Columbian's

[swifty22]

Came home to a BBQ after shooting about 15 Columbian GS's this aft. Used my old 98 Mauser 7x57 w/19 gr I-4759 and LBT 285 140's ( LBT mold .285 140 gr. cast of wheel weight water dropped). most were 100 to 200 yds and a bit gusty. First ones of the season and it was GREAT. Weather has been so cold and wet (NE Wa St.) that Turkey season is quite slow and the GS are late. Didn't see any rockchucks but probably next weekend. Muddy   

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Swifty, never shot any Columbians....but shot thousands of Richardsons ground squirrels...I have heard columbians are larger...the Richardsons drop out of sight pretty early in the summer, buy Aug. most have gone underground unless one has access to a sprinkler irrigation system..they will stay out longer with fresh greens to munch on..when to Columbians go to ground??? Mostly I have been using my .22 Rem. target rifle on Richardsons...a larger calibers are more fun, but in some areas I shoot are not  necessary, but still could be fun...

[Ladobe]

Columbian's are about 25% larger than Richardson's.

When ground squirrels emerge in the spring or go down to estivate and then hibernate for the rest of the year depends mostly on latitude & elevation, but also on sex and age.   So it can vary considerable even within a given species throughout its range.

Diggers and predators have been a main hunting interest for over 5 decades for me, so I've had the opportunity to hunt dozens of species over the years.   My main stays with diggers the last couple of decades that I've lived on the Mojave Desert has been Belding, Whitetailed Antelope & Rock GS's, prairie dogs and rock chucks.   FWIW, the Belding's spend the most time underground of all our NA GS species, so their season can be quite short.   But they usually occur in large colonies with such high numbers that shooting can be fast and furious from sun up to sun down in a good area, and as far away as you can see them.   WTA's are among the smallest in NA, seldom occur in what could be called colonies or in any kind of numbers any place I've ever found them, and often have to be shot at long ranges.   So they can be one of the most challenging.   It's not unusual to spend an entire day covering many, many miles to see only a few of them, and a good day hunting them may only be a half dozen to dozen shot.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Ladobe, thanks alot..I did not realize there were so many other ground squirrel species..several times I have read up on them but maybe they only mentioned the species that were very abundant...I enjoyed the information...

[bigvarmnt]

Swifty, what kind of BBQ sauce did you use on them Columbians

Hopefully the Rockchucks will be on the menu this weekend, you can invite some neighbors

It's been raining here for a month. There's a groundhog out back, guess I better make up some sauce

Them ground squirrels are a blast, I got to shoot some species of them in AZ a few years back. 22rf at about 100yds was fun. Sposed to stop raining here Weds. I HOPE!

[Ladobe]

Wyo. Coyote Hunter, I think there are about 60 species of ground squirrels in North America (north of Mexico), plus all their subspecies, and something like 300 worldwide plus their ssp.   So they are a very abundant resource for the varmint hunter for at least those species that do a lot of crop damage.     Hunting them for land owners has been a mainstay for me all my life.   And doing so saves a lot of collateral damage to other species.   Hunting will never wipe out a colony, but can reduce numbers enough on a property that landowners don't need to poison to save their crops.   So its a win/win proposition for the landowner, the hunter, the squirrels themselves and any species that either feeds on them or would be poisoned along with them.   That and gaining (by earning) their trust can open the door with most landowners to hunt their properties because you'll help save some of their crop loss and save them the costs of poisoning.   The only down side is most will not let you also hunt their predators because they also take a toll on the diggers.   But they will almost always give you a free pass to hunt their land for deer or any other species in season.

L.

 

[swifty22]

I been shooting, trapping, poisoning, drowning, clubbing, running, plowing under ect. Columbians for more than 50 years. When I farmed we got rid of them any way possible including spreading poison oats from a helicopter. They make big mounds in the Alfalfa field that you can't see just before first cutting and you really need to get rid of them otherwise it will break sections out of as well a bend/break the sickle bar on a swather. I got one of the very first Ruger  77V Swifts in 1970 or so and it is the real deal on the Alfalfa fields. The little buggers see you coming  from at least 300 yards and go down and stay down after you have shot at them a few times. I am on my 3rd rifle and 4the barrel in the Swift and there is just nothin better. I have (and still do) use everything from the 17 HMR through 340 Wby to 47-70 and they all work. Have been going to Montana to shoot gophers for about 20 years every spring with a few Columbians (they call them mountain gophers) but mostly Richardsons which I have shot in October when Antelope hunting and they look like little PD's and also act like it. Columbian's are actually quite striking in color with a darker gray white spotted back whiter front, a yellow orange head and neck and a gray white baned tail. most are about as big as a pop can but I have seen them bigger than a quart of beer (boars!), usually w/balls about the size of peanuts. Th Richardsons look a lot like PD's, dirt colored overall with a shiny black eye,that shine has been the death of many! -Muddy     

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Hey, again thanks for the information..I have shot thousands of Richardsons, but nary a Columbian..so this summer that will be at the top of my list of things todo...Most of my squirrels have been shot with a .22lr...this year I used a 513t Rem. and stingers..but have my Hornet and .223 in line to shoot some later this summer...keep up the good work..Ladobe, what is your favorite for busting the groundsquirrels in your area...?

[Flynmoose]

This Thursday I get to move home after thirty years in purgatory. I will be begging my wife to let me go after some sage-rats, putting off the unpacking until later. I just may get a chance to wear out a couple of rifles that have stood safe duty for years. I probably won't have much luck with the unpacking, but there are lots of rats and jackrabbits and coyotes and deer and, well you get the idea!
FM