2018 Trip #4, May 7, One day trip

2018 Trip #4

2018 Trip #4, May 7, One day trip, Tom Fisher and myself

Out for a one day trip to scout and do some shooting in Central Colorado.  One rancher said he still had lots of dogs, NOT!!  We drove all over the area that I’d shot thousands of dogs on over the years, NOTHING.  The plague has hit hard in Colorado in general.  When that happens the ranchers do poisoning on top of that to get rid of as many as they can for as long as they can, I don’t blame them.  Usually in a few years the prairie dogs will be back if they’re left alone.  Now days with the cost of poison ranchers will let them go and not stay on top of them, they come back sooner. 

The weather wasn’t the greatest.  We’re having a wet, cool spring this year.  It’s been hard to get two or three good days in a row to do much shooting.  High wind and overcast sky keep the prairie dogs down in their holes.   Not good in many ways, grass grows tall and green.  Then June comes along and it all dies and turns into fire fuel.  Several fires have started already, over 416.  That was two weeks ago and the 416 th is still burning in Southern Colorado; going to be a bad fire Summer.  Some ranchers don’t want me on their land, and a lot of times I won’t go, because of the fire danger.

I shot my Rem 700 in 223 AI this trip, the wind was at times over 25 mph.  By the time we search the first ranch and drove 40 miles to the second ranch we didn’t have much shooting time.  Only about two good hours on the three small towns the second rancher had.  Some pups were up, not many.  As a result I only shot 47 dogs for myself, Tom didn’t keep count.  I did get two triples and a double on those holes that had several pups on them.  After two hours the wind was constant 30 mph +, we headed home.