this should be fun

Before my 1st trip for buffalo last year, I took my .404 out after jackrabbits. Very good practice on the fast movers up close & you can get them to sit up many times 50-100yds out.
A buddy of mine in Montana routinely shoots prairie dogs w/ his .338wm. He is a very capable game shot. I used to shoot a lot of ground squirrels w/ my 7RM out to 400yds or so. It just gives you so a bunch of valuable, real world practice w/ your big game rig.

I've been known to have -06ed more that one jackrabbit, and experience has taught me that the 338 Winchester will stop badgers and yotes in their tracks. I still love my 22-250 tho...nothing like watching a rabbit do a full reverse gainer with twist.

I regularly bring either my 375 H&H, 300 WSM or my 7 Rem Mag out when I go for out for ground squirrels. I use my full power hunting loads as a way to keep in practice with the big guns.

Especially with the 375, all it does is flip them over with a bullet diameter hole through them and throw up a big cloud of dirt.

The most fun is the 58 grain Hornady V-max at 3800 fps out of my 243. It's chunky rain!

I've shot gophers with my 600 OK. Does that count?

quote:

The most fun is the 58 grain Hornady V-max at 3800 fps out of my 243. It's chunky rain!

great stuff. dont forget the stories...man if the gopher and the 600 o.k. only knew what a great ending it was about to have

I regularly shoot coyotes with a .416 Rigby and a .375. Some would probably consider these overpowered. I just like to get some real hunting practice with my big rifles.

my last two varmints, one coyote and one bobcat, have been killed with my 9.3x62. that 270 grn speer bullet makes a great varmint load

quote:

Originally posted by jstevens:
I regularly shoot coyotes with a .416 Rigby and a .375. Some would probably consider these overpowered. I just like to get some real hunting practice with my big rifles.

stories please...

hod did the yote respond to the 416?

http://www.varmintvideos.com/footage.htm

for those who havent seen it yet...a good laugh

I use my 7mm remmag on rabbits alot 115gr Speer HP,it is very good practice for big game hunting.All that is left is their feet and ears.

ok, here's my stories. not much to it really. i carry the 9.3 in the off season because i'm always looking for that big pig. so far the big pigs have escaped me. when i shot the coyote i was sitting in my ground blind and he came up behind me. i just turned around and shot him at about 30 feet. the 270 grn speer opened up real well at 2450 fps. there was about a fist size hole on the off side and i could sort of shake chunks out of him. the bobcat was about the same. this time from my tree stand. blew the call, and about 15-20 minutes later i looked up and there was a bobcat standing on the tank dam looking around for that damn squealing rabbit. he was also hit thru the shoulders(maybe 100 ft) but not near as much damage. after seeing how soft the 270 grn speen is i hesitate to use it on pigs unless braodside double lung shot presents itself. or i might just use the old earhole shot. anyway...i'm haveing a lot of fun with my 9.3x62.

I have regularly used my .458 Lott on ground squirrel, and can hit them out to 200-yards with the 2.5X Leupold on the gun. As you might imagine, the Lott only leaves a little, and gives a whole new meaning to flying squirrel. In fact, I killed one that must have died of fright, since it appeared to be entirely intact. The squirrel shooting has been witnessed by Shumba and Kyler who both post here.

I have also shot coyotes at ranges from about 20 yards out to a measured 317 yards with my .375 H&H. At 20 yards, a 260-grain Nosler partition starting at 2,750 feet per second (840 meters per second)sort of explodes a coyote, while at 317-yards it makes a fist sized exit hole. It is funny how differently they act on coyotes than on elk.

I use my .338 win mag on prairie dogs at times to prepare for elk hunting. I sure don't shoot it much as it's a tad hard on the shooter but the dogs sure fly like mad.

Its not uncommon for me to shoot a few rock chucks, running jackrabbits and an ocassional coyote with one of my big bores, mostly with iron sights it keeps you tuned up...Mostly I use a scoped 222 and a 6x45 for such hunting.

When my 22-250 gets too hot to keep shooting and when it's too windy at long ranges over 400 yards I use my 300 win mag on prarie dogs. All I can say is the 300 explodes them alot better as I haven't been able to find much remains other than blood splatter and the occasional bits of guts.

This happened many years ago but still brings tears of laughter from my dad and I whenever we start talking hunting.
We were getting ready for a mule deer hunt in October, in Utah and were using a .270 mine and his '06. I think we wer both shooting 150 grain bullets. As usual we were taking turns on Jacks either running or standing. My dad had just missed a shot on a rabbitt at around 50 yards and after giving him one of those "I can't believe you missed" looks I turned and brought my rifle up saying "I guess I'll have to kill two with this shot so we can have a little dinner."
I fired at a rabbitt that had stopped and after the bullet passed through it must have hit a rock or richocheted off of the ground because another rabbit at a 90* angle leaped two feet into the air and fell over dead as well. I was stunned but turned to laugh about it but my dad beat me to the punch and said "well as long as it isn't gut-shot, I'll eat it".
Still a great memory.
Frank

I love shooting prairie dogs with my big game rifles. Have you ever seen what a 270 gr from a .375 H&H does to a pasture poodle? It turns them inside out. A .243 with the Speer 85 gr BTSP hits them like a hand grenade. Like others have said it is great practise.

