We just returned from a week long sage rat shoot in the Orygun outback. Decent weather this time, no blowing snow, just plenty of sunshine and our buddy "Skippy the Flying Squirrel" to enhance our shooting enjoyment.
I took my custom M700 204 Match 11 Twist rifle, but no long range opportunities to justify burning over 25grs of powder, as no elevated positions were available to take advantage of it. Shooting from the flat terrain gets much mirage, making any hits past 350 yards virtually impossible, so my 20 Vartarg got the most action out to 350, then inside of 200 yds I used my Anschutz 1715D HB in 17HMR which did a very fine job of rat launching.
Our rancher host refuses to use poison, so he welcomes us with the ability to hook our trailers to power and water, and a nice place to park them while we rid him of his sage rat problem. A true win-win situation for all, and a photo essay follows for those interested.
Half of us stayed in traliers, the other half stayed in an old double-wide with a wood stove:
Our buddy Skippy was frolicking about just outside the window of my trailer, so he made a good subject for a 300mm telephoto lens, shot out my dinette window. I can never get that close to them when in the field.
An accurate rifle that shoots less than .5 MOA is necessay in the fields when this is the target given when they're peeking at you from inside their mound:
Out of respect for the rancher, no driving out into the fields, so we just set up on the perimeter two-tracks, unload, set up benches and have at it. Squirrel mounds can be seen in the distance, and that rock escarpment has a population of rock chucks also:
My most used rifle of the trip, my Cooper M38 20Vartarg launching a Nosler 32gr Varmageddon over RL-7 for 3,700 fps:
After a few hours, my ammo box tells the story....plenty of shooting, lots of "rat-o-batics":
As usual when the "Eastern Oregon Raptor Feeding Society" shows up, so do the raptors; bald eagles, golden eagles, hawks and ravens to feast on the generous meals we provide:
The terminal effects of the 32 grainers can't be overstated. It sure makes it easy for the birds to do their thing:
Yours truly having my way with Skippy and his pals. The Cooper VT on the bench:
My buddy Dan scanning for distant rats and rockchucks at the escarpment. He nailed one at 60 yards with his custom 10-22.
The little ones were out, so inside of 200 yards, my Anschutz 17HMR was the perfect medicine for that work. It really thumps those guys:
When the winds get up, cleaning in the field is problematic, blowing patches about, so cleaning back at camp on the tailgate is the hot setup:
There's more of course, but I don't want to use up all the bandwidth. This stuff is truly the most fun you can have with a rifle!
), a good time was had by all...all but the fury little four legged creatures that is. 
