One of our fellow members, Mark (Napairgunner) has been a dedicated ground squirrel hunter for years. We have become fast friends over the past two or so of those years and during this time he has attempted to get me out in the wilderness. I have always secretly questioned his motives. We live around 5 hours apart. He began looking for places we could hunt together somewhere in between. Somehow, he came across a 4,000 acre private ranch right in the middle. He contacted the owner and planned a day we and another friend of his would be able to go. All was set, unfortunately, COVID prevented me from attending. He went with his buddy we will call Brad Pitt. We keep Brad's identity secret due to his profession. It is rumored that he is the only living individual who knows the ingredients of WD 1 through 39. He will neither confirm nor deny. They had a great time, and Mark was more determined than ever to get me out hunting these California Ground squirrels.
Fast forward to last weekend and I was finally able to go. Fellow member Dennis (DHC) came along to serve as my bodyguard.
WOW! just WOW!
I immediately realized how much I had to learn. Everything from the proper equipment, to new hunting tactics, to the problems these squirrels cause.
Let’s look at these concerns in reverse order:
First, these are not the cute and cuddly grey squirrels I am used to seeing, let’s be honest, these are fancy rats and barely fancy. They create burrows that uproot trees, dig holes that are dangerous to livestock, and destroy vehicle wiring. They also get into, under, and around any standing structure man attempts to erect.
Second, I assumed from the 2-1/2 minutes of Googlry I had conducted that most shots would be around 25 yards or so. This may be the case in many urban back yards but in 4,000 acres of mostly open spaces, they could hide in plain sight anytime they choose. Most shots were in the 60 to 70 yard range. I may not have shot a single one without the help of Mark and our guide Dean who could both find our quarry not only from great distance but were also able to spot brown on brown on brown. They would smoke us all at Where’s Waldo!
There were several unintentional condominiums that were seemingly built for the specific purpose of breeding these lil beasties.
Third, I have been shooting almost exclusively from a bench for the past couple of years and certainly misjudged the more dynamic needs of hunting this fancyrat. Fellow AGN member Dennis (DHC) and I showed up with 5 SCBA bottles, chronographs, shooting mats, tools, you name it. We were more prepared for EBR or RMAC than we were for a walk in the woods. In short order we were given folding chairs and shooting off of tripods. As it turns out, a tin of ammo will do nicely for an all day hunt. You don’t actually need a sleeve of each of your top ten favorite pellets. My beloved 10-50 Sightron SIII was not the best choice either. Sure, I could see if the squirrel had ticks, but it doesn’t help if you can’t find them while you are scanning the area he USED t be in! Great lessons learned.
The group consisted of Mark, Dean, Myself, Dennis, Brad, and Greg. It was a great mixture of personalities and skills. Dean is the designated guide and spotter. Brad Pitt is the accomplished shooter with tremendous skill. Mark is the squirrel hunter extraordinaire. Dennis is the patient sniper, Greg was the newbie recently introduced to adult airguns, and I am the loud kid excited to be at Disneyland. During our many calls over the past year or so, Mark has been talking about formalizing the efforts and had named our island of misfit toys the “Silent Response Group” or SRG. As with anything he does, Mark took it to the next level and created a logo which features a “pin dropping” and pellets at all 4 compass points. He then had these logos embroidered onto shirts and presented them to us on the first evening.
Speaking of Disneyland…
This place is epic! Camping it is not. There was a lodge, better equipped than my house and the property is not only vast but breathtaking. They have cattle and hunt several large species including pig, bear, dear, and elk.
The lodge is great,
It has it's own range with steel targets out to 1,000 yards.
The elk are majestic.
Once we were sighted in and got things going, the vermin had no chance.
Over the course of the weekend 216 squirrels were cleared from the ranch.
If there were trophies to award, everyone would have got one. Awards include:
First kill - Lewis (At the 100 yard line of the range during sight in, poor choice of lookout point by the squirrel)
Most killed by one person - Mark (More than 50!)
