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Summer Varmint Hunting The Interior West -- This large area of the Western United States extends from the west slopes of the Rockies to the east slopes of the Cascades. Mainly this country is home to sagebrush uplands, forest at elevations varying from 3500 to 7500 feet in elevation and varying types of meadows, sage and grasslands at the lower elevations. This country is home to many critters that we call varmints. Summer time is slow hunting for most any hunters. The sun rises early, most locations in the western US warm quickly and these critters do their hunting at night. So what is a dyed in the wool, avid varmint hunter to do at this time of year? The following are some realistic solutions. To the best of my knowledge there are only a few states that have seasons on what I call varmints. Washington has a closed season on coyotes in two units, Colorado the whole state is closed during the summer and good ole California has several units where you can not shoot coyotes at all -- ever. With those excepts, to the best of my knowledge, most varmints are open year round. One other exception. Since crows are now considered migratory, they also have a season, but if they are destroying crops permission to shoot these critters is easy to gain. Getting into off-season varmint hunting actually starts when hordes of rodents come above ground in late winter. In my area of Eastern Oregon, Belding Ground Squirrels come above ground in late February. Those first warm days of late winter put a great deal of moisture into the ground. These rodents will even borrow above snow to sun themselves in late February and early March. There isn't anything to eat, but the warm sun and no wind is a sure bet that "sage rats" will be above ground chasing each other or sunning themselves. For those of you that want to be burning powder this is your first chance at doing a get deal of shooting verses a great deal of hunting for such critters as coyotes. There are several different species of ground squirrels in the area described above. To the best of my knowledge the Belding Ground Squirrel is the widest spread. There are Columbia Ground Squirrels, more commonly called "greydiggers" that are common to the east slopes of the Cascades. Further east there are larger ground dwelling rodents that are called rock chucks. They are found in Central Washington to South Central Oregon, but really become numerous by the time you get to South Central Idaho. These critters are active from late winter until mid July. When the vegetation they feed on gets dry, they go into hibernation for the next seven months. Firearms for these critters can vary greatly. For sage rats, 22's are lethal. If you hunt rats, just to plink, the rimfire will do the job. If you want to concentrate on keeping your eye and trigger squeeze in shape, then any of the precision optic equipped rifles will do the job. I know of several shooters that won't even shoot critters less than 250 yards. Their 24 power scopes make "red mist" out of ground squirrels at that distance. The better the optics the further these guys can powder the squirrels. There are other critters to shoot during the warmer periods of the year. In fact some are a great deal more vulnerable during the summer. Of course the young of the year are not much of a challenge. They are unwary and for the inexperienced hunter, the young of the year are just what are needed. Success with these early hunts engraves that hunter instant, for life. I think success is key. Not much fun spending weekend after weekend out there with Dad, trying to call in a bear or coyote when there are few to be had. That kind of hunting will come later. Right now "touching one off", every minute or two, is the important thing. That instant red mist in the scope helps too. There are other critters that deserve the varmint hunters summer attention. In most states of the west blacktail jackrabbits is an unprotected animal. Blacktails are the smaller of the most common jackrabbits. They have a gray cast to their fur. There is another species of jack that is larger than the blacktail. These are called whitetail jacks and are best described as a very large cottontail with long legs. In Oregon this species is protected. Before you light the fire on any jack, take the time to see if he has a white tail or a black and gray tail. Usually blacktails are found in a sagebrush environment. Whitetails are found in a grassland area with just scattered sage. These rabbits are quite cyclic. I'm sure, in parts of the west, they are presently on their high cycle, while other areas, especially Southeastern Oregon, Southwestern Idaho and Northwestern Nevada blacktails are at a low point in their cycle. The probable case is the recent past high population of coyotes. While the coyote population has gone down in those areas, the jacks are slowly coming back. Crows, as mentioned, are now considered a migratory fowl and there are seasons on these birds in most states. Also most states have a permit system that if they are causing crop damage, that a permit can be issued for the "taking" of crows. If you are a bird hunter, either upland or waterfowl you should take it upon yourself to do your fair share of controlling these critters during the nesting season. The neat thing about crow hunting is they are very callable during the summer. If you want to get Little Joey into wing shooting this is the ticket. A few paper mashie decoys, both owl and crow, along with a remote controlled electric caller will put all the crows you can handle in your face. The best places to call crows are next to fruit orchards, along stream courses and the edges of freshly plowed fields. Lastly there is the ever-present coyote. Calling coyotes in the summer is tough! What would you rather do? Run a half-mile to a distressed rabbit, fight off a bigger, meaner coyote or something worst, or walk ten feet and catch another mouse? Early spring, when the pups are in the den, a challenge call will bring the dominant male on the run. You have to be in his "territory", not over the hill two miles, where he can not hear your call. Later in the summer the wounded pup call is a sure-fire bet. Again you have to be near the den area. By the end of July most pups are working the edges of pastures with their parents to find food. The problem is most of their hunting is done at night, early morning and late evening. Temperatures during the day are too extreme for most coyotes to leave their cool daytime beds and check out a distress call. Adults are wary, even thought they have not been hunted hard for several months. Pups are dumber than a post, but are still under the control of Ma and Pop. When I have done this type of calling, excellent camo, such as the Shaggie, that is cool, the best and the most comfortable. Remote systems that separate you from the distress sound are very important. That will be a whole different story in the future, but remote systems are being developed now that will be of great use to the caller. If you are interested in finding out more about remote systems please contact me at phil@goosepit.com see you in the sage. You can have an autographed copy of Coyote Hunting, The Complete Book From Head To Tail, by sending a check or money order for $14.95 to Powder River Tackle Co., HCR 87 Box 500, Baker City, Or. 97814. The book is also available from Barnes & Noble.
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