For us that can shoot whenever you want or need to What is your go to Rifle

I live in the country and don't have neighbors so I can shoot anything anytime. So my question for people like myself is What is your go to Rifle when the need is at hand, say a coyote or a wild hog appears in your yard. I have many,many firearms but it seems when this sort of thing happens to me I grab the same rifle almost every time. I'll tell ya later what it is.

 

Used to be my 597 for any of our local pests when we still lived on the farm. If I was shooting at a deer or something of the sort (pretty much only deer where we lived) I would use my 7 mag.....while I cant shoot around the house anymore, ill still reach for that 7 when something absolutely MUST die.

 

Most of the year I am in a suburb of Dallas. We have coyotes that roam the neighborhood, but since we're in the city limits, we can't shoot them and they're too smart of animal control, so we live with them.

The farm in Arkansas where I spend the rest of the year is very rural. Coytoes never appear in the yard, but can be heard - but not seen - in their packs when hunting. I would never dream of shooting the mountain lions that show up occasionally. And the nuisence animals that appear occasionally are easily dispatched with my Ruger Mini-14.

 

For an opportunity on coyotes, an AR-15 in one flavor or another.

For a quick - honey, I'm stepping outside to burn some powder - self meditation minute, it varies. Sometimes a 22, sometimes a 44mag, often a 7-08, 7 Mauser, or 284win, often a .300win mag, sometimes a .338wm.

 

An old Remington ADL in 6MM Remington. It has handled business for over 25 years.

 

I live on the edge of Helena National Forest. my go to gun is my M1A SOCOM (16 1/4 inch barrel .308) in an aftermarket carbon fiber stock with a pistol grip. I took it elk hunting this year and dropped my bull at 110 yards with open sights. I either carry it or my .454 Casull when I hike, both are more than enough for anything that might get a bit too aggressive.

 

Hdwhit, I live on the state line of Oklahoma and Arkansas. I wouldn't shoot a mountain lion either, I got this picture on my trail camera in early archery season.

 

several 7mm-08,s. eastbank.

 

I'm in a rural area but there are houses close enough to make me uncomfortable using a high power rifle. When I've needed to dispatch a pest or carry something while I lock up the chickens I grab a 10/22. I've only had to deal with a larger predator once and chose an 870 for power, range and ease picking up a moving target.

 

My people have learned to tell me of threat with the initial request for a weapon, ei. "Quick Honey, there's a snake!". OK grab the 870 with birdshot behind the door. Coyote in the chicken pen? I grab the closest rifle I can find (I've got plenty to pick from around the house).

 

For precision work I grab the Vanguard in 243 win. For something closer it's usually met with The Ruger 22/45 Hunter.
As for target work I have found my interest leaning away from what I always considered fun guns to a slower paced benched shot using bolt guns. Funny, before I moved to my current location where I can do some shooting whenever I want to I always took the semi-autos to the range for shooting time while the bolt guns collected dust. Now that I have a personal shooting lane it's reversed and the autos are collecting dust.

 

I have a 16" mid-length Rock RIver 6.8 SPC A4 with an EOTECH and MBUS rear with a Yankee Hill flip up gas block that is the gun that goes every time. It will take care of any need with reliability and precision. Just put the 1 MOA dot on the target and squeeze the trigger. It has a rail mounted flashlight for after hours work.

Then the hard part is deciding what other guns to take as well. LOL

 

I live out in the country, no nearby neighbors....so I can step out my back door and shoot whatever I like.

That said, if it is something large (Deer/Hog) and within 150 yds. I'll grab my .458 SOCOM. IF farther away, I'll get my 7mm-08. IF something smaller (Coon,Bobcat,Skunk, etc) then I'll grab the .17 HMR

For me...there just isn't a 'One gun I go to'.

 

You know that's a housecat, right?

 

I have a 10-22 and an L1A1 that get called to play in the yard.

 

I always have a 10-22, 357 Mag, and a 12 ga easily accessible. The 10-22 gets picked most of all, the shotgun and revolvers are mostly for SD. If there was a coyote in the yard I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it with a 22lr.

 

We live in the country. My favorite cartridge is the 32-20 so a Uberti 1873 Carbine is my usual preferred go to long gun. It is great for skunks, coons, opossums.

