Hesitantly, I declare that spring is just about here. It’s a good thing, too — my woodpile is getting thinner than a Victoria’s Secret runway model. Don’t mind that white stuff showing up on the ground from time to time, Old Man Winter dies harder every year. How do I know? The ground squirrels have emerged!

Belding’s ground squirrel, or Spermophilus beldingi as it is formally known, ranges over several states throughout the Pacific Northwest. They were first catalogued by Clinton Hart Merriam in 1888, and three subspecies thereof are generally recognized. Belding’s are more commonly known as “sage rats,” and they can be found in the valleys and lowlands of places like Grant County or as high as 11,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada.

Generally considered a nuisance, sage rats have no bag limits or season restrictions. With high fertility rates, they quickly decimate hayfields with booming populations.

When we were kids growing up in Wheeler County, local landowners would furnish .22 ammunition to us in exchange for helping them thin out the squirrels. This came with the obvious provisos: Don’t shoot any livestock, farm equipment, aluminum pipes or, most importantly, each other.

We had a great time. I would like to have the .22 ammunition I have fired in my lifetime — I’m sure it would amount to a small fortune.

Largely, I have always used the plain Jane .22 Long Rifle for my ground squirrel safaris. These days my favorite .22 sporter is a Marlin Model 39A, gifted to me by a close friend. With a Williams Peepsight on top I can pilot my preferred 38 grain hollowpoints quite well.

Although it is sufficient for most needs, the .22 WMR and .17 HMR rounds are almost as ubiquitous and provide easily twice the reach of the regular .22 LR, especially with a telescopic sight. I have even shot sage rats with various larger centerfire rounds over the years.

While opportunities to shoot these little pests are not as easy to find as they were 30 years ago, there are still plenty of them around, even on public land. Besides being helpful to anyone in agriculture, shooting varmints is excellent practice for the offseason.

Despite struggling to find opportunities to write and running for justice of the peace, I still manage to find time here and there to enjoy hunting sage rats. I can think of no better way to welcome the impending spring weather than with the smell of burnt gunpowder.

Do you hunt sage rats? Write to us at shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com today!