I was out last weekend hunting marmots with my .300 Jarrett. At 237 yards the 200 gr Sierra Matchking turned one old 'hog inside out. I've shot PD's, a turkey, and grouse with this rifle. The stuff you want to eat has to be head shots or you miss a meal. An elk at 300 yds is a slam dunk when you can hit varmints reliably with your big game rifle at the same range. I'm taking the same rifle out for 'hogs again this weekend.

I'm bound and determined to get a PD at 200 yards and have been trying it with a 50BMG - does that count?

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
I'm bound and determined to get a PD at 200 yards and have been trying it with a 50BMG - does that count?

NO....the 50 BMG is made for that game.....using your .270 Weatherby counts though.

The .338 is one of my favored coyote rounds and for prairie dogs when the wind is howling.If I miss those 250 grainers makes the bullet strike very easy to see.

Its alot of fun to shoot Ravens and seagulls with 300 win mag and 125 gr sierra sp!
Just a white or black puff and pink film in the air!

Bought a .340 last year...had to practice on something. Shure will mess up a turkey - 225 grains of splatter (this is fun) prairie dogs are good fun with a 7 mag though a .243 with a light bullet will produce a better free-style acrobatic maneuver. This was very funny...out on a county road one saturday there was a porcupine in the top of a big old tree. We didn't have a rifle but you can take a shot gun shell and cut the plastic around the top of the brass and it makes a decent slug/this happen to be 12ga. Sent that porcupine on a flight he will never forget...those things are pretty damn tuff - it limped away.

Guilty as dirt. How about a ground hog with a .358 STA and a 270 grain North Fork bullet at that. My garden was being demolished by ground hogs, it just happened to be adjacent to my shooting benchs. One sunday afternoon my grandson and I were preparing to try some new Elk rounds when we discovered the "hog" in the garden. I snuck within 30 yards of her and put her away with a clean shot to the center chest. I was as proud of that "hog" as any animal I have ever killed, due to her destroying three rows of green beans, and for once my wife was prouder of the trophy than I was. Good shooting.

Years back I started to get into shooting, especially at long range.
I got serious about reducing the chuck population here and I went about it with my one hunting rifle. (M700, 7 RM)

I'll never forget one day taking a couple of older gents along and them giving me whatfor about being such a stupid and foolish kid for not having a "varmint rifle". They said you cna't shoot chucks with a elk rifle. Well if there was ever a time that I schooled some people in shooting it was that day. After that the fellas left there varmint rifles home and brought their big boys.

For me, it is just no fun to shoot a chuck with something smaller than a big 6 ( I would imagine its kind of like kissing Grandma).

To hit chucks is no problem so what we did is this.

out to 150 yds the shot had to be offhand

to 300 we could sit

after 300 we could lay on the ground and kill using a cheater (bipod)

We got to the point that when we went to the chuck walls I'd back up to 450 and then get after it.

Practice like this will teach you a ton about trigger control,wind, mirage,angle etc.

Also after a summer of this taking a big game animal at range is no big deal.

It also teaches you a ton about making a nest (comfy and steady position) and to be able to do it quickly.

The most chucks I've shot in a summer is 457, that was a good summer. Throw in the fact that we wait till they pup out, and the window of opportunity is pretty darn short!

My favorite cal's are as follows (6/06,25/06,270,7 Mashburn Super,300 Wby,340 Wby). We've used a bunch more cals all the way to 416 Rigby but for the most part I found the rounds I mentioned to work the best for me.

On my 3 serious hunt rifles they've gone thru some tubes. (old 700 is on its 8th tube,my G33 is on its 3rd and ready for a 4th and my old M70 is on its 3rd tube). I gotta tell you when a rifle has had 4 340 Wby tubes on it it has burned a lot of powder!

So... to answer your question yep I use the big game rifles for varmint work. We've also used them a ton for pd's/gophs/yotes.

I put my varmint rifle away except for a serious day in a PD town.

Have a super day!

MD

oh yeah one other thing, when things get a boring shooting chucks we do a lot of shooting at rocks at long range. Plus we can shoot at rocks all year round. I had my wife out at the ranch a bit back and she was using my M700/7 Mashburn Super with a 4-14 Leo ( it has Premier dots in it to 700) on it and was powdering rocks at 700 the size of basketballs. Me thinks she'll nopt have any issues taking a lope this fall!

Good practice I'd allow.

