[CJ in Wy]

Holiday vacation for the rugrat...I mean the young lady of the house so we went prairie doggin.My 13year old daughter thinks prairie dogs are too cute to shoot and the little buggers are REAL spookie this time of year.Need to fix the exhaust on truck too as it makes way too much noise for effective driveby shooting.
No problem!! RABBITS IS STUPID and plentiful She wasn't too impressed with shooting the cute little bunny rabbits either but got used to it.
Got the first one with the little Winchester22lr,its got an old Weaver fine dot 3-9 on it that works good for anything stupid enough to be within 100yards and this one was.

Had some different shells to try out for the 17HMR,Amanda had fun getting use to the Winchester.When I went to sighting in the new 223AI barrel for the Savage(it shoots good but feeds BAD) she gave the 17HMR a try and got one.We ended up with a couple of prairie dogs and a few rabbits for the pot,Moma wasnt too impressed with cooking rabbit but thats whats fer supper tomarrow night!

Was gona stick around and try to call a coyote but Amanda had skating @ 5AM this morning and we were both a little tired after all that fresh air.Leg did alright today but the shoulder is like trying to learn to shoot all over again.
Luckily that storm that dumped on Denver missed us completely=it was sunny all day today.The brother in law who lives in Aurora wasn't so lucky,better him than me.Pic is of their dog trying to get through the new snow.Their still digging out.

 

[MtBill]

Great job on the bunnies, Cliffy..Fried cottontail is fantastic! Friend's shelterbelt is overrun with them. Asked if the son-in-law & I would thin them out. Dirty job, but we accepted. Will get out there in Jan. Warm up the HMRs & get a few suppers as a bonus. Keep that young lady shootin'.......Bill

 

[Snake River Marksman]

Way to go CJ and Amanda

You should try hunting the washes on that public land over off of Hat Six road. When I was hunting antelope over there there were tons of them rabbits.

 

[CJ in Wy]

Hat Six road

Near as I can tell it must be a great rabbit year...they are thick everywhere I'v ben!
I stumbled on to that road many years ago.Cliff in La,Grant and I shot that area back when the dogtown was only a few acers.As it happens I had to do an arend in that dirrection yesterday anyway so thats exactly where Amanda and I were.Its a good area that gets hunted a lot,was surprized there was not more traffic on the snow then there was.Didnt look like it had ben shot in a while?
Pic is not very good but is Cliff makeing full use of what he has along!

 

[Snake River Marksman]

There were quite a few PDs in the area when I was there in September, but they were pretty skittish. At least right up next to the road. Back off the road, over on the McMurray side, they weren't as plentiful, but they weren't spooky either.

 

[Paul Workman]

Good you could get out, buddy!

It was good to see you and Amanda getting out for a little hunting. Flied labbitz iz good eatin''!! Amanda's reluctance to shoot them cute PDs was shared by my Ami that year we met you in SD. But, as we drove up to that gate that opens up to the south pastures, it was like the ground was covered with a furry carpet that was moving! When she saw that, she looked at me and said, "Oh! These buggers have GOT to be dealt with or there will be no pasture left!!" I told her that was the whole point. (If you recall, we set up a bench at the edge of camp, facing the west, and shot for two days and never had to leave camp!)

She was shooting my old favorite PD load; 26.x N133 over 50 V-max moly and a 205m. It turns out that load will stay well w/in and inch at 200 yards (from her 9 twist, Savage 12BVSS).

But, anywayz...By the end of the trip, Ami was doing her own ranging, doping the wind and cranking in corrections to the Leupold EW knobs and getting a high percentage of "one shot, one kill" shots. So, I hope your shooting pardner gets some more trigger time - get the hook set, so to speak! And, I hope your shoulder continues to mend!

Thanks for taking us along and thanks for the pix!!

P.

 

[CJ in Wy]

Not much for color this time of year.

When we first got to the town she was wondering what we were there for.This time of year is real bland,its hard to see anything that is not moving till you reset your eyes for it.It didn't take Amanda long to see that we were not gona put a dent in the population! Saw a lot of deer on our way out!

Ya I got a kick out of the Paul and Ami Sniper Team! Set up a canopy,benches and range dogs,dial the scope and send them flying from the same spot all week.Thats whats so great about that town,you can shoot it in a lot of different ways and share a few different styles of get-r-done.
The Hat Six town has links to that town in S Dakota.Ya see that first year I met Cliff and Grant we wanted to get into the Shirley basin but fires in the Mountain made the shortcut impossible.We ended up camping and shooting this Hat six town before meeting the GGVG guys up north of Devils Tower.The next year we met up again and found that closer town in S Dakota.Have met a lot of good people from the board from that first trip out with Cliff and Grant.Ben fun watching Grant grow up,his enthusiasm for shooting and keeping Cliff on his toes is inspiring.Sorry i missed last year and hope to make it for next.
Funny what a small world it gets to be sometimes. I moved to Casper within a couple of miles of that town not even realizing it till we drove past it on a trip to Denver.S R M moves from way back east to the opposite side of the state but still knows and hunts this area,be an honor to meet him someday too.

