Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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Day off today. Bright sun, 28 degrees, and about a foot of snow on the ground. Been feeling ragged from work, and worn out from the news. It's rabbit season here. After getting a few things done around the house, grabbed the Henry 22lr and a handful of cartridges. Haven't been shooting in a while, so I propped a few clay pigeons up in the snow to make sure I could still hit something rabbit-sized. Got them all, then set up some of the larger shards and hit those too. Plinking done. Loaded a few more rounds then walked the woods quietly and slowly. Up and down steep hills through the snow, so I got my workout in for the day. Spent an hour and a half walking the woods. Watched the woodpeckers. Crossed the creek which was churning with trout. Lots of deer tracks; found their bedding area. Looked for the eagles, not here today. Lots of rabbit tracks. No rabbits. No problem. Life is good. Sitting with a cup of coffee now.

Refreshed and renewed. Hope you all are finding some moments as well.

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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I have got a date this Sunday to take out my little boy, he is six, to do some 22 plinking. Just got him his very first Crickett after a couple of times out with my grossly oversized Marlin. Very few of my liberal buddies shoot, so I am stoked to have a new shooting companion! Life is indeed good, got to find the moments where they exist.
Last edited by keenanmj85 on Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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keenanmj85 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:15 pm I have got a date this Sunday to take out my little boy, he is six, to do some 22 plinking. Just got him his very first Crickett after a couple of times out with my grossly oversized. Very few of my liberal buddies shoot, so I am stoked to have a new shooting companion! Life is indeed good, got to find the moments where they exist.
Yeah. My 14 yo daughter loves to shoot with me. That's the good stuff.

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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curtism1234 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:04 pm I can barely hit a rabbit sometimes with a 12ga improved so hats off to you!
The truth is, I have yet to get a rabbit. Lots of squirrels, but no rabbits. I was going to use the 410, but only have like 7 shells left and don't know when I'll find more. So I figured I'd go this route. They usually seem to scramble from their cover when you walk up on them, run 10-20 yards and freeze in another spot, so I figured rifle would work.

With squirrels, I don't usually use the 22 because if they're up a tree I don't want to risk shooting up in the air. Lots of hills and bluffs near me, so if I can have a good backstop, 22 is great. Started by using 20 gauge for the squirrels, but honestly it's way too easy--just sort of point in the general direction and you get them. So 2 years ago I got a 410--no chance of stray bullets carrying and more challenging than 20 or 12 gauge. Gotta get close.

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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.22 lr is a pretty underrated round, IMO. Far less mess on small game than a shotgun and plenty lethal, even for larger game in a survival situation if you can get close enough. I saw a guy take out a 100 lb boar at close range with one once, right through the eye socket (obviously, you should use a bigger round on larger game if possible.) The best part, though, is watching my boys have more fun than a barrel of monkeys with their .22 rifles chasing squirrels and rabbits around the hills just like I did when I was their age. And my old Ruger Blackhawk Single-6 in .22mag is always on my hip when I'm out bird hunting.
Good luck with those rabbits!
Crow
Minute Of Average

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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Brings back memories.

Of a little sister that ruined trout fishing by feeding them bread balls from her hands, naming them and calling them pets; of a little brother that ruined hunting by sitting out under the apple trees and having deer and squirrels and chipmunks and rabbits come up to him to feed at his feet while he named them and decided they were pets and of what should have been a perfectly fine Weimaraner who instead of pointing or retrieving decided rounding up all the neighbors' cattle and herding them into the front yard to keep them safe was his purpose in life.

But it was still fun walking the hills and ridges and I told all the pets the gun was just to help protect them from lions and tigers and bears and ohmys.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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tarkellyt wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:17 am Honestly, I'm new to hunting. I've gone out a couple times looking for rabbits/squirrels. But the last couple times, I didn't even try. A couple weekends ago, I went to my usual stomping grounds and just hiked with a thermos of coffee. It was super relaxing.
"That's why it's called 'hunting' and not 'killing'." :) When asked if I hunt, I frequently respond, "I wander in the woods with a gun, does that count?" Getting out and just enjoying being out there is 90% of the fun. You might harvest, you probably won't. You might see the quarry you're looking for to be able to decide whether to harvest, you probably won't (until you go out with a tag for a different species and then they'll be EVERYWHERE). But you're out, you're familiarizing with your stomping grounds, it's better than many alternatives. :)

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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Reminds me of the old joke about fishing.

I've one old friend on the far left side of the spectrum who hunts primarily for ecological reasons. Doesn't particularly enjoy shooting. Doesn't particularly enjoy freezing in a blind at the buttcrack of dawn. If they didn't stock up on venison, I'd have questions.

Meanwhile, I look at the deer tracks in my back yard and wonder if maybe I should take it up after all. Had three hanging out most of the day yesterday, and what did I do? Head off to the range to shoot some .22!

Re: Simple pleasures: 22LR and fresh air, no rabbits.

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Another good 22lr day. Got home from work. Took care of what needed taking care of outside. Had about 60 free minutes. Handful of 22lr cartridges in my pocket. Henry lever gun. Shot into bullet trap with targets stapled to front. 10 yards off hand was meh. 25 yards seated with buckhorn sights was accurate enough to be fun but not win any contests. Except for a few very dreadful flyers, everything was minute of squirrel/rabbit. Also, perfect weather for jeans and sweatshirt and a little time after for a cup of coffee while the sun was starting to get low over the bluffs. Life is good.

Bonus -- small game season is closed so I didn't even have to pretend I was hunting this time.

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