Newbie – wondering about 22s
Question:
Hi there. Our Clumber Spaniel recently realized that by gawd, she is a bird dawg. She is 3 years old, and had been intro’d to birds several times in her life, never showing interest t’all until the Clumber national in June. Some serious work and a lot of luck… and now she has earned her WDX and her AKC Junior Hunter title. In fact, she is 5 for 5 in field test events now, passing every one we have entered. Pretty damn cool, especially since her handler and trainer (that’d be me) is a total rookie in field events, or hunting at all for that matter. Anyhow, so it was a ton of fun and is wonderful after about 10 years in the breed to finally have one who likes to work birds, so my partner and I have decided to get into the "real" sport. We purchased a shotgun, have signed up for classes, and of course are bothering our mentors in the breed constantly. We have found a shotgun trap shooting place and have been practicing there with a borrowed shotgun (our hasn’t arrived yet, and once it does, we will have to get to to a smith to be resized, as we are both female and our arms were not designed, apparently, for the length from stock to trigger.) and having fun. We also attended a local intro to plinking event, and shot 22 rifles for the first times in our lives. So hopefully you are now aware that we know virtually nothing about hunting or firearms. My actual question is this: we had a lot of fun firing the 22 rifle and we are thinking it might be cool to get one of those, too, for target practice. What else is a 22 good for? Is there any other kinds of hunting it can be used for? Obviously upland birds are probably out, but what other sorts of hunting would be available to us having a shotgun and a 22 ? Or, for that matter, just the shotgun? Is there a good "Hunting 101" reference out there? Thanks much! Tracy Olympia, Washington – kibble provider to Ch. Cameo’s Wild Cherry Jubilee WDX JH Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
congrats on your dog’s turnaround… .22 will do squirrel and rabbit, prairie dog, small animals like that. also, just basic shooting practice … it’s good cuz you can shoot for a while during practice without removing your shoulder. (try shooting 3-1/2 12 guage slugs… I showed up at the range with 50 rounds of 2-3/4 slugs and the guy looked at me as if I was insane … ha ha ha. I got through 25 before I ducked out..) but i digress. you can probably do most of your shooting with the shotgun, and just pick different loads for different things, Save the money. Or, if you want some deer get a rifled slug barrel. Shotguns are great machines. congrats again on the dog. Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
> Our Clumber Spaniel recently realized that by gawd, she is a bird dawg. She > is 3 years old, and had been intro’d to birds several times in her life, > never showing interest t’all until the Clumber national in June. Some > serious work and a lot of luck… and now she has earned her WDX and her AKC > Junior Hunter title. In fact, she is 5 for 5 in field test events now, > passing every one we have entered. Pretty damn cool, especially since her > handler and trainer (that’d be me) is a total rookie in field events, or > hunting at all for that matter.
Hooray! There is nothing quite as fun as working behind a birdy spaniel. Feel free to post a few brags on rec.hunting.dogs. Most of the guys there think labs and pointers are the only bird dogs in the world. I bet your clumber would be great kicking pheasant out of heavy cover. I have a Picardy Spaniel, which is the other extreme of the spaniel world, tall and rangy, but she still has that astonishing 100 yard spaniel nose. > Anyhow, so it was a ton of fun and is wonderful after about 10 years in the > breed to finally have one who likes to work birds, so my partner and I have > decided to get into the "real" sport. We purchased a shotgun, have signed > up for classes, and of course are bothering our mentors in the breed > constantly. We have found a shotgun trap shooting place and have been > practicing there with a borrowed shotgun (our hasn’t arrived yet, and once > it does, we will have to get to to a smith to be resized, as we are both > female and our arms were not designed, apparently, for the length from stock > to trigger.) and having fun. We also attended a local intro to plinking > event, and shot 22 rifles for the first times in our lives.
Getting your shotgun fitted is probably the best shooting investment you can make. I am counted a pretty fair wing shot, but I have one shotgun that I can’t hit anything with. It just doesn’t fit. > So hopefully you are now aware that we know virtually nothing about hunting > or firearms. My actual question is this: we had a lot of fun firing the 22 > rifle and we are thinking it might be cool to get one of those, too, for > target practice. What else is a 22 good for? Is there any other kinds of > hunting it can be used for? Obviously upland birds are probably out, but > what other sorts of hunting would be available to us having a shotgun and a > 22 ? Or, for that matter, just the shotgun?
