Ranch/farm carry.

[FrankenMauser]

As this thread should have demonstrated by now, people use whatever they've got.
I've known ranchers that carried SAAs, while their neighbors just had a shotgun on the porch.
I knew a "rancher" that carried only an NAA Mini loaded with .22 LR, and never anything else (except a Browning Hi-Power, once - just once). There were shotguns, a .30-06, and a .300 WM within easy reach at the house and garage (and many more in the safe); but almost never in the truck or tractor.
That guy's neighbor bought an AR-15 in the mid-'90s, which all of the neighbors in the valley ridiculed.
Not long after that AR was used to put down a pack or coyotes and a wolf was suspected of a few livestock kills, however, the entire valley had Mini-14s, ARs, or 10/22s on their porches or leaning against window sills. (And a few people that went for BARs. )

What gets seen and used just depends on the 'rancher' and his personal tastes.
But you're nearly guaranteed, at least in this part of the country, to have a 12 ga, .30-30 lever, .30-06 (or .270 Win or .280 Rem), 9mm, and .44 Mag or .45 Colt hiding somewhere ... or everywhere.

[Nanuk]

22LR rifle is what I use most.

[flashhole]

Interesting thread with all the comments but if you don't live day-to-fay in the country for years on end it's very challenging to say what is appropriate. I went from 150 acres to 32 acres to 6.5 acres changing living locations. Gun selection changed based on the environment. Still, two guns that are consistent to everything are a 223 and a shotgun.

[FTG-05]

Gulfcowboy:

I love my S&W scandium framed 1911! It looks almost exactly like a model 39, which I've lusted over since at least the late 60's!

I bought it Jan. 2018 and it's become my daily OC sidearm; if I go outside, it's on my hip.

Thanks,

[upstate81]

On our apple farm my main target is the woodchuck. I generally have a remington 700 bdl chambered in .222 Remington with a zeiss 4-12x50 in the truck at all times. If im targeting chuck holes near buildings i use my savage 93 .22 WMR topped with a 2-7 Redfield. Great litte set up. Hand guns are always in the mix due to personal concealed carry obligations.

[FTG-05]

Oh, and whoever fixed my pics - thanks! How did you do that?

Thanks,

[Picher]

Maine Hunting Firearms Laws:
"It is Unlawful to Hunt with, or Possess for Hunting, Any:

Automatic firearm (a firearm that continues to fire as long as the trigger is held back.)
Auto-loading firearm (a firearm that reloads itself after each shot and requires a separate trigger pull for each shot) with a magazine capacity of more than 5 cartridges (plus 1 in the chamber for a total of 6), unless the magazine has been permanently altered to contain not more than 5 cartridges."
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Do some states allow greater magazine capacity???

JP

[MTT TL]

When on my tractor or mower I normally have my Glock 22 or 1911 OC. On the ATV I have my AR-10 and an 870. The 870 is loaded with #2 birdshot and is for anything smaller than a coyote. The AR-10 is for everything else.

[gwpercle]

Grandfather kept a Winchester model 92 in 32-20 standing up next to the kitchen door.
Magazine all loaded and ready to go . All you had to do was work the lever !

Were the model 92's the first "ranch rifles" ?
Gary

[Ricklin]

I don't pretend to know the laws of Maine, in fact it is one of the very few states I have not visited. Gotta fix that.

My point is that in many states hunting laws and regulations do not apply to the elimination of vermin.

I do not know if the above applies to Maine.

[mcb66]

.22 Ruger pistol pretty much always.

[the possum]

A shotgun is best around the buildings/equipment and livestock, for its reduced ricochet danger with smaller shot. A rifle is better when out in the open fields, obviously. I like a big bore pistol when working in the pastures. A small pocket pistol when nothing else is practical, just for the sake of staying armed at all times.

A farm gun can be used to hunt, but it's different than a hunting gun, in my mind. It's destined to a harder life, in dust, rain, filth, or bouncing around on the tractor's steel floor.

