Rough start Friday night traffic, crappy weather, irritable drivers, and anticipation of events to come. Mike was pinching it when he finally arrived and blew past me heading toward the john. A discernibly different person emerged and stated “never again on a Friday night”! Three hours in traffic for an hour drive.
If it wasn’t for you and the RATS I’d have turned around and gone home.
I was really touched but knew he was burning up to test his newest NV toy.
Z-TAC Upgraded PARD NV007 200m Infrared Optic Telescope Hunting Rifle scope
This is the rig Mike used attached to his scope. It works in HD daylight and IR night. Requires a less expensive scope because the coatings on good scope block out too much IR return.
I used his Night Owl and it is lightweight, compact, and handles like a nice little scope. However obviously you need to keep looking thru it to see anything. The on board IR light is a pos and battery drainer so shut it off and use a $16.00 18500 3 volt light and you own the night,
I ran 4 hours on the 4 AA batteries and my separate light and was nowhere near changing the AA's or the 18500. Would carry spares anyway, easy to change in the field.
It does not record only a sight, and works in daylight.
We finally arrived and just a sliver of moon was showing, very dark and getting colder by the minute. Now understand, that temperatures in the 30’s to us old guys in California is sphincter pinching time. We are spoiled and make no excuses. We gathered our guns, gloves, hats, etc. and were ready. Mike said “you get the Ring of Death tonight! “ I was so damn excited I almost peed. I told him I would do the first round and he could take the second round. He wasn’t having any of it. “I have had it the last two times and now it’s your turn.”
He leant me his original NV Night Owl and it was sighted in on my Cricket so with four 14 round mags loaded and in my pocket I’m off. Chair, shooting sticks and determination into the fray.
This should be illegal. It was the stuff horror movies are made of, rats doing double back flips with their skulls cracked, gut shot rat getting a double tap before it makes it to the hole. Moon bathing stupid rat killed on their beach towels, baby rats hiding under concrete roofs with only two eyeballs lit up, staring at the carnage wrought upon their kin only to get turned off by a JSB snaked into the tiny opening and turning off their switch, eyes to slowly go dim and out. Sneaky rat and his brother belly crawling down the row to get some dinner. The smaaack of an 18-grain JSB entering the ear and exiting against the concrete curbing next to their head is addicting. A runner! I love runners. They are real challenge. Get on them lead on the nose smooth trigger pull and pfffft. Empty…. Crap. All four mags are empty… Gotta go get pellets and air. Damn there are bodies everywhere.
I meet Mike at the car and we air up, load mags and chat a minute. I am exhilarated and notice he is subdued. How you doing I inquire, and he says it is really slow. O boy I’m feeling guilty and we discuss switching but he insists. Says he’s going to try down the other end.
Now it has rained a ton over the last week and lots of standing water and getting colder so we both notice that not as many rats out and about. Perhaps it is to cold and wet for California rats and that is making them holdup in their dens. Mike says he has been spotting them sticking their heads out of the holes up on the dike. He’s chuckling about smacking them and then they roll down the hill and can’t make it back to the hole so he can get another shot if need be.
We both head off for another foray into the killing fields. I’m finishing up my 7th magazine and have made some epic shots through three separate chain link fences killing rats on the other side. Catching sneakers that only show the top of the head every few second. And then there are the squealers that Mike hears because he has better hearing then me.
I am surprised when Mike says “Are you about ready to go?” Well he is cold and hasn’t had a great shoot so its time to get warm and have a coffee so we load up. Three hours and somewhere close to 100 plus enemy left on the field.
So your takeaway is this “A hunt is best when shared” Take care of those sacred companions and make sure they know how much they mean to us!
If it wasn’t for you and the RATS I’d have turned around and gone home.
I was really touched but knew he was burning up to test his newest NV toy.
Z-TAC Upgraded PARD NV007 200m Infrared Optic Telescope Hunting Rifle scope
This is the rig Mike used attached to his scope. It works in HD daylight and IR night. Requires a less expensive scope because the coatings on good scope block out too much IR return.
I used his Night Owl and it is lightweight, compact, and handles like a nice little scope. However obviously you need to keep looking thru it to see anything. The on board IR light is a pos and battery drainer so shut it off and use a $16.00 18500 3 volt light and you own the night,
I ran 4 hours on the 4 AA batteries and my separate light and was nowhere near changing the AA's or the 18500. Would carry spares anyway, easy to change in the field.
It does not record only a sight, and works in daylight.
We finally arrived and just a sliver of moon was showing, very dark and getting colder by the minute. Now understand, that temperatures in the 30’s to us old guys in California is sphincter pinching time. We are spoiled and make no excuses. We gathered our guns, gloves, hats, etc. and were ready. Mike said “you get the Ring of Death tonight! “ I was so damn excited I almost peed. I told him I would do the first round and he could take the second round. He wasn’t having any of it. “I have had it the last two times and now it’s your turn.”
He leant me his original NV Night Owl and it was sighted in on my Cricket so with four 14 round mags loaded and in my pocket I’m off. Chair, shooting sticks and determination into the fray.
This should be illegal. It was the stuff horror movies are made of, rats doing double back flips with their skulls cracked, gut shot rat getting a double tap before it makes it to the hole. Moon bathing stupid rat killed on their beach towels, baby rats hiding under concrete roofs with only two eyeballs lit up, staring at the carnage wrought upon their kin only to get turned off by a JSB snaked into the tiny opening and turning off their switch, eyes to slowly go dim and out. Sneaky rat and his brother belly crawling down the row to get some dinner. The smaaack of an 18-grain JSB entering the ear and exiting against the concrete curbing next to their head is addicting. A runner! I love runners. They are real challenge. Get on them lead on the nose smooth trigger pull and pfffft. Empty…. Crap. All four mags are empty… Gotta go get pellets and air. Damn there are bodies everywhere.
I meet Mike at the car and we air up, load mags and chat a minute. I am exhilarated and notice he is subdued. How you doing I inquire, and he says it is really slow. O boy I’m feeling guilty and we discuss switching but he insists. Says he’s going to try down the other end.
Now it has rained a ton over the last week and lots of standing water and getting colder so we both notice that not as many rats out and about. Perhaps it is to cold and wet for California rats and that is making them holdup in their dens. Mike says he has been spotting them sticking their heads out of the holes up on the dike. He’s chuckling about smacking them and then they roll down the hill and can’t make it back to the hole so he can get another shot if need be.
We both head off for another foray into the killing fields. I’m finishing up my 7th magazine and have made some epic shots through three separate chain link fences killing rats on the other side. Catching sneakers that only show the top of the head every few second. And then there are the squealers that Mike hears because he has better hearing then me.
I am surprised when Mike says “Are you about ready to go?” Well he is cold and hasn’t had a great shoot so its time to get warm and have a coffee so we load up. Three hours and somewhere close to 100 plus enemy left on the field.
So your takeaway is this “A hunt is best when shared” Take care of those sacred companions and make sure they know how much they mean to us!
