Since about 12 years of age I have been a varmint hunter. I started with Stevens-Savage Model 15Y. I would pick up pop and beer bottle along side the road and turn them in to buy .22 shells at the country store--a kid could do that in 60's. I used those to shot a bunch of southern Oregon Gray Digger squirrels, a couple of coyotes and a fox. Shot a couple of Gray squirrels but stopped doing that as they were an eatable game, and mom wouldn't cook them. I also used this gun to kill a number of raccoons and one bear while running behind hounds.
Yes bear, with a .22. At 15-16 years I wasn't smart, just bold. I shot that bear in the eye, and somehow or another the bullet found its way into the brain and the bear fell out of the tree dead. I think God watches out for foolish teen age boys.
I Still have that rifle.
As I got older and life took hold of me I didn't have time for varmints. I had a family to raise. I would still get out once in awhile to torment the Gray diggers. For rifles i used what ever I had. Used my DCM Garand one time.
When I lived in Arizona back in the late 70's I did a bunch of Coyote calling. I generally went after them with a 870 Shotgun and 00 buck. Fur prices were still good back then.
In the late 80's I did gunsmithing in a gun shop in Redding, CA. Lots of gray diggers around there, but access was difficult. There was an old man who came in a lot mainly to buy reloading supplies. I was told he was known as the Guru of Digger Squirrel shooting in the area-Ben Herrera. I struck up a conversation with him each time he came in the shop. One day he asked for some brass for a .223. We had factory ammo, but he wanted just brass. I had acquired a stock pile of brass when I worked for the Sheriffs department. I offered it to this man. When he asked how much, I told him he had to take me digger shooting. He said deal. He asked me what kind of rifle I had and I told him the Savage .22. He said he would loan me a gun.
When we met to shoot, he loaned me a Ruger 77V 22-250 with a Tasco World class 6-24x50 scope. We shot a bunch of diggers that day. He asked me to go with him the following week and thus began my varmint hunting in a very serious light. With in a few weeks I had a duplicate of his Ruger. Ben and I became very good friends after that. We shot every week we could, life and weather permitting. He passed away years ago, and was ad is sorely missed,
I used that 77V to shoot lots digger squirrels, coyotes, Belding ground squirrels, rock chucks, several wood chuck, badgers, Richardson ground squirrels, jack rabbits and a truck load of Texas prairie dogs. I still have this gun as it came out of the box. I never bedded this gun or messed with the trigger. It shot well under one inch, well under. I would have to dig into my old paper files to find out how well it shot. I have fired so many rounds through the is gun, I am sure the throat must be toast. I don't think I have shot this gun in over 25 years, but I still have it.
During the 90's I traveled with my job. I worked in Montreal for a couple years. Vermont was close by and they have woodchucks. Wood chucks for me had always been the crown jewel of varmint hunting. I had read it about since I was a kid. If at age 40 you can have a bucket list, the first item on my list would have been Wood chuck hunting. My 77V served me well and shot Chucks in Vermont and Pennsylvania.
In the late 90's I moved to the Montana right into a gopher patch. The first thing the wife and I did was pick up a pair of 10-22's for this game. I change the barrels on both swapping into the heavy Barrels that Midway was selling. I added a Midway laminated target stock to my rifle, shortened her stock for her 1 inch LOP. Both guns shot well. We both learned quickly the those long "banana" mags were a pain to shoot with, anyway but standing, and overly tedious loading. She bought a bunch of the Ruger 10 round magazines after that.
We both in the past, Rimfire Pistol Silhouette shooters. So I picked up a .22 Hornet barrel for a Contender. Made it into one of the many K-hornet versions. I was also dabbling in BSA M-4 Cadets at the time and made her one in .22 K-Hornet. That gun quickly became her go to gun for longer ranges and especially rock chucks. She did most of her shooting with her 10-22, but that little cadet was always close at hand.
When she passed away I sent her guns-all with shortened stocks to my son for my Grand daughters.
I found a Remington 511. Mounted a Tasco World class scope on it. That gun out shoot the 10-22. I still have the 10-22 but probably haven't shot since the late 90's. That 511 became my go to gopher gun. Took a few rock chucks with it-limited to head shots only. A couple of time I reached out to 200 yards with that .22. But, only on wind free days when you could see the dust kick up for misses. That wasn't often.
Around 2002 I started getting serious about Martini single shots. One of the first things I learned about them is that little ones were not all cadets. Some were other things. I built my late wife's K-Hornet a BSA Model 4a, the so called cadet action. . Built my self a 219 Donaldson WASP and a 218 Mashburn Bee. The DW is on Westley Richards Sherwood action. The MB was built on Hollis Martini Action. All are Incredibly accurate guns.
When Hornaday came out with the little 17 Mach 2, I had to have one of those. I had acquired a water damaged BSA 1215 Martini. I bored out the barrel and installed a 17 caliber liner, then chambered it in 17 HM2. I had the metal work sand blasted, intending to draw file the pits out. The pits were two extensive and deep, so I filled them with Devcon steel, filled them out and painted the gun black. I used faux granite spray paint on the wood. I scoped the gun up with a Tasco World class scope. While sighting in I saw a wasp on the target at 25 yards. I shot the wasp, hitting it in head. Hornady used that picture the following year in their catalog. That little gun wrecked havoc in gopher patch. I shot several thousand round through that little gyn. I limited shots on rock chucks to head shots and it was very effective.
Hornady then came out with the 17HMR. Had to have that one also. So I lined the bore of another BSA 1215 and shoot that in the gopher patch. I bought ammo by the case for that one and a shoot a pile of gophers with it. At one time I had 25,000 rounds of 17HMR. While I didn't shoot all that--I shared some with friends, I did shoot the Majority of it. I was retired, I had the time.
In 2013 I went to Afghanistan to work and while there I had a pair BSA1215's bult in 17 Hornaday Hornet. When I got back form over there, I carried those two guns and the 1500 rounds of factory out to the gopher patch and extended my range on gophers. Wow could those guns shoot.
These three 17's were some of the most accurate rifle I hade ever built or owned.
Tasco scopes were gone by this time, so I used Simmon Aetec, Leupold and old Weaver scopes on these guns. Preference is 6 X.
My wife of 44 years passed away in 2011. In 2014 I remarried. My new wife lived in Oklahoma. We both were shooting gopher, badgers, rock chucks and Jack rabbits when we came up to my house in Montana. But going back and forth between OK and MT got tiresome and cut in on varmint hunting time. in 2018 I moved full time to OK.
My varmint hunting now is popping an occasional armadillo or feral hog. I have shot several hogs with My Ruger No. 1 but mostly use my 6.8SPC AR for hogs. I have Have did a little calling mainly for raccoons, haven't got one yet, but a coyote did come in one. Oops for him.
I am sorry this is so long, The topic got me reminiscing. That for letting remember. I will be 78 on Monday and its getting to the point, all I have is the memories. Thanks for giving me your time
.....hopefully one day I will get back out.
