I HAVE THE ITCH! I HAVE THE FEVER! I WANT TO GO HUNTING. . . something

Hi Friends, I have the bug bad.  I am trying to treating my situation with different remedies -- I am loading some varmint ammo.  I am target shooting. Still I have the itch or fever or great desire to go hunting.  I posted on instagram the below information:

This time of year the whole country is in celebration of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holidays.  I know I should have the spirit of the season but all I want to do is go hunting.  I would love it if some chizzlers would come up from their deep burrows to check out the frozen ground, have some chizzler eggnog and gnaw on frozen alfalfa stubs.  I would be delighted if the State of Utah would decided to introduce a late season elk hunt for guys who live in Santa Clara.

I am planning to go after some coyotes soon.  I think I can find some out in the desert that are rather hungry.  I hope to call them in with a predator call.  I am not the type guy who calls hungry varmints well. We will see what happens? 

At least I will be "hunting" so I can shake off the withdrawals.  I had a great fall hunting with family and friends out in beautiful nature.  I didn't harvest hardly anything but still --
                                           I had a super great time!

BURRIS SCOPES are great

I need to tell the story about my 4.5-14X 42mm Burris Fullfield II scope.  I have used it for a few years and I have taken a lot of game with it.  It is easy to use and is always right on target for me when I shoot.  I have to do my part shooting -- like holding still and squeezing the trigger -- but as for the Burris it is way more consistent than I am.  I took this scope to Namibia, Africa once and took several animals with it, like oryx, hartebeest, blue wildebeest, zebra, and warthog .  I have taken deer, bear, elk, and pronghorn in the USA with it.  I have used it to shoot at longer distances thanks to its "ballistic plex" reticle with good success.

An issue came up.  I am getting older and my eyes are gradually dimming.  I was shooting targets the other day and I noticed my scope was not as clear as it used to be.  I inspected the lens and it was clean.  I looked backwards through the lens from the objective end and noticed some dust had gathered on the lens interior.  I think some small particles from manufacturing had come loose or something.

I boxed it up and sent it to Burris with a request to clean it up inside and ship it back to me.  I know they have a LIFE TIME warranty.  The scope left my post office on a Monday and I received an e-mail that the folks at Burris had the scope and were working on resolving the issue my scope had on Thursday.  10 days later a UPS package arrived at my house from Burris in Greeley, Colorado.  It was a brand new scope of the exact model I had sent in.  WOW was I surprised.  I thought they could repair my scope but Burris choose to send me a new one.

THANKS TO BURRIS !

Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14X 42 mm

 ballistic plex reticle

Spike Elk hunting in the Book Cliffs area of Utah

The reason it is called hunting, is because it is "HUNTING," not just harvesting.  I understand this and accept the possibility of not taking any game on a particular hunt.  I am OK with not always getting meat for the freezer.  It kind of ticks me off but it is also what makes the chase so rewarding.


YES -- you guessed it -- We didn't get an elk on the spike hunt.  It is OK, I kind of like mac and cheese anyway.  No backstrap steaks or tacos made with elk burger for me 'til next year.  I admit it -- I was not so lucky in the downing game this year.  We hunted for about 5 days and ended up with only taking one very long shot at a spike.  I wasn't the shooter and the results were no animals were injured in this hunt.  On the plus side --

I had a great time hunting with my sons and all of my grandsons.  My youngest grandson is only 6 years old (soon to be 7) and I think he had more fun than most of us.  He ate chocolate twinkies and filled cupcakes (halloween treats) for several days and was permanently grinning with chocolate around his mouth.  What a cute boy -- no front upper teeth, chocolate in the corners of his mouth, and a black hole smile dressed in blaze orange.  We were 6 guys walking in the junipers and pinion forests trying to be quiet and listen for and look for elk.  We knew if we could just see a herd of them there would be a spike in there for us to harvest.  {Really, how quiet do you think we were?  No so quiet I am sure.}

On opening morning around 10:30 a.m. we were more or less lost in the forest.  Out of the still morning came a big time bull bugle.  It rattled the trees around us.  The area ruler was calling for his harem to come gather around.  The call to group up came from just 80 yards or so ahead of us in the thick forest however we could not see the bulging bull nor his girls but we could hear the bugle as if it were in our back pockets. WOW!  we quickly made our way to a ridge where we could see more country.  We looked and saw the Duke of Pinion, ruler of the area bugling again and again.  He was an extra big old guy.  A 6 points on one side and 7 on the other a back scratching antler toting Master of the Forest.  I was so glad the younger boys could see him in action.  I was so glad they could hear his calls.  To see big bulls on video is one thing but to be actually in the forest and within reasonable distance it is totally something else.  You would have had to be there to appreciate the moment.

