Was hoping you could educate me up on sage rat hunting.
It this something typically done with a guide? If so, do you have any recommendations? If guided, is it already to late this year?
Can you get away with DIY public land? I’m not asking for specific spots. Father-in-law lives in Redmond and there is a bunch of BLM land out there so just curious if that could work.
Just purchased a 17 hmr with 550 rounds and got her sighted in. Also have a Ruger 10/22.
Hunting buddy’s and I are mainly looking at it as the halfway point for Deer/Elk season so it would be nice to get out there and have a little hunting camp for sage rats. Maybe do a little fishing as well.
generally speaking, you pay a trespass fee to the ranchers. there are some on public, but the ag fields concentrate them to unnatural numbers, which is what you want. my BIL has a bunch of land by Burns where i shoot, but i know most ranchers let people shoot for a trespass fee. there are guided deals too, but i don't think it's necessary, just hunt down a rancher pay him the trespass fee, and ask lots of questions on "do's and don't's" if you go drive out in the middle of their pivot and tear it up, you probably won't be invited back... be respectful and build a relationship, maybe even offer to help through the year, and you can probably find a place to shoot for free as much as you want. 550 rounds is realistically 2 mornings of prime time shooting, so keep stocking up if you plan to do it.
i generally shoot my 17 for a couple hours when it's full throttle shooting, then i shoot them with my bow around the edges until i'm sick of shooting... you don't want to shoot a bow out in the field, because you have to walk out and grab your arrows, and they don't want people walking through their fields... for good reason.
just be respectful, and understand those fields are their livelihoods, not just a sage rat hot spot... Easter until the crop gets tall enough to hide them is the best time to shoot, then again after the first cutting, but at that point, it generally is only good early, because it starts getting hot. you are trying to do your best to impact the population, kill as many as possible, so i generally pack a 12ga too, and around the edges, when there are 3-6 poking out of the same mound, whack them all... might sound a little brutal but that's why you're there.
i have helped drown them before, water trucks, put fire hoses in the holes, and a pack of aussies waiting for them to come out of the holes, they run over, kill them, and back to waiting for the next ones.... the ranchers want the rats dead, they like people who are good at killing them