Spring Varmints & 204's (Pics)

[Rick in Oregon]

Last week my EORFS (Eastern Oregon Raptor Feeding Society) crew and I braved cold wind conditions at the ranch to shoot Skippy and his pals in early spring alfalfa fields. This time we located our shooting positions on a hill overlooking a field just loaded with ground squirrels, so shooting from elevated positons was the name of the game, and we rained death for two straight days on the rats without ever moving the benches once.

Here's the view from my "office" for those two days, Cooper M38 VR in .20 Vartarg on the bench....look closely at all the mounds down in the field:



Yours truly bundled up against the cold-a$$ wind:



The colors flapping wildly in the wind....you can see the moon directly above Old Glory:



Captqc (Gary) always has something new and cool in his bag-o-tricks:



A walk to confirm some distant kills shows the squirrel mound concentration:



One of Skippy's condos that was being worked on.....right up to the time of impact



"Office equipment" overlooking the target-rich environment - I could get out to just over 600 yards from this position:



A good friend of mine couldn't make the shoot, so he sent a hat to be worn for the event to impress the rodents. He's a serving Agent, and has some great stories, believe me:



Andy (ADH) shooting his Cooper M21 VR in 6mmBR just over the hill from me:



Here's a 6mmBR alongside a .20 Vartarg.....sort of a family resemblence:



"Scooter" cooling off between strings. I shot just over 300 rounds from the rifle in two days:



Captqc working over the rats with his Cooper M21 Phoenix in 204:



Captqc's son Dan, smiling because he had just nailed a rat at the far end of the field at 612 yards with his Remmy 223 and 50gr BT's:



Close-up of a Nosler 32gr BT loaded in the action, just waiting for a target to appear down below:



And lastly, a parting shot of Brad's (CustomReloadingTools.com) excellent #2 Bench Tray on the bench stoked with Vartarg rat loads:



All the ammo is loaded back up, getting ready to hit the ranch again. This will be a Cooper-Fest....taking my 20 Vartarg, 204, and 223 Coopers to warm the barrels up for a few days. After this trip, my girl SPOD (The Silver Princess of Death), my 11-twist Rem M700 will come out of the safe to launch 40 grainers on the fat squirrels later in the season when the ranges are a bit longer. Till then, hope you guys enjoy the ride from last week.

[Varoum]

A very nice post

[Neil S.]

Hey Rick awsome writeup! It felt like I was right there with you! That really looks like a blast, and man you guys sure like those coopers!

-Neil

[ryutzy]

impressive as always Rick

[Sidewinderwa]

Great story, nice pictures. Only one down side.........I was not there! Be careful with that 20 VarTarg Rick, it can be very addictive and the 204s may feel jealous. I know I am jealous. I did help a vineyard owner with some skippy problems so that helped some. So what was your longest shot?

[Rick in Oregon]

So what was your longest shot?

sidewinderwa: That day shooting 32gr Nosler BT's at 3,680 fps with the .20 Vartarg, I was able to smack a couple of squirrels just over 400 yards, but most shooting was in the 250 - 300 yard range. As mentioned, Dan managed a nice hit at 612 yds with his 223, and his dad got over 400 with his Cooper Phoenix 204 also. Wind was the factor, blowing constantly all day at about 15 mph.

Like you said, the 20VT is becoming a favorite.....save the 204 for when the ranges get a bit longer. Staging gear, getting ready to set out for the ranch again for another go at Skippy. Man, I love this time of year!

Thanks all for the friendly comments.....have a good season in your neck-o-the-woods.

[Ray P]

Way to go Rick!! Nice pics and nice write up! Congrads to all the shooters. 300 to beyond 600 yards, not a bad day at all.
Thanks for taking the time to post your adventure.
Later .
Ray P

[futuretrades]

As always, a great write up and lots of pics. Just what we skippy shooters love.

Boy, are we a sick bunch, or what

Good to see all of you got out for a few days of fun, despite the weather. I am itchin to get out again myself.

[tt35]

Nice to see a little sunshine in the pictures, Rick! 600+ on a 'rat!!! That's pretty danged impressive. I went to the ranch this week and couldn't help testing the wares a bit. Came home and prepped about 250 cases for the .204 and loaded a few .243AI rounds for our LR rockchucks. Looks like we'll see a little better weather this week...Skippy look out!

[Song Dog]

Love it! Keep the pics coming!

[Jim White]

E.O.R.F.S;

Nice shootin' there folks, looks like the gang had a swell time. The wind can be a pest at times but, if the opportunity is used properly, it makes all better marksman, IMO. By the way, how did the shooter with the 6mmBR fair. I imagine it bucked the wind pretty good. I'm heading out to eastern OR in about a month to partake in some activities myself.

Thanks for sharing...

Jim

[Silverfox]

Thanks for the report RIO. Keep the reports and photos coming because it will be along time before I get out to shoot some prairie dogs. Unfortunately, we are still receiving SNOW up here in North Dakota. The weather forecast for the rest of the week calls for a mix of rain and snow and high winds.

[majcl5]

Great as usual Rick , my work schedule is crazy this year i dont know when i can make it over but i am gonna try my best.

[hemiallen]

Looks like great fun , sans the cold and wind.


I have a desire to up my varmint arsenal in the next 6 months ( when I can build up funds) for a 6mm BR heavy barrel for up to 105 grain pills, curious how accurate your bud's Cooper 6BR is and if much better in the wind then the 204-223's you shoot?


I have a couple of slower twist 243's, and realize the 105's and brass cost will make the 6mm a less used choice... but I could sell a couple to get a dedicated bench quality 6mm..


Thanks for the report and great pictures Rick


Allen

[Rick in Oregon]

Thanks you guys, glad you enjoyed the rifle-romp too. Sounds like many of us have not "spring-like" weather, no matter where we're located.

E.O.R.F.S; By the way, how did the shooter with the 6mmBR fair. I imagine it bucked the wind pretty good. I'm heading out to eastern OR in about a month to partake in some activities myself.

Jim: Andy did well with his Cooper 6mmBR in the wind, especially after transitioning from his Cooper .17 Mach IV with 25 grainers. By the time he got the 6mm out, the wind had driven most critters underground, so he was only able to get off about 30 rounds or so. He may comment when he sees this. As for accuracy, it shoots bugholes like most Coopers.

Here's a pic of Garth shooting his Remmy VLS .223 on our last outing this past weekend:



The quantity of mounds was even greater than when we were at the ranch a week ago. Here's the view from my bench this time, straight ahead of my location on the hillside:



A target-rich environment to be sure, but the wind again kept many of the squirrels down unless the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. This time I decided to shoot my Cooper .223, or "Rosa" in order to shoot 40 grainers in the wind. I was able to get out just past 380 yards in the conditions...nothing spectacular in the yardage department. One thing we didn't have to fret about in the cold....our barrels stayed cool with the cold wind. I was going to shoot my Cooper 204 too, but we tore down because of the wind and did PDW drills in the gravel pit with our .45's. When the live-varmint shooting goes to pot, get out the pistols and the steel:



A bit-o-Cooper porn......Rosa on the bench before tearing down for the day:



I think we'll wait a few weeks for the little ones to come up and better/warmer weather....hopefully. I came home with our rancher lady's M77 Ultra-Lite .223 Rem she uses for coyotes. Doesn't shoot worth beans, so it's a teardown for bedding and tweaking before heading out again anyway. She called on her cell while we were on our way home to tell us she got a coyote with her old truck-gun Model Seven in .222 Rem that was harrassing her new calves......what a gal.