back to Surprise Valley

[bronad]

Well I'm back here for scouting and doing my pre-shooting before my 8th Squirrel Roundup. We got 2" of white stuff yesterday so i got the treat of shooting in the snow today, but by afternoon it was mostly melted and as usual the scenery was great. Based solely on mounds I'd say there's a bumper crops of the critters. I started yesterday at the beginning of the snow and stopped because of limited visibility, today it was cold & cloudy most of the day and still snow on the ground, so I don't believe they were all that active. My new Lilja barrel is shooting great and my warranty replaced Leupold scope LRP is sending the non lead freedom pills in the right direction.

[Bill K]

Looking good, Now you know what my area looks like also... Enjoy.

[broper]

Here in So.West Idaho we've been going out once a week for about a month. They're still not out in full force yet. Here it seems they really don't get out good until after the pups are hatched and out of the burrows. Shouldn't be to long. The sub species we have here are the Piute ground squirrels. They're not as big as what you have in Cal. & Or. and they're not found in ranch and farm fields but out in the desert. Still lots of fun shooting them. Next week I'll try to get some pictures of the country we shoot them in.

[Bill K]

That Piute sub species you mention. Are the the one's, you see in the sage/desert with the somewhat larger white tail ?

[broper]

They don't have a white tail. They are in the desert but don't seem to be in the sage brush areas, at least not where we shoot them. There are three species of Piute ground squirrels. Two of them are protected and can't be shot. F & G says they are very hard to tell apart and even the biologists have a hard time telling them apart. They've set up an area south of the Payette River, north of the Snake River and as far east as Glen's Ferry that we can shoot them in. There are several different species of ground squirrels in Idaho and several of them are protected. It gets kind of confusing. We can shoot the Columbia ground squirrels. They are bigger and live at high altitudes, farther north of the Treasure Valley area where we live and shoot Piutes. A few years ago they tried to make it illegal to shoot any ground squirrels in Idaho. A bunch of us got together and got some state politicians involved and got that stopped. We had other hunters from all over the country calling and e-mailing Idaho F & G, had their computers and phones tied up. They said they were overwhelmed. Shows what can be done if we all stick together.

[Bill K]

Great that it worked.. We have more and more Anti's seems like every year, and even in the game department/commissions ( like in Ca) working against us also. But sometimes we can win.
Thanks for the info on the Idaho ground squirrels. Bill K

[broper]

Here's what the Piute ground squirrels look like! And some of the country we shoot them in.

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[Bill K]

Thank you for the photo's.. however kind of hard to fully see how those species look, after all that acrobatic teaching.

[Rick in Oregon]

Here's what the Piute ground squirrels look like!

Now hold on there, broper......I've NEVER seen a squirrel running around looking like THAT!

[broper]

Ha ha, I named him Napolean Blown apart! Sorry it took me so long to reply. My left knee has been giving me fits. I think it's arthritis. Had a couple days I couldn't walk. Can't get in to the doctor until July 1st. Thank God for Ibuprofen. It's feeling pretty good lately and I did manage to make a trip with my shooting/hunting buddy on Monday. Went up past Cascade, ID into the mountains at around 7,000'. Shot a few Colombia ground squirrels and I shot one rock chuck with 45 ACP, 1911. Smoked him good. It was really nice up there in the mountains. Green everywhere and lots of water everywhere, all the creeks running full and water tumbling down the mountain sides in several places. A lot different than down here in the desert. I just wish it was a little closer.

[Bill K]

Sounds like a fine trip and some shooting. 45ACP, must have been within 50 yrds or so. That is always nice, with handgun. Hope the old knee gets better and nothing serious, with it.
Now how about a few photo's of that area ? Sure would be nice if we had some water running in the rim rock creeks and such. Getting warm down her, in my area, up in around 85-90 in day, but nice and cool ( 50) at night. Bill K

[Rick in Oregon]

Napolean Blown apart. HA!.....love it! Who says comedy is gone from the shooting sports. Taking a chuck with your .45 is just way cool.

So there Broper, you're also a 1911 fan eh? Been carrying one of one flavor or another ever since 'Nam, now all legal of course. It's always entertaining figuring out which one to carry, as there's a few in the safe in calibers from .22LR, 9mm and of course .45 ACP.

Most times when I'm in the field, I'll leave my carry piece in the truck, and slide on one of my Kimber 22LR conversions. My 5" Target conversion with a reluctant badger, taken with a WW Power Point HP:



For CCW, I usually carry one of my 3" guns in either nine or 45. Here's a not so happy squirrel shown with my Kimber CDP .45, with the Compact conversion installed. Same ammo all the time; it just works, period.



And just because we're talkin' 1911's, this should satisfy the nay-sayers as to the accuracy of the 3" conversions. It's been shown here before, but this wild and crazy jackwabbit ripped through our rat camp, then stopped in the sage 52 yards out for that fatal "look back".



The very last look-back that boy will ever make.

So this may be the 204 Ruger forum, but don't be bashful about posting ANY 1911 varmint pics. It's ALL good!

[broper]

Nice badger. Actually it was my buddy's 1911. The chuck popped up at about 20 yds. I told him that was kind of close for a rifle so he handed me his 1911, first shot went over him so I held 6 0'clock and smoked him. He was at the top of a long rock slide and slid quite a ways down but he was DRT. I've always kind of wanted a 1911 but somehow never did acquire one all these years.

[broper]

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Here's a picture of one of the meadow's up there. Most of these meadows were pretty wet, kind of marshy. The squirrels are in places where there were scattered trees. I should have taken more pictures. Didn't get any of the "victims". There have also been several big foot sightings in the area over the years. We didn't see any but I would have definitely taken a picture of that! We did see wolf tracks and scat.

[Bill K]

That just looks so peaceful and nice. Would be a fun place to shoot critters. Thanks.