Here in this part of the world each spring with the green grass comes gopher season.
It has been said the official opening is Feb 2. Usually about 3 weeks later the first few can be spotted.
It wasn't his shadow that scared him back down the hole!
What we call gophers are just ground squirrels. They look like a prarie dog (who are also ground squirrels) but smaller.
Not to many years ago when a farmer caught me at miday in his hay field he would hurry out to give me another box of hollow points.
Now with so much compitition it takes some effort to devolop a relationship with ranch managers in order to get permission to work good spots.
I have spent many days out walking, wearing camo shooting jacket with loop sling on a 10-22. Many other gopher shooters wil not leave the truck, gotta have that adjustable rifle rest that moves up and down by cranking the handle on the door.
I got crazy a couple years ago and bought a 17M2, my buddy bought a 17HMR the same season, but the price of ammo put a crimp in our shooting. The lowly bulk pack HPs do a good job at 1/5 to 1/10 the price.
The best gopher shooting is months away right now, but it won't be long before I take a bulk pack and shove about a quarter of it in each of all four pockets. And hike green hilly pastures, with fequent stops to lay on the ground shooting as the sun warms my back. You know it's time to start working back to the car when the front pockets are empty.
It has been said the official opening is Feb 2. Usually about 3 weeks later the first few can be spotted.
It wasn't his shadow that scared him back down the hole!
What we call gophers are just ground squirrels. They look like a prarie dog (who are also ground squirrels) but smaller.
Not to many years ago when a farmer caught me at miday in his hay field he would hurry out to give me another box of hollow points.
Now with so much compitition it takes some effort to devolop a relationship with ranch managers in order to get permission to work good spots.
I have spent many days out walking, wearing camo shooting jacket with loop sling on a 10-22. Many other gopher shooters wil not leave the truck, gotta have that adjustable rifle rest that moves up and down by cranking the handle on the door.
I got crazy a couple years ago and bought a 17M2, my buddy bought a 17HMR the same season, but the price of ammo put a crimp in our shooting. The lowly bulk pack HPs do a good job at 1/5 to 1/10 the price.
The best gopher shooting is months away right now, but it won't be long before I take a bulk pack and shove about a quarter of it in each of all four pockets. And hike green hilly pastures, with fequent stops to lay on the ground shooting as the sun warms my back. You know it's time to start working back to the car when the front pockets are empty.
