Hmmmmmmm Varmit Hunting!!! Ihope a I posted this on the right forum...



lol

Oneshot_onekill: Now you have me laughing at genuinely funny stuff!
Thanks for that.
I thought we were going to get a Varmint Shooter vs. BR shooter feud fest going and you were just funnin me!
As soon as this rain stops and the side roads dry out I am gonna take my 204's and go see if I can POSSIBLY kill a Varmint with them?
Even though they are not 600 yard prone type Rifles or BR type Rifles I feel compelled to try to duplicate the amazing performance on Varmints they have given me for going on two full years now! I mean I am beginning to doubt my abilities based on recent rantings by the target (match) shooting types!
I mean I even have high power scopes on my 204's and they shoot really flat and they shoot real straight and they don't over heat my barrels and they don't recoil much so I can see where I hit and the bullets are going so fast they are bound to be lethal on Varmints - YET - with all the 204 naysayers and their vast amounts of hands on experience completely lacking - I, I, I.... I am just not sure if I can still KILL A VARMINT with any of my 204's anymore??? Whats a Varmint Hunter to do with all these target shooter types talking down on us?
Woe is me.

There, I hope I made you laugh!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

LOL, I have been laughing for a while now... This is afterall the Varmint Hunting forum. What I find funny is how the topic thread gets from point A to Z when the intent is to go from A-B.

lol

Nothing wrong with benchrest shooting. Nothing wrong with varmit shootin. Hell at least we are shooting...or discussing it...

But I always check the forum topic and the thread topic before I post.

VG Quit complaining!! In the last week we got 12" of SNOW so I have to wait for the snow to melt and then for everything to dry out before I can go find some pesky varmits.

I have to get out tomorrow, they're predicting rain here from Monday through next weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by VarmintGuy:
As soon as this rain stops and the side roads dry out I am gonna take my 204's and go see if I can POSSIBLY kill a Varmint with them?

Even though they are not 600 yard prone type Rifles or BR type Rifles I feel compelled to try to duplicate the amazing performance on Varmints they have given me for going on two full years now! I mean I am beginning to doubt my abilities based on recent rantings by the target (match) shooting types!

I mean I even have high power scopes on my 204's and they shoot really flat and they shoot real straight and they don't over heat my barrels and they don't recoil much so I can see where I hit and the bullets are going so fast they are bound to be lethal on Varmints - YET - with all the 204 naysayers and their vast amounts of hands on experience completely lacking - I, I, I.... I am just not sure if I can still KILL A VARMINT with any of my 204's anymore??? Whats a Varmint Hunter to do with all these target shooter types talking down on us?
Woe is me.

There, I hope I made you laugh!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

.204's can't possibly work as you say. If they were any good they would be used in 1000 yard competitions...
Now the .233, THAT'S a cartridge...

Give me a break.

Good laugh, VarmintGuy.

---Mike

Varmints, small game, hogs, whitetails, mulies, elk, paper, metallic silhouettes - - - as long as I'm turning gunpowder into sound, it is all just right.

Hey guys I did some benchrest(hard tonneau cover and sandbags) varmit shooting saturday!

Shot six crows and missed one yote....He was moving to fast for benchrest shooting, distance was about right though. about 400 yards..Couldn't get him in me scope before he got into the brush... One of those missed opportunities you know. I hate it when that happens...Hell I had yote fever....lol

At least I got my gun off!!! lol

Oneshot_onekill: That tonneau cover I bet makes a quickly accessible and a steady (firm) shooting platform!
What do you use for Rifle support between the tonneau cover and the Rifle for support? Harris Bi-pod? Sand bags?
I have a similar "vantage point" I often shoot from for Prairie Dogs, Rock Chucks and Ground Squirrels.
I have a cab high Snugtop Canopy on my VarmintMobile pickup truck (Dodge 3/4 ton Diesel 4x4). I let down the tailgate of the VarmintMobile and then place my various sand bags on the top of the canopy. I stand on the tailgate and lean forward a bit to rest on the canopies roof.
I am able to lean forward and into the canopies door (window/gate) and I can assume a VERY steady standing/leaning stance for my Colony Varmint shooting.
I have several of the large "X" style sandbags and the canopy supports them (and me to a certain extent) along with my Rifle and gear.
I often use a Darrell Holland type toe of stock support bag as well.
This shooting position allows me to shoot in an arc of about 140 degrees.
Steady platform this, and like you, all you have to do to get shooting is place the sandbags and the gear and start shooting. About 25 to 35 seconds and I can get a steady shot off if the Varmints hold still.

Dustoffer: You are quite correct there with your "any trigger time is great trigger time" philosophy!

Flippy: One of these days I may just have to try my 204 at 1,000 yards! I have two 1,000 yard ranges available to me. I made one with my Elk Hunting partner and the other was made by a friend who is heavy into 1,000 BR shooting.
I have no idea what the smallish projectiles from a 204 would be doing out there at that extended range but it would be interesting to see if they were keyholing or what ever?
But I can tell you first hand that the 204 Ruger cartridge is a splendid, accurate and flat shooting round that can easily and effectively perform 99% of the duties Varminters everywhere need done at normal ranges!