We shifted over the top of the ridge just a few yards and my son laid down with his rifle resting on its bipod.  We were looking through our binos at a spike elk in the herd of cows obeying their Master's command to herd up.  My son was steady and asked me to range the spike for him.  I pressed the Leupold button and said it was 455 yards.  He took careful aim and sent the shot off.  Just as he pressed the trigger the spike elk moved to the south.  With the flight time of the bullet and the quick movement of the spike elk the bullet impacted just behind the elk.  Elevation was perfect but the bullet hit the dirt behind the elk.  A clean miss, much better than a gut shot.  At the shot the entire group of elk took off into the more dense parts of the forest.  We would see partial light brown elk patches of hide moving through the trees but never a whole elk and no way to identify which is a cow and which is the spike.  The elk quickly left the area and moved over the ridge to their south.  They were gone.

As I have said before -- CRAP-O-RAMA !  We had a chance and we were not lucky enough.  We continued to hunt for a few more days and saw 4 or 5 other herds of elk.  We even saw one really big bull kind of down in a deep drainage.  I guess this big bull might have scored around 380" or so.  He was a big one.  Now I am hoping for my son or I to get another any bull tag for this trophy area  and find him again.  I like the big old boys.  Just seeing him was thrilling.

All in all, we had about 2,000 pounds of fun.  We were together and it was great family time.  I love my sons and I love my grandsons and we were all together in nature.  It just doesn't get any better.  Glad I went.  Glad my boys could take some time off work and go.  Glad my grandsons could "accidentally" miss a little bit of school and come along.  Maybe next year the females in the clan can come too?  God has been good to me.  I thank Him.

ANTELOPE IN WYOMING. . . . OH -- O.K. ! ! !

We, my son Dax and I, have been putting in for antelope (pronghorn) tags in Wyoming for some time now -- like 4 years.  Finally, one of us drew a tag.  Ya--hoo ! ! !  I don't care if I have the tag just as long as I can go on the hunt.  I totally love being with family and friends exploring nature and looking for some game.  I have pretty good binoculars and really enjoy the effort of looking for animals out on the prairie.

My son drew a tag in an area of Sublet County near La Barge, Wyoming.  It is a grand place to look for pronghorns.  There are lots of animals and few tags issued.  Overall we hunted for sometime and never saw another hunter in all our time and miles traveling around the area.  The oil field guys had made numerous roads through the area for their work and access for us is rather easy.  I drive a white Chevy pickup just like a multitude of oil field workers so the antelope were unaware we were hunting them by our vehicle.

The first day we arrived around 3 p.m.  We set up camp and proceeded to drive around the area to remember the roads from last time we were there and look for possible targets.  Crap-O-Rama we saw so many buck antelope I started making a tally sheet.  I marked for 23 buck antelope on the first afternoon driving around.  We had binoculars and a spotting scope to look for that special one. We saw about 3 of the 23 bucks that I thought were potential shooters.  Dax said "it is only the first afternoon, I am going to be picky and find just the right one."  I agreed.  There were no other hunters chasing the bucks around.  I assumed the boys would stay somewhere near where we saw them for the next while.

We saw a large harem of does in a ravine to the south of our look-out point.  The entire sisterhood was controlled by a single big old pronghorn buck.  He had an interesting horn on the right side.  He was reasonably long, maybe 14" over all but the diggers were exceptional.  I think he would have scored high because of the mass on the prongs.  The right horn digger protruded out to the right at about a 75º angle and not straight forward. {Maybe he was a Republican?}  Where he had the right turned digger and was herding around a mass of 20 plus does we named him Donald.  We watched and the animals and they were not really heading anywhere in haste.  Finally, Dax decided to look at Donald through the 3-9X 50mm scope on his rifle.  He laid down, set up the bi-pod legs and took a steady hold.  He watched for a long time.  I watched through my spotting scope placed in a window mount.  Donald was trying to keep his harem in line and didn't worry about the white truck 400 yards away at all.

I offered Dax my back up rifle with a 6.5-20X 50mm scope.  He said he wanted to see how Donald looked through the larger magnification scope.  I handed him the rifle.  The scope is a Burris ballistic plex reticle and I told him to hold on the 3rd stadia line on the vertical crosshair if he were to shoot at the distance we had lazered.  Dax watched for several minutes through the big scope.  He even did a dry fire to practice the trigger control on a borrowed rifle.  Donald was a dead antelope walking.  Finally, Dax  said  "Not today on this one" and we loaded up our gear and drove off.  Donald doesn't know how lucky he is.

We continued to see buck antelope on the way back to camp.  It was growing dark and we were tired from the drive up from Utah.  We had a fine dinner, courtesy of Dax, of pasta and sausages.  I hit the sack early as I am not so tough as I once was.

