.22LR (90%)
12gauge (8%)
7,62x39 (2%)
- .22lr - The vast majority of hunting I do is varminting.
- 12gauge - Then comes pest birds, and the occasional grouse.
- 7.62x39 - Kinda a controversial round around here for hunting, but it fits my needs. The larger pests - feral cats gone mean (if they aren't bothering any of the domestic cats and dogs, I leave alone - but sometimes you kinda need to deal with them), badgers, coyotes, every couple of years a beaver or two that are damning up irrigation canals. All of these in quite low numbers. A deer once a year. A 30-30 lever would do, but x39 ammo is just way cheaper. Cheaper to the point that if I leave the .22s at home and just grab an SKS, it's still cheap enough to shoot gophers with. I bought a Zastava this fall to scope out and replace the SKS's for most things - don't need semi-auto, the Zastava has an order of magnitude better trigger, is more accurate. Even the non corrosive ammo is cheap enough that it was easy to set aside what should effectively be a lifetime supply of ammo for it.
I like the bigger rifles too, but just don't find I "need" them much. 99.9% of my practical shooting is within 150yards, and nothing bigger than a deer.
12gauge (8%)
7,62x39 (2%)
- .22lr - The vast majority of hunting I do is varminting.
- 12gauge - Then comes pest birds, and the occasional grouse.
- 7.62x39 - Kinda a controversial round around here for hunting, but it fits my needs. The larger pests - feral cats gone mean (if they aren't bothering any of the domestic cats and dogs, I leave alone - but sometimes you kinda need to deal with them), badgers, coyotes, every couple of years a beaver or two that are damning up irrigation canals. All of these in quite low numbers. A deer once a year. A 30-30 lever would do, but x39 ammo is just way cheaper. Cheaper to the point that if I leave the .22s at home and just grab an SKS, it's still cheap enough to shoot gophers with. I bought a Zastava this fall to scope out and replace the SKS's for most things - don't need semi-auto, the Zastava has an order of magnitude better trigger, is more accurate. Even the non corrosive ammo is cheap enough that it was easy to set aside what should effectively be a lifetime supply of ammo for it.
I like the bigger rifles too, but just don't find I "need" them much. 99.9% of my practical shooting is within 150yards, and nothing bigger than a deer.
