DOCTORING GROUND SQUIRRELS

[sixshot]

It was a little windy today but I decided I needed to pound some ground squirrels so I took the Dr. along, thats Doc Barranti & another one of his masterpieces. This is an Elmer Keith #5 rig, perfect for my 5 1/2" Bisley flattop. My 44 specials were loaded with Miha 240 gr HP's & the Skeeter load of 7.5 grs of Unique, squirrels hate this load!
The young squirrels are out now but in the tall grass its a nightmare trying to get iron sights on them. When these new borns stand up they are just a bit wider than a clothes pin....pretty tough to hit!


These ground squirrels hate Mike "Doc" Barranti & the 44 Bisley.


Don't ask me how that rock chuck got on the roof of this old shed!


I ended up with 7 squirrels, didn't shoot very well, the wind was kicking my butt. For the most part you are always shooting offhand in either tall grass or sagebrush, either way its a challenge.


Took the old Kimber along just in case one of them charged. I'll let the ladies shoot it next week at the annual handgun class.



Dick

 

[Anonymous]

You should be extremely proud of yourself. I doubt you eat the ground squirrels, so what do you do with them? Just throw them away or leave them out there to rot? I guess you do skin a few to tack up on the outside of some old building or something as a testament to your hunting prowress and marksmanship.

I wonder if you'd still consider it "sport" if the ground squirrels could shoot back?

 

[CMH]

Sixshot Sir, I have Craig C making me a lawrence style no 5 holster for my ruger 44sp bisley................. would of enjoyed a day of plinking grass rats with you.............. congrats on the good shooting and being so prosperous

 

[contender]

BigDawg, out west, ground squirrels are considered pests. Kinda like rats, only worse. Diseases, destruction of property & crops, etc. Nobody eats them, and farmers, ranchers etc all appreciate it when their numbers are reduced. Your posting is a bit insulting to Dick. I happen to call him a friend, and know that he & his wonderful wife have raised a fine family anybody would be proud to know. I have also travelled west on several occasions to hunt, and varmit shooting for such types of pests is highly welcomed by ranchers. Most folks have to use rifles, so handgunning them is not easy. If you don't understand why some folks shoot certain critters, why not ask before you critize.




Ground squirrels are tough to hit in good conditions,, much less in the wind! Looks like you still managed a few good ones.
As for the chuck on the roof,,, they can climb. I was a kid when I saw my first one up a tree. Around here, apple farmers keep a gun on the tractor just for the chucks in the trees. I bet that one wishes it was an apple tree. Or, he's found a nice elevated condo to live in! I know you chose to give him a pass as it'd be an unsafe shot.

 

[jgt]

Bigdog, send Dick your address and I am sure he will happily send you all the ground squirrels you can eat. They aren't the tastiest things in the world but maybe I only tasted the ones that eat a lot of carrion.

 

[sixshot]

Bigdawg, why not say what you really think ! As mentioned ground squirrels are nothing like your Fox squirrels, yours are good to eat & there's a season on them. The western ground squirrel is a real pest, famers & ranchers hate them, there is no season on them because they do so much damage, to crops & pastures. Many times a cow, calf or horse will step in one of their holes & break a leg, plug they do carry many diseases like the Plague, you should not handle them without gloves! Crows, magpies, hawks, foxes, coyotes, badgers & Seagulls love to eat them, so they don't go to waste.
They can literally destroy a field if left unchecked......did you like the holster!

Dick

 

[Cholo]

Mmmm mmmm, chitlins roasting in the Idaho sun. Can't get any better than that. Thanks for guttin' 'em for me sixshot! :lol:

I sure like your little hunting excursions! I miss that around here...

 

[Sheriff]

I recognize that area, Dick. Pond looks to have a little more water in it than when we were there last August. good to see you haven't completely lost your 'touch'. Enjoyed the photos and the story.

 

[don44]

All I'm gonna say is.... Good for you and good shootin' !!!! You make us Idaho handgun hunters proud.

 

[jeffnles1]

Good shooting.

 

[flyinfred]

Good shooting and better writing! Been missing your reports!

 

[Hole Shooter]

Thanks for the story and the pictures, Dick. I (along with many many others) ALWAYS enjoy reading about your hunting adventures and the pictures are an added bonus!!! You are a very talented hunter!! Please keep up the great postings.
hs

 

[KWYJIBO]

I wonder if you'd still consider it "sport" if the ground squirrels could shoot back?

Yep, just like your sig line says, "your own little world."

Actually, there is sport to it when you kill them by this method, but it's not really hunting so much as pest eradication.

I wonder how a crop duster pilot would like it if he were spraying a field for locusts, and the bugs had surface-to-air missiles to shoot back at him?

Dick, keep disemboweling those 'chucks with your 44. The crows will thank you as well as the farmers.

 

[gunsbam69]

I'd take the .32 back next time you go That'll teach em to dodge those .44 bullets :mrgreen: I'm gonna put a 5" bull barrel with a Colt crown on my little .44 like yours.

 

[ajw65]

Good shooting, glad to see you getting around again.

 

[Joe S.]

i cant add anything new really to address bigdawg that hasnt been said, but this: they are much like prairie dogs and wild hawgs. pests... destroy everything in their path...

and it is much more "sporting" shooting at them with handguns than it is to put out poison and traps. at least they may get lucky and you miss them. lol

great shooting sixshot! you guys should do a reality show! kinda like turtle man. but make sure it is on free tv cause i dont have cable.

 

[Kevin]

I'm sure there are a bunch of animals that would love to scavenge the remains. They need to eat too afterall.

I for one like the holster.

 

[dougader]

Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms...

Nice pictorial, Dick!

 

[Jeff Hoover]

Who says ground squirrels aren't dangerous ? I know it gets kinda squirrelly around here some times, but we know how to handle those squirrels. Shoot straight, keep your powder dry, and above all else, keep your sense of humor!

Great shooting Dick! Wish I was there with you! Great looking shuck!

 

[mohavesam]

Y'all need to refrain from personal attacks, y'know better. Shooting varmints or not shooting varmints doesn't put you any closer to Gad, no matter who you think she is. So there you go.

I used to shoot ground squirrels and those little picket pin gophers (mini-prairie dogs out here) when our furbearer hunts went dry, or when the sun got high after a dawn coyote hunt. I had a great partner who used an old scoped Remington pump for long shots ranging in them in out around 100 yards or so; and a Marlin M60 with no front sight blade for everything else!

Despite the disease and fleas and ticks and horse-crippling holes they caused (horses should be smarter than to step into holes but they aren't), we stopped shooting them when one sunny day we took note, that cutting an adult in half at range sent the young'uns out in harms way - to retrieve the parts of the elders (mom-n-dad?) and drag them back into the holes! We both had the same thought at once. Made it pretty tough to continue that shooting and have fun...

So we switched to Gambel's quail, which run along on the ground in lines. Partner could pick them off, even after taking to flight, with that no-sight Marlin 22. And we got to eat the critters more often than not! A win in my book.