Up the next morning early.  Breakfast was hot chocolate and a sweet roll (a hunters breakfast) and we were out looking for more buck antelope.  Our plan was -- we would hunt until noon and then eat good and have a nap before the evening hunt.  We started seeing bucks again right away.  Maybe 400 yards from camp was the first buck sent to greet us.  I started a new tally sheet and marked all the buck antelope we saw with the accuracy of a tax accountant.  I had marked 54 bucks by noon when we saw a buck that caught Dax's attention.  He told me to stop and he looked closer with his binoculars then bailed out of the truck with his rifle and its 3-9X scope and walked to a fence line 30 yards from the road.  He took his rifle and kneeled down to steady the .338 Win. Mag. on a fence post.  He aimed at a buck antelope who was quickly walking about 90 yards from us north to south.  Dax fired and the antelope ran.  I think he shot high.  The antelope ran to a ridge about 350 yards away slowed and looked back to scoff at us and Dax took another shot.  This one hit low and the antelope ran over the hill out of sight.

Dax told me to stay there and he would follow the buck on foot.  When he shot again he said I could drive up to meet him in the truck.  I waited.  I watched Dax leg march the distance to the top of the hill where we had last seen the buck.  NO BUCK to be seen.  Dax used his binoculars to look around and I decided to drive up there.  When I arrived I saw a buck all alone on the next hill over.  I put my spotting scope on him and thought it was the one we were after.  Dax laid down in the road and asked me how far?  I lazered the buck at 465 yards.  Dax took careful aim and fired a single round.  The impact took a moment to echo back to us.  The antelope fell with out taking a step.  I can certify the .338 Win Mag firing 225 gr. bullets is plenty powerful to kill and buck antelope even at distance.  Dax always says "you can't kill 'em too dead".

I looked at my watch and it was 1:20 p.m.  We had a buck down and the hunt was a total success with less than 24 hours afield.  I accused Dax of missing the closer shots to "SHOW OFF" about his long distance shooting skills.  I was indeed impressed.

Lat. North 42º29.581'

Long. West  110º23.446'

elevation  8,042

There were other adventures on this trip.  We had a bit of a snag with the pickup loosing all its oil, getting towed in to Kemmerer and a great meal at a chinese cafe in Kemmerer.  Maybe another day?

The TRUTH, the whole TRUTH, and nothing but the TRUTH -- oh sure

Just in case you all wanted to know: 

1,  My Lat. and Longs in Africa, i.e. Namibia, are TRUE.

2.  Other Lat. and Longs. are open to interpretation.  {Basically, there is no way I am going to give out on the world wide web my best hunting spots.}

Hauling Gravel in my Camero or Real Rifles vs. Mathematical Rifles

I need to buy and place 11 cubic yards of gravel in the south side yard of my house.  The grass died there because the sprinklers went afoul in summer of 2015 when I was surviving radiation and chemo-therapy cancer treatments daily and was not physically able to repair the irrigation system.  Gradually the area has become sort of a parking zone for extra cars.  Gravel would be nice.  I won't have to mow it, I won't have to water it.  Parking will be easy.

The BIG QUESTION is ?
A.)  Should I haul and place the gravel out of my Camero two door coupe that is nimble and easy to maneuver into the side yard.  I would have to make several dozen, if not a hundred trips, to the gravel sales yard to haul the gravel necessary in the Camero.  {What about the wear and tear on the Camero interior?}
 OR
B.)  Should I use my Chevy 4X4 pickup truck to haul and place the gravel? I could haul the gravel in about 7 trips and not beat up my truck.

Easy answer -- USE THE PICKUP TRUCK.

So what does this have to do with hunting and shooting?  The burr under my saddle is the current news and popular sentiment riding on the wind with all the shooting sports writers touting the 6.5 Creedmoor as the "perfect" rifle cartridge for all centerfire aspects of hunting and target shooting.

In a phrase -- I don't think so.

I grant the populace, who are wind-surfing, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a a light recoiling, accurate, and ballistically advantaged cartridge.  It is chambered and sold in a variety of platforms and performs well at the long distance target shooting matches.  I grant all the target shooters and small varmint hunters humble agreement about their rifle the 6.5 Creedmoor.  However, I can't give up my "REAL" rifles for shooting distance and shooting at big game at distance.  The Creedmoor fans always want to look at the numbers -- so let's look:

6.5 Creedmoor 129 gr. Barnes Triple shock bullet b.c. .468 at 5,000 elevation 69º and 15% humidity started at 2,700 fps at the muzzle results in the following ballistics performance:
           100 yards     200 yards     300 yards     400 yards     500 yards     800 yards     1,000 yards
f.p.s    2643            2486             2335             2335            2189             1589             1377
ft. lbs  1969            1743             1537             1351            1183             723               543
M*        48                45                 42                 40                37                29                25

