4-17-2017. I took my son, an accomplished chizzler hunter, and a good friend from elk camp, Big C. Big C had never hunted chizzlers before. He was going to have some fun. We went up to the fields and moved around some and ended up shooting maybe 100-150 chizzlers in eventually 15 - 25 mile an hour wind gusts. We did get a few profit robbers moved on to the
alfalfa field in the sky but not as many as I had hoped. Big C said he had a great time and was all grinny about getting some little rascals with his .17HMR. My son did well and took out his share of chizzlers also with a .17HMR. I used my good ol' .22LR and did my best. All in all it was a great trip to travel to and from hunting with the guys and then take out some pesty varmints. It is male bonding time to the max = guys, trucks, guns, and dead animals.
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Big C bearing down on an unlucky chizzler |
I was back to work for a few days and licking my wounds when a great pal, L J called and told me we
had to go hunt again on Thursday. I said sure, what could I loose? L J picked me up and we had a good trip with no mule deer encounters along the way. There were 3 or 4 groups of deer out on the edge of the highway. These renegade mule deer were looking for a truck to run into while we made our way up Utah highway 18. L J, a great driver, managed to "dodge" them in his Nissan double cab P/U. Prior to departure I had checked the weather on my "smart" phone and it was predicted to be windy and 60% + chance of rain. We went hunting anyway, we were trying to get
lucky.
We arrived at the pre-determined location and the chizzlers were not abundant. We moved to an alternate location and amazingly proceeded to mow the critters down. L J was shooting a bolt action Ruger American .22LR and had some 25 round magazines pre-loaded. He shot up all his pre-loaded magazines and commented, "The 25 rounders are nice except for when you have to reload them". I was doing my best to keep up. We both went through significant amounts of ammunition. We also retired maybe 300+ chizzlers in just 2 hours. It was 65ยบ F outside and there was no wind. The sky was clear and absolutely no rain fell. So much for "smart" phone weather forecasts.
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L J plows one under |
We shot well. I personally shot around with a +/- 75% hit ratio. L J smacked them lots and the pop up in the air of the baby vermin and the break-dance of death were causes of demonical snickers. You fellow chizzler hunters know the sound of a .22LR hollow point hitting the big fat side walls of a over fed old herd bull chizzler. It is a pop that the farmers appreciate and you enjoy. We came home with no wind in our hair, and no rain on our equipment. It was a real good day.
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ready to start reaping . . . |
See how the little profit eaters had taken down the alfalfa in the field just behind my set up? It is financially hurtful for the farmers. I want to help.