I always take my 300Win and the 270 PD shooting. It is a riot. They just vaporize!! I think shooting the big guns is good pratice for the real hunting.

I know of a guy that has a "dedicated" groundhog rig in 7 RUM with a 32" tube. Shoots 168 gr bergers @ chronoed 3500 fps. You can bet that ruins a groundhog's day

great stuff guys, keep it going

Short story*

Some years ago I was testing my 6mmx.270 IMP on PDs for the first time. A magpie landed out in front and was an instant target. The shot blew him many feet into the air. at his apex he spread his wings and glided back to earth behind an adobe doney. When I later checked I found him behind the small hill with his wings still spread and no inerds left in his body. I can't tell you how that happened but it did. All the PDs shot that day exploded into chunky rain. roger

several years ago my son and i returned from our morning deer hunt to my grandmother's house(nothing better after an early morning hunt than grandmother scrambled eggs(my son's words) )

anyway, when we walked into the yard the dog had the local wild tomcat held captive in the top of one of the pecan trees my grandmother has in her yard. we had been trying to get him for awhile. being the christmas season, there were also lots of young nieces gathered at the back door, doing the ooohhh, aahhhh thing at the poor kitty in the tree. i didn't let my son shoot the cat because, with a 243 at approx 13 feet, it would have rained cat chunks for the rest of the morning. i know...i wussed out. but them little girls sure were pretty. too bad my son wasn't old enough to appreciate how those little eyes can ruin a guys judgement he was a little pissed at me but i managed to preserve my hero image in a bunch of 4 to 6 year old little girls eyes. we didn't see the cat after so i figure he became coyote food anyway. fun memories...bud

I have hunted Woodchucks with a .257 Weatherby Mag. Impressive impact, even out past 300 yards (sad part is that I've never taken a deer/antelope with that rifle, just chucks) Hunted chucks with friends using .30-06 and 7mm Remington Mags. The .30-06 was a joke, because the 165 grain bullets he used zipped clean thru and the chuck was off and running again - had to be put down by my tiny .222. The 7mm Mag was impressive like the .257, and he was using big game loads, not lightweight varmint bullets, - so no need for clean up with my .223. I'll admit to double teaming though with the same hunter, him with the 7mm and me with the .257, firing simultaneously at the same chuck, devatating, and no one knows who ever made the actual hit.
LLS

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
I'm bound and determined to get a PD at 200 yards and have been trying it with a 50BMG - does that count?

Butchloc:

Did you mean 2000 yards?

1987, flying a practice bombing mission in a four ship flight of F-4D's at Canon range (attached to Ft. Leonard Wood in South Central Missouri). The place is over run with deer (large rats with white tails). We had just dropped down for the 10 degree low angle bombing event when a large doe wandered out onto the range. I was leading the flight so I had to behave. The number four guy didn't. He nailed Bambi with a blue BDU 33 practice bomb. Turned her inside out. The guy in the tower said it was weird watching pieces of meat fall back to the ground through the spotting charge smoke. IIRC, the slant range would be about 4,500 feet. This was manual bombing, so it was pretty good work.

lawndart

o.k. lawndart gets the prize with that one...

Lawn-thanks for the great bedtime story, I'll sleep better now...grins

MD

My first "real" rifle was a 264 WM. My "varmint" load was a 100 gr Ballistic Tip that I loaded right at 3600 fps. I shot a couple of deer with it, and loads of jackrabbits and racoons, etc.

I shot a skunk once, running dead away from me at about 150 yards. I was in the passenger side of a truck, and the wind was blowing directly towards us from the stinker. At the shot, this skunk literally exploded, and before I could get the gun in the window and window rolled up, we were just covered in skunk smell. Took weeks to get the smell out of that truck.

When doing the afternoon rounds I quite often take a 222 with me.
When I have aquired a new full bore I like to take it out and try for a rabbit. All my centre fire rifles have been used to knock over rabbits.
The best fun was the day I took out my little 9.3x57. Nothing was found that required my attention so I turned for the house. The track to the house, which after a quarter mile takes a sharp right turn and just as I took this I saw an odd shape. Down next to an old log at about 30 yards away, is, isn't it a rabbit, yes, it is.
I lined up with open sights and squeezed, boom.
Well the rabit didn't just do flopsy it was splattered. The mess was considerable, there wasn't much left and what was was ready cooked. It was left it for the raptors to clear up.
Confident that the rifle could do its' stuff I took it to the bush two weeks later and shot a pig.

I'll occasionally shoot bunnies with my 6.5 Swede running 85 grain Sierras around 3300. It's like they've stepped on a landmine. I once shot a rabbit with my 58 cal Mississippi rifle with a 500 grain mini, which was pretty spectacular too.

It's nice to see so many guys still get out and put there rifles to use on a regular basis whether it is hunting season or not, Africa or not. Many "hunters" I know do well in a year's time to burn a box of factory ammo, mainly at a range.