[9ballbilly]

On my grandparent's small farm there was a semi-auto Marlin .22lr and a .16ga bolt-action shotgun (can't remember the make). My Grandfather wasn't a hunter and I don't think I ever saw the shotgun off the rack. He did sometimes use the .22 for pest control. While he didn't have much use for guns, he always had his switchblade in his pocket.

[MTT TL]

It is not just hunting and pest elimination. It is not at all unusual to strike a larger animal like a deer and badly injure it while operating a tractor requiring it's humane dispatch.

Another issue is dealing with meth heads, often homeless that like setting up their labs in fields. They can get quite violent when defending their stash, although most will run off. Calling a county deputy or even the police on a city farm is not a great option as it can take them an half hour to an hour to even find you. The meth heads also love stealing stuff to buy more meth or stuff to make meth with.

There are also venomous snakes that may require dealing with.

[HiBC]

I'm not a rancher.The folks I have known in the agra-biz generally have a lot of tasks on their mind.
Which means they don't necessarily have time to react to every coyote they see.
Generally they know someone who likes to hunt pests. They can delegate that chore with a phone call.

Same with the idea that 200 yds of fence is knocked down because a mountain lion is freaking out the cattle at night.The rancher has fence to fix and cattle to check. He'll call Division of Wildlife.

This man has passed on,but I knew a dryland rancher who had a problem.The city owned a property adjacent to his.The city was growing,and it had a prairie dog problem.The solution the city came up with involved transplanting the PD's onto the city owned rural land.Of course.the grass was greener on the rancher's side of the fence.

So he now had two PD towns on his land.


His answer? He knew that PD's are part of the Grand Plan. As a steward of his land,he told us "I can just poison them out and be done wt it,but I don't want to do that.As long as you two keep them shot back enough they aren't taking over,it will work.

He did not have time or interest in PD hunting.He left that to us.

Something like a badger out in the daylight acting strange (rabid) might need disposal.Any gun will work.


Coyotes in his yard woke him up.They were a hazard to his barn cats and cow dogs. Launching rifle rounds into the darkness is a hazard. IMO,a shotgun with a light and some Dead Coyote shot might be a good all around back porch gun.


This Gentleman owned a Rem 788 22-250 and a Ruger Blackhawk 357. He also had a mallet and the $10 Lee Loaders. Was a time this Gentleman and his Wife spent a lot of time in the saddle.The 357 served.


I can sure see a Mini-14 or a carbine AR as a pickup gun. The old $79 NIB SKS carbine (when those were available) might serve well...but I think the Ruger more likely suits the rancher's tastes.


Another Old Guy I knew was in the hay biz. He kept a Glenfield 30-30 and an H+R 22 LR DA revolver in the truck.


I know another rancher that keeps an Armalite AR-10 in the truck.


I know of a long range hiker woman,as in Mexico to Canada,who says "We tend to pack for our fears". Not saying the Rancher fears much,but ...Whether its a rabid badger ,or feral dogs or hogs..The Rancher has an idea what he might face in a day. So,in his truck might be a coil of barbed wire,a stretcher,some staples,a fence pliers . Fence repairs happen.His Windmills or a gate might need fixing.

If lions or wolves or Tweaker cultist cattle nutilators are on his mind,he might carry the appropriate tool.

But the gun is like a handy=man jack or a fence post driver. Its a tool for a job.

The Rancher does not pack for show.

[the possum]

I've mentioned my SKS many times- it became my tractor gun mainly because it was cheap, ugly, cheap, rugged, fired cheap ammo, ...and did I mention it was cheap?

I recently bought a gun specifically for the farm. It's a Diamondback AR pistol (10" barrel) chambered in 7.62x39 with a blade brace and Vortex 1-8x illuminated scope. But last time I needed a knockabout rifle, I still grabbed my SKS. I didn't want to beat up my new $850 rig.

[coldchow]

i own and live on my farm. i keep a 1973 ruger 10/22 in my farm truck and a single shot 20ga in my utv. when cutting the crop, i keep a savage bolt action .223 in the cab.

