Apocalypse Ranch Ground Squirrel Hunt (pictorial)

For this trip I headed out to large property to spend three days filming for a few various projects I have going on for work. This trip was not planned for hunting but I did have several hours to spend hunting the many ground squirrels moving about on this location. This ranch has been long abandoned since the mid 1950's and definitely showed with the old buildings and leftover farm relics. The main feature to this ranch was a large metal garage type structure that was most likely used to store a tractor and other equipment.

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Before I left for this trip I quickly packed the RTI Arms Prophet that I have in .30 caliber along with a Hawke Frontier scope as well as my Tactacam FTS unit. Before getting out to hunt I did a walk around the property to do some film work with the Tacatacam Spotter LR that's essentially a camera that mounts to a spotting scope.

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The unit is capable of some pretty impressive video quality and works well for the application I will be soon showcasing in a few upcoming videos. During my work I was able to spot quite a few ground squirrels around this property that would give me a nice advantage when I got out to hunt. Before setting out on foot I took some time to get my scope dialed in and to practice a but with the RTI at 75 yards. In a hurry I had forgotten to pack my 0dB moderator that would have been a nice edition to my hunting kit.

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For this trip I would be using the JSB 50gr that have worked really well out of this gun and considering how windy it was I think was a good choice. I went through a few magazines of practice on my metal spinner that gave me a good opportunity to familiarize myself with the brutal winds that come through on the regular.

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After getting everything dialed in Marley was starting to get a bit impatient to head out and do some hunting in this very apocalyptic setting.

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We headed down along this fence that bordered a few large fields that were hotspots for many of these ground squirrels. They typically like to burrow in and around buildings, watering troughs, fences and any other type of structures.

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First one down with a headshot at 65 yards TWAAACK!!!

Most of the ground squirrels were all within 100 yards with a few out as far as 130+ with the wind making some of the shots far from easy, even with a heavy caliber gun.

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The action was fairly nonstop for the first hour where I believe I took down somewhere near 30 of them.

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A few of the Ground Squirrels were real acrobats, especially some of the longer range ones I took. As the rattlesnakes are out and about I didn't let Marley have much recovery in as it's much to dangerous. We did have a nice successful day and I was very pleased with how the Prophet performed for me out in the field, it really is a neat gun despite my thoughts on the magazine. I hope some may enjoy the enclosed video of this day that I tried to film a bit more creative than normal, some artistic flavor to it. Cheers

 
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Nice Dana! The quintessential California ranch property. Whereabouts (not asking you to divulge exact location, just curious)? Thanks for the video.

Thanks, I learned a long time ago to never discuss locations even in a vague way. Nothing personal, let's just say a few members of the forum like to follow a bit to closely.
 
Thanks, I learned a long time ago to never discuss locations even in a vague way. Nothing personal, let's just say a few members of the forum like to follow a bit to closely.

+1

Thanks for sharing, and I really like the artistic and creative style you infused into this one.

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Great job man, I like the video style! Great writup as always! Don’t blame you for not divulging any info on location. Between the excellent video and photography it would be easy to find, even if narrowed down to a county, with the use of satellite maps. Great job!

Beau

Thanks, don't think the landowner would approve but best of luck. Better to use a satellite map to find your own stomping grounds. Cheers 
 
I was saying if you narrowed it down to an area that could be searched, people could search for it on satellite maps. Not that “I” could search and go find it. Backcountry hunters are dealing with this in a major way from photos taken in the backcountry, mainly on public land. Anyway have a good one, great job.

Yes social media can sometimes bring problems like that. I try not to show enough details in my post to encourage others to seek out these spots. Some people are simply lazy and won't do the footwork to find suitable hunting spots for themselves. A perfect example of my own mistake was to disclose one of my local areas to a well known person in the community...the next thing I know this guy's throwing a party and even going as far to posting a map. Lol You can say I'm still a little bitter about the whole thing and do get defensive. Appreciate the comment and cheers to you. 
 
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Great post, I love the pictures that show the action that you’ve obviously captured through your scope.

I’m trying to work with my dog Penny on sitting next to me when I shoot, based on your pictures. It’s hard because she’s used to hunting pheasants.

mike

Thanks, best advice I can give you is to keep her on a leash if she tends to sprint off after taking a shot. I had to teach Marley not to go unless I say so, they learn pretty quickly with positive motivation. During rattlesnake season it's especially important for me to keep tabs on where she goes. I usually don't run her in the summer months.
 
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