There are many circumstances that get a dyed in the wool Ground Squirrel Hunter excited!
Among them are the first sightings of Gophers in the spring, the first "good" Gopher shoot, the day of the local Gopher Fest contest, a late spring snow and the resulting opportunity to "paint some snow", the sighting of the first pups of the year, "finding" a new Gopher patch, discovering a new and really accurate Ground Squirrel "getter" and on and on.
But I think my favorite "Gophering Special Occassion" is the first high volume, high quality Hunt I get to go on just after the first cutting of crops in good Ground Squirrel country!
Its been some weeks since I was able to really get excited during a Gopher Hunt! Yesterday broke that mini-run of "slow" Gopher shooting! The grass and various cultivated crops that the Ground Squirrels love to feed on and live in (and under) has just been to deep to enjoy any high volume shooting. Its been Hunt and peck so to speak for the Gophers of late, as the crops have been deeper than the Gophers are tall.
But yesterday I got in on a good old fashioned shoot til your fingers are to sore to continue Varmint Hunting! The grass was short and the pups were nearly full grown AND there were LOTS of them!
I shot several Rifles but the two main rigs were my tried and true Lilja barrelled Ruger 10/22 (22 LR) and my Ruger 77/17 V/T (17 HMR).
We were up early and got to one of our favorite Gophering ranches by 0730 hours. My partner (it never fails to tickle me!) had AGAIN forgotten to load any of his clips prior to our first set up! And instead of being gentlemanly and sporting like I so often do and waiting for him to "load up" - I began hammering Gophers immediately!
Hammering them with GUSTO!
I had 4 or 5 clips unloaded before my ill prepared partner went through his first clip full.
I think maybe he will show up "prepared" for battle from now on!
At most of our stands I finished the shooting at that spot with several clip loads from my Ruger 77/17 in 17 HMR on the longer range Varmints! This cartridge I again profess would be the all time BEST Gopher cartridge for all my needs - if it weren't for the simple fact the ammo is a tad to pricey! If it weren't for the cost of the 17 HMR ammo I would simply use it exclusively and forsake all my 22 LR's, 22 Magnums and various small caliber centerfires for Gophering - forever!
Two Jack Rabbits were accounted for by my 17 HMR as well and a couple of over zealous flying Varmints got to impatient for their chance at some fresh Gopher meat and they fell to some well placed long shots from my XR-100 in 204 Ruger (I know, this isn't fair!).
The day was interspersed with rain squalls and lightning strikes and those were the only occassions when our shooting slowed.
But as soon as the mini storms passed, the Gophers got out after the moist grass with zeal! And we got after them with at least as much intensity!
Finally in the late afternoon we were getting hungry and the storms came more and more often. We were sated anyway and drove back to our valley watching some spectacular lightning and heavy downpours in the mountains and foothills!
I have a decision to make and its gonna be a toughie! This coming Saturday July 1st is the annual Trout Fishing Opener on a huge lake here in SW Montana. I make this opener EVERY year and I have the "drill" there down pat! I caught and released 51 Rainbows last year in half a days fishing (lightning drove us off the lake in the afternoon!) or I can attend the Wisdom, Montana (population 101 people)! This Gunshow is simply one of the best times a person can have at a Gunshow! Yeah I have done Cody, Wyoming and Oklahoma and the Great Western Shows in California and on and on - but none of them compare to the fun one can have in July at the 90 table Wisdom Show! Street dance, outdoor barbecue, Bighole Battlefield nearby, incredible views of several mountain ranges and much more! Its just a great time! Its also in the heart of some splendid Gopher and Badger Hunting! And in addition to those choices the field cutting is going full steam here in SW Montana! A full month (IIRC) ahead of last year! In fact last year many fields did not get their first cutting until after the Ground Squirrels had gone underground for their summer hibernation (Estivation) and I got no Gophering done after the first cutting last year. The Ground Squirrels start this estivation about August 5th - 10th and no more Gophering til the next spring! Thats a long time to be "without" Gophers! Its natures way - so what can I do?
The spring and winter moisture was much closer to normal this year and the results were a splendid time afield in the fresh cut wonderful smelling fields! The Gophers will be down in about 35 days here and I am in the mood to do some more Varminting near my home. Decisions, decisions - Montana style!
Long live Montana!
long live Varminting!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Oh shit I forgot the Wisdom gun show is this weekend!! You are right that is a great time. I was up to Wisdon/Jackson last weekend and it was great. The hills still had snow up high and the valleys were bright green and the sky was deep blue and we were catching fish... It really don't get any better.... It sounds like a good excuse to make the drive again this weekend gunshow and fishing... Hummmm maybe it does get better than last weekend...
Russ