Fjold: I see that California is getting hammered some more with rain!
Sheesh!
When is it gonna quit!
I went out "Gophering" yesterday and when done I had to spend $5.00 in quarters at the car wash, to get the in places, two inch deep mud off of the VarmintMobile!
Patience I keep telling myself!
Soon I will be cursing the dust!

MtEkHunter: Be sure and take your BIG Varmint Rifle along when you get out next as I suspect the spring Bears will be out soon along with the Rock Chucks and the Ground Squirrels!
Good luck when you get out.
12" of spring snow - thats gonna muddy some waters!

The BR types give the Varmint Rifle types the gears fairly often so I hope they can take some of these gentle digs without to much offense.

Long live the BR boys!

Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG already do that. Bear season opens Saturday and I allways have the problem of what to do. Bears or varmints? What usually happens is I will be out looking for a bear and find a nice fat chuck and have to decide if I want to shoot the chuck and risk spooking any bears or to leave the chuck alone and hopefully find a bear. Depending on my mood sometimes the chuck lives and sometime he doesn't. I have to admit though that a 338 does a wonderful job on a chuck!

Vg, you asked what do I use for support on the tonneau cover...Well it depends. If I am in a big hurry, usually shoot freehand.. Just a normal hurry, my arm works well enough, and if I have time, I have several sandbags that make for a solid rest to blast whatever vermin might be in my line of sight....Usually two in the rear and one large one in the front. Made this large one myself as I couldn't find one already made to meet my needs... I am seriosly thinking about mounting the large one to my tonneau cover...lol Do you think that would be a little suspicious? I have a truck gun with a small sandbag taped to the rear bottom of the stock. If the large bag was already on the tonneau cover I could hop out and be ready to squeeze a round off within a couple of seconds... Sometimes you have to very quick for certain vermin.

By the way the tonneau cover is about the right height. I can stand on the ground beside the truck and it makes a great shooting rest...When I go for a p-dog shoot I have a barstool I take along. I can sit and shoot,eat and drink, right off the tonneau cover... Works really well for me...Onlt 50 days till the 3 day p-dag safari. Hell might even blast one of them there were-jackrabbits.

MtElkHunter: The most powerful Rifle I have used to take the occassional Varmint with was a 7mm Rem. Mag.!
I am a tad recoil shy and really don't enjoy using the big boomers on Varmints!
Good luck on the Spring Bears! I saw 7 or 8 Blackies last spring.

Oneshot_onekill: Sheesh there man - take another day on each end of what you have planned and make it a 5 day safari!
Naw.. I don't want you to get in trouble at work or at home by extending your planned Hunt.
Best of luck on the Prairie Dogs and the Jack Rabbits!
Here in the Rocky Mountains (and on the high plains just east of here) the Rabbits have obviously been on the high end of their population cycle last year and this.
I normally don't get after the Rabbits with much gusto but in the last couple of years there have been so many that I indeed did partake and I had some good shoots on them.
We have three species of Rabbits here in Montana that are considered Varmints - Snowshoe Hares, Jack Rabbits and Cottontailed Rabbits. We can Hunt them year round and at night.
There is a Pygmy Cottontail Rabbit that is protected here though and that is another reason I don't bonk the Cottontails to often!
At long range I am sure I could not tell a Pygmy Cottontail from a regular (and very abundant) regular Cottontail Rabbit.
Best of luck on the upcoming Safari!
I can just see you eating cheese and crackers off of your tonneau cover while you are sipping some ice tea and sitting on your bar stool whacking away at PD's!
The two Fox that took up residence (are denning) 120 yards from my house have wiped out the Cottontails and Jack Rabbits in my neighborhood!
I would usually see five or eight Cottontails in my yard every day and a Jack now and then. Once the Fox came I have not seen a one!
Nature!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG and others, That tonneou cover I'm sure works quite well with an UNCLE BUDS bag(15" or the 9.5" model) sitting there to support the varminter!! Their new "Pro Series" bag is undoubedly spendid!! It's twice the height of the original UNCLE BUDS bags!! Making it much friendlier for bench use I may add!!
On a varmint setup with the GHD varmintmobile, there will be the tripod rest set up(Surveyors tripod with an attachment to hold a rifle instead of a transit!!) that is absolutely stiff and ridicoulously adjustable(infinite horizontal or vertical with uncanny speed!!!)(Pics if y'all PM me) There will usually be at least one rifle across the hood in an UB bag! One rifle on the cab of the truck(shooter stands in bed of truck!) and usually one rifle on a Harris Bi-pod on the lowered truck tailgate!! All angles covered by the arsenal!! Bout like the artillery sub-bases in NAM!!! GHD

quote:

Originally posted by Oneshot_onekill:
....He was moving to fast for benchrest shooting, distance was about right though. about 400 yards...

400 yards.

So how many "come ups" was that?

(Purely for Drivers' information)

Very seldom does a yote just "come up"!!!! I was driving down a dirt road about 25 mph and seen the yote at a dead run, not a "come up". Had to stop quick, bail out with gun in hand, as the yote was on the passenger side of the truck and try and find him in the scope...by the time this was all done he was in the brush...Of course me slamming on the brakes didn't slow him down either...lol such is life.

Again this is varmit hunting not benchrest!!! FYI This is Two different worlds. LOL

Cheers