My favorite tractor gun was an AR-15 (Colt Sporter) for our#1 pests---wild dogs---running in packs. My first one was a Ruger 77 in 243 Winchester---a bolt action rifle. It didn't take me too long to figure out a bolt action rifle is not the hot set-up for dogs in a pack. You'll get the first one, but the rest are GONE--before you get the next round in the chamber! Although there was this one time when I came across 14 of them swimming across the river. You've heard about "shooting fish in a barrel". None of them made it across!! And that was with the bolt action rifle! And before anybody gets excited about dust and dirt, these rifles lived in custom made to order scabbards which completely enclose the rifles---and these scabbards have quickly detachable tops---with there own retaining straps so you don't have to worry about dropping it.
So much for bolt action rifles! Off I go to the gun store! "Tell me about these "Assault Rifles" everybody has their knickers in a knot about." Off the rack comes this Colt "Sporter". He takes me through it from one end to the other---ending with the magazine. "This is a 20 round magazine, but it will only hold 5 rounds because it has a spacer in it. The spacer is held in place by this rivet right here-----THIS RIVET RIGHT HERE!!!" "Yes, I understand-----this rivet right here!" I left with my new Colt Sporter. It took me about, oh maybe 3-4 minutes to remove THIS RIVET RIGHT HERE!!!!---and that included getting a drill out, and finding the right size bit.
That was the better part of 20-25 years ago. We seldom see any wild dogs anymore.
Then there was a full grown Mountain Lion. It was sitting right at the edge of our back yard, and what we call the cemetery field----135 yards from the kitchen window---the one with no screen on it-----so you can shoot from the kitchen. It was just sitting there staring right at me. It seemed to be saying, "Hey! There were two groundhogs here last night for my supper--and now there aren't any! What's up with THAT?!!" I couldn't believe my eyes! "There aren't any Mountain Lions in this part of the country! I was born in Idaho---I know these things!! This must be somebody's pet that's gotten out!" There's a round in the chamber. The safety is off. The scope is cranked up to 10---I can count its whiskers!! I sat and stared at that big cat for a good 20 minutes. It sat and stared right back. And then it was gone.
I called the Zoology folks at the university the next morning to confirm no Mountain Lions hereabouts. WRONG!! The only thing I remember about that conversation is the range of a single cat---35 square miles! And I later learned my neighbors were NOT pleased when they found out I didn't shoot it. It seems it had also been dining on their beef critters.
Ralph Tremaine