 

[Paul Workman]

Ya I got a kick out of the Paul and Ami Sniper Team! Set up a canopy,benches and range dogs,dial the scope and send them flying from the same spot all week.Thats whats so great about that town,you can shoot it in a lot of different ways and share a few different styles of get-r-done.

Yep! PDs are my favorite varmint b/c there are so many ways to "git r done"! I never tried "drive by" shooting before. I used my T/C - Bullberry in 17M4 with a stiff load of H335 under a Starke 20. (I used up all those bullets, so I guess I'll have to find another my rifle will like as well...More drive-by is definately in the works for next spring!!)

And, the AR was a real interesting "new" way to dispatch PDs. (I've had the AR for prolly 5 years, and last spring was it's first trip to a PD patch!). So often in the spring you get multiples of PDs on a single mound - like bowling pins (the "Brady Bunch" as my bros call em). Putting the AR's crosshairs on the lead "pin" and squeezing off the first round, and then pouring it on what is left in the confusion...the mound erupts into a cloud of dust and gore, filling the air with POP-WHOP-WHOP-WHOP-POP! and then a hot lunch is laid out for the birds of prey.

Last year Rick did all the cookin. I think he suggested he would do the same next spring too, tho not for the same reason as stated last year. (It seems Mike Jones and Grant killed a couple buzztails and cooked 'em up. For some strange reason, Rick wouldn't eat any - and missed a real treat, as it turned out. In any case, I think he now wants to control what goes into his food all the more - less somehow some more RS makes it into the stew pot!)

(Dang!! I wonder how that could happen??? )

In any case, I'm looking forward to next spring. And, something new to PD camp is the possibility of baggin' another rattler or two to fillet, roll in some seasoned flower and into a little oil in a skillet..."Rattle strips!"...Good eatin!!

P.

 

[Lucky Shooter]

Good to see you out and at it agan CJ

You're a hard dog to keep under the porch.

A. Weldy

 

[Snake River Marksman]

CJ,
My first PD trip was in 1993 to Casper. I'm having trouble with the name of the ranch B Brooks cattle and sheep maybe. Anyways, it was up on Orm(?) Rd north of town a tad.
My brother had some frequent flier miles that were gonna expire. Nobody else wanted them so I planned the trip. Came all the way out here with a 22lr and a 22mag. Shot for 3 days and then flew home. I understand they sold that ranch (or at least most of it) and are building houses. It's the way of the west, I suppose.

 

[Don M.]

Thanks C.J. ! ! ! !

Thanks C.J. for the great hunting story, great pictures, and are you
ever blessed with a very beautiful daughter ! C.J. you better get a
good supply of brooms to run the boys off, cause you are gonna
them before long ! Happy Holidays ! ! !

Don M.

 

[CJ in Wy]

Brooms???

Brooms ............................I dont need no stinkin brooms!

Coarse this was before I gained #30(of fat not muscle),sold the 50BMG that the bandoleer shells went to,sold the 375-50BMG in the pic,before my hair started graying and lost most of the use of my right arm.I got a cane now though..........and I'm gettin good at using it???????????????????????????Putting brooms on the shopping list just in case

Your right Don,I am very blessed! Her health has improved a lot since the move to Wy.Hard to get used to her growing up so fast,more important than ever to spend time with her.She wasn't real thrilled to go but we sure had a great time,she asked if we could do it again

Snake River Marksman,Yep we sure could have bought property a whole lot cheaper back than!! Not only out here though.The 225 acer dairy farm I grew up on and owned for a while is now owned by a dozen people,luckily I kept 40 acres of it just in case.

Good analogy Lucky Shooter! Dad repeatedly kickt it into me "CANT DON'T LIVE HERE" Staying under the porch is not an option!!

Paul Bought me a pair of snake boots for the trip 2 years ago,they really work, I stepped on one This has ben the first year I ain't tangled with a rattler for many years,not sorry I missed the snake one bit!! it would have ben fun to watch everyones reaction though LOL. Gota watch that area as I have NEVER seen snakes so thick!! Looking forward to spending some time with the GGVG gang again this spring myself,always a good time!!