Longest distance kill - Lewis (150 yards with witnesses, even though a lot of luck was involved)
Most recovered squirrels - Greg (He was diligent in capturing his game)
Best action shooter - Brad Pitt (Nailed many on the run or while others were still trying to get sights on them)
Most spectacular - Dennis (2 of the ones he shot with his .30 cal impact shot several feet into the air)
Trickshot - Dennis (While I was aiming at one in a tree, he shot and missed one on a nearby log. His miss ricocheted and nailed the one I was aiming at and stoned him on the spot!)
I can already predict this will be an annual pilgrimage as everyone had a literal blast!
Fast forward to last weekend and I was finally able to go. Fellow member Dennis (DHC) came along to serve as my bodyguard.
WOW! just WOW!
I immediately realized how much I had to learn. Everything from the proper equipment, to new hunting tactics, to the problems these squirrels cause.
Let’s look at these concerns in reverse order:
First, these are not the cute and cuddly grey squirrels I am used to seeing, let’s be honest, these are fancy rats and barely fancy. They create burrows that uproot trees, dig holes that are dangerous to livestock, and destroy vehicle wiring. They also get into, under, and around any standing structure man attempts to erect.
Second, I assumed from the 2-1/2 minutes of Googlry I had conducted that most shots would be around 25 yards or so. This may be the case in many urban back yards but in 4,000 acres of mostly open spaces, they could hide in plain sight anytime they choose. Most shots were in the 60 to 70 yard range. I may not have shot a single one without the help of Mark and our guide Dean who could both find our quarry not only from great distance but were also able to spot brown on brown on brown. They would smoke us all at Where’s Waldo!
There were several unintentional condominiums that were seemingly built for the specific purpose of breeding these lil beasties.
Third, I have been shooting almost exclusively from a bench for the past couple of years and certainly misjudged the more dynamic needs of hunting this fancyrat. Fellow AGN member Dennis (DHC) and I showed up with 5 SCBA bottles, chronographs, shooting mats, tools, you name it. We were more prepared for EBR or RMAC than we were for a walk in the woods. In short order we were given folding chairs and shooting off of tripods. As it turns out, a tin of ammo will do nicely for an all day hunt. You don’t actually need a sleeve of each of your top ten favorite pellets. My beloved 10-50 Sightron SIII was not the best choice either. Sure, I could see if the squirrel had ticks, but it doesn’t help if you can’t find them while you are scanning the area he USED t be in! Great lessons learned.
The group consisted of Mark, Dean, Myself, Dennis, Brad, and Greg. It was a great mixture of personalities and skills. Dean is the designated guide and spotter. Brad Pitt is the accomplished shooter with tremendous skill. Mark is the squirrel hunter extraordinaire. Dennis is the patient sniper, Greg was the newbie recently introduced to adult airguns, and I am the loud kid excited to be at Disneyland. During our many calls over the past year or so, Mark has been talking about formalizing the efforts and had named our island of misfit toys the “Silent Response Group” or SRG. As with anything he does, Mark took it to the next level and created a logo which features a “pin dropping” and pellets at all 4 compass points. He then had these logos embroidered onto shirts and presented them to us on the first evening.
Speaking of Disneyland…
This place is epic! Camping it is not. There was a lodge, better equipped than my house and the property is not only vast but breathtaking. They have cattle and hunt several large species including pig, bear, dear, and elk.
The lodge is great,
It has it's own range with steel targets out to 1,000 yards.
The elk are majestic.
Once we were sighted in and got things going, the vermin had no chance.
Over the course of the weekend 216 squirrels were cleared from the ranch.
If there were trophies to award, everyone would have got one. Awards include:
First kill - Lewis (At the 100 yard line of the range during sight in, poor choice of lookout point by the squirrel)
Most killed by one person - Mark (More than 50!)
Longest distance kill - Lewis (150 yards with witnesses, even though a lot of luck was involved)
Most recovered squirrels - Greg (He was diligent in capturing his game)
Best action shooter - Brad Pitt (Nailed many on the run or while others were still trying to get sights on them)
Most spectacular - Dennis (2 of the ones he shot with his .30 cal impact shot several feet into the air)
Trickshot - Dennis (While I was aiming at one in a tree, he shot and missed one on a nearby log. His miss ricocheted and nailed the one I was aiming at and stoned him on the spot!)
I can already predict this will be an annual pilgrimage as everyone had a literal blast!
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