"...'tis me very heart strings you're pulling at, laddie!" (heavy Irish accent added for effect)

   Hope, I've been through a few guns for our style of spot-and-stalk fox hunting here in the Northern Plains. Let's see...there were two .17 Rems, one .17 Javelina, a 243 Ackley (Nosler 55's at 4,300...yeeeowwww), a Savage 112J 22-250, and most recently a 22BR with Nosler 40's at 3950.

   BUT....my favorite of them all was my 220 Swift. It was a Remington Varmint Synthetic topped with a Leupold 6.5-20X50mm scope and shooting the Nosler 40 gr. BTips over AA2700.  That rig harvested a ton of fox pelts over four Winters. A 200 yd. zero gave me basically two holds out to 350 yds...on the body or where the fur met the sky. Dope the wind, press the trigger, and if your range estimation was within 50-60 yds of the actual distance (up to 350 yds) and you didn't mess up handling the gun, it was all over but the cryin'. As soon as I can round up a donor action, Stan will be chambering up a Swift for me...'The Mauler' (as Todd refered to it) went down the road...I guess we don't always know what we have until it's gone, right?

   As accurate as my 22BR is, the Swift does outperform it in the field by a solid 100 yds. or more.

   As for weight, I like a spot-and-stalk gun to be around 10.5-11 lbs 'all in'...short 700, Davidson single shot follower, factory trigger at 1.25-1.5 oz, Rem. Varmint barrel profile, either a Varmint Synthetic or a McMillan Sako Varmint pattern stock, Kelbly double wide rings on Davidson bases, Leupold 6.5-20 50mm with a fine Duplex reticle, a Harris bipod and a Butler Creek shock absorbing sling round out a good package for me.

  We don't do a lot of calling, but Stan put together a nice calling gun for me last year in a 250 Savage Ackley Improved that comes in at well under 7 lbs and shoots like a dream. A broken hand last November put the keebosh on my Winter hunting, so I'm anxious to get the 'lil 250 Savage bloodied this season.  

   Anxious to hear what others are using for their various predator ventures.    -Al

   "I don't have a clue as to what went wrong...I just drive 'em. The dumb ass mistakes were made in the pits by the guys that used to work for me."  Top Fuel drag racer Shirley Muldowney