A .22 is a fine varmint gun, squirrel gun, and general utility piece. They are inexpensive to buy and cheap to shoot. Use hollow point bullets if you really want to kill something, otherwise you will just poke neat little holes in it. Solid lead bullets are fine for target practice, but don’t try to hunt with them. With the shotgun you can also shoot squirrel and rabbit. Eastern Washington is full of jack rabbits, which can be a real pest. Your clumber can kick them out of the bushes and bring them back for you. Either a .22 or a shotgun is fine for nutria, which are huge South American water rats called coypu in their homeland. They were introduced into the PNW as a fur animal, and there is a market for the pelts if you don’t mess them up, so a .22 might be preferable. Nutria burrow into stream banks, destabilize the soil and cause a lot of erosion. They also make a mess out of many farm crops. If your clumber likes to swim, he can retrieve those for you too. > Is there a good "Hunting 101" reference out there? Thanks much!
Start at your trap range. You will find local hunters who will be happy to go out with you and show you the ropes. With a good hunting dog, you will have more hunting offers than you can possibly accept. On the west slope without a dog you lose far too many cripples for bird hunting to be much fun. Your dog will buy you all the hunting lessons you need. — "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
What else is a 22 good for? Is there any other kinds of > hunting it can be used for? Obviously upland birds are probably out, but > what other sorts of hunting would be available to us having a shotgun and a > 22 ? Or, for that matter, just the shotgun?
Hi Tracy, I am also new to this group, but the 22 can be used for a variety of hunting. I use mine for squirrel, rabbit, and bobcat. My dad went squirrel hunting about three years ago with his 22 and jumped a deer. Before he even thought about what rifle he had, he had already fired a shot. As luck would have it, it was a head shot and the deer went down. I do not recommend deer hunting with it, but it can be done. I also do not recommend upland birds, unless you can hit a moving target 9 out of 10, almost impossible with a 22, IMHO. Hope this helps, Ben in Georgia, "My worst day hunting is better than my best day at work!!!" Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
I have a more private offer for you than the response to your hunting mailing list post. I have an old Winchester model 1912 that has been cut down to a very short stock. It has an adjustable butt plate and pad mounted on it. Frankly, the stock has been pretty well butchered, but the shotgun itself is in excellent mechanical condition with no rust. As it is, it would probably fit a small woman pretty well. The stock is far to short for me. I’m in Southern Oregon near Roseburg, but have a mother and a family farm near Salem that I visit regularly. It is possible that we could meet and you could actually shoot the shotgun to see if it suits you. $200 and it’s yours. — Larry Caldwell Myrtle Creek, Oregon http://home.teleport.com/~larryc Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
—– Original Message —– > Hi there.
((clipped)) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> So hopefully you are now aware that we know virtually nothing about hunting > or firearms. My actual question is this: we had a lot of fun firing the 22 > rifle and we are thinking it might be cool to get one of those, too, for > target practice. What else is a 22 good for? Is there any other kinds of > hunting it can be used for? Obviously upland birds are probably out, but > what other sorts of hunting would be available to us having a shotgun and a > 22 ? Or, for that matter, just the shotgun? > Is there a good "Hunting 101" reference out there? Thanks much! > Tracy
Welcome to the world of hunting! Around here, (PA) we use .22s for squirrel hunting. Also woodchucks, which are nearly the same as your rock chucks, or marmots. If you have prairie dogs and ground squirrels, they would also make fine targets. A .22 is also ideal for plinking, as the ammo is as cheap as you can get. Remember that when you go from a shotgun with a maximum range of 150 yards or so, to a .22 rifle, that has a maximum range of 1 1/2 miles, you must be aware of what is behind your target. Safety First! As for references, the best advise I have is to go to www.google.com and type in "hunting" or ".22 hunting", and see what you get. have fun! Bob Gravity…It’s Not Just a Good Idea…. It’s the Law. Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
