It's a varmints nightmare!

[DT Fan]

Now that I'e taken up full-time residence at the farm I can sit at the kitchen table and watch while I read Red Power. Today's (first) victim  was a chipmunk. When I went out to check the kill, spotted another one. Went back and got the gun, got him too. Would have gotten a third but was out of ammo. It took awhile but I found my shells, now reloaded and watching again.

[Sledgehammer]

Isn’t that grand?  I have dispatched all sorts of critters from the kitchen window. 

[jass1660]

Rat traps baited with walnuts. 18-13 striped ground squirrels in 12 days...

[sandhiller]

One of the many bonuses of living where people ain't.🤠

[iowaboy1965]

I'm getting to where I can't focus on both the iron sights and the critter at the same time anymore.....🥸

[DT Fan]

36 minutes ago, iowaboy1965 said:

I'm getting to where I can't focus on both the iron sights and the critter at the same time anymore.....🥸

I'm cheating Doug, have a 4.5-14 Leopold on my .22 mag.

[stronger800]

I just bought a .17 hmr with a 4x10-40.  First gun that I’ve ever been confident enough to shoot pigeons off of the barn roofs and silo tops with.   Mostly head shots at 200’ or so.  
fyi, pigeons don’t always fall off a silo top. 

[Sledgehammer]

My countertop critter cannon varies by the season but there is almost always one of these handy. A .22 hornet and/or a .22mag

[DT Fan]

10 minutes ago, Sledgehammer said:

My countertop critter cannon varies by the season but there is almost always one of these handy. A .22 hornet and/or a .22mag

Todd, I've got a hornet and saw some ammo that looked like that on the shelf awhile back, should have bought it. Shells I shoot in the mag. are federal premium. Bought a brick of them about 30 years ago, still have about 125 left. Their numbers are probbly going down faster now!

[Sledgehammer]

3 hours ago, DT Fan said:

Todd, I've got a hornet and saw some ammo that looked like that on the shelf awhile back, should have bought it. Shells I shoot in the mag. are federal premium. Bought a brick of them about 30 years ago, still have about 125 left. Their numbers are probbly going down faster now!

Those are Hornady 35gr V-Max. They do a good job on small varmints for me out to around 200 yds.  As for .22mag rounds, I will admit I have more than 125rds and won’t have to worry about running out any time soon. 😁

[MacAR]

Our kitchen window has always been my favorite deer stand, especially when it's blue-cold outside. My general critter-getter is either a 22lr, .222 Remington, or a 16 gauge shotgun, depending on the range. Have been known to shoot armadillos in the backyard at midnight with a 7.5" barreled 38-40 Single Action Army... that really gets the neighbors going! 

Mac

[DT Fan]

Mowed off the second crop radishes today. Opens up a nice ‘shooting lane’. 

[hardtail]

8 hours ago, sandhiller said:

One of the many bonuses of living where people ain't.🤠

Hence why I said I'd call first before landing in the meadow 😳

[searcyfarms]

9 hours ago, sandhiller said:

One of the many bonuses of living where people ain't.🤠

jeff jeff jeff, you are supposed to hide your tinfoil hats before you take pictures !!!

[Wes806]

Its been coon here.   Seens like I get one and two show up to it's place.

[russ_alabama]

I have three young armadillos show up in the back yard every two or three bowel movements in the bathroom, where I’ll see them.  Time I’m done, they’re gone.  I may need to set up a porcelain throne shooting site.   

[acem]

We have lots of varmints. Both four or two legged. 

223, 5.45 & 7.62 work fine round here...

[iowaboy1965]

Ace your gonna need a back hoe.......🤔

[smfarms]

I always thought a large pole auger hole about 7’ deep would do it. Just say’in

[augercreek]

Ya iron sights are a no go here too, so I opted for red dots. Dot on target fire and it's dead!

[iowaboy1965]

1 hour ago, smfarms said:

I always thought a large pole auger hole about 7’ deep would do it. Just say’in

Depends on the size of the critter! 😄

[acem]

 

3 hours ago, iowaboy1965 said:

Ace your gonna need a back hoe.......🤔

Hogs recycle varmint carcasses quite well.

I do have a backhoe attachment for a tractor but it's more effective as a dust suppressor...

[DT Fan]

So this morning, dug out my best pair of binoculars for more effective watching. I know there are one or two more chipmunks over by that white garage. The binoc thing will be more fun this fall after the crops are out. Might even set up a tripod with the little 20 power spotting scope!

On an only somewhat related note; Last night coming home from work, spotted a dandy of a whitetail buck in the road ditch. About five feet from the traveled portion, this was about a half mile North of the house. He stood his ground, much to my relief! Guess if you are going to clobber a deer with the car at least I would have been able to walk home pretty easy?

[russ_alabama]

2 hours ago, DT Fan said:

So this morning, dug out my best pair of binoculars for more effective watching. I know there are one or two more chipmunks over by that white garage. The binoc thing will be more fun this fall after the crops are out. Might even set up a tripod with the little 20 power spotting scope!

On an only somewhat related note; Last night coming home from work, spotted a dandy of a whitetail buck in the road ditch. About five feet from the traveled portion, this was about a half mile North of the house. He stood his ground, much to my relief! Guess if you are going to clobber a deer with the car at least I would have been able to walk home pretty easy?

I hit one with my Mercury Marquis last year.  Man, getting a body shop to work on one now is crazy.  He said three months and the insurance guy laughed at that.  He said he’s totaling out cars that he’d never have done for lack of parts and delays with shops.  Then the body guys are buying the auctioned cars and fixing with I guess used parts (which I’m told the insurance shops won’t allow), don’t know, and rebuild titling them and running car lots.  I just put in a new light and I gone the paint damage and cracks in the bumper skin and am driving it.  Was a glancing blow from a doe.    It’s my commute and keep miles off trucks car and my arthritis likes the ride.  Has a big glovebox for the berrata also (to keep from derailing the thread).  

[tperson]

Now this is a topic I can get excited about! First pic is the 6mm ARC that my son and I built this late winter in preparation for a western Nebraska prairie dog trip in early June. The ARC is a ‘new’ cartridge from Hornady (2020) and is pretty bada$$ at 600+yds. Haven’t had a chance to stretch it’s legs that far, but it shot well during the prairie dog massacre. Second pic is from the hunting trip we took this summer (3 dads and 3 sons). Longest confirmed kill rimfire shot (22LR) was 184yds and the longest confirmed centerfire shot was 436 yds (pic below). Had a hoot! We had different guns for different ranges…started with 22’s for less than 100yds, 22 Mag and 22 K-Hornet for opportunities less than ~225yds, and bigger  calibers for stuff beyond that. The last pic is from a couple of weeks ago when a buddy’s buddy had the 50BMG out and was plinking. Surprisingly, the recoil isn’t what catches you off guard, the muzzle blast is…almost enough to knock your hat off!