Suggestions for varmint gun

pilot-in-fla

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I'm pretty sure the hawk we had visit us was a red tailed but, like I said, the local birds were warned and scattered into the brush and were safe. And that hawk visit was during the day.

We also get a lot of Ibises and a smaller number of Sand Hill cranes.
 

Swamp Donkey

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I planning to get Mossberg Maverick 20 gauge pump action and use lighter loads.
I often hear the advice that if you only had one gun, a 12/20 shotgun or 22 would be it. I generally agree.
 

Zambo

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I just shot a Ruger Takedown 22 yesterday at the range. What a great little rifle. It breaks in half and fits neatly into the included duffel bag. You could keep this bag with 1000 rounds of ammo handy for a myriad of reasons. Now I don't know if shooting nocturnal varmints is gonna be practical, but if you ever have the need to accurately pump something full of bullets inside 50 meters as fast as you can pull the trigger then this is a nice tool.
1022takedown_2.jpg
 

G 2

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I just shot a Ruger Takedown 22 yesterday at the range. What a great little rifle. It breaks in half and fits neatly into the included duffel bag. You could keep this bag with 1000 rounds of ammo handy for a myriad of reasons. Now I don't know if shooting nocturnal varmints is gonna be practical, but if you ever have the need to accurately pump something full of bullets inside 50 meters as fast as you can pull the trigger then this is a nice tool.
1022takedown_2.jpg
Always liked those little things. Just never had a need.
 

Detroitgator

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I often hear the advice that if you only had one gun, a 12/20 shotgun or 22 would be it. I generally agree.
Yeah, 20's are nice. They'll do just about any job a 12 will do with a lot less recoil... Great for women, kids, and men who realize recoil aint a joke ;) I have a Remington 11-87 Youth/Compact in 20 Gauge and its great
 

pilot-in-fla

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Yeah, 20's are nice. They'll do just about any job a 12 will do with a lot less recoil... Great for women, kids, and men who realize recoil aint a joke ;) I have a Remington 11-87 Youth/Compact in 20 Gauge and its great

Yeah, it was clear to me that my girl friend was not going to care for the kick of a 12 gauge. If I ever need that kind of firepower, I already have a Mossberg 500.
 

Gator2222

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My property is completely surrounded by water except for the driveway. So I don't get a lot of stray animals coming here although there are many in my rather rural neighborhood. So I've not really worried about them much. But I now have a pet turkey that wants to stay out at night and she got the worst of a fight some months ago leading to some embarrassingly high vet bills.

So I think it is time to get a varmint rifle to take out any raccoons and/or possums that come on the property before they have a chance to cause any trouble. I've thought about a 22 and also had a recommendation of a 410 shotgun.

Anyone care to offer suggestions or recommendations.


I grew up hunting and still go to the range quite frequently. When I was very young I was friends with a family that was the definition of dirt poor. I used to go hunting squirrels with them as it was a food source for the family. They used a .410 with light loads and it was very effective. I used a .22 simply because it was more challenging. To hit a fairly small fast moving animal with a .22 takes some practice.

However, you do have to be careful with a .22. I loaned mine to a friend once. He was shooting in his yard out in the country and accidentally hit a roofer a little over a mile away. It wasn't a serious wound, but those rounds travel well.

I trap shoot often with a 12 gauge and to me the kick is fairly light. Light loads don't have as much punch. Every girl I take gets used to the kick pretty quickly. The key is to hold the gun properly. Extremely snug in the crook of the shoulder. I can shoot all day and my shoulder is never sore.

I have a few friends that trap shoot with a 20 gauge and it works just fine as well. Either of those will work well for small game. Personally, if I were purchasing just one shotgun I would opt for a 12 gauge as it is much more effective for hunting larger animals and also for self defense. If you live in the country you can't always depend on help to arrive quickly. There's nothing quite like the sound of a 12 gauge racking to make people think twice.

When we raised chickens the opossums would try to eat them all the time. We built a completely enclosed coop and would shut them in at night and the opossums would still find a way in. Raccoons are scavengers for the most part. If I were you I would cut the raccoons some slack and get rid of the opossums first. You can always take out the raccoons next if that doesn't work.
 

pilot-in-fla

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Well, the turkey I was hoping to protect is gone and not from being served on a plate. She wouldn't go into a protected area, instead opting to to into deep brush near the lake at night and it was impossible to remove her. She would appear out in the open when light came up every day until, one day, she didn't. There were no land-based predators on the property so it looks like she may have fallen victim to an alligator.

The chickens all know where to go at night and their actual roosting areas are off the ground. We have one other turkey and 6 guinea fowl and they either overnight off the ground or we round them up into another enclosed area.
 

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