300 Rem Ultra Mag.  180 gr. Barnes Triple shock bullet b.c. .453 at 5,000 elevation 69º and 15% humidity started at 3,330 fps at the muzzle results in the following ballistics performance:   
           100 yards     200 yards     300 yards     400 yards     500 yards     877 yards     1,000 yards
f.p.s    3147            2966             2793             2625            2464             2015            1745
ft. lbs. 3958            3516             3117             2775            2428             1630            1217
M*        81                76                 72                 67                62                 49.5            44.8

*M = a relative term for "momentum" calculated by Kevin Robertson, Doctari, in his life as a P.H. and veterinarian in Africa.  His book "The Perfect Shot" is enlightening to say the least.  He covers what makes an animal die and how the bullet accomplishes this task.  He has personally witnessed 1,000's of animals taken by various firearms and calibers.  He knows his business.  Dr./P.H. Robertson calculated the momentum of a caliber to be a relative penetration and killing coefficient.  He firmly believes a M factor of 125 is required for dangerous game especially elephant and buffalo.  M = (velocity x bullet weight in grains)/7000  {Note:  the .300 RUM has the same M value at 877 yards as the 6.5 Creedmoor does at muzzle.}

I have two dear friends that guide for black and brown bears in Alaska on the coast and on the islands near Juno -- they require clients to use a .375 H and H magnum or bigger caliber for their bear hunts.  They, and their clients, have survived all theses years by sticking to their experience and the minimum caliber requirements.  The old sage Elmer Keith said use enough gun.  A wise man told me years ago "You can't kill 'em too dead."

I just want the world to know I respect a good shooting rifle as much as the next guy.  As was recently stated by Wayne Van Zwoll in a national publication, "There are a lot more .25" accuracy capable rifles out there than there are .25" accuracy capable marksmen."  I like to punch holes in targets.  I like to take varmints out at obscene distances.  {When telling the tale I usually add 10% to the yardage just to be on the safe side.}  I also believe when it is time to be a real sportsman and shoot the elk or moose or other large critter at distance a sincere real rifle should be used.  An 800 lbs. elk with a 129 gr. 6.5mm bullet putting along at 2048 f.p.s. shot through his lungs at 500 yards will eventually die.  The shooter may or may not find his game and complete the harvest in an ethical manner.  The same elk with a 180 gr. .308 " bullet traveling at 2428 f.p.s shot the same place will expire within 200-300 yards.  The hunter will find and ethically take his trophy home.  Quartering shots are a whole lot worse for the little 6.5 Creedmoor.  The .300 RUM will traverse the elk body and take him down.

If your heart is set on a 6.5 Creedmoor -- get one.  If you can punch tight groups on paper at 500 - 1,000 yards with it that is sooooo cool.  Please don't try and take a big nice respect worthy game animal at the target distances you shoot with your low impact rifle round.  Move in closer and take the big beast at 100 to 150 yards when you can make sure of power and shot placement.  The game deserves the respect of an ethical kill not a blood letting wounding and slow death with lost game and wasted meat.

My favorite calibers?  Sure:  {let me know yours -- I am interested}
A.  small game and targets  .22LR  .36gr HP
B.  medium varmints and long range varmints  .22-250 w/ 55 gr. Nosler ballistic tips
C.  smaller big game (coyotes)  .308 Win. 130 gr. Hornady spire point bullets
D.  deer/ pronghorn/ springbok, warthog 300 yards and less  .30-06 165 gr. mono-metal bullets
E.  elk, zebra, hartebeest, kudu, oryx, bison etc. 300 yards and less .338 Win Mag. 225 gr.mono-metal bullets
F.  elk and above list E. at distance 400 yards and more .300 RUM with 180 gr. mono-metal bullets
G. bears and mean things 150 yards or less .458 Win Mag (over 150 yards get closer or run away)












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MID-JULY AND STILL HUNTING VERMIN

WOW!  Can you believe it? It is mid-July and I am still able to hunt the little profit stealing vermin in Iron County, Utah .  This is unheard of for me and many of the locals.  It is a dry year and the weather is warm already, like 95º F in the late morning.

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to the Beryl area of Iron County, Utah this morning.  We drove up there arriving at the decided upon shooting spot around 9:10 a.m.  We set up the squirrel-o-matics in the back of the White Wagon of Death pickup truck owned by Bounty Hunter 6 and readied for hopefully a good shoot.  By 9:30 a.m. the little profit thieves were through with their "chizzler coffee" and out looking for friendship and easy food in the farmer's alfalfa fields.

