Favorite "around the yard " rifle

[Jeffeff95]

Hey everyone!

I am curious to see what everyone chooses for a rifle/shotgun to have on them while doing chores around the yard.
I recently picked up a Ruger PC Carbine 9mm that I have been carrying with me for predators/varmints while I'm doing work around the homestead.
Its been great! Light, accurate, small pistol mags which helps carrying a couple extras.
Lately however I have ran into a lot of Bear droppings on my property and a some have been close to my coop so I have upped my rifle to my Rossi .45 Colt lever action with bear loads.
Curious to see what other people use and why!

 

[Beekissed]

We like a simple .22 and .16 gauge for homestead use. Most folks don't like to talk about what guns they have on a public forum, so you may get limited response to this topic.

 

[elwood]

Glock 9mm on my hip at all times. Accurate and hands free unless needed

 

[Lazy Gardener]

.22 and 20 ga. shot gun. My hands are too weak to rack a hand gun. But, I hope that hubby and I can work out the details of that.

 

[elwood]

.22 and 20 ga. shot gun. My hands are too weak to rack a hand gun. But, I hope that hubby and I can work out the details of that.

Get a revolver. No racking and never jam

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Don't want to spend the money on an other fire arm. One lesson learned: a guy should never buy a gun for his gal without her being along to try it out!!!

 

[elwood]

Don't want to spend the money on an other fire arm. One lesson learned: a guy should never buy a gun for his gal without her being along to try it out!!!

Very true. However a wise man once told me buy a gun until you have one for every window in your house. When you get that done buy a house with more windows! A gun will always put food on the table..

 

[CrealCritter]

16 ga breech load

 

[baymule]

I don’t carry out in the yard. We don’t have bears, our place is totally enclosed in non climb horse wire, 4’ tall. We have 3 LGDs that keep coyotes away. Barring a cougar showing up and snacking on 4 dogs, I don’t feel threatened. People who know us open the front gate and drive in. Those that don’t stay on the outside and honk their horn. Some people who know us still won’t try to get past the dogs.

 

[flowerbug]

Very true. However a wise man once told me buy a gun until you have one for every window in your house. When you get that done buy a house with more windows! A gun will always put food on the table..

i can put meat on the table with sunflower seeds and the live trap if i really wanted to do that. no weapon needed other than a sharp knife. the beans at the moment are about as big as i want to get when it comes down to game hunting... we have a lot of animals here that visit and munch on the gardens that are not fenced well enough yet.

i have a .177 cal air rifle which i use for some varmints, but i am continually trying to change the fencing and rest of the site here so that i no longer have to hunt them to control the populations. our main varmints are deer, groundhogs, rabbits, chipmunks and raccoons, but i don't mind the raccoons at all because they do no damage to anything we grow (or they haven't in a long time other than eating some buckwheat sprouts/seeds this past summer when i tried to grow them as a cover crop)... the grackles i discourage because Mom hates them. we have had flocks of 25-50 birds of them here nesting at times and that is just crazy.

we have seen feral, semi-feral or neighbors kitties around hunting mice and such so i do not shoot at them ever. they are helping out. they often leave the property with something in their mouth if i see them. since we had one hanging out later this summer i've seen a notable difference in chipmunk and rabbit numbers. we now have a few chipmunks running around with full cheeks stashing things away, but i've not been able to get a good bead on them. they are not sitting still and eating like they would when it was warmer. sorry li'l guys but just cannot let all of you live here if we want any sanity. one season i trapped over 50 chipmunks in a few weeks time they'd gotten so many.

with the project i am working on now it will reduce hiding spaces for a lot of creatures so that will save me a lot of time wasted hunting or trying to hunt or worrying about dead animals getting under there and having to smell them for months... when digging out the ditch i found evidence of only one groundhog skeleton under there so i was very surprised by that. i guess they either did get away or something else ate them before they rotted.

if i shoot anything i say i'm sorry and then i bury it in a garden (same with road kill out front). i don't want to kill any animal if i can help it, but if it does have to happen i want it to be quick and with regret. to me it is a failure in our fences (which i cannot completely fix as i am not the property owner and some changes Mom does not want to make).

like the lawn mower, the air rifle is one thing i will not miss when i can stop using it. plans will be made when i can do either or both. celebration too.

i should say that almost everyone around us owns and uses firearms regularly. i'm not worried about any problems from the cities if the zombie tacolips ever happens.

i am myself not a violent person and all that, but don't mess with Momma or i'll take you down without a blink or regret if i can get my hands on ya... i've had enough martial arts to know which side of your face i'd need to push in the dirt. just sayin' lol... (read that all with a Yosemite Sam accent )...