Many moons ago, I thought of myself as a pretty good Maine varmint hunter/shooter, but these days hardly go out into the fields/woods looking primarily for woodchucks, crows, coyotes, red squirrels, etc. I keep a rifle in the "front" closet to take out the occasional critter, mostly coyotes, woodchucks, skunks, or the occasional bird-feeder/bandit crows.
The rifle in the closet these days is most often my .17 HMR, because it's fun/relatively inexpensive to shoot, and fairly quiet, compared with the centerfire .223s and .243s I own. It also insists that I take it with me when I go for long walks on my son's blueberry fields and cut-over woodlands. However, when some larger pests start plaguing the area, one of my .223 bolt-guns gets front-closet duty. I don't own any centerfires that don't shoot sub-MOA, so it usually comes down to the quietest/least valuable...namely, my relatively-new Rem 700 ADL, .223, which also is my favorite walk-about CF.
My son who lives next door hadn't had a centerfire varmint/game rifle, relying on his favorite .30-06 Rem 700 that I gave him about 25 years ago, after owning it for about 15 years or so. It's kinda noisy and overkill (if there is such a thing) around the neighborhood. A few days ago, I long-term loaned him my Tikka .223 bolt-action that flat-out SHOOTS! I still have two others that are lighter and being "Picherized", shoot as well/better. While at it, I also gave him 40 rounds of fresh handloads with 55 grain Sierra spitzers. That should fix him up to make mighty bad days for coyotes inside of 300 yards. The Tikka (photo) is fast to load, having a detachable magazine that slips-in quickly.
The rifle in the closet these days is most often my .17 HMR, because it's fun/relatively inexpensive to shoot, and fairly quiet, compared with the centerfire .223s and .243s I own. It also insists that I take it with me when I go for long walks on my son's blueberry fields and cut-over woodlands. However, when some larger pests start plaguing the area, one of my .223 bolt-guns gets front-closet duty. I don't own any centerfires that don't shoot sub-MOA, so it usually comes down to the quietest/least valuable...namely, my relatively-new Rem 700 ADL, .223, which also is my favorite walk-about CF.
My son who lives next door hadn't had a centerfire varmint/game rifle, relying on his favorite .30-06 Rem 700 that I gave him about 25 years ago, after owning it for about 15 years or so. It's kinda noisy and overkill (if there is such a thing) around the neighborhood. A few days ago, I long-term loaned him my Tikka .223 bolt-action that flat-out SHOOTS! I still have two others that are lighter and being "Picherized", shoot as well/better. While at it, I also gave him 40 rounds of fresh handloads with 55 grain Sierra spitzers. That should fix him up to make mighty bad days for coyotes inside of 300 yards. The Tikka (photo) is fast to load, having a detachable magazine that slips-in quickly.