We did our duty with zeal.  Bounty Hunter 6 was using his Savage heavy barrel .17 Mach II rifle and I my trusty Savage heavy barrel .22 lr.  We shot for over two hours and only slowed down to load magazines.  BH 6 went through 3 boxes of ammo and I used 4.  We harvested about 150 chizzlers.  I was not shooting so well as the rascals were hanging out at about 100 to 125 yards most of the time.  I did get eight or nine close shots (35 yards) and I missed on half of the tries.  BH 6 was getting a real laugh out of my performance.  I could hit the old chizzlers at 100 - 125 yards yet up close I was missing.  He shot extra well today.  He nailed them close and far  That little .17 Mach II cartridge is a real fine shooter and is so dang accurate when handled by Bounty Hunter 6.

About 11:45 a.m. some critter blew the 'nap time' whistle and the chizzlers just went down and stayed down.  We walked out into the combat zone and took a few pictures while lazering back towards the White Wagon of Death to see just how far we were shooting.  It seems that once you get the range and hold over dialed in on your scope you kind of forget the distance and just go to work on helping the farmers.

I was a super fun day and really an extra treat to hunt chizzlers so late in the year.  

                                             {My pals in San Diego -- eat your hearts out.}

Anesthetic Hallucinations

Hello/Buenos Dias Friends/Amigos,

I was recently in the hospital for a heart procedure {8 days ago}.  It went well and the Dr. told me to take it easy for 10 weeks.  What is easier than shooting chizzlers?  Bounty Hunter 6 took me to "rehab" today in Iron County, Utah.  He set up the squirrel-o-matics in the back of his truck.  He handled my rifle and backpack for ammo and peanuts.  All I had to do was load magazines and take aim, gently press the trigger while holding a steady X on the vermin stealing the farmer's profits and wait for the reaping to begin.  It was a great day at "rehab"!  We took maybe 250 - 300 profit bandits out of the field permanently.  We started reaping at 9:30 a.m. and shot until noon.  We had a great time and the wind didn't really play a factor in our shooting.  Bounty Hunter 6 was using his good ol' .17 HMR explod-o-matic Savage HB and I used my HB Savage .22 lr.  Great fun with a great guy and I actually feel better this evening.  I hope we can go to rehab again tomorrow.

In regard to the Title of this Post --   I don't drink or do drugs so the anesthetic hits me pretty hard and quick.  The anesthesiologist Dr. said he was going to give me a shot in my I.V. to calm me down and it may feel a little cold.  That is the last thing I remember for five hours until the hallucination came floating over me.  Kind of a different reaction to the medicine but kind of entertaining.  I kind of was dreaming of hunting zebras when I was coming down from my anesthetic.  Let me show you the picture.

SECRET CHIZZLER AREA. . . (51)

I tip-toed into Tonapah and found a secret entrance to area 51 for truly exotic chizzler hunting. I could only see a few creatures far off in the hazy distance.

I put on the 'stock' of all stocks and got to within 300 yards of this old herd bull chizzler exotic.  I settled in on my bi-pod and ever so gently pressed the trigger. My scope picture was maxed out. The exotic was at the very bottom of my verticle crosshair. I could just see his eyelashes at the very bottom of the sight picture.  When the rifle went off I didn't know if my shot was true. I continued my stock closer and closer assuming the animals had not bolted away.

When I got close enough for bare eyeball view I could see this old rascal laying down for the glow-in-the-dark dirt nap. What a stock, what a shot, what a beast!  My only trophy is this photo.  Just how could I explain to the armed guards about carrying out my mountable chizzler herd bull while hunting in restricted area 51?

I will never forget. The photo is my proof.

RETIREMENT HAS ITS PERCS

The Supreme Commander retired from teaching little monsters and/or second grade students for 24 years last May.  She had some health issues to address and now is feeling pretty darn good.  I asked her if she wanted to go shoot chizzlers on March 29th.  She said YES!

We went up to Iron County and found a few old pals, Bounty Hunter 6, Mr. Bob, et.al, in a good field laying waste to vermin de jour.  We greeted them and then went to the north about a mile to not be in their way.  We set up the squirrel-o-matic on a circular pivot irrigated field and started to do our duty to protect agricultural profits.  NOTE:  The Supreme Commander grew up on a cattle ranch in Idaho and is well accustomed to the problems of finding profit in agriculture.  She doesn't have an issue at all with reaping chizzlers to increase alfalfa yields.

For the first 15 or 20 minutes the S. C. was having a tough time seeing the little rascals. They are indeed well camouflaged.  Unless they are moving, at times they seem to disappear.  Finally, we {she} got the vermin in the 3-9X scope.  We started laying waste to them.  There was not really much conversation due to the quantity of targets presenting themselves.  We shot .22LR rifles with scopes and were shooting pretty much as fast as we could load magazines.  We shot for about 2 1/2 hours going through about 500 rounds of ammo. and I said "maybe it is time to roll up and leave".  She quickly and specifically said "I am not ready to leave yet".  She was having a great time.  We shot for about another hour.  Finally we were at the point were the chizzlers were thinning out.  We decided to take a couple of photos and head home.

