When I was a kid, I only clubbed animals so I carried an old over/under savage in 222/20gauge mag. That permitted me to shoot anything in PA I came across while checking and setting. Deer, squirrel, grouse, pheasant fox and raccoon.
I once had to shoot a fox running down a clearing with my trap and stake still attached to his foot. I popped him on the snout and kneeled on his chest like always. I pulled the set, threw the fox over my shoulder and hung on to the stake. At some point, that red fox came back to life and didn't appreciate the predicament he was in. Too be honest, I didn't either and shucked that damned thing off my back as fast as I could. By the time I got myself together, he put some distance between us and I let loose a load of number 6's at him to no effect. I then switched the little lever on the hammer to 222 and sat down and rested off my knee. He was running a real erratic pattern with the trap and stake dragging behind him but I managed to pop him at about 150yds.
After I was a bit older, I had caught a bobcat in a dirt hole set. That thing tried to kill me every time I stepped in to club him. I went home and asked my dad for his single six 22 and he told me I didn't need it and took my club and went down the creek to club it. He came back with his jeans all tore up and bloody and gave the pistol and told to go kill the damned thing. After that, the pistol was mine for trapping purposes.
