Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Do you bring a subsonic load or a .22?

For those of you who can and do pot small game while out for big, do you bring a subsonic load for your main gun or do you bring a small .22?

What load and/or what .22?

If you are a bowhunter, do you bring a spare flu flu JIC?

Got pics? This'll be good!

I bowhunt, and usually have 4 broadheads and one arrow with a judo point. Good for small game, but also good for practice during the hunt.

I've got a little 4" barrel smith 22 that I'd take if I wanted a 22.

I've played around with reduced 308 loads using Speer 100gr plinkers.

a 22 Bearcat resides in my gear most every trip...22 shorts and CB longs work great! I have only "needed it" a few times.

Subsonic .22 ...

I bring a sp101 .357 mag. I know it is unneeded, extra weight, but I sleep better in the boonies with it. I bring a few .38 wadcutters with me to slip into the revolver when I see grouse. Works great. Of course, with the amount of deer I have seen vs. the amount of grouse, I would be better off leaving the 30-06 at home and bringing a .22 rifle.

I always have a .22 LR handgun with me. Usually my SR22 or a S&W m34 kit gun. I shoot whatever is most accurate in the specific gun.

Many a pine hen has been added to the pot while hunting elk and/or mule deer.

I generally leave the small stuff alone when seriously hunting big game. I have made rare exceptions when on a week long wilderness hunt for moose, then a .22 with quiet cb caps has killed a few grouse for the pot.
If I'm just fooling around with local deer, I'll sometimes carry a drilling or o/u combination gun. Then I can use a shotgun for flushing grouse or ducks, the insert .22 magnum for rabbits, beavers and such, and the 7x57R for the deer / black bear etc.
I have never used subsonic centerfire handloads for anything.

I used to have a friend whose high school age brother hunted rabbits with one of those. That kid was GOOD. He'd usually get more rabbits that we could get with shotguns...literally.

I have a 622 pistol, 10/22 takedown and a brandi-new to me Marlin model 29 pump (turn of the century gallery gun) ... I picked up the Marlin from a guy that was going to let it go to the county "buy back" program for $100.... I offered him $125 <G>. The gun is worn looking but the internals are all in good shape...probably was not used much.

The marlin is all gummed up and the tube mag is frozen. I'm really hoping it's a shooter.... a couple shorts in the tube would make for an awesome little hunter...it's light, small and kinda breaks down into 2 (need to somehow secure the small parts in the receiver as it will self-disassemble if bumped while in two.

Generally, I don't. Even when legal, it seems like I need to focus on one or the other or I don't do either very well. If I had a suppressed .22, it might be different. As things stand, now, though, if I'm going to do both, I switch to handgun for deer which becomes very secondary and pack a 12 gauge for quail and grouse.

Tom

No, but I've killed grouse with a long stick. Or at least stunned them enough to get my hands of them.

Bowhunter here, one of the great things on a hunt is to take grouse and small game for meals, count on it actually and carry some of the Cabelas poultry seasoning.

I just shot grouse with my broad heads last year in Montana, but now usually carry 4 broad heads and one judo.

Ruger SR-22 & CCI Stingers

I used to bring a S&W 34 (this one) and 22 Shorts. I got a few Blue Grouse (Yum) but mostly Franklins which tasted just like a Pine needle.

I finally decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

I just use my regular full power loads:



.375HH shooting a 270gsTSX at @ 2700 fps, 25 yards. Now I was shooting for the head, but missed, hitting it in the neck instead.

Not that hard to do offhand.

Keeps the whole ammo thing simple.

How quiet is that? I bought a air pistol for grouse thinking it would be quiet, but man it seems loud.

I carry a S&W Model 317 AirLite Revolver with CCI quiet-22 rounds during bow & rifle season along w/ a little empty tupperware container. I dress it out on the spot & stick the meat in the container. Even if I'm not overnight in the backcountry, it's still nice to bring a little meat home.

Since I bought a LCR in 22LR it goes everywhere with me.

Nothing quieter than Colibris.



Travis