As a kid in the early '60s I killed my first moose with a 22lr poked out the window of the house. IIRC it was a Winchester 69A with a Leupold 3x. It was legal then.
A few years later we had gotten back to the spot we had launched the canoe and my father handed me the Savage 24 (not sure which letter, but likely the C) in 22lr/20. It was loaded and we always shot the 22 rather than trying to save it. With the stock jammed inside a lifejacket I hit a branch sticking out over the river at well over 100 yards. Popped it off enough to bend it over at a sharp angle. Siblings said no way, but my father pointed out it was the most likely target and they had to give the hit to me...
Walking down a marshy creek checking traps when a grebe got up right in front of me and took off. My shot hit him right between the wing butts and killed him instantly... Ruger MK II
Trapping in college in central CA I took a professor and his very young son with me when I checked my traps one day. Had a grey fox in a leg hold and just as we got there he pulled free. By his second bounce I had pulled the same Ruger MK II from the holster, slapped in the magazine, loaded the chamber and shot from the hip. Bullet entered the skull dead center in the foramen. I carefully unloaded the pistol and acted like that was normal. A little later that afternoon, working up through the brush along a small river I stepped over a hummock and spotted a beaver sitting on the bank no more than 15 feet away. I carefully and quietly loaded the pistol and calmly proceeded to empty the frigging magazine without cutting a hair! Beaver swam casually away going, "really????"
