Well it's been some time since I was afield with an SP and harvested a charlie. Last week the weather was getting warm and I'd seen a few charlies in the valleys out and about. My trigger finger was realy starting to itch. So I took the 243 Striker with a 20X rifle scope over to the range for sight in and to see if the rifle scope was a good idea on the striker.
After sight in I checked out one of my best fields on the hill, but the elevation is about 600 feet higher than the valley so temps run a little cooler. Nothing was out. I checked alot of holes that I know of and didn't see any sign of them digging out. The walk was nice and I enjoyed the afternoon.
This Tuesday the weather was warm and I figured there should be some action on the hill. As I pulled into the area where I park I saw a charlie run into his hole in the middle of the junk yard. I wlaked up the bank and set up under the fence beside a huge cherry tree. In about 15 minutes the hole digger was out and roaming around. It took a minute a get him in the scope for a solid shot. I squeezed the trigger and had the first charlie of 09!! He was 60 yards out.
I then made my way to the edge of the hayfield above the junkyard. Climbing over the fence I see another charlie near the top of the hill. I settle right down on the edge of the field and get set up. He's eating and moving around quite a bit. I wait until he is feeding straight away from me. He raises his head up above his body. I put the cross hairs at the base of his neck and let the bullet fly. Number 2 is in the books!!
The next couple fields turn up no activity. I crossed the road and moved into a long field. Way out, at least 400 yards away I see a charlie milling around. I decide to close the distance a little. At the next small roll in the field I figure the distance at about 150 yards and have a nice little knowl for a set up. It takes the charlie a few minutes to give me a good shot as he is busy trying to find small scraps of green to eat. He stands up, looks right at me and then slowly looks over to my right. I center the crosshairs on his nose and and let the bullet fly. I get the scope back on the area and see nothing. I start to pace the yardage and when I get to about 150 yards still no sign of a hit. This is a bummer. I get to 175 yards and can see the holes where he has been digging but no charlie. I take a good look around and see him finally. At the hit he fell down behind a little scoop in the field. That's 3 for 3, not too bad for a guy that's all out of practice.
The rifle scope takes a little getting use to with about 1/2 the field of view so face/scope contact is not made, but it's turning out to be very accurate and handy on the long range shots.
Wednesday I was able to get out for a few minutes and got one more charlie at 95 yards. He was laying low on his hole and I kept him in the crosshairs for about 20 minutes. I was waiting for him to give me a little more to shoot at as the way he was lying only gave me about a 3 inch square target. I finally took careful aim and squeezed the shot. Upon inspection the 75gr V-Max exited thru the off shoulder. The first three charlies taken with the V-Max never exited. All four were good sized males just stating to dig out from the long winters nap. I have a feeling that 2009 is going to be a good year! 4 for 4 is a good start!:)
