Weapons of choice?

[sourland]

.22, single shot, bolt action - been using it for close to 70 years.

 

[WthrLady]

10/.22 here too with multiple mags.

Single shot bolt action only slows me down and with heavy carhartt gear on, is a pain to load in a hurry.

My sidearm is a 9mm Czech Army Pistol.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

i guess it depends where you live and want you can legally use.

for me (as a trapper) i use and carry a savage rascal (which is pink more in case if i drop it in water/a swamp so its easier to find lol) i use .22 shorts for coons and such. maybe long rifle for coyotes.

if am trapping wolves up north on my other land i would use my ruger american bolt action rifle in .22 mag would also use if for lynx.

am in Canada so no pistols (or any restricted gun) for dispatching animals and air rifles over 500 fps are in the same class as all other rifles (non-restricted) if its more to just protect me or dispatch something really mean (am talking bears, pigs, wolves and mountain lions) think i would use a short barreled shot gun saw onedouble barrel with a 12 inch barrel.


but i read online somewhere, that trapping up north in the bush they always carry two guns a dispatch gun and a gun in case you meet a wolf pack. think one of those super short shotguns up here with a 10 inch barrel would be nice.

 

[Molpet]

22 LR rugar target pistol..long barrel is accurate, I can hit the broad side of a barn with it ...
heavy.if I'm toting it around waiting for a coyote while doing chores though

 

[itsasmallfarm]

For snuffing varmints in traps....captured animals at nearly point blank range......what are the weapons of choice?

At the farm, then and now.......we always use a .22, single shot, bolt action Rifle and .22 shorts. Remington 510 targetmaster if it matters. You could even shoot CB caps with it. Here I use a Ruger pistola.....22 LR.

If a person were shopping today for such a weapon, the two modern era options that come to mind are the Cricket (pink stock for the ladies) and Savage Rascal. Goal is a bare bones single shot .22 bolt action....one capable of handling .22 shorts. Any others I'm not aware of?

Or perhaps a .22 air rifle? I've got a .177 that will put a pellet through a 3/4" pine board and it only runs 875 fps.

the only other single shothere in Canada that is quite common is that little badger with the wire stock. folds in half carry's like 10 shots in the stock.

 

[WthrLady]

the only other single shothere in Canada that is quite common is that little badger with the wire stock. folds in half carry's like 10 shots in the stock.

Love that thing!

 

[Howard E]

Sounds like those experienced at snuffing varmints are mostly on the same page.....which is another way of saying we may be preaching to the choir. Those wanting to dispatch varmints are, for the most part, already prepared and experienced at doing so. The Little Badger was new.

But for those lacking experience and a weapon to do the same, you should now have some ideas on what others use. Aside from buying new, you can also look at gun shops and pawn shops and other places for similar guns from Remington, Winchester, Savage, Stevens, Ruger, Rossi and who knows how many other past and present .22 rifles.

The single shot bolt action rifles get mentioned a lot as they allow you to shoot the smaller, quieter, shorts. Repeaters often only handle long rifle shells, which are faster, louder and more powerful. Few may be aware of this, but when farmers take a 1,500 pound steer to a butcher house, the guy out back who puts him down prior to slaughter, likely as not, will put him down with just a dinky little .22 long rifle shot to the poll. Drops like a rock. So these are not toys.

So an extension of this, if you do get yourself a weapon, be aware of how dangerous this thing in your hands can be. This has serious implications.

So far, we have been talking about shooting a trapped animal at close range, which likely as not, means shooting straight down at a steep angle, and parking the bullet in the animals brain pan. Some will try to use the same gun to shoot free roaming animals at a distance. That now means a horizontal shot. Had this discussion a few days ago with son and grandson of a neighbor who was going to use a brand new .22 to go squirrel hunting. In the local woods. While it may seem like this is a rural area.....and farm in question was 40 acres......distance a .22 long rifle will carry is much farther than that.

With respect to Longfellow....."I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to the earth, I knew not where". The same could be said for a .22 rifle shot into the top of a tree that misses it's target and flies off somewhere into the distance. There is no place around me within 10 miles that I could shoot a gun like that into the air without risking having it fall to the ground and hit somebody, somebody's livestock or their house or other property. No place.

About 40 years ago, a guy we knew took a shot at a rabbit that was in his garden. Shooter was at the bottom of a slope, shooting up a gentle hill.....he missed high.....bullet flew past rabbit, over an Interstate highway......and came to rest in the brain pan of a lady out in her yard and killed her dead where she was standing. True story. He was convicted of manslaughter and went to prison for it. Total accident, but didn't matter. He was determined to be reckless and negligent and they held him responsible for her death.

The point being, that while a .22 rifle works for some jobs, it is not appropriate for others. One other being using it on fast moving varmints in the yard or at a distance in any kind of populated area where there is a risk of an errant bullet leaving your control into "I know not where". A shotgun is often times the better choice for that.

So some of have equipped ourselves with both....shotgun and rifle. And we use them safely.......or don't use them at all.

 

[hayley3]

Poor woman...people forget that Howard...thanks for the reminder. Anytime I shoot my gun I worried about that even though I only had two neighbors in that direction and I was shooting down the middle. Since I've moved, I have more neighbors.

I have a 1989 Bolt Action Remington, which shoots smooth as butter...and is easy on the ears.
I try not to kill anything anymore, just shoot at the ground to scare off the dogs.

 

[Howard E]

Using guns as noisemakers to scare animals is apparently common. It is not what I recommend.

A few years ago, while still learning to hunt.....nephew came in at noon to report his latest fail at killing a deer. Was sitting in a deer stand and a nice buck walked right up to him. He decided it was too close to use his scoped rifle, so pulled out his 10 shot pistol.....and proceeded to empty it on the deer.....missed with all of them. He told me the deer just stood there while bullets were whizzing past it. Deer was looking around trying to determine cause of all the commotion.

Point being, animals do not know what a gun is. So don't recognize it as a threat to run from. I know a guy who did that with deer.....a .22 LR........he "said" he was shooting over the deer to scare them. Again.....they don't know what guns are sooooo........anyway, he "missed" low........gut shot a fawn.....which fell down and was bleating......then got up.....staggered off and probably died a slow death somewhere in the woods. Same guy also told me he once shot a bear in the butt with that same .22. That was just stupid. Bear got mad and tore up all kinda stuff in the yard......and kept coming back anyway.

Point being, the noise might do it....but to them, a gunshot is just noise. I had a pesky doe that kept coming into the yard to eat my flowers once.....what got her moving was a pack of lady finger firecrackers tossed under her feet. Bottle rockets screaming past and blowing up around them would do it too. Both far safer than bullets (and these days.....far cheaper).

So while you might fear a gunshot and bullets whizzing past your head, don't assume the same is the case with animals. Better tools for that job than a gun.

 

[hayley3]

I only did it a few times and it worked. It was more of a warning shot because if those dogs had come any closer to my chickens, it would not have been a warning shot then. I think they knew I was serious, cause I was.