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Few .22's will handle .22 shorts these days except the Rem. 552 and 572, but the CCI HV .22 Short hollow point is pure death on squirrels and extremely quiet for its potency. I wish Ruger would bring out a limited run of "Short Only" version of its 10/22.
JR

That's all I use in my Rem 552, rabbits and pests rarely beyond 20m, shot two porcupines yesterday.

Life is easier with trash bags. When dove hunting every bucket has three kitchen trash bags. One for birds, one for empty hulls and one for other trash. Everyone I take knows I expect them to leave it as good or better than they found it. We often pick up trash from other slobs. In fact nothing makes a land owner more impressed than seeing you cleanup trash from others, on your own. Leave it as good as or better than you found it.

Sometimes a person in our party will use a semiautomatic which can spray shells all over. I don�t leave any litter or empty hulls behind. I have a collapsible cane which I removed the rubber tip on and fixed a rare earth magnet to it. With that I can pick up every empty without needing to bend over. When finished I just put the rubber tip back on it and put it back into the bucket. Or if feeling poorly use it as a cane.

In each bucket are a couple pair of latex gloves. They can save your hand if you must do a nasty task in the field. Every vechile has a box as well. Easy to keep your hands clean when changing a tire or working on a motor. I tape two packs of extra foam ear plugs to the underside of each bucket seat. Funny how often a person can lose a plug. Also taped is a pack of tissues and lense cleaning wipes. Everybody I hunt with is required to wear ear and eye protection. A couple snacks as well as a couple band aides are also in a the buckets. For real problems I have stuff back at the truck including temporary cement for crowns and temporary filling material, a well stocked first aide kit. Also a old fashion whistle is in every bucket. Great way to get attention.

In my bucket I have an Epipen for emergencies. In my case bee stings. I let everyone know I have it and tell them just poke me with it if needed. Also I�ll do the same for them.

Years ago I was hunting with a buddy in his boat. I�ve since learned to always take my boat. Sad to say he did not have a extra shear pin with him when he sheared the one in his motor. Worse idiot did not even have a tool box. Left it in the truck. Had to walk 1/4 mile back to blind. Pulled a nail out, cleaned up and sized it to fit with my leatherman tool and installed it. Once back in the truck I taped two extra shear pins to the inside of the motor covering a spool if dental floss. Explained to him pins are easily dropped when your hands are cold and wet. Tie the floss around the pin and keep the other end of floss in your mouth. Once installed just cut the floss off. He later told me that trick twice kept him from dropping the pin overboard. I never let him use his boat if we hunted together.

Heavy duty trashbags or leaf bags make decent emergency hip waders too.

John;
Fully agree on the use of shorts. For many of those years when I was doing a lot of squirrel hunting I was using a lowly Mossberg bolt action 44MC if I remember correctly. It used a detachable magazine which had a screw-in spacer so it could be used with shorts. Problem was, while it was a tack driver with the standard velocity LR you didn't measure its results with shorts by group size but by % in the 30" circle. I have no idea why as I have known of many other rifles having the LR twist which would shoot shorts fine, but this one you simply could not hit the side of a barn with from inside.

I got onto this when a Co-Worker who managed a youth group for target shooting told me he could supply me with the cartridges they used at a very attractive price. These were Cannuck brand made by the Canadian firm CIL & were simply standard velocity, not listed per se as subsonic nor of target grade. I bought a carton of them & tried them & immediately noticed the difference in the squirrel's reaction, or lack thereof, to firing one of these vs the hi-velocity stuff & never looked back. When these became unavailable to me I mostly thereafter used Win T22 cartridges & found them satisfactory for my purpose. As long as so to speak they shot "Minute of Squirrel Head" groups I was not concerned about small differences in absolute accuracy. Using these shells if you missed a squirrels' head at any reasonable range you just had to take the blame yourself.

speakin o squirrel hunting tips...

if wily old gray is on other side of big oak, an peekin at you wid one eye...trow ah stick past tree to udder side...often dat will spook gray jest enough to cause him to come around to yo side of tree...dat is yo time fur to take ah quick shot...

an if dat dont work, lightly lick on yo left top thumb joint, an den make ah squeaky suckin sound, by rapidly kissin yo thumb joint...idea is to make ah sound like ah squirrel callin...when he poke his head around tree to see watts happenin...dat is yo time fur to take a head shot...

Don't y'all just love how Ed imitates Uncle Remus' dialect in his posts. So clever and fun, huh?
JR

Agree- what the late Nash Buckingham could do with his classic "The Shootin'ist G'entman"-- sounds like Ed has tried to copy, for our "amusement?"-- Give it a rest, Ed, it ain't playin' in Peoria.

My tip- each of my 7 M12's has an expired MI resident hunting license stashed behind the butt plate or recoil pad in the stock cavity- my expired licenses, just in case at a shooting event someone might mistake my M12 for one of theirs- also, if, God forbid, one was lost, and later found, besides a record of their serial number, I know what is inside the buttstock cavity-100%

RWTF

Thirty gallon trash bags make pretty decent ponchos, too. Cut a head hole and two arm holes and you're set to keep the upper part of your body dry. My son does this when he has to unplug stopped up sprinklers on our irrigation systems.

Regarding dove hunting, if you use a "Mojo Dove", get it as high as reasonably possible. Gil gave me a two piece pole that gets mine up to about 10 ft., and I was amazed at how much more effective it is.

To keep a duck hole from freezing overnight, without access to an ice-eater, take a boat with outboard motor and full tank of gas to hole. Tie it to a couple trees so that the prop wash pushes across the hole. Put it in gear at a low speed and just leave it all night.

SRH

The Remington 550 is another autoloading .22 that handles short, long, and long rifle cartridges. The 581 bolt action does as well.

I have pulled enough porky quills to know that I would never attempt it with either a hemostat, or, a leather man pocket tool. I have pulled hundreds of the damn things with a Snap On duck billed pliers. This tool has been along on too many hunts to remember:



Porky quills have a core that appears to be a solid, but, behaves a bit like a liquid. Squeezing the shaft too tight seems to expand the barb in the wound, and the longer the quill is in the dog, the more blood it wicks up, and expands in the wound. The serrations on the duck bill pliers are about perfect for holding the quill without smashing it flat.
I have never been around a porky incident that I consider minor. I�ve delivered dogs to my vet after a porky incident, and have been told every, single, time, �Good work, best to get as many out as you can, as soon as you can�.

I�m looking at you, ed, and calling BS.

It is better to have a buddy along, for a second set of hands and to calm the dog, but, I�ve done it alone, too.

Porkys, and skunks, suck. I also, grudgingly, carry hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid in the truck every trip. Haven�t had the pleasure with my own dogs, but, my Dad owned a setter that took pure delight in screwing with every skunk he ever met in his life.

Best,
Ted