It was fun to be with my #1 girl and hunt for awhile.  I highly recommend it.  We will go again soon.

Supreme Commander and some vermin 70 yards out

128 yards from the truck. I'm kind of proud of these shots.

LONG DISTANCE CONNECTION

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to Iron County, Utah to reduce the chizzler population on 3-19-2018. We arrived in a field of endevour at 11 a.m.ish. It had been cold and wet for several days and we were forced to stay on established roads or farming paths to not chew-up the fields with 4X4 tire tracks.

The chizzlers, although huge in size, were not out scurrying around. They were under ground sleeping and resting and reading The Chizzler Gazette over tiny expressos.

Bounty Hunter 6 and I did harvest maybe 75 big boys each in 3 hours of shooting. It was a fun trip. It is quite satisfying to nail an old herd bull at over 100 yards with a .22LR round. Not much wind but really cold today. Glad I had on multiple layers of clothing.

112 yards out 1 shot .22 LR

DID OUR DUTY

Saturday, 3-9-2018, J.L. and I went to Iron County to help the farmers by shooting a few hundred profit eating -- hay field infesting vermin.  We arrived on a dormant half circular irrigated alfalfa field at 10:20 a.m.  We set up the squirrel-o-matic and a card table in the back of my pickup about 125 yards into the yet to sprout out green alfalfa field.

The carnage began almost immediately. We acquired targets with the scope sighted 22LR Savage rifles, pressed ever so gently on the trigger until a round discharged. The intended target, usually a big old male chizzler, would then pop up in the air, or roll over several times, or do the break-dance of death.  YES, sometimes we would miss and the chizzler would look around through his near sighted eyes and wonder what that noise and dust kick up was?  Over all I think we connected with our intended targets around 65% of the time or maybe more.

We shot a combined 730 rounds of ammunition.  Small idle talk among shooters was at a minimum. We did utter the maniacal laugh often heard from chizzler reapers as the result of an excellent shot from time to time during our spree of dealing out death.  We were anxiously engaged in a good cause.  My phone alarm went off at 1 p.m. and we rolled up equipment headed back to civilization. I had obligations in the afternoon to take care of.

Great conversations with J.L. and a fun day hunting chizzlers. 

QUICK UPDATE

Went with Bounty Hunter 6 and two of his pals from the Mid-west to reap a few chizzlers on Friday 3-8-2018.   We had very comfortable weather -- 60 degrees and little or no wind. Everything combined into a great outing.

We shot for about 3.5 hours. I went through 400 + rounds of .22LR ammo. BH 6 about the same quantity.  It was more or less constant shooting for the entire time. Only pause in firing was when we had to reload magazines.  I hit around 50% of the time. BH 6 out shot me with maybe 70% success for rounds fired.

Really fun day. Good conversation on journey up and back. All in all a day to remember.

COLD, SLIGHT BREEZES, LOTS OF BIG CHIZZLERS ! ! !

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to Iron County to harvest vermin from the farmers fields as a public/community service effort.  We drove up at 10:00 a.m. and the weather seemed foreboding.  We continued on even thought the temperature outside was 28 degrees and there was a 10 mph wind blowing.  We both had worn various layers of clothing to fight the cold. Long johns and under armor to the rescue.

We started shooting off the squirrel-o-matics at 11:30 a.m. or so.  We shot .22LR and 17 HMR rounds at the foe from 30 to 130 yards for about 2 1/2 hours.  We did our duty with gusto. All-in-all maybe 500 profit stealers were taken out of the mix.

We drove home congratulating ourselves for braving the cold and shooting so successfully even given the cold weather.  This is what I have been waiting for -- REAPING CHIZZLERS.

OK . . . I Admit It --- THEY ARE OUT ! ! !

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to scout for chizzlers in Iron County on Thursday 2-15-2018*.  We left home base around 8:30 a.m. and arrived in alfalfa field at around 9:45 a.m.  We saw several big old boys running around and looking for food and companionship.  It would seem the rut is ON in the chizzler world.  They eat a little, wrestle with potential mates, then eat a little more.  REPEAT.

