I enjoy hunting game birds, big game, small game and especially varmints. Of all the varmints species I hunt/shoot I have a definate favorite.

1). Calling fox, coyotes and bobcats is a challenge, great fun and very rewarding. I always get excited when a big coytoes comes charging in to the call hair standing straight up.

2). Shooting prarie dogs and ground squrl's at short range while on the move or long range from a bench is fun and will teach you a great deal about accurate shooting with rimfires or centerfires. The occasional double or triple is nice to see.

3). Various birds where legal (pidgeons, starlings, crows) is fun but not my particular cup of tea.

4). The varmint I really specialize in and get excited for every spring is the Rockchuck. I can't wait until spring when I will find a big mature chuck sitting atop a distant rockpile, sunning iteslf in the mild breeze. Scope reticle settles on it, (or off depending on wind and range) take a breath, let it out, finger on the trigger, take up slack............you know the rest!

Mike.

I love calling coyotes, but I can't think of anything better than a good day jump shooting jackrabbits. I've seen a few more rabbits this year than in the recent past, but still nothing close to the late 1980's, early 1990's. I have a picture from 1993 hanging in my office of my cousin showing him with 14 jacks he shot standing in one location. There was probably 100 more that day we didn't bother to gather up.

I have an old Ruger M77 .22-250 with the tang safety that scares me to think about how many rounds I've shot through it, and I bought it used! There were days I'd shoot up every shell I owned (300+) so I'd stay up half the night loading so I could go back the next day and do it all over again. Talk about a riot! That Ruger still shoots five 50gr Vmax's into 5/8"...

I like shooting prairie dogs, but I get tired of it pretty easily. It is kinda fun to see how many multiples and what kind of air time you can get.

Never hunted chucks much on purpose. have killed a few while just out and about...

I forgot all about rabbits. I too love to find a good pocket of bunnies to shoot.

I have been out twice in the last 3 weeks shooting jacks in the West Desert. Neither trip was as productive as I had hoped but a couple dozen were shot.

Last Saturday we ran into so many bunny hunters out West you would have thought it was the Deer opener!

Pdogs

For me to hunt it would be yotes via calling. I also do a lot of calling for bruins but they are not a varmint in my book.

Now to shoot for me I am all about chucks at 450 yds plus. Using rounds from the big 6's on up.

PD's I do love and find them to be excellent practice if done right (at least right in my book). That is none of those faggy shooting tables, and the rodents found sub 150 yds are offhand. From 150-250 are from the sit and once you break past 300 you can lay on the ground and use a cheater.

Mark D

Ground Squirrels and Prairie Dogs definitely!

Shooting coyotes is also very appealing....

I've gotten to the point that varmint shooting has taken over my soft spot for deer hunting.. at least these blacktail " deer Mc Nugget" candidates.....

Ground squirrels seem to have an endless supply of the little rats....I like that target rich environment.... and they can be pretty darn stupid....and they are also cannibals... so you waste one, it is not unusual for several of his buddies to come running to chow down on his guts laying all over the place... those are the most fun to waste,.. the cannibal ones!

500 shots in 4 to 5 hours is not usual here in Oregon! ( I am talking a bolt action, also!)....
They can be so plentiful it looks like the ground is actually moving!....

cheers
seafire

Stormbringer: Aaahhh... great inquiry you have made here!
I am a dyed in the wool Rock Chucker and I would walk a mile for a shot a Rock Chuck!
And the only Varmint more tempting and tantalizing for me to Hunt than a Rock Chuck is a High Mountain Whistling Marmot (a Rock Chuck that lives in Alpine Country)!

My top ten list of favorite Varmints to Hunt would then look something like the following:

#1 = Rock Chucks
#2 = Prairie Dogs
#3 = Badgers
#4 = Coyotes
#5 = Crows & Ravens
#6 = Ground Squirrels
#7 = Jack Rabbits
#8 = Barn Pigeons
#9 = Magpies, Ravens & Crows
#10 = Feral Cats

Long live Varmint Hunting!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

crats

#1. Crows.
#2. Cats.
#3. Groundhogs.
#4. Foxes and coyotes.
#5. Neighborhood children.

1. Deer though they are not a varnmint they are fun to hunt and are quite tasty.

2. Jack Rabbits (yes I eat them)

3. Rabbits

4. Squills

5. Crows (no I dont eat them any-more)

6. P-Dogs etc...

1) Anything that gets into my chicken coop in the middle of the night and gets the hens clucking enough to wake me up. Use 12 ga.

2) Anything that goes past my window with one of my hens in it's mouth. Use 12 ga.

3) Any rodent in the bird feeder. Use 177 pellet

4) Any rodent or preditor that is unluckey enough to get in my cross hairs. Use .223

Prairie dogs
Cats

Calling coyotes.

Most definitely the Pdog. Crows, coyotes and pigeons are next.

Mike

Raccoon's out of pecan trees!

In order....Sorta

• Crows/Starlings/Pigeons
  
• Coyote
  
• Crats
  
• Rabbits
  
• Possum
  
• Rats/Mice/any thing I dont like
  

EDIT-I forgot to add groundhogs...I jsut do not have a decent spot here in Iowa to shoot them. I have alot of places to go in Ohio though.

Jacks-- runnin' if I can keep 'em in the crosshairs.

Coyotes and prairie dogs for me.

Coyote's, calling, spot & stock or over Yote bait on the hoof at night. The other, rock chucks. Shootin them on a slope and gettin great hang time is alway's a blast...!

Sage Rats,

Prairie Dogs,

Crows...

Coyotes...

Politicians....

cheers
seafire

yotes, because I can shootum from the front porch year around.
sage rats have to be #1 without a doubt and a big safari is planned with a few other AR members in april
hope 10,000 rounds is enough for me

Bobcats, their pelts have subsidized my hunting, shooting and gun purchases for 30 years now.

They and gray fox also paid for college, trucks, ATV's and a few trips to warm, sunny beaches with nubile young females

Martens. a real chalange. roger

Martens, a real chalange. roger

Sage Rats make for the fastest shooting and great fun.

Rockchunks - I get to be a sniper for awhile. They crawl out on the rock to warm themselves just before the 6mm BR takes them out.

Prairie dogs for the weird and wonderful shooting. Air time is important and what I call bowling alley shots
where 4 or 5 are close together on the top of a mound. Kill the one in middle with a belly shot and you usually
get one or two of his buddies and blow the rest off the mound.

Best of all is whacking a badger at close range with a 30-06 with 125 HP's.

Rockchucks with the 300RUM
Pdogs with the 7 mag
sagerats with the .222 and .223
foxes and coyotes with whatever is handy from the deck off the master bedroom