simple fun..

Discussion in 'Firearms' started by Tango3, Jul 17, 2009.


  1. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Preface:in Praise of the simple air rifle.

    I don't get out to shoot as much as I should, I don't floss often enough either...forget sit ups and running...
    We ( me and the neighbors )have had our fledgling summer gardens raided by a short hairy rodent; No not Barney Frank, a woodchuck or groundhog.He's been avoiding the havahart boxtraps, so yesterday I stepped it up, set a conibear 120 in one of his runs, and found the kids'old pellet rifle hidden above the basement ceilling for years.

    My backyard borders a school playground, but I setup a simple coffee can on its side with a clothespin clipped to the edge for a target, across the patio,and spent an hour or so dialing it in what a simple-low powered blast !Think I'll look into a quality pump up gun. walking around the backyard with my10/22 would definitely draw the mounties.and the.22 is suburban overkill where even the appearance or report of a rifle draws unwanted attention. Not to mention the lethality of loose rounds I still won't walk around brazenly brandishing the plastic bb gun(too many soccer moms around ).[peep][gun][clp]b::
    Feel like bill murray" gentlemen today we engage the V.C. varmint cong:"come out to play mr go-pher..."
     
  2. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Re: simpe fun..

    Update:
    the simple minded critter ( him not me) wandered into the largest havahart, saving his furry little life...he'll be released into the countryside after a suitably long, blindfolded car ride..
    Now I gotta disarm the conibear without breaking any fingers
     
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Re: simpe fun..

    Is there a nearby pond? I can't see any point in letting it loose in someone else's garden patch. (Not to mention fingers won't get bit when you let it out.) Or, your pellet gun can earn a notch in the stock. Yeah, yeah, I know, it isn't necessarily easy to dispatch a critter on several levels, but it seems to me that several things would come of it. One, the gene pool gets cleaned up a bit. Two, there's no danger of lingering after trying to cross the road. Three, there won't be an invasive species let loose in an otherwise uncontaminated area. I suppose other benefits will occur to other folks.

    And yeah, pellet guns provide hours of amusement along with significant practice, so long as bad habits are not part of it. Hang a can from a tree with some string at say 50 feet and make it dance. When you get to 9 hits of ten tries, hang a smaller can. 8 ounce Bush's Baked Beans are good for 20 hits before what look like misses are really passing thru --
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Seems to be a generic ground hawg...common throughout the conus. but you make a good point.I don't have any current enemy's just asking for mammalian crop warfare. We've got plenty of forest and farms and ponds around. Yeah I got a soft spot for defenseless trapped animals. He was just trying to make a living from under my garden shed...tougher times he might have even made it to the crockpot with some veggies.
    8 or10 smaller conibears hanging in the garage for emergencies might not be a bad idea.
     
  5. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    When i lived in Ohio, i used to shoot 300 to 500 of these overgrown rats every year. yes i had someone who took all i killed and fed their family once or twice a week with them. got no sympathy for ground hogs ....sorry JMHO of course
     
  6. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I've found those little "Aguila" 20 grain, no powder/primer only rounds, are quite effective for dispatching "pests", with NO noise when fired from a .22 rifle with an 18"+ barrel.
    In a pistol, they do make a definite "pop" however.....
    I have punctured many a can at 50 feet, with the only sound being the firing pin hitting the brass case!
    I like using my son's Savage s/s bolt action for these!
    I recently tried them in my AR7-S and they work, but you have to eject them by pulling the bolt back again!
     
  7. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    what do they call those(?) I thought real hard about a subsonic round and a pop bottle...This guy looked pretty beefy in the box trap I don;''think my popgun pellet rifle woulda even "phased" him...
     
  8. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    [fnny] at Caddyshack....

    "To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."


    You know, I hear that groundhog is really good eating. Seen a couple guys eat one on a bowhunting video. You oughta give it a try and let us know how it is.
     
  9. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Blackjack, I have at least tried eating most everything I have shot, trapped, or pulled out of the water except a few rare exceptions.

    Having once long ago been a "buckeye", I am pretty sure you "hoshiers" have plenty of those fat rats right there in your backyard, or at least somewhere close. How about you send us a taste test report. Also a range report, on paces to target, rounds fired etc.....

    I have confidence you can do it.[sawgunner]
     
  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Somewhere around here, I have a groundhog recipe. I think it ends up with "Dump out the cookpot and eat the hide."
     
  11. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Ok wise crackers, here is a published recipe.

    Source; The Game and Fish Menu Cookbook, by Timothy Manion

    "Ranch Woodchuck" aka Groundhog

    2 woodchucks, skinned, cleaned, and cut up
    1/2 cup plus 1 tbs all purpose flour
    1/2 cup melted butter
    6 one ounce slices Monterey Jack cheese cut in half
    12 thin slices prosciutto (itialian ham)
    1/2 cup chopped green onions
    3 large cloves garlic, minced
    1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
    1/2 cup dry white wine
    1 cup chicken broth
    1/2 teaspoon each dry herbs, thyme and oregano
    1/2 cup sherry
    1/2 heavy cream
    salt and pepper to taste

    preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

    dip meat pieces in flour. melt butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. brown meat pieces in batches on all sides in skillet. arrange browned meat pieces in a buttered 13 by 9 by 2 inch baking dish. top each meat piece in baking dish with one slice of prosciutto and one piece of cheese. Make sauce in skillet, saute green onions and garlic until softened, add mushrooms, wine, broth, and herbs. bring to a poil and cook covered 10 minutes. blend separately 1 tbs flour and sherry. pour sherry/flour mix and cream into skillet, stirring until thickened. season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meat pieces in baking dish. cover with foil or dish cover and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. serves 6
     
  12. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    The following text in Blue is a quoted passage from a L.L. Bean, Fish and Game Cookbook.

    Groundhogs, a few other notes regarding consumption of;

    When one considers the number of groundhogs shot each year as varmints it is a pity that so few of them are eaten. The meat of a young groundhog is as delicious as fox squirrels and can be chicken fried also. the flesh of more mature animals makes for savory stews. Groundhogs weigh from 4.5 lb to 15 lbs or so. a 4.5 to 6 pound animal is likely to be young and tender. Grounhogs are fat, and like certain other game animals have small of the back and under forearm glands. The excess fat, and the glands should be removed when cleaning . Older animals that are headed for the stew pot should be put in a pot, cover with water, and add 3 tbs vinegar, and allow to marinate in frig overnight before using in a slow cooker stew or braised meat recipe.

    I have probably 800 - 1000 cookbooks and can probably find multiple recipes for most anything edible. I have more groundhog recipes i will PM if anyone wants them. [dunno]
     
  13. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I think I will pass on eating the big rats.

    Tango, pick up some CB Caps, .22 shells with no powder, the primer kicks them out quick enough to kill small varmints ( I took out a bird house raiding squirrel with a shot to the eye) but is as quiet as a pellet rifle. The longer the barrel on the rifle, the quieter the shot. I shoot CB Caps in my back yard fairly frequently (keeping the crows out too) and my neighbors are none the wiser.
     
  14. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Do I sense a definite ethnic bias there....lol

    The Chinese claim the most delicious steaks come from the .... RAT. [dunno]
     
  15. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

  16. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Hey that colibri stuff looks like the catz azz for my model 17 or the old hand me down bolt marlin!! thanks guys...[boozingbuddies]
     
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