However a H&R single shot 12 gauge shotgun that is by the front door gets more use.

 

I can shoot in any direction from my front or back porch. I've declared war on ground hogs for eating the siding off of my out buildings and armadillos for digging holes in my yard. When the war began I used a 10-22 Ruger with 4X scope or a Ruger Mark III .22 pistol with Bushnell red dot. I found a .22 to be not enough gun for ground hogs. If you don't hit them in the head no matter how mortally wounded they are they run or crawl off and hide under something making a confirmed kill difficult.
I'm now using a Mini 14 .223 with varmint tips and a 4X scope. It is a brutal round on the size animals I'm at war with. It is capable of literally tearing a ground hog or armadillo to pieces.
I'm not a deer hunter anymore but I still set on the porch during season with either my old Marlin 30-30 or a Ruger 77 .280 pretending to be a deer hunter.

 

Depends on what needs to die. For snakes it's my TC in .410. Anything else it's my Ruger American in .223.

 

We have rattlers, skunks, coons, coyotes, pigeons, deer, rabbits, upland fowl, badgers, coyotes, coons, pigeons, prairie dogs, antelope, crows, prairie dogs, coons, pigeons, coyotes, rattlers, and coons. For pigeons and rattlers and youth practice I grab bb guns, .22 revolver or rifle, and without youth, the 12 GA, .38 revolver, 9mm .410 shotgun, .223 and .243 all have seen their use quite often, usually the night yard disturbances are met with the 12 GA or .223 (has a scope light) and a pistol on the hip... one time I cleared a Coon nest out of an abandoned barn and the 12 GA, hipoint .40 and .22 revolver did NOT have enough ammo. Also, there are still occasions when ye olde .300 wm gets to stretch its legs. And while the 9mm carbine needs new sights, it has also earned its own place in the yard protection game.

 

My choices are:

Small game, a Kimber M82 in .22 LR
Varmints, a Kimber M82 in .22 Hornet
Everything else, a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-06.

 

Depends, if I am outside its what I have on me or near me. In the shop that would be one of the 510's or a model 60. Mowing would be a .410 or a Walther P22 with a suppressor.

Around the house would be a 572 for the "dam armadillos" or a suppressed 9mm rifle for coyotes at night (neighbors might not mind but Mrs. Morris would and that is the most important person to keep happy that I know of) during the day a .22 hornet gives be better range for them.

 

It's me the OP , when I say back yard, I just mean out the back door quick shot at usually running varmints. I own 2 full sections of land that have been in my family since my great great grandfather, on one side of my land I got cookson Hills game Refuge on the other side fence there is 8 miles of forest that belongs to Cherokee Nation and since I'm Indian and have a white card I can legally hunt any of that land,so could anyone else with a white card but they would have to get through my 1,400 acres with three steel gates to get to that part of Indian land So what I'm saying is The only neighbor I have is the game wardens watch house over the entrance of the game Refuge so I get lots of varmint to shoot at . Off my back deck I have a 1,000 yard shot in several directions even further distances in some places. Flintknapper the game wardens warned me of the release of these mountain lions when they released them along with some black lions and was asked not to kill them if they started killing my cows to let them now and it is not a house cat it is a young mountain lion and I have seen it from my deer stand with my own eyes. But anyway of all the guns my wife and I own probably about 200, I always seem to go get one of these when I'm in a hurry and I couldn't count the hogs and coyotes these two rifles have taken over the years. mini-14 & mini-30

 

My current favorite is a suppressed Tikka T3 CTR in 308 Winchester. It's very accurate and I can shoot it comfortably without hearing protection. If the target is such that a rifle shot would be hazzardous, I use a Mossberg 500 20 gauge shotgun. For very close targets, I usually use a handgun; whatever I have on me at the time.

My neighbors, the nearest of which is probably a bit over 300 yards away are pretty tolerant. I've had no complaints over the years even after a range session with a 460 Weatherby Magnum. Unless there's a varmint that needs killing, I usually forego shooting at night or on weekends.

There was the time I needed to take a varmint out in the early morning hours with, as I remember, a 204 Ruger. The shot out a window triggered the glass breakage sensor on the burgler alarm; yea, my wife woke up and wasn't very happy about it.