Ground squirrels galore!!!!

[DougT]

WadeS and I left town about 7 thirty this morning and headed to Enterprise, where I'd received permission to shoot ground squirrels earlier in the week.  We got on site about 10am and loaded up.  It had snowed the night before and the snow line was maybe 1000' above where we were.   It was partly sunny, about 50* and pretty calm.  The squirrels were out thick, chirping and running around at all distances and in all directions.  WadeS and I alternated shot attempts for the first 15 minutes or so, WadeS using his .22 Mendoza to bag 12 and I using my .22 850 to bag 17.  After that we just handed my 850 back and forth for each shot while the other spotted for the best shot opportunity.  We left after about 3.5 hours of shooting and WadeS had grilled 44 and I got 39.  We had three long shots of about 60 yards but most of the shooting was 20-50 yards.  At that range the 850 hits pretty much on the crosshairs.  The baby squirrels that were born a month ago are now medium size and not too smart.  Many times we would shoot three out of a hole and find all three lying within feet of each other.    

My 850 operated flawlessly and we got nearly 100 shots out of it again before heading home.  Our hit percentage was probably around 80%.  It's amazing how the JSB pellets make that tell-tale WHOP sound and anchor the squirrels.  And, they are VERY accurate.   Once WadeS gets his Marauder we plan to go back for a weekend trip and I think a 200-300 squirrel weekend is possible.

After we shot an area, we would collect the kills we could find.  We had about 10-12 in a plastic bin and left them by the car.  When we came back they were GONE!!!  The owner's dogs had taken them.  The attached pics show 23 squirrels that were collected after the dogs raided the bin.  The last pic is of where we were shooting, one of the most beautiful I've seen.  Broken up blue sky over freshly snowed on mountains over green foothills with a meandering stream running through it.  By this time it had got warmer and the fresh snow line had moved up another 2000'-3000'.  It truly was beautiful.

Enjoy.

Doug

[TheKnot]

Thats a dream day you boys had thanks for sharing it

[Wade.S]

Another great trip, thanks for taking me along.

[dk1677]

Nice shooting guys!

[only1harry]

That's some awesome shooting!  29 ground squirrels in one day is a hek of a good day.

So these are all about 1/2 the regular size right?  Because I thought ground squirrels were a little bigger than that.  The ones in the pic don't look a lot bigger than a chipmunk which makes them even more challenging to shoot.

[Wade.S]

Only1harry, between the two of us we shot 83 ground squirrels. And they are about the size of a small tree squirrel, about 3 times the size of a chipmunk.

[only1harry]

Yeah sorry my sentence got cut in half.. I meant to say 29 squirrels in the first 15min. and the total..  was a hek of a day..  I left the PC for a minute or two and got back and maybe I had it in my head what I wanted to type but never did(?)..

Oregon has some very beautiful country side, and those mountains remind me of the Alps and my grandparents' hometown..  I would like to visit Oregon one day.

[Gene_SC]

Hey guys that sure is beautiful landscape. Where is that at?  Good shooting and I hope you have plenty more days like that...

[djmyers]

What a back ground to shoot against. Great pics and good shooting.

[airiscool]

Great shooting guys - you  surely are in pest hunting heaven !!!!!

I don't think I'd have been able to concentrate on the critters with all that beautiful country to look at.

Paul.

[1377x]

nice shooting those things can be tough

[only1harry]

I could.  You could have a naked girl standing next to a Groundhog and I 'll never take my eyes or crosshairs off that animal  I get like hypnotized when I see one and nothing else matters, hehehe.

[DougT]

These are small targets.  The ones we shot yesterday averaged about 4"-5" long and about 1.5"-2" wide.

This is beautiful country.  It's between Enterprise and Joseph, Oregon, in the Eagle Cap Mountains.  This was about 2 hours from Pendleton where we live.  

only1harry and anybody else, if you're in N.E. Oregon and want to go shooting, I'd be willing to take you.  We could go after pigeons, starlings, squirrels, carp, etc....

[Wingman115]

Man you guys get all the game... Great shooting.

[Wade.S]

I am with only1harry on that one, with the exception of the girl comment.