[RodTheWrench]

Up in Wyoming over Independence Day at our family reunion, my Dad's High School pal that owns the lodge we stayed at asked if I brought a 22 with me. We had been talking guns, hunting etc and had a good time showing and discussing several different guns we had with us. Well, of course I brought a 22 - a 1906 Winchester pump.

Turns out the groundhogs, gophers, prairie dogs and ground squirrels had been making a mess of his ditches, pastures and garden and he wanted some lead-based pest control. He told me "I can't see the da$% sights anymore, if you don't mind, would you get rid of as many of those varmints as you can?" I was all too happy to oblige.

NOW. I think I speak for the vast majority when I say I jumped at the chance to hunt varmints not out of a joy of killing, but out of a chance to test my skills. I was happy to help out my Dad's friend, of course, but where better could I practice my stalking, target acquisition, hold, trigger control etc than on a live target?

It was a great hunt, dispatched about 30 critters in an hour. Could have gotten more if I had had more time but I hope it helped. Did I dispatch them humanely? Yes, as best I could. Did I feel bad about the one or two I had to shoot twice? Of course.