[peterg7]

I live in the woods and it’s not unusual to see critters passing through the front yard, usually a doe and fawn but occasionally a yote or raccoon.

The only thing I had to eliminate in the last 20 years was a coon that wouldn’t leave my barrel of black sunflower seeds alone.

I sit back and watch nature do its thing, I do believe suburbanites have no clue what the natural world is really like.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JWT]

Grandparents always had a double barrel 12 ga shotgun standing in the corner just inside the back door. Two shotgun shells on the window sill next to it.

[reloder56]

Most farmers in SW WI. pack a .22LR rifle of some persuasion in the cab of their pickups and tractors. I have purchased several Remington Nylon 66 rifles from farm auctions over the years and they still show up with some frequency at auctions these days.

[agtman]

Maine Hunting Firearms Laws:
"It is Unlawful to Hunt with, or Possess for Hunting,
Any:Automatic firearm (a firearm that continues to fire as long as the trigger is held back.)
Auto-loading firearm (a firearm that reloads itself after each shot and requires a separate trigger pull for each shot) with a magazine capacity of more than 5 cartridges (plus 1 in the chamber for a total of 6), unless the magazine has been permanently altered to contain not more than 5 cartridges."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do some states allow greater magazine capacity???

Some states have no mag restrictions, or may have a specified capacity restriction depending on the type of game you're hunting, but not for others. A couple of 'rifle-friendly' states, like Texas and Ohio, don't restrict mag capacity when hunting coyotes or hogs. For deer, it might be different.

That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.

If you're keeping an AR in your ranch truck with a 20-rd mag inserted for reasons or uses other than hunting, it doesn't apply. Two such reasons might be (1) self-defense or property defense from human trespassers, or (2) if you're out traveling your property line engaging in 'predator control' to protect crops or livestock (e.g., coyotes, wolves, feral dogs, hogs).

[agtman]

Interesting thread with all the comments but if you don't live day-to-fay in the country for years on end it's very challenging to say what is appropriate. I went from 150 acres to 32 acres to 6.5 acres changing living locations. Gun selection changed based on the environment. Still, two guns that are consistent to everything are a 223 and a shotgun.

Entirely true.

Case in point: A cousin who eventually inherited that side of his family's farm because no one else wanted it (they were all committed to life in the 'urban zones' - a couple of them in Chicago - so he bought them out), keeps three 'truck guns' either in the cab or in a locked long box (security vault) in the trunk while tooling around the farm.

They are: a scoped .22 rifle; an M1 Garand which he's had for decades; and an old 'humpback' Browning 12ga shotgun that was his father's.

[Wyosmith]

In the truck it's mostly an AR, but on the belt it mostly a 357 or a 44 revolver. Although the 22 Ruger Mk3 or the K22 also get their share of "carry time".

During hunting season, if I have licenses on the land or near-by, I carry what every hunting rifle I will use that season.

But for the other 9 months of the years it's mostly a 5.56/223, and I am just one of many. I would guess that the ARs are by far the most common Ranch/Farm rifles around here. If I made a guess I'd say about 1/2 of all the land owners, farmers and cowboys I know use ARs with the other 1/2 using a conglomeration of many many other rifles.
You see a lot more "elk rifles" as truck guns as you get into the mountain, because of the bears. I live in the Wind River Valley, so in the valleys I see more ARs. They are fine for about everything we need a rifle for on a day to day basis in the lower elevations. Prairie dogs to wolves, they cover the bases fine for shooting most things that need to be shot.

[stagpanther]

That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.

Kinda true--but in Maine it's also hunting is assumed unless you can prove otherwise. That can be hard to do. I'm not aware of any farm/predator control exemptions for high capacity magazines (with the possible exception of a permitted cull hunt).

[agtman]

That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.

Kinda true--but in Maine it's also hunting is assumed unless you can prove otherwise.

Stag, dude, that's not what the law says. There's no legal 'presumption' that you're 'hunting' simply because you have a firearm on your person or within reach in your vehicle.