I was excited to be there and to see the furry big fellows coming up for air after their long winter naps. Bounty Hunter 6 and I both brought .17 HMR rifles as we knew the shooting would be at some distance.  We set up the squirrel-o-matics in the back of BH6's truck and proceeded to reap chizzlers without hesitation.  We shot for about 1 1/2 hours and ended a significant number of profit stealers for the farmers.  I was hitting about 70% of the time at distances of 40 to 125 yards.  BH6 scored about the same.  The wind came up and was blowing at a rate of between 5 and 10 MPH.  This makes hitting chizzlers a task at distances over 50 yards.  The little .17 caliber bullet just gets blown around in the wind.  We still, made some excellent shots and reaped a bunch of chizzlers.  We decided to call it a day due to the wind factors and the factor that we had shot about 300 chizzlers in a short time. We stored our rifles and headed out of the field. 

Check out the smile.  You just would have had to be there.

Satisfied smirk and smile of death for chizzlers.

As we were leaving Bounty Hunter 6 said lets go over to the field just north of us and see if the windbreak trees are doing their job.  I agreed and we went , just for a "look see", over about 3/4 mile to the north.  As we drove into the field I said "Stop let me load up my .22LR rifle and see if any "sappers" come to try to derail us as we travel into the field".  Just self defense you know.  BH6 agreed and I loaded my rifle and a 10 round magazine, rolled the window down, and put myself on guard duty.  We entered the field and there were chizzlers all over the place.  BH6 said shoot some of the closer ones.  I did as ordered by the Captain.  I shot about 40 chizzlers just from the access road to the pump house for the circular in less than 5 minutes and 300 yards of travel.  Bounty Hunter 6 was excited to watch me shoot.  I told him, "Let me drive and you shoot" but he was laughing so hard if I missed I think he didn't want to start up shooting.  BH6 called our dear friend Mr. Bob, the king of chizzler reaping, and told him we were into them at that very moment.  BH6 just wanted Mr. Bob to feel he had missed an exceptional opportunity to reap chizzlers. {Kind of mean friends aren't we?}  Mr. Bob was on speaker phone and we were driving down a pivot access road Mr. Bob knew very well from other adventures in the same spot and I was shooting like a well oiled machine.  Finally Mr. Bob's call was ended and BH6 said let's put up the squirrel-o-matics and shoot here for awhile.  I had to agree as the targets were far and away more than I could take care of.  After all our intent is to help the agriculturalists.  

Se stopped in a good spot and angled the truck for maximum reapability.  Bounty Hunter 6 got out a .22 LR Ruger 10-22 target model and some 25 round magazines and proceeded to try and eradicate all the vermin from the field.  Of course he didn't get them all but together we did make a significant dent in the population that was visible that cold blowing morning.  I don't worry about over reaping.  I know there are still thousands of little profit sealers out there.  the chizzler population will continue to bear offspring and eat the alfalfa fields.  NO matter how many I reap there always seem to be more when I come back in 2 or 3 days.  I will continue to do my best to help the farmers in Iron County, Utah as the spring progresses.






 *Bounty Hunter 6 facebook post about the adventure:
Craig Mangus laid a guilt trip on me.
I had explained to him....why we shouldn’t go up to Beryl to shoot Squirrels. 33 degrees, rain, snow and sleet.....and 25 MPH wind...nope today would be a good day to hang out at home, I told him.
He agreed with a long sigh and fading voice sounding as if his cat had just died.
“I guess I’ll just hang out here at the house”....long quavering sigh.
Ok, Ok.... I know when I’m licked, we’ll drive up look around a little and come right back.
Squirrels were out, in the heavy wind and cold, thicker than fleas on a hound dog.
Between the two of us, we shot over one K of 17HMR AND 22LR. Estimating killing approximately 600 plus vermin....A lot of Kentucky windage and Tennessee elevation....after shooting approx 500 Rds of 17HMR, I switched to my heavy Barrel 10-22....Loading Magazines with cold fingers was hard.

CAN YOU KEEP A. . . . . . secret?

Just to prove I am not a bad person I offered to take my dear wife, The Supreme Commander, for a drive.  The Supreme Commander was raised on a ranch in Idaho.  She is a beautiful and tough girl.  She and I went out in the country on Saturday, 2/3/18, and somehow, I don't know why, we ended up in a chizzler field in Iron County, Utah.

Get this -- I just happened to have in the back of my truck all the necessary items to hunt chizzlers. So I figured 'what the heck' and set up shooting stations for us. It was a very calm afternoon and the temperature was around 60° F.  At 3:30 p.m or so there appeared out about 125 yards a few early riser chizzlers. Just up from their winter's nap. They were frisky little buggers running to and fro. I managed to sight in on and end the frolic for about two dozen of the alfalfa stealing demons with my 22LR dispatcher.  My closest shot of the afternoon was at 95 yards.

This is the absolutely earliest day in the year I have ever helped agriculture with their vermin problem.  The targets were far away for my little rifle. I didn't shoot all that well. I left way too many for seed. I did however, reduce some of my pent up frustration about hunting chizzlers. The S.C. and I spotted and shot for about 90 minutes then packed up and motored towards home.

What a day. What a glorious day! 👍 😀   😈

"The early bird" gets the round

{P.S. Bounty Hunter 6 heard about my adventure with the Supreme Commander.   He demanded a photo. He posted about it on his facebook account. Then he made me go back to the same chizzler field and hunt with him on Monday, 2/5/18.  We shot for about 2 hours in 9 MPH winds and then the weather took a turn for the worse.  We had endured winds for our entire time hunting but the actual storm front came in and rain was starting so we packed it up and left.  We reaped about 4 dozen total.  Not fast and furious shooting but still so fun to help agriculture after many cold lonesome months just thinking about it.}

CRAP-O-RAMA Not Yet

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to Iron County to look for early rising chizzlers on Tuesday.  We figured some of the early risers would be coming out of their burrows right now.  YES, I know it is still January.  But it has been a mild winter more or less.  Crap-O-Rama -- we had a nice drive up there, we discussed the various topics of the day i.e., Trump, the Super Bowl, and of course chizzlers.  It was a nice sunny day with temperatures in the 40º's.  We had real high hopes.  We had brought our .22LR rifles just in case.

We saw no chizzlers.  We saw no signs of chizzlers.  The only thing that was compensating was the view of several bald eagles sitting in trees surrounding the alfalfa circular fields that looked extra hungry and in a bad mood.  The two dozen or so crows standing around were waiting in the fields for the chizzlers right on the ground  examining closely the mounds of dirt piled up by the chizzlers last fall.  The crows were way anxious and they were on a significant diet of no chizzler meat at all.

All in all we were blanked out.  The eagles were starving and the crows got what they deserved --nothing.  We didn't even in case our rifles.

Check out photos of last year and what we hope for real soon.  I will keep you all updated.

20 minutes work a month into the season

Early season chizzler

GETTING READY

I am so excited to go hunt chizzlers.  I asked the Supreme Commander if she wanted to go sight in and practice shooting the chizzler rifles yesterday.  She said "YES".  We went out to practice at 25, 40, and 60 yards.  She did really well.  She has gone with me to help Iron County, Utah agriculture in the past years.  Now, she is retired from teaching elementary school kids in 2nd grade after 25 years of service.  It is time to go back to her farm girl in Idaho roots and help out local agriculture in a new way.

I am trying to teach her to load her own magazines and take care of her own issues while shooting vermin.  I really can't be interrupted when I am in the middle of a death dealing session in the alfalfa field.

BASICALLY, I can hardly wait for the season to begin . . .

It is always better to use targets that approximate the intended game therefore the following are presented from the Supreme Commander's practice session.  25 rounds fired, 25 on target -- kind of.

JUST IN CASE - - -

I can understand some different languages.  Send comments or ideas in English, Español, Portuges, Frances, or Italiano.  I do my best to translate and publish. Thanks, gracias, gracia, merci, and gracia.  {I have been studying via my phone on Duolingo.com   Look at the devious things I get into when I can't hunt vermin.}

I HAVE A FEVER . . . I WANT TO HUNT CHIZZLERS !

I have a fever, I really want to go hunt chizzlers.

I have just had a great fall big game hunting season.  I should be looking at photos and eating elk steaks while smiling contently at my great fall harvest season.  I did get a nice 78+ inch antelope buck and a spike elk with my son matching my effort in the Book Cliffs, that is 2 elk!  I have had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.  Christmas was beautiful here in Southern Utah.  Bright sunny days and grandkids playing in the yard.  Lots of dark chocolate.  I should be realizing I am super blessed to live the life I do with the great family and friends I have.  I guess I do realize it, but I WANT TO HUNT CHIZZLERS.

I asked Bounty Hunter 6 to go with me  out in the desert to practice shooting our chizzler rifles the other day.  He quickly agreed.  We even took one of Mr. Bob's out of moth balls and shot it for him.  The rifles were spot on.  We were able to hit paper targets and clay pigeons from 50 to 125 yards without a hitch.  I had thought some target practice would ease my fever but alas I only made me more anxious to get out in the alfalfa fields of Iron County to shoot the famous "Chizzleramos Maximus Humori".  Clay pigeons don't make that splat sound when you hit them with a .22LR or a .17 HMR round.  Nor do clay pigeons do the break-dance of death when they are finalizing their earthly experience thanks to a well placed rimfire round.  I was OK with emptying out some rounds down range.  I just want more.  You know more -- splatting sounds and more break dance of death entertainment.

We have had a mild winter in Southern Utah.  I think the chizzlers will be out very early this spring.  Last year Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to "scout" and ended up hunting in late February.  I hope for the same this spring.  I will keep you